Lillian has been with me from the beginning. We first met when I started my site for BK Walker Books. I started out just doing book features and she submitted her books to me for a feature. She is a wonderful person and another that loves to pay it forward. Please give her a warm welcome as we get to know her better.
1. What do you love most about blogging?
There are several things that blogging offers me... Originally I started blogging after we spent some time building name recognition in the initial stages of our writing career. What I mean by this is we didn't start blogging right away as a means to promote our writing career. Instead we developed name recognition prior to starting a blog or a newsletter. Blogs and newsletters require a lot of time to manage, building a list of readers and so on, and this means that a writer has to balance these things as part of their time management.
The first blog I had was over at MySpace.com, which I still maintain (http://blog.myspace.com/canadianauthor) - this blog, Canadian Authors, is now used to list media appearances and radio or blog guests for the week... so it is kind of like a week-at-a-glance into the events happening in our lives.
I started using Blogger.com back in Oct 2008 due to the ease of setting it up and the excellent upgrades the owners continue to have done. This is known as the Brummet's Conscious Blog (http://consciusdiscussions.blogspot.com) and is where I have the opportunity to reach a blog-friendly audience, one that my radio show or newsletter or website might not otherwise reach. This audience receives blog posts every single day - offering positive, motivational information, inspiring news clips, thought-provoking interviews and quotes and more. This also offers me a chance to share my own media appearances, public events, and so on.
However what I "love most about blogging" is that I can share things that really mean a lot to me, personally. I personally find it exciting, thrilling even, when I learn about someone who's found a fantastic new use for used tires, or has learned a new technology that turns plastic diapers into reusable pallets - or a young teenager who's changed their community for the better. I love celebrating these kinds of things on the blog.
2. Do you have a most memorable post?
The most memorable posts I've done involve an event I participated in back in July - for Buy a Poetry Book for Someone Special month. ...I think that is what it was called... Anyway, the whole month long we had poets come in to share their work and that was a real special time for me. I love poetry and the comments we had from readers was really nice too - the readers are articulate, thoughtful and often offer resources or tips. Sometimes readers will make their comments public, while other times they will respond privately to topics I've addressed in a blog post.
3. What do you hope your readers will take away from your blog?
It is my hope that readers will be inspired to make a small change in their life that results in a more conscious, sustainable community. Each small action, from picking up a bottle in the alley and putting it in our recycling bin to donating used items, can make a huge impact on the world as a whole. The ripple affect from each of these small contributions will accelerate this global movement towards sustainable and conscious living. People often discount their own small contributions and feel they are not making a difference. Dave and I hope to change their mindset to a more positive, proactive one by offering the information, quotes, interviews and resources that we do through the various mediums in which we work (music, teaching, writing, radio interviews, blogs, etc). In exchange we hope that readers support us, and our fundraising efforts, by purchasing a copy of one of our products.
4. Where do you hope to take your blog in the future?
Right now I am reaching slightly over 2000 unique hits per month - I'd like to see this doubled by the end of the year. Consistent posting, writing in a friendly style, and promoting - promoting - promoting will make this happen. This is often the balancing act of the blog-manager... One must promote the blog and keep posts happening, along with interesting links in the sidebars on a regular basis.
But how does one do this when they have a life, and a business to run? It isn't easy to find the time to run a blog sometimes... Have you noticed that a lot of new blogs phase out quickly? This is because time management and finding substantial content can be a challenge. So what I like to do is to post early every morning and get the promotions for the blog done as early as possible. Being one of the first chores in my office every day, the blogging becomes routine and I actually miss it when I take days off from the office.
That is another thing new blog owners will notice - after taking a few days off from the office the reader numbers can sometimes trickle down to a small number - which can be hurtful. But it might be encouraging to know that if the blog manager is consistent and persistent, they will develop a large enough audience to carry them through these slow times. Not all readers will visit every day, some will visit once a month, or only once, or twice a week... etc. So getting lots of readers is the key to having consistent numbers as far as unique hits go. Don't be afraid to say you are taking a weekend away from the office - let your readers know and then encourage them to scroll through the archived posts and your links, etc. People respond positively to this. If you don't let them know you won't be posting for a few days, and they come to check out the blog... they'll be confused and possibly think that the blog is no longer active.
5. Do you ever have contests and/or giveaways on your blog?
Oh, sure - we've given away lots of things on the Brummet's Conscious Blog - from environmentally conscious products to books and services, such as coaching. We don't usually do these types of giveaways though, since it is not the focus of the blog. However occasionally someone will ask us if we'd consider giving away this or that, and we do consider each request.
6. In your opinion, how would readers, old and new, benefit from your blog?
I think that readers who are about to make a change in their life - be it gardening or composting, recycling or reusing, donating or volunteering, writing, or greening their business or their home... - they will find resources, tips, advice, and interviews with experts who can help them in their journey. Having people share what they have done, what worked for them and what didn't work for them can really save people a lot of time, hassle, disappointments and money. So that is why I am so big on networking and hearing from my readers. I love to share their thoughts, comments or questions by working them into an upcoming blog post, and offering the resources they send me on the blog as well.
7. Anything you would like to share, thoughts, events, etc?
Yes! I'd love to have your readers drop by my site:
www.brummet.ca - where they can find information about everything that we do, including our blogs, radio show, newsletter, books and products, and our fundraising efforts too.
Thank you for sharing with us Lillian and for all you do. I greatly appreciate it. Please be sure to leave Lillian a comment letting her know you stopped in to get to know her :).
~ ~ ~ ~ - Dave & Lillian Brummet -
Authors of:
- Purple Snowflake Marketing - How to Make Your Book Stand Out In A Crowd
- Trash Talk - Learn how you can impact the planet
-Towards Understanding - a collection of 120 poems on society, the environment & overcoming trauma.
Hosts of:
Websites:
