Interview with a Pro Blogger (Who is also my wife!)

At around the same time I started this blog, my wife Julie started Lanzarote Information. It was a URL we had owned for some time, and Julie decided to set up a blog which was “Anything and everything about Lanzarote” – the island in The Canary Islands where we live.

Since December 2008, the site has gone from strength to strength and it now has around 500 subscribers, with 680 visitors a day viewing 4,400 pages. I thought it was time I carried out an interview with another successful blogger, and was wondering who to start with. I decided to go with the one who shares my office every day! Here’s what Julie had to say in response to my questions:

1/ What made you start Lanzarote Information?

We’ve always suffered from a lack of information about the island and what’s going on here – our press isn’t very sophisticated and I was fed up with finding out about great stuff to do the day after the event! I also have a love of the island and wanted to share that love with all the tourists and other residents, and finally I wanted to make some money!

2/ How have you managed to write more than 1,000 posts in that time?

I was lucky enough to start with a backlog of information I had written for other projects, so that got me going. I also love taking photographs, so I take loads and then puts words around them. I do work hard at keeping up to date with information and now have contacts all over the island who feed it to me. I’m not happy unless I put at least a couple of posts on a day.

3/ What was the hardest part of learning to become a blogger?

One of the early things I struggled with was keeping posts down to 2 or 3 a day! I had so much I wanted to say, but I knew if I bombarded people I’d lose their interest. But overall the hardest thing has been learning how to do web based things, like adding a calendar to the site, adding a flights widget and so on. I’d never done things like that before, so although they may seem easy to many, it wasn’t for me. Fortunately there’s loads of helpful stuff on the web!

4/ What elements of the work do you enjoy the most?

I love checking the comments! It’s great to get some interaction going with people. Being in the travel niche, most people are information seeking, so they’re not really inclined to comment, but I love it when they do!

5/ What would you do differently if you were to start again?

I would have given more thought to the format and layout of the site. I’m talking about menus, categories and so on. There are changes I’d like to make now, but when there are a thousand posts and several thousand photos, it becomes really hard to make changes without messing everything up.

6/ How has your life changed as you’ve become a full time blogger?

I work very differently now – instead of spending from 0900 until 1700 hours at the computer, I now like to go online first thing in the morning, then spend a few hours in the daytime out and about getting information, before writing it all up in the evening. I really like the freedom it’s given me to work when I want to work, and I love the fact that I’m out a lot more of the time. The other thing is that I’ve met and interviewed some fascinating people, from pro athletes to politicians.

7/ How does the site make you money?

In order, we earn the income from direct advertisers, sales of Mike’s Book about our move to Lanzarote,  affiliate links (relevant to the site), and Adsense advertising (which has become quite good in the last couple of months). There are two things worth adding to that: I get a lot of “freebies” like invitations to shows, tickets to attractions and so on, in return for writing a review. I’m always honest with my reviews, and the people I’m writing about know that. I also love bartering advertising on the site, for example, I’ve done horse riding and kayaking trips where I’ve paid the charges with an advert.

8/ What are your objectives for the blog during the rest of the year?

I want Lanzarote Information to become the biggest site (in traffic terms) on the island. Depending on how you measure it we’re currently number 2 or number 3, but we’re closing fast! I’m pleased with the way income has grown, but I really want it to move up a gear in the next few months with lots more advertisers. I’m also working on a book about the island aimed at tourists, which will be sold through the site.

9/ What advice would you give to anyone starting out as a blogger?

Don’t expect too much in the early months, don’t get discouraged, keep plugging away. Blogs, once they reach a certain level, just seem to take off, but lots of people give up before they do. Also invest time in Twitter – I’ve found it to be a fantastic source of information and a great place to promote my site. If you aren’t following me yet, you’ll find me @juliecj

10/ What did you do before you became a blogger?

I ran our offline business with my husband for the nine years before I got into blogging – we still do that, but only with a small amount of our time now. Before that I was a Director of an IT company in UK, but I ran finance, so had no technical IT skills at all.

11/ What hobbies do you have outside of blogging?

Kayaking, competitive swimming, photography and I love walking in the countryside.

12/ What are your long term plans with Lanzarote Information?

In the next few years I’d like to take on a couple of people – one to continue to sell the advertising on the site and another to write some general content. That would leave me free to do the stuff I really enjoy and write the content and take the photos that interest me. Of course there are another six islands in The Canaries…………

Julie runs the site Lanzarote Information and you can also find her on Twitter @juliecj and on Facebook.

Have you got a moment? If so please join the Mike’s Life Community. All you have to do is complete the form at the top right of this page with your first name and email address. I send out an update email once a week, with lots of stuff which doesn’t get onto this site, and with regular special interest freebies for members.

If you’ve still got some time, please have a look at:

1/ Eight ways to overcome a lack of motivation as a blogger

2/ Why I’m so disappointed in some A list bloggers

3/ How to get your partner on board with your blogging