Interview with BenSpark from IZEA Insider Crew and founder of I’m Not A Famous Blogger
Famous Bloggers Club has the honor of meet a very interesting bloggers and community manager, Andrew Bennett AKA BenSpark from IZEA Insider Crew and I’m Not A Famous Blogger has joined our Famous Bloggers Club and he is with us today.
Q. Tell the world something about yourself and what you do in life? (add Twitter and Facebook profile link if available)
BenSpark: BenSpark: I’m a loving husband and attentive father. I spend much of my time taking photos and also blogging. I love technology and so I paired that with my love of kayaking to create an on the water video series that I called the Wired Kayaker Podcast. I get so many ideas every day that it is hard to remember or hold on to them all. The one constant besides my family is my Photo-A-Day project. I carry a backpack with at least 4 cameras in it all the time along with gadgets, whats-its and shiny things. I’m the guy that the family calls to take care of anything technical form programming the VCR to setting up internet accounts. I’m also a huge Transformers fan and have been collecting them since 1984. I’ve amassed a collection of over 400 Transformer toys.
You can find me on facebook at , Twitter at @BenSpark and one of my favorite sites because it is photo-a-day oriented Shuttercal.
Q. What was the story behind your Blog?
BenSpark: In 1995 I taught myself HTML and created a website on my college’s network. I quickly ran out of space and made the IT department very upset with me. From there I worked as the college webmaster and then with an independent web design company. I didn’t actually start blogging until 2003 with my girlfriend (now wife) Allison. We named the blog BenSpark because my last name is Bennett and hers was Sparks. I think Allison posted about 10 times and I posted much more. 2003 and 2004 were spotty at best but I tried to post regularly. I really hit my stride in 2005 when I decided to take and post a Photo-A-Day and my purpose for blogging was solidified. Each and every day I took a photo and posted it. Sometimes with commentary and sometimes without.
This format expanded more into a way in which I could chronicle our life together. Through it and through the photos I gained an audience. By replying to every comment I built a community. Staying active and engaged has really been an amazing experience.
Q. Have you earned any money from been a Blogger? (How you did it – add links to useful websites for making money online – If NOT then tell us why you blog)
BenSpark: In 2006 Allison saw Ted Murphy, CEO of IZEA) on one of those morning TV shows and told me that I could make money from my blog. I joined PayPerPost in the early days and through that I was hooked. I started making some extra income which I funnel back into my blog to upgrade hosting and buying my own domain name benspark.com. I also bought cameras and equipment to enhance my ability to take more photos. In 2007 I attended the first blog world Expo as well as Postiecon and I got a chance to talk to a large group of bloggers. There I became much more involved in the blogging community. I am currently an IZEA Insider and as such I am an ambassador to the members of SocialSpark on behalf of IZEA. I created a crew called the “I’m Not A Famous Blogger” Crew and through that I educate other bloggers how to use SocialSpark and how to make money from it. I also do a little bit of affiliate stuff with Amazon Associates and a few Affiliate networks like Market Leverage and Share-A-Sale. Much of the money I have earned goes to improving the blog but also to attending conferences all over the country. I’ve spoken at PostieCon, IZEAFest and will be speaking at Affiliate Summit West 2010.
- socialspark.com
- izea.com
- sponsoredtweets.com
- payperpost.com
- marketleverage.com
- shareasale.com
Q. Would you tell us about ONE of your famous posts?
BenSpark: My most famous post was one that I did as a review for the GiSTEQ Phototrackr. The reason it is famous to me is that it is my most visited post. I love taking photos and was looking for a quick and easy way to geotag my photos. I found the GiSTEQ company and pitched them the idea to send me a unit to review and keep. Then we turned that into a contest and gave one away. I set up a flickr group, a facebook group and many other groups to promote the product. It ranks pretty high and it gets tons of traffic, I added some amazon links and I sell about 1 a month. GiSTEQ just came out with the minitrackr and I asked for some to review and to give away as prizes. In the new year I will be setting up another contest and crafting a brand new review for this fun product.
Q. If I asked you to suggest ONE Blogger friend to send him/her a Famous Blogger Club invitation, who you will suggest?
BenSpark: I would suggest The Real Tim Jones – I met Tim at a conference and he is one of the fastest bloggers I know. By the time a session is over he’s already got a complete post up. His speed makes him a blogger to follow because he’s almost always got the scoop at conferences.
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Who is behind NMB?
Hello! .. My name is Hesham Zebida and I’m a Blogger and used to be a Web Designer, I make living from building websites for my clients, I have created NMB to be a healthy community for Bloggers, so join me if you want to share tips and ideasI am also managing the Famous Bloggers Club, FBC is NOT a secret society, but it is exclusive and membership is only by invitation and limited to 100.
FBC has been created for the sole purpose of unifying bloggers that are proactive, dedicated and committed in helping each other to prosper on the blogosphere.
Check My Personal Blog to get to know me better.
Great Interview Ben, ironic that I saw this interview after writing a SocialSpark post and mentioned the “I’m Not a Famous Blogger Crew” and you inside my article. This article goes live next Saturday the 13th on my blog.
I knew you had been blogging a while, but you go way back and have been blogging more than 3x as long as I have.
Dragon Blogger´s last blog ..Optimizing Your SponsoredTweets CPC
[Reply]
Great interview, Ben sounds like a nice guy. I stumbled the post…
Forest´s last blog ..How To Avoid Going To The Supermarket
[Reply]
Hesham,
Thanks for the interview and the opportunity to talk with your audience.
BenSpark´s last blog ..Branson for Christmas
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