BenSpark
Today I am interviewing Don Janusz who goes by DigTek. I’ll address him as such through this interview. So DigTek, tell the readers about yourself.
DigTek
Starting off with the hardest question huh… I am not one for spending a lot of time talking about my personal life. I am a 44 y/o husband and father of two boys (13 and 16) who works as a Manager and Electronic Technician. Born and raised in Wisconsin, I moved to Florida after I was married and lived in Tampa and Panama City before moving to Cape Coral (Fort Myers) about 5 years ago.
BenSpark
Must be a big difference in your winters now. That is also a big move. Can you please tell us about your blogs?
DigTek
I run 2 blogs and 2 websites (all 4 using wordpress), one of those websites being the company website and the other a side project I am working on with my oldest son, called South Florida Business Technology. The blogs I run are The Current Page, which is a humor based blog, but includes posts on a wide variety of topics. The list of general categories would include: Blog Talk, Cool Stuff, Food & Drink, Leisure Time, Local Interest, Music Related, Outer Space and, of course, a few humor categories. The Current Page is my main blog and has the most time devoted to it. This may also be a good time to mention that The Current Page will be starting Monthly Prize Giveaways on January 1st 2010.
My other blog is a Weather Site and Blog called South Florida StormWatch, this blog has a focus on Tropical and Severe Weather, mostly as it relates to Florida, but certainly including the Atlantic Hurricane Basin and the United States as well. Like The Current Page, I try to include some humor in what might otherwise be fairly boring information, and use the slogan ‘Weather With Attitude’. South Florida StormWatch is also my longest running blog, having originated on Weather Underground as a ‘WunderBlog’, where I still repost all the articles. It might be worth stating that I am not a weatherman at all, but have always had an interest in Tropical Weather and learned a great deal over time, seems enough that my information is usually as accurate as any other forecasts, and likely easier to understand than what might be posted by weather experts.
BenSpark
I don’t think anyone can fault you for predicting the weather and I would guess that you would be as accurate as the weathermen on TV. I bet my mom would love to read your blog, she is obsessed with the weather, or maybe just the temperature i the house, who knows. So, why did you start blogging?
DigTek
Let me answer by summarizing how I got to the point I am at… I have always enjoyed computers and programming (though I am far from a programming guru) and made my entry to the website world over 10 years ago when I decided to make a website for the company I work for. While mostly a simple company information and contact point site, it gave me a new hobby and soon after I started to work on personal website projects. The first of these was a Forum called ‘Gamerz Forumz’, once I opened the hood and started making adjustments to the code, I was hooked, and though I modified it into a Game Clan site with some success, I had more fun coding it to my liking than anything else. As time went on I had less time for gaming and converted the site to be used by my oldest son for his gaming interests. Like many kids though, his interests changed on a regular basis and for a time the site operated on auto-pilot before I decided to recode the whole works.
My plan was to continue to modify the existing forum code (yabb) and add in some CMS packages to include my weather site and posts of local interest along with a much needed update to the company website. What I ended up with was a mess really… I used ModX to run my weather site, TikiWiki for local information, Flog and CuteNews for announcements, WordPress was also added at this time with the intention of starting a blog (though it sat idle since I was coding and not posting). All of this was tied together using the forum software, which also ran the company website (by this time the forum software had become so heavily modified I actually found it easier to use another forum software (smf) to offer a forum for the company website). On top of that mess I still operated the original forum, but had renamed it to The Current Page Forum. Almost as soon as I had completed this project I realized what a navigation nightmare I had created and took a closer look at the individual CMS packages, since I had now learned that using one software that was easy to update and modify would probably work better than the monster I had created.
It was at this time that I made a few other decisions. The first was to separate the individual sites since they had no real relationship with each other, besides all being run by me. I also decided to concentrate on my weather site and abandon the forum in place of a blog where I could incorporate everything else I was interested in (actually the forum still works since I link to a couple of articles there, but is no longer being maintained). This was when I made the switch to running all my sites with wordpress. Over the next year or so I again spent most of my time coding the sites to my liking but now also started to enjoy the actual blogging part of it, mostly on the weather site at first but eventually I started to work more and more on The Current Page, which is now my main project since the weather site is somewhat seasonal. I guess a quick answer here would have been that I started blogging because I enjoy building, modifying and running websites.
