March 29, 2015

Interview with David Leonhardt from thgmwriters: Journey of a Professional Blogger

Today I am going to introduce you with a power blogger David Leonhardt. Interviews are the great way to know person, his struggle, life journey and achievements. It make all of us strong and also give inspiration to create our own world of happiness.

We have already published 10th powerful, successful and inspirational interviews in the series of Journey of a Professional Blogger, interviews on EASKME.com. 
  1. Interview with Marisa Sanfilippo from marisasanfilippo
  2. Sasidhar Kareti from Amfastech
  3. Romano from WPlighthouse
  4. Steve Counsell from SteveCounsell
  5. Alex Young from Smallbiztrends
  6. Interview with Paul Manwaring
  7. Interview with Sef
  8. Interview with Maxwell Ivey from TheBlindBlogger
  9. Interview with Sarah Taher from Muglatte: Journey of a Professional Blogger

Today we are going to publish interview with a professional Blogger, David Leonhardt.


Interview with David Leonhardt from thgmwriters.com  : Journey of a Professional Blogger : eAskme
Interview with David Leonhardt from thgmwriters.com  : Journey of a Professional Blogger : eAskme
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Please share about yourself and your story to enter in blogging? 

A blogger is a writer, first and foremost, but these days to be successful, a blogger needs to also be a promoter and an illustrator.  I have been a writer all my life.  I was co-editor of my high school newspaper and I almost went into journalism.  Instead, I went into politics, then became a consumer advocate, wrote a book (Climb Your Stairway to Heaven: the 9 habits of maximum happiness) and then set up my own freelance writers agency.  Through each position and role, writing was a top activity, but so was promotion.

When I first started online, I was not blogging.  I don't think blogging existed back then.  I did, however, write articles and post them to my website.  At some point, I set up my first blog and found that the format for blogging helped better organize articles and integrate them with social media sharing.  I also find that blogging helps structure online networking and relationship-building in a way that just adding to a collection of articles never could.

I eventually had six of my own blogs, in addition to the blogs of some clients that I was managing - basically I overextended myself.  I now have just two of my own blogs, one of which I make sure not to neglect.  ;-)

How the idea to make your own blog came in your mind? How you found the right people to develop it and what big obstacles you faced?  

My first blog was very simple - I was redesigning my business website, and everyone else was blogging by then, so I decided I needed a blog to better network with colleagues, to keep adding fresh content to my website, to demonstrate my expertise, to pull in traffic from social media and to please the voracious search engines.

My main business blog was part of a brand new website I set up a year-and-a-half ago.  I already had on my team a designer who also does good programming, especially in WordPress, so I decided to build the whole website - not just the blog - in WordPress.  Ian did a bang-up job, as you can see: thgmwriters.

Given that this was not that long ago, I had one big anxiety - how to make sure the new blog and the site itself would be mobile-friendly.  That turned out to be fairly simple with WordPress and the Genesis Framework, so it turned out that the one big obstacle was not even much of an obstacle at all.  I still have a few small details to deal with the Google Webmaster Tools has indicated, but they are small and I will take care of them shortly.

Can blogging really change someone`s life?

The short answer is "yes".  The other short answer is "no".  It really depends on the person and the reasons they blog.

My blog is associated with my freelance writers agency, and the most frequent request we get is for biographies.  People want biographies written for a variety of reason, but a frequent one is to get out their story, as part of the healing process, to make sure nobody else has to suffer through the turmoil that has plagued their lives or simply to let others know that "you are not alone".  These people can greatly benefit from blogging, by reaching out, telling their story and connecting with audiences that respond well to their message.

Clever people who can't or don't want to make it big in the corporate world, can apply their smarts to a blog and make a nice side income, and in some cases even replace their day jobs.  For people who are introverts or hermits at heart, this can be a game-changer in their lives.

What are your favorite Internet marketing tools?

My favorite Internet Marketing Tools are pretty simple.

I like Hootesuite to manage my Twitter accounts.

I like Viral Content Buzz, Triberr JustRetweet to expand my reach in social media and build relationships with other bloggers.

I like Digg Digg to help with social sharing.

I like Skype best of all for building relationships, expanding my reach, doing research and even quickly getting some aspects of projects done more efficiently.  Of all the tools, Skype is the one I use most often during the day.

I like Sharetally to keep track of progress with each new blog post (I'm bad like that, aren't I?)

I like Tweetguru to keep in touch with certain private networks.

And I like Moonsey to determine quickly how important a new (to me) website is.

Of course, I like MyBlogU to make and build relationships with other bloggers.

What is your daily schedule? and how do you maintain your tasks?  

I don't have a daily schedule, as I am balancing work for clients, my own blogging, guest blogging, client acquisition and so many other tasks.  If I have a big writing project, I will often just clear my desk.  However, I do try to catch up on emails and social media first thing in the morning and catch up on social sharing before bed.  I might do a lot of that at intervals during the day, but this way things don't (hopefully) fall between the cracks.

Blogging have different definition for different person. What is it for you?  

Yes, many people think of blogging as a business in its own right, so the blog has to make income.  Others think of blogging as a way to keep a journal.

For me, blogging is a means of keeping discussions going and doors open.  It is a vehicle for networking and demonstrating expertise.  My targets are my peers, potential clients and the search engines.  I want everyone to see that I and my team are connected, that we are in the know, that we have creative ideas and that we are here to help.

For me, blogging is about reputation and social engagement.  If we can be successful with that, business will come.

Which are your favorite blogs?  

There are so many!

I love Growmap.  Gail always makes sure that there is high-quality information and a good mix of high-level and practical advice.

I also love TwelveSkip.  Pauline has the best visuals on the Internet.

I alo like Miranda Marquit, because her insights about professional writing are always so poignant.

I find QuickSprout to be the most useful overall, and I actually save a lot of the editions.

Those come quickly to mind.

How much time do you spend on social media promotion and SEO of your blog?  

My main blog is a weekly blog.  But I also blog through a secondary blog and I have columns at Business2Community and the Chamber Of Commerce. And of course there is guest blogging, and does this count?  I am essentially writing a blog post by answering these interview questions.  I would say that I spend about an hour daily on writing and another hour at least on promotion. 

Message for Readers.  

This is not the first time I say this, nor the last time.  Many bloggers dispense advice for other bloggers, and we often fall into the trap of using.

g words like "must" and "never".  But each person is different and each blog is different and there are very few "rules".  What is a "must" for one blogger or for 100 bloggers might not be appropriate for you.  Read as much advice as you can, but carve your own path as you see fit.  In the end, your blog will tell the world a lot about who you are, so make sure it is about you.

It was a great interview with David Leonhardt from thgmwriters. eAskme team wish him best of luck and bright future. His journey as a blogger is a an inspiration. If you think that can`t do it, then you are wrong. You can do anything. Because every human being has the ability to do anything. So don`t just wait, start right now.

If you want me to Publish your interview, feel free to contact me.
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