I love blogging because it allows you to share your personal message and real life experiences. This can be anything from your daily life, traveling around the world or even documenting your success with a new venture such as affiliate marketing. I first got my start in internet marketing in the mid 90s, then I didn’t start my own blog until 2007. This is the same type of direction that Logan Thompson business-to-blogging journey took him as well. Another great thing about blogging is that when it’s in such a tight niche community (such as affiliate marketing), there is a much greater chance for you to meet up with others in this space as well. I remember first reading about Logan online through his blog, then ended up meeting him at an internet marketing conference a couple years later!
Without further ado, this weekend’s “Meet the Bloggers” interview is with Logan Thompson who has been able to build a business and brand around himself while also being able to be his own boss in the process! Enjoy.
1.) Please tell us about yourself and how you got into blogging?
I’m Logan Thompson, dad, husband, entrepreneur, affiliate marketer, blogger, craft beer lover, lover of spicy foods, and a huge Seattle Seahawks fan.
You’ll generally find me wearing a North Face rain jacket as I live in the great pacific northwest just north of Portland, Oregon.
It was way back in 2001 when I first started getting into building websites and making money through affiliate marketing. What started as a hobby slowly grew into my full time income and I was finally able to quit my job back in 2008 and work for myself full time.
Although I had multiple websites, a few of which were blogs, I never really considered myself a blogger. Even to this day I sometimes forget that I’m technically a blogger. I just feel like me.
Originally I started my marketing blog, LoganThompson.me, to focus mainly on affiliate marketing. I took some time off of it for most of the first half of this year as I was focusing on writing a couple of books, but have since revived it. My goal now is to focus a bit broader and use it to help others build and grow their online businesses.
2.) What is the focus of your blog and why did you choose that niche?
I actually have two blogs that I focus on.
LoganThompson.me is all about marketing online businesses, specifically niche websites and blogs. It was pretty natural for me to start that as I’ve been doing marketing for awhile now and have a deep desire to share my knowledge and help people.
My other blog is BlogAboutBeer.com. A completely different niche that I picked because I’m a huge fan of craft beer. I wanted to start a blog to share my knowledge and learn the industry. I ended up actually buying a pre existing blog in 2010 and have transformed it into my own.
I’ve been having a ton of fun with it ever since.
3.) How are you currently monetizing your blog traffic?
For my marketing blog I’m not doing a lot of monetizing with it right now other than a few random affiliate links for some services I use.
My goal is to build up my audience and pretty soon start offering some coaching services. I’ve had some great success in building up a business and I really have a desire to help people do the same.
My beer blog I’ve monetized in a little more traditional way. Affiliate marketing and Adsense have been a part of it along with a few private advertising deals.
What I’ve most been excited about with it was that because of that blog I was able to secure 2 book deals, both of which were published this year.
If you want to find out more about how I leveraged my blog to get those deals, check out the post I did about it on LoganThompson.me.
4.) What do you know now that you wish you knew when you first started blogging?
The main thing I wish I knew early on was that blogging is a whole lot more than just creating content. You can write the best posts in the world, but if no one ever sees them then they are useless.
As soon as you write a post, do more than just blast it around social media. Build relationships with other bloggers and get promoting your content. Otherwise you’re like a guy giving a speech in front of a mirror. You are the only one who knows your content exists.
5.) What are three blogs that you visit almost daily?
My buddy Luke’s site LukePeerFly.com is putting out some great nuggets of information for affiliates. I’m also loving what Derek Halpern is doing at SocialTriggers.com and Neil Patels Quick Sprout blog.
6.) Can you give us three recommended tools/services that you use with your blogging?
I don’t really use a whole lot of tools for blogging. Mostly my noggin. The main tool I generally use is WorkFlowy. It’s one of the best tools out there for organizing thoughts and lists. I love simplicity and that’s what makes it so powerful.
I’ve also been using a tool called FPTraffic to schedule and find images to post to Facebook as I run multiple fan pages.
7.) What advice would you have for someone who is just starting with their first blog?
Keep things simple. Don’t clutter your blogs up with a bunch of useless stuff. Focus on building amazing content and spend even more time promoting.
I would highly recommend you not try and blog every day. You will be burnt out. Instead post a few times a week and really learn the ins and outs of promoting that content.
Also find your own voice. You don’t have to do what others are doing. Be yourself and stand out.
8.) What’s the best advice or tip you’ve discovered about blogging since getting started?
Honestly it’s to not worry about posting every day. That takes a lot of stress off plus it allows me to write better content.
9.) If you only had $100 to start a new blog, how would you use it?
All you need is to buy a domain and a web hosting package. If there is anything left over maybe buy a good theme and a decent logo. Neither of those you need to start however.
Blogging has such a low startup cost that you don’t need to spend money. Just get hustling.
10.) How can readers of the blog get in touch with you?
For business and marketing related info, check out my blog at LoganThompson.me and my Twitter at @drumminlogan. If you like craft beer, follow me at @blogaboutbeer.
Thanks again Logan Thompson for taking the time to share your advice and story with the Blogging Tips community. If you would like to learn about other bloggers and how they are finding success online, be sure to read through our blogger interview series.
Copyright © 2014 Blogging Tips. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us so we can take legal action immediately.
The post Meet Logan Thompson of LoganThompson.me appeared first on Blogging Tips.
Source: Blogging Tips
Meet Logan Thompson of LoganThompson.me
No comments:
Post a Comment