BenSpark
That is a great story. I too tinkered with things early on and modify most everything I work with. Why do you monetize your blog? What are some companies besides IZEA that you work with?
DigTek
Monetize might not be the right word in my case since it makes it sound like money is being made. I do of course run ads on my sites and the idea is that they would generate revenue, and to some extent they do. Like most blog operators, I would love it if I could make enough from my efforts to live off of, but the reality of the moment is making enough to cover expenses so I do not have to pay for what is essentially a hobby. Since my traffic levels are not conducive to making money using conventional ad networks, I am using several Affiliate Networks as my main source of revenue, with a few select ad networks to back them up and cover the ad slots once my offers have been displayed. I must admit I am new to the Paid Post thing and have yet to apply for one, though I think it is a great opportunity and am mostly waiting for the right offer to come along before I test the waters myself.
BenSpark
A measured stance. From what we’ve talked about so far it looks like you don’t leap without doing sufficient looking first. All SocialSpark opps require disclosure and that doesnt’ sit well with some. What is your stance on Disclosure?
DigTek
That is a pretty general question and my answer would depend on the context in which it is being asked… Also, are we talking my disclosure or someone else’s? (smile) Making the assumption we are talking about disclosing information regarding how a website user’s private details are protected and other things that go on behind the scenes at a website, I think all websites should have a Privacy Policy that clearly states how a users details are going to be treated. If it is a websites intention to sell or otherwise distribute user emails or other details for profit, that should be disclosed up front and not hidden away in the fine print of some unreasonably long Terms of Use page. Financial disclosure on the other hand should be able to be kept private for the most part. Obviously if we are talking about a publicly traded company things might be different, but for the average person or small company that privately operates a website, I see no need for earnings to be public information.
BenSpark
I mean disclosure policies for doing paid posts but I should have made that clearer. What is your favorite feature of SocialSpark?
DigTek
I am rather new to SocialSpark and have yet to fully explore everything that is offered. What I am finding is that SocialSpark is a unique site that seems more geared to the ‘average blogger’, in contrast to most sites of this type that (at least in my opinion, and understandably I guess), are more designed for high traffic sites. For me, the primary things of interest are the chance to network with other bloggers, and of course, the opportunity to make some money posting articles about products I like.
BenSpark
What should be improved on SocialSpark?
DigTek
I am hardly an expert on how to improve a website, and being new to SocialSpark, probably not best suited to recognize weak spots. One idea to consider, in light of the fact that many bloggers who enjoy what they are doing but simply do not get 1000’s of visitors a day have a hard time creating a realistic revenue stream, would be to offer additional options to generate revenue. Ad/post sharing is something that comes to mind, perhaps in the form of a RSS feed or a rotating code ‘ad slot’. A program that groups of bloggers could work on together and share the revenue generated.
BenSpark
That is an interesting idea something that you shoudl suggest. What is the Ultimate Goal for a blogger, in your opinion?
DigTek
To be the most popular blog of course… Really, if that was achieved, any other goal would also have been met, right? Realistically though, as with any venture, one should have both short and long term goals. Keeping short term goals feasible and attainable will help to keep your confidence up while working toward your long term goal, which I feel in most cases would be the ability to generate enough income from blogging that you can make a comfortable living off of it.
BenSpark
Which one plugin would you suggest all bloggers to have?
DigTek
Wow, another tough one… In general terms, everyone should have something to help them with SEO, and a widget like AddThis (or similar) that allows users to bookmark and share your site would seem to be obvious answers to the question. On my sites the vast majority of plugins deal with backend functionality actually, my opinion is that your sidebar is of secondary importance to your main content anyway. That said, a menu would be the most important feature to offer, don’t you think? (smile) I also think that the proper plugins for a blog would depend heavily on the type of content being presented, something that is great for a ‘deal of the day’ site may be useless for ‘nose pickers anonymous’. While not an actual plugin, any site that runs ads would benefit from the use of Google Ad Manager, so I will have to go with that as my final answer. On a side note, I offer a tutorial on the use of Google Ad Manager on The Current Page, you might want to take a peek at it if you are considering using GAM. While worth the effort, at first glance the program may seem a bit overwhelming and my tutorial gives a you good idea how it works and shows how to create a generic setup that should work well on many blogs.
BenSpark
What is the first thing you do when you fire up your browser?
DigTek
I never really close my browser, in most cases it is parked at one of my sites. However, I generally check the dashboard of my blogs and my email to see if anything needs to be done. The most popular item would seem to be wordpress upgrades sadly enough, but every so often there is actual user interaction J
I am always adjusting code, checking something or thinking of ways to improve my sites, so I am at the controls of one dashboard or another whenever I have a chance. Still looking for the magic button that causes hordes of people to flock to one of them, but am pretty sure I have covered everything else.
BenSpark
What is your best blog post ever?
DigTek
I don’t know that I have had one yet… Many of what I feel are my best ideas are still in draft status and what I have published apparently did not answer life’s crucial questions or I would have a lot more readers. My most popular post by far was one I did on the H1N1 outbreak, and while it did include my own summary updates, it was mostly a collection of information from other places, not my own work.
BenSpark
I thought that this post of yours was pretty decent: Do Aliens Exist? / Have Aliens Visited Earth? Outside of blogging what are your other interests?
DigTek
I am not sure I understand the question, what else is there besides work and blogging? (smile) Being the parent of two teenage boys the question should really be “what are your children’s interests”, since that is what you will be doing (another smile). My youngest son is active in baseball and we attend all the games and practices as a family so we have that. Vacation time is another favorite, along with the decisions and planning that go along with it. We also enjoy camping, trips to the beach, theme parks and visiting local events as a family. I also like to sleep and eat J
BenSpark
Ipod or other music player?
DigTek
Yes, it is called a stereo…
BenSpark
Pirates or Ninjas
DigTek
Um… Neither?
BenSpark
Favorite Movie? TV Show? Book?
DigTek
How about favorite band: Pink Floyd
BenSpark
Do you play Facebook games?
DigTek
Nope, don’t play any reindeer games either…
BenSpark
Favorite Blogs?
DigTek
I would have to say I am more of a surfer when it comes to visiting other blogs, my bookmarks include sites that are somehow connected to my websites, computer parts, vacation info, that sort of stuff. Sure, I visit a lot of blogs, but don’t really have them as favorites. I am far more likely to stumble or search for interesting stuff than I am to bookmark any particular blog. If I had to list some favorites though, the list would include several ‘wunderblogs’ at weather underground, failblog, ‘there, I fixed it’, ‘now that nifty’ and perhaps moonbuggy.
BenSpark
Favorite Podcasts?
DigTek
Am I the only one who is not subscribed to any Podcasts?
BenSpark
How does someone connect with you online?
DigTek
The best way to get in touch with me is through the Contact Form on my websites (Email). While I am subscribed to several of the social networking sites, I have to admit that I rarely visit them, and must be missing something because I do not find them all that appealing.
BenSpark
Thank you for the great interview. I appreciate you takign the time to talk with me.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Ben,
I see I misread the question on Disclosure, my mind must have been wandering and I took it at face value. Just to clear up the confusion, I do have a Disclosure Policy as part of the Privacy Policy on my websites that deals with the subject of content side advertising (paid posts). While much of my content may reside in the gray area, I am certainly not making any attempt to mislead or confuse my readers in regard to the inclusion of content that is designed to generate income and have no trouble informing them of that fact. I am sure blog readers understand that without income it is difficult to continue to improve your product, or offer things like contests to reward your readers for their patronage.
No worries DigTek,
I see you cleared things up. Thanks again for the great interview.
After reading this interview, I paid a visit to The Current Page. Great site. Thanks for introducing us to DigTek.