On Blogging Australia

Andrew: I’m talking today with Snoskred of Life in the Country. Snoskred, what is your blogging philosophy? What makes Life in the Country so popular?

Snoskred: My blogging philosophy is - I put my readers first. What do I mean by that? I’ll give a couple of examples.

I could easily write 5-8 posts a day. I have a lot going on inside my head, a lot of things I want to say, a lot of junk I could crowd my blog up with. I don’t do that because I know it would be exhausting for people and I’d lose a lot of readers. I try to stick to 2 posts a day - the thought of the day and one other. From time to time I post three if I have an occasional sponsored post, or two shorter posts. The same goes for my blog design - my ideal blog design would be a dark background. It’s easier on my eyes. However blogs with dark backgrounds tend to get ignored - they have less traffic and less subscribers because most people prefer dark text on a light background.

There’s a lot of bloggers out there who blog for themselves first - they make a lot of mistakes that cost them readers, and then they complain that nobody visits their blog! It’s work, not play. You have to put effort in. Your blog has to look unique, it has to be pleasing to the eye, it has to
tick the readers boxes.

Popular is a tricky thing. Some people get carried away with that - and then they lose everything they worked so hard for. I’m determined not to do that. I don’t consider my blog popular. I do work hard to help people and create interesting content, and I think people appreciate that.

Andrew: You recently gave a lot of your past away in Goodbye to a Good Thing. I found the story touching and also familiar in many parts. What prompted you to write it? Was this just the right time?

Snoskred: A scambaiter I had much respect for was banned from one of the forums I was a member of. It was not the first time someone was banned. In fact the reason I created my blog originally was because I wanted people to be able to get in touch with me if I did get banned. I disagreed strongly with the most recent banning and said so, and the amount of anger directed at me for expressing that opinion shocked me. It didn’t have anything to do with what I said, it was all about past events. I made the decision that it was time to move on because I did not see how they were ever going to heal while I was still around.

It was a difficult decision to make - I left behind people I truly adore. There’s a lot of good people involved in scambaiting. There’s also some absolute loons. I’m not sure which category other baiters would put me in. I’m still baiting, still costing scammers money. I don’t think I could ever give up baiting. It’s my only addiction left, besides coffee.

Andrew: The Thought for Today series - is it hard to find the right combination of quote and photo?

Snoskred: It is difficult to put an image with a quote - much harder than I expected! I’ve gone from being very organised about it to picking a photo from the ones I have put aside to use at random. I try to blog them 7 or 14 at a time, and then save them to use later.

All the photos used - with the exception of the space shuttle picture - are our own pics. I’ve got over 30,000 images to choose from. We’ve been taking photos for years now, at zoos, at the botanic gardens, while travelling around Australia. Sometimes you’ll see an image which isn’t perfect - that was from one of our older, less good cameras. I’ve been going through the older folders lately to pick out the better shots for posting.

Andrew: The NaBloPoMo group writing competition looks interesting. What do you think about group writing competitions?

Snoskred: I missed out on NaBloPoMo last year - by a couple of days. So I decided to create my own competition and comment on as many of the blogs as I could. I found so many wonderful people, so many great blogs, blogs that I still read today.

This time I am thrilled to be taking part. I’ve been looking forward to it since November 2006. I’m going to set myself another commenting challenge - though I’ll never be able to comment on all the blogs unless I devoted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to it. I’ll try to comment on as many as I can.

Andrew: Finally, Snoskred, how’s the Blog Outside Your Niche thing going for you? Can you see it being a regular part of your posting cycle?

Snoskred: It’s booked up until mid-November. I’m so happy with the response to it. I emailed just a few of my favourite bloggers and most of them said yes. I do think this will be a regular part of my blog for the foreseeable future - and anyone reading this is welcome to take part, here’s how - Jump Out Of Your Niche.

However I have four weekly posting things now and something might have to give, though I can’t see which one. The Sunday Weekly Wrap Ups are now one of my biggest traffic days and it is the easiest of my posts to put together - it is just copying and pasting links during the week and then maybe 10 minutes on a Sunday to polish it. The Think Tank Tuesdays have been hugely popular with my fellow bloggers - they also take the longest to write. The Hump Day Hmmms give me a chance to get a bit personal. I like the variety.

Thanks for interviewing me - your blog is one of my favourites!

Andrew: Thanks Snoskred - your blog is one of my favourites too