A pro blogger

Darren Rowse would have to be one of Australia’s most successful bloggists – both financially and emotionally.

The self-confessed introvert started off running a blog on Digital Photography that was so successful, he then became a professional blogger.

He’s going to talk to us today about lessons he’s learnt running the blog and how he’s built a business around this, monetised it and where to from here.

Hi Amanda, nice to be at lunch with you.

Yes, it’s a virtual lunch out there readers. Now tell us how you got started. What was your background?

I used to work in churches as a youth worker and really started blogging as a hobby, something I did on the side in the evenings largely just to talk about life and the things I was thinking about. When I started seven years ago it wasn’t a business at all and there was no thought of it being a business.

And what response did you get back then?

It was really good. I just found that it enabled me to connect with people all around the world who shared similar sorts of passions to me. I have fairly eclectic mix of interests as most people do really and it was just great to be able to find people who shared those. That blog grew to a point where it was getting 1,000 or so visitors a day. Just to visit me talking about life.

Did you advertise it?

No, not at all. It was just purely word-of-mouth and back then blogging, and it still is to some degree, was very interactive in that one blogger would read what another blogger was reading and then link to that. And that’s how you found new readers – by the recommendation of other bloggists.

And then what happened, you got interested in digital photography?

Yes, photography has always been a hobby of mine. I’m the kind of guy who always gets asked to bring his camera to the christening or the wedding by cheapskate friends who can’t afford an actual photographer! I guess my first photography blog was just a place to share photos and talk about what I was learning in that space. That has grown over the years to be my biggest blog these days.

And then what did you learn about marketing that blog?

The main thing I’ve learnt over the years is that if you can solve a problem for someone or meet a need that they might have, whether that be to learn how to do something or a need for entertainment or a need to feel a part of a community, if you can fulfill those needs and solve problems for people, they’ll tell their friends about you and share you. Particularly with Twitter and Facebook, where people are sharing links all the time and can spread the word throughout the world very quickly. It’s a very powerful thing to solve someone’s problems.

So what problems do you solve on your photography blog?

The blog as it currently is today is called digital photography school and it really started off as a ‘tips blog’ on how to use cameras. As it’s grown we’ve added a Photoshop section and a digital camera section and we also review cameras and talk about new cameras that are coming out.

We’ve added a forum area where anyone can come on and share what they know or ask questions around that. I didn’t even have comments switched on in the early days but it’s sort of grown into a much more interactive space.

How big is it now?

We started that blog around two and a half years ago and it’s getting around two million visitors a month across the site.

It’s just unbelievable really that people are logging in to read what I have to say and see what the community has to say. It’s been great.

Now I’ve heard you describe yourself as an introvert and that blogging is a way for you to express yourself and your knowledge.

It did enable me to communicate, which is something I love to do without having to be around people all the time. As an introvert I get energy by being by myself and this enables me to be alone but also communicate, which is sort of the best of both worlds for me.

So it’s been satisfying emotionally. What about from the business side, how do you make money from it?

It’s been really profitable for me. It started part-time and as a hobby as I said and then it grew into one day or two a week and then after two or three years it was full-time.

It makes money largely through advertising so selling ad space on the site as well as some affiliate marketing. We recommend a product and earn a commission for any sale that that might generate.

And then it’s led to other more indirect ways of making money as well. I wrote a book last year which got published in the US. Speaking and consulting and training and that type of stuff as well. The blog itself earns money but I also earn money as a result of the blogs.

You’ve got six contractors, you haven’t got any staff, so what would your revenue per year be? Would you be around the half a million or a million?

It’s probably a little under the million mark. I haven’t actually looked at the figures for this year but it would be approaching about half that I would think for this particular financial year already.

What are your costs?

They’re very little; I mean I have an internet connection which that for a long time was my only cost really apart from the time that I put into it. These days I pay writers to do some writing for me and also generate some other content through user generated content as well. My accountant keeps telling me I need to find expenses so yes it’s very lean.

So the tax office actually thinks you do something?

Yes, exactly.

So this would be a very profitable enterprise for you. Maybe $300,000 a year you might make in profit.

Yes.

That’s fantastