interview by Aggie Villanueva

My interviews begin with an introduction of who my interviewee is and sometimes how they came to be what they are. Linda Fulkerson describes her own becoming better than I ever could.

“The path of a pinball may seem senseless at first glance, but in reality, every bump and bang contributes to the overall score of the game. Each obstacle has a purpose — no move is wasted. Life is like that. Looking back, I found meaning in each bump and bang along my path. Although that path zigged and zagged, I realized I had learned much from each experience.”

Linda brings a lot of life experiences to the table; a nine-year stint in the United States Marine Corp, trucking company dispatcher, bookkeeper, church office manager, hobby farmer, training manager, advertising account representative, typesetter and copy editor at three newspapers, freelance writer, public speaker, book author, photographer, published songwriter, wife and mother and grandmother.

“Just as a skilled pinball player uses every barrier to his advantage, converting chaos into strategy, I, too, longed to turn obstacles into opportunities, to transform turmoil into triumph, to total the sum of my experience into something worthwhile.”

Linda Fulkerson wrote about her journey in 2003 offering guidance in her biographical self-help book, The Prodigal Daughter: Hope for Runaway Christians and Those Who Await Their Return, published by Petit Jean Press, and has spent her recent years freelancing and blogging. All of that brought Linda to where she is.

“What will become of me? In the end, my success won’t be determined by what riches I have attained, but by how much I have enriched the lives of others. Not by how much I’ve been blessed, but by how much I’ve been a blessing. Not by the words written in my “official bio,” but by the words I’ve uttered to encourage another soul. Not by what has become of me, but by what I have become.”

Fulkerson contributes frequently to a number of magazines and newspapers, including Arkansas Health & Living, ¡Hola! Arkansas, Afictionado, Christian Woman, and is a staff writer for Central Arkansas Woman. Linda has also taken on the role of sportswriter, covering local games for the Petit Jean Country Headlight, and is the editor of a weekly newsletter, Our Reminder, which is published by the church where she works. Linda is a member of American Christian Writers (ACW), Arkansas Area Coordinator for American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), and National Society of Newspaper Columnists.

Yes, Linda became an author, website developer, freelance writer, etc., but she’s also transcended beyond those, though she continues to be each. And that’s what we’re here to talk about today. Linda’s site, dedicated to helping you blog better, On Blogging Well.

Aggie: Linda, thank you so much for joining us today. I know you have years of blogging experience to share. When did you found On Blogging Well, and why?

LINDA: When; September 2009. It’s just a baby blog but it’s already on page one of Google results for several search strings!

A couple of reasons. First — I know a lot of writers because I’m in several writers’ groups. They know how to write, but many of them don’t know much about Internet promotions or the techie-behind-the-scenes part of websites & blogs.

I spent a LOT of time doing free consulting with friends about how to get started blogging. I know there are a lot of those type sites already published, but many use high-tech language, and I wanted something to explain things in a way even a beginner could grasp, yet provide enough engaging content that those with more advanced knowledge would gain from being part of the blog’s audience, too. So the first reason is selfish — I can now point people to the blog when they call me and ask how to get started.

Second — I’m an idealist. I have a lot of strong convictions about God, Country & Family and believe that through freedom of speech we can spread truth throughout the land. I would hope that people of faith worldwide would become convicted to spend the few hours per week it takes to maintain a blog and use it for good. Trust me; people with opposing beliefs are using the blogosphere in full force. We need to take action!

When; September 2009. it’s just a baby blog but it’s already on page one of Google results for several search strings!

Aggie: So you’re blog is directed at, not only writers, but anyone who blogs?

LINDA: Yes. Anyone who has begun a blog but got stuck. Anyone who wants to blog but isn’t sure where to start. And, I hope, those who consider themselves successful bloggers will find things on the site they didn’t know before.

Aggie: What were your first blogs about? When you first started blogging did you suspect you would end up as a Blog Coach?

LINDA: I had no idea I would ever become a Blog Coach. My first blog post ever, nearly 6 years ago, was a rant about a political situation that the demeaned American military. I’m a veteran. My brother is serving his second tour in Iraq. We can trace our family’s military heritage back to the 1750s, so yeah, I was ticked; enough to start a blog.

I blogged about whatever came to my mind – often before the coffee pot finished gurgling. It’s dangerous to spout your pre-coffee musings to the World Wide Web. I’ve had blogs on personal development, writing, weight loss, humor, politics, and travel. I gathered most of those old posts together and archived them. This was before I understood the importance of personal branding, of course.

I’m always in “learn” mode. And when I become passionate about a topic, I will pour resources into learning everything I can about it. I spent a lot of time and money learning about how to blog successfully and I thought, “Hey, I can teach this to people I know who are struggling with their blogs.”

Aggie: Linda, you explained beautifully how you arrived at being an Internet Blog Coach. Can you give us the details of what you can do for us in that capacity?

LINDA: The number one question I get from fellow bloggers is how to grow a readership. And I think the number one answer to that question is to have a purpose behind your blog. My early blogs consisted of eclectic collections of ramblings and rants – few people read them. The first time I gained regular readers was when I ran a series on how to write a nonfiction book. People read, they commented, they asked questions, they participated; because I was giving value to their time.

Bloggers who babble about the new shoes they bought don’t give value to the reader’s time. People are busy. The shoe shopper could share info about when certain stores are having sales or which shoes are best for which occasions. Then you can gush about your newest purchase. Give readers something for the time they spend on your blog and they’ll come back.

Of course, even if you offer great info, if no one knows about your blog, no one will read it. There are tons of ways to attract and retain readers. That’s one thing I can help with. Another is content development. And, of course, if a blogger wants to make money on their blogs, many think all they have to do is create an AdSense account. Actually, that’s probably the worst thing a blogger can do to start, but even new blogs can make money. Just not with ads.

Aggie: What are a few of your recommendation for making money through your blog?

LINDA: For a new blogger, I think the best way is through affiliate programs. In my newsletter and in the upcoming Well-fed Blogger e-course, we’ll discuss ways to determine which affiliate programs are best and how to get started.

Another way to make good money from your blog is through joint ventures. But something all bloggers should at least consider is developing their own information product(s) about their field of expertise. Again, this will be taught in depth in the course. How to develop a product, How to market it, What type(s) of products to develop. The number one money-maker for bloggers today is membership sites.

Brian Clark of Copyblogger made (according to a couple of sources) an estimated $3 million last year. He’s been blogging since about 2006, I think. How’d he do it? He has several products, but the main one is the Thesis theme for WordPress (used on my personal website).

This was a joint venture with WP site developer Chris Pearson, who designed the theme I use at On Blogging Well. The top selling points for Thesis are flexibility and clean code. One of Brian’s big money makers, though, is the Teaching Sells program, which is an exclusive course that teaches how to develop interactive learning environments, which is what The Well-fed Blogger course will be.

When Teaching Sells launched, nearly 25,000 people were signed up on the early notification list, hoping to snag the 500 course slots Brian was offering. I was lucky enough to be online when the “Registration is now open” email popped into my in-box. I think Brian made about a half-million dollars the day TS went live.

And while I won’t be copying his course, many of the principles we’ll teach in The Well-fed Blogger will have come from his and the many other top bloggers I’ve learned from. Because I’m not Brian Clark, I’m pricing my course at $447, (His was nearly 5 times that — thank goodness for payment plans!), so you can see it will be quite a bargain. If you’d like to get on my early notification list. ”And yes, I will make an affiliate program available. Join the list to keep informed.”

Aggie: “So, to make money on your blog, do you have to teach about blogging?”

LINDA: No! Actually, teaching about blogging is a small niche market. Golf is huge. Digital Photography membership sites are extremely popular and lucrative. Parenting. Pets. Politics. Poker. Personal and Professional Development. Stock Trading. Scrapbooking, and other craft-related markets do well with information products and membership sites.

Oh, and gamers are a VERY passionate group! A big thing to consider when developing an information product and/or membership site is this — how passionate is the audience and how much money does this interest group spend on that passion? What products do best for the blogger’s niche audience? There are ways to learn this information, but I won’t get into all that at this time.

Aggie: You spoke of the numerous technical sites about blogging. I admit, I subscribe to the best of them and follow closely. Yet I subscribed to yours when I first came across it. I only needed to skim your posts before releasing my private email address to your subscription list. And further, I’ve learned much from my time on your site. What is it about your blog that made this reader a subscriber? And how can we produce the same reaction from our blogs visitors?

LINDA: I try to be open with my readers. I think it’s important that bloggers let their readers get to know them as a person. Be real on your blog.

Aggie: During my intro I quoted much from your personal writing because you said something in one of your posts; the most important ingredient to make your blog succeed is US, the blog writers, allowing ourselves to permeate it. What do you mean by that?

LINDA: A great example of a successful blogger who lets readers know he’s a real person is Chris Brogan. He’s one of the great online marketing gurus out there, but last week, he posted a video of his daughter reading a poem. Why? She had to have documentation that a certain number of people had heard her read the poem out loud for a homework assignement.

Well, she procrastinated and then panicked. Not to worry – about a bazillion people read her dad’s blog every day, including me. So he puts up this video and asks us to please watch it and leave a comment (documentation) saying we watched it. Ta-da! She gets a good grade, and Chris’s audience thinks, “Wow – he’s really just a regular guy. If he can do this, I can!” I don’t know how many documented listeners the teacher required the kids to have, but there were 582 comments on that post. (Marketing Guru!)

Aggie: I know you have an extensive Fundamentals section covering things like your first blog post, picking out a theme, etc. What level blogger will get the most help from you?

LINDA: Probably the intermediate to early-advanced blogger. That’s where most of us are. Even me. I’m not up with guys like Chris Brogan (yet), but I’m climbing. Once you get past the basics, there’s no need to rehash all that stuff over and over, so it’s there for beginners to refer to, but the meat of the blog will be geared to intermediate and advanced bloggers. The point of the blog is to help us grow our blog and our readership. Once beginners have their blogs up and running, which doesn’t take very long, they’ll be ready to hop in and learn with the rest of the group.

Aggie: You are right that sometimes the blog techies speak above our heads. I know they try to explain it simply, but one thing that I’ve spent years reading about, to little avail, is optimization. Your short article on theLong Tail Search made so much sense. Why do you think SEO is so hard to grasp when it’s one of the most important processes of a successful blog?

LINDA: The “secret” to SEO – and I paid good money to learn this, Aggie – is to stop trying to think like some Geek in Seattle (sorry, Seattle!) and think like a real person. “Real” people might not even know the term “search engine optimization” exists. Seriously. But, they do know they want more people to read their blogs. So, they’ll go to Google and type in a search phrase such as, “How do I get more people to visit my blog?” A good example of a long-tail search. Problem is, if your blog isn’t on the first page or two of Google, people who don’t already know about it won’t find it. That’s where SEO can help.

Aggie: Reading Your Reader’s Mind from your SEO Saturday gave me more insight into that ole SEO bugaboo. I’m sure I’m not the only one to say that you make these things easier to understand. For those of us who have informational blogs, can you clue us in on how to accomplish that?

LINDA: Write every post with the benefits of the reader in mind. Think back to when you first learned the tip you’re about to share. How did it help you? What did you need to know first before you were able to utilize your new-found information? Have you developed it further since then? Whether you write about quilting or writing or photography or golf – put yourself in the reader’s seat when you plan a new post. If they are more confused after reading your instructional tip than they were before, well, they won’t be back and neither will any of their friends.

Aggie: I know you posted about this already, but I always admire the stock photography you use in each post. Who do you use for stock images, and do you believe they are important to a post?

LINDA: Images are extremely important to a post. Right after the title, they may be the next most important thing. I use iStockPhoto or Stock.Xchng. You can also get great pictures through Flickr’s Creative Commons licensing program.

I encourage all bloggers I work with to be conscientious about where you get your photos. Yeah, it’s easy to Google a phrase and browse through the images. And I even do that, but look for the license agreement. If it’s public domain (and many Google image results are), then help yourself. But cropping off the copy right symbol or photographer’s name is not cool.

Wikipedia uses a lot of public domain images. Most government agency photos (national parks, NASA, etc.) are public domain. You can get great free pics for your site without cheating. Or do like we do, Aggie – get out the camera & go for it, right?

Aggie: That’s right, although I don’t do that nearly enough! Targeting our market is one of the hardest things to wrap our heads around. If you had a visual arts blog like mine, how would you start learning where your target is? (Nothing like asking the doctor for free medical advice!) Seriously most of our readers are in the visual arts, mostly writers and photographers.

LINDA: You’re getting all my secrets today, Aggie! Okay, here it is. First of all, I’d start with Google. Maybe type in a phrase such as “photographers who write.” You’ll get a bunch of results. Then, skim through the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) and look for forum results. Yes, forums are likely the best free but often least-used tool any website can have.

And if you’re seeking to “meet” your target audience, they are pay dirt. Join 3 or 4 forums in your niche market. Interact. Get to know the people there. ALWAYS put your blog link in your signature. And don’t annoy them by waving the “come see my site” flag. Just be yourself and use the forum to give and take. Be part of the community.

Now here’s the hard part: Do this consistently 3-4 forums per day, every day, for about 4 months. See what happens and let me know how it goes. You want quality readers – regulars, like the ones sitting at the Cheers bar. The key to do that is through communities. Do this on blogs, too, not just in forums. Post comments. Post insightful comments, not just “Great post, dude!” Visit ten blogs in your niche a day and do this. Yes, for at least four months. Seriously.

Aggie: What is the one most important aspect to every blog?

LINDA: How it benefits the reader. Period.

Aggie: What is the most important lesson about blogging that you’ve learned, and how did you learn it?

LINDA: Don’t be selfish. Give away your best stuff for free. Some bloggers are so worried about making a name for themselves or making a dollar and that’s where they fail. I probably read at least two dozen blogs about blogging a day plus I’ve taken several online courses from some of the top names in the blogging world. I take notes. I keep a separate notebook for each main topic – SEO, Marketing, Content Development, etc. You don’t have to do all that to learn how to have a successful blog – just read On Blogging Well!

Aggie: What is the foremost advice you can leave us with pertaining to our individual blogging experience, whether for profit or non?

LINDA: Have fun and be yourself. Oh, and read my blog and sign up on my mailing list – that’s my best advice, LOL!

Aggie: I want to thank you profusely for allowing me to pick your brain. You’ve been most generous with us today.

For More About Linda

On Blogging Well

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