I’m Not A Famous Blogger

That thought crossed my mind when I was at IZEAFest and again when I was at Blog World Expo. I don’t have a huge band of subscribers that support every thing I do. I don’t make tons of money with my blog. I make some – because of IZEA, of course – and it helps with the bills and some toys too. I don’t live the dotcom/web 2.0 lifestyle. I’m just me, I’m Not A Famous Blogger.

Why I Blog

Not being famous is okay by me. I know many bloggers who are not famous either but I certainly respect their work. I respect their opinions and I respect their content. I have found that many bloggers who know me also respect my work. The fact that they come here (or to my other blogs The Wired Kayaker, Read To Me, Dad and Google Is Not God), read my posts and comment shows me that they respect my work. When they comment on my photos or follow me on Twitter I can see they respect my work. Every day I think about what to say on this blog and who will enjoy what I write and if anyone will enjoy what I write? I blog primarily to express myself but also to inform, entertain and build community. One way I try and build community is to respond to each and every comment on all of my blogs. However, I’m Not A Famous Blogger.

I Do Attend Blogging Conferences

In the past two years I have attended four blog conferences. I went to Las Vegas for Blog World Expo twice. Each time I was sent there by a different company because I won a blog related contest. For Blog World Expo I have FuelMyBlog and PicApp to thank for travel sponsorship. There is no way I could afford or justify paying the expense to go to these events on my own as blogging is primarily a hobby for me. I also had the opportunity to attend PostieCon in 2007 and IZEAFest in 2008. At PostieCon I was part of the Fab Four Bloggers Panel discussion. I was a last minute stand in. I certainly wasn’t a big money blogger or that special either, but I’d been blogging for a while and had a few things to say to the attendees. This year at IZEAFest I applied to be part of the Fab Four again but instead won the opportunity to moderate the Big Money Bloggers Panel. I was asking questions of Jeremy Schoemaker, John Chow, Stephanie Agresta and Neil Patel. That Rocked!

I Know Other Bloggers Personally

Those conferences were great and I met so many awesome people. The biggest thing that surprised me was that people were excited to meet me too. I made some amazing friendships at those conferences and that further strengthened my relationships with people who read this blog as well. When you meet someone face to face and find out more about them then you can put their blog into much better context. Over the past couple years I even visited other bloggers at their very homes. The trust that those people had for me to welcome me to their home is the same trust that I try to cultivate on each of my blogs as well.

I am a Postie! I Bleed Green!

I attribute part of my blogging success (and I deem success by the community I’ve been building here and not the money I’ve made through this blog or any of my other blogs) to working with PayPerPost and subsequently IZEA and SocialSpark.

My history with IZEA goes back to when my wife Allison told me about the program and encouraged me to make a little money with my blog. I hadn’t heard much about it but investigated and jumped in. I made some mistakes but each time I went ahead and learned from them and each made me a better blogger. I moved my blogs to their own domains, I started new blogs for other interests of mine and I self hosted my blogs. I got serious.

YouTube is My Friend

I even started working on videos, something I’ve always enjoyed doing. I took my love of video and my love of kayaking and created The Wired Kayaker, a blog that won a makeover at IZEAFest (live makeover is coming). Through that blog and “podcast” I met up with local kayaking groups. I participated in a few special kayaking trips with them and they have presented my work to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.

I Was A Guest Blogger

I also had the opportunity to write for the IZEA Blog and talk to the IZEA community in a much more public and visible forum. I’m even mentioned on many posts on the IZEA Bog. Here is a list of my posts for IZEA, read them learn, laugh and enjoy.

If you missed any or would like to reread them and comment here they are:

1. What advice can this guy offer you?
2. My Mini B.A.T. Part 1
3. My Mini B.A.T. Part 2
4. Mini B.A.T. Part 3
5. My Mini B.A.T. Ends at IZEA HQ
6. Digital Camera… An Essential Blogging Tool
7. Digital Camera… An Essential Blogging Tool #2
8. Phoning it in…
9. Take it if off Autopilot….
10. SocialSpark: A Postie Perspective
11. Step outside and offline
12. Like an Onion…
13. Better Blogger, Community Blogger
14. Help, I’m at my Flickr Limit…
15. What to do…
16. Drive traffic with Flickr
17. Delayed and Unwired…
18. How is your presentation?
19. Collaborate for fun and profit…
20. Where did June go?
21. IZEAFest 2008, are YOU going?
22. Seven Tactics to Manage Yourself
23. Oops, I’ve said too much….
24. Not a Perfect Metaphor

It was a wonderful experience. I now have the opportunity to be part of another experience with IZEA called IZEA Insiders. I’ve been reading up on the criteria that makes up a good insider for IZEA. I believe I possess those qualities.

I’m A Social Networker

I’m on Social Spark of course but you can also see everywhere else I am by checking out my Retaggr Card, I’m adding new social networks all the time. I just joined the MTVMusic community, add me as a friend.

I Believe in Ted Murphy

When I started blogging it was a way for me to keep my friends and family informed as to what I was doing while I was traveling. Now it is a way to showcase my talent, network and earn some money. This change in drive and focus I attribute to Ted Murphy. Ted’s vision of a marketplace where advertisers can go to meet content publishers and network together for a common goal is amazing and it has benefited me so much. I have had more than one opportunity to hang out with Ted at events and I even got to visit the IZEA headquarters for an IZEA Loco event. I have 3 cakeplows under my belt. I even got to be a special reporter for IZEA at CollegeFest in 2007. Ted’s vision has motivated and challenged me to become a better blogger. I hope to return the favor and challenge IZEA as they continue to move forward. Also I consider the folks at IZEA my friends and I want them to succeed. I’ve spent time with Ashley, Veronique, Andrew and Marty to name a few.

IZEA and Beyond, What makes me Special

Even though I Am Not a Famous Blogger I have still been able to do some amazing blog related things. My most recent adventure was to California to not only film for the Nokia Productions movie but to also interview Spike Lee and attend the movie premiere. A movie that was built through social networking. It was a pretty amazing experience that I know would be great to take with me and learn from as I work as an IZEA Insider.

Why I Can Blog Anywhere at Any Time.

I travel for my job, I work in Marketing and also training of new marketing professionals. I am never without my laptop and at least 4 cameras, sometimes more. I can blog anytime, anywhere with my LG EnV phone and Utterli. I can always find some wireless access to get the word out and I think most impressive is that I have blogged every single day for the past 4 years without having to join some Blog 365 program to do so. I love to blog and I love to take photos, so I blog about that. I think my passion shows in my work and the way I respond to my readers. Those skills and my knowledge of social networking make me an idea candidate to be an IZEA Insider.

Looking for Some Not So Famous Bloggers for my Crew

If you haven’t guessed it yet I already have a name for my crew. It would be called The I’m Not A Famous Blogger Crew. We already have a Blog on our own domain, Twitter account, Facebook Group, and Flickr Group.

If you think that I would make a good insider I would love it if you would let IZEA know and comment on this post.