Don’t fall for the “easy ways to fame” schemes: Klaus

Klaus

Hey there. My name is Klaus, you might have seen me commenting on blogs as “Klaus @ TechPatio”, that’s usually the name I go by online and on my blog. I’m a 26 year old guy living in Malta, Europe, where I try to get my hands dirty with as many tech gadgets as possible. I blog at techpatio(http://techpatio.com).

Interview

Q1: Welcome to Speakbindas. Tell us since when blogging has been a part of your life? Was there any motive or inspiration as a backbone of it?

• A1: Thanks, I’m glad to have been given the chance to do this interview! I have actually had a blog for several years now, before they were even named “blog”, but was just a personal website. However, I didn’t become serious with blogging until the summer of 2009 where I started TechPatio.com.

Q2: What is your blog all about? Which topics you cover there? Is that you alone running/maintaining the blog, or have a team?

• A2: I’m the only one running it, for now, yes. The overall topic of my blog is simply “technology“. That’s a really broad topic so I try to stick to topics that I have knowledge in, such as: Blogging, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Apple / Mac / iPhone etc. I also post general tech news that I find interesting, several times a week.

Q3: What are the present statistics for your blog, i.e. number of daily visitors, visitors geographical status etc.?

• A3: This is no secret as I already post a monthly update (including my earnings!), for everybody to see and comment on. My best month was September where I had 5,000 visitors with 2,000 of them being from the United States.

Q4: Is blogging for you just a passion or a medium for earning too? Does it help you to earn enough cash to quit a 9 to 5 day job?

• A4: Passion, definitely. I’m a firm believer that one shouldn’t start a blog unless they’re passionate about it. I mean, nobody can be sure they are going to make bunch of money blogging, so why would you force yourself into doing something you don’t love, when you can’t be sure you’re at least going to make a money on it?

Q5: Who are your favorite bloggers, whom you read frequently?

• A5: Oh, I don’t like questions like this, as I’m afraid I will forget to mention somebody and they will get hurt 🙂 But I think it’s fair game if I provide you with the names of the bloggers I’ve been interacting with the most, recently: Christie from IntrovertZone.com, John from ExtremeJohn.com, Ana from ExpressiveWorld.com, Ching Ya from wchingya.com and Sire from WassupBlog.com

Q6: From the secret bucket of your blogging experiences, what tips you would like to share with the fellow bloggers?

• A6: Don’t fall for the “easy ways to fame”-schemes, where you can become a member of something and they almost promise to make you rich. Also, you might often hear that “content is king”, and it sure is, but what’s a king without a queen? In this case, the queen being “marketing/promotion”. You should learn to promote your blog. Involve your readers to take part in your posts by leaving comments, making sure you network with other bloggers, comment on their blogs and so forth.

• As long as you’re passionate about blogging, you will find a way to make it in this world.

Q7: Do you believe that blogging completes you? If yes, tell us how?

• A7: I wouldn’t go as far as saying blogging completes me, but now I feel like watching Jerry Maguire again…

Q8: What was the happiest and gloomiest moment of your life?

• A8: I have many, I enjoy every single day 🙂 I’m sure if I some day will have children, that will be the happiest moment of my life.

Q9: Say, you are sponsored to travel to 3 world destinations, where you need not to worry about costs for food, hotel or anything. Which destinations would you pick up, and why? Would you like to take someone along with you? If yes, whom?

• A9: Tough one, but I’m gonna put down Australia and New Zealand as one destination, since they are so close to each other 🙂 New Zealand because of the nice scenery, Australia because of all the wild life.

• My 2nd destination would be Canada, but not the cities. I want to go out and experience the woods and all that. Of course I would still require a very comfortable and warm cabin (with Internet access!), to stay and sleep in…

• Finally, I think I would pick Japan. Just to see all the cool stuff they have over there.

• Who I would bring – I’ll let you know once I return 🙂

Q10: Are you into watching movies? If yes, which fills your list of favorite ones?

• A10: Star Wars. Everybody should have a complete Star Wars marathon at least once every other year! Other movies such as Lord of The Rings, Forrest Gump, Shawshank Redemption are great too.

Q11: How has blogging helped you other than money?

• A11: I’ve gained a ton of knowledge within areas I wouldn’t otherwise have explored as much. I love to learn new stuff! Plus, I’ve get to know some cool and interesting people (bloggers). Who knows, might just be a question about time till we all hook up over a cup of coffee, despite all of us are spread across the world.

Q12: What would be the one thing you’d change about yourself?

• A12: I would like to upgrade my “courage plugin” so I wouldn’t mind creating videos featuring myself. I’m certain that online video will increase in popularity and if your blog can only offer text reviews (for instance), you might get overrun by other blogs who are able to provide a visual alternative in form of video.

Q13: What is your deepest fear?

• A13: Not sure what my deepest fear is, but I don’t like snakes.

Q14: If you could meet one person, dead or alive, who would it be?

• A14: There are so many great people in the world both now and in the past, but I think it would be very interesting to have a chat with Einstein, just to get to know him a little bit…

Q15: Which is your favorite television show? Favorite songs?

• A15: Right now, I enjoy “The Big Bang Theory”. It’s a geeky show with great humor. Favorite songs – I like much different music, but Bruce Springsteen is often to be found in my playlist.

Q16: How much money do you have in your purse/wallet right now (including change)?

• A16: My credit card, hopefully there’s still money on it…

Q17: What is your favorite food? Any particular dislikes?

• A17: I like pizza and a good medium-rare fillet steak. Not at the same time, though.

Q18: What’s your take on the technological advancement these days? Does it make people’s life simple or complicated?

• A18: I believe, overall, it makes life more simple. It really depends on how each person decides to use it. Some people just don’t have the knack for it and they can’t be bothered to spend a few minutes in side-by-side with a knowledgeable person to learn how to use the technology – then it will make things more complicated.

Q19: What do you think of “blogging is the next BIG thing”?

• A19: It really depends who you’re asking. Some bloggers will say “blogging is dead”. Some will say “blogging is dead. Again”. Others will say the opposite, that blogging is still the next big thing. I think, in the US at least, blogging is not the NEXT big thing – it’s already a big thing. It’s likely that in other countries or parts of the world that it’s still capable of being the next big thing. Social media is going to be interesting to follow over the next few years and how bloggers will use it to their advantage, besides just the usual promoting themselves.

• Q20: List out the 10 bloggers you believe should be interviewed by Speakbindas.com.

• A20: In addition to the five bloggers mentioned in answer 5, I would like to suggest these bloggers:

• http://www.serradinho.com/
• http://tycoonblogger.com/
• http://www.makingmoneyonline.com/
• http://blazingminds.co.uk/
• http://www.40tech.com/

Q21: Any special message you would like to share with your blog readers as well with everyone else?

• A21: Besides thanking you for giving me the opportunity to do this interview and all my readers for sticking with me, I’d just like to say: Hello World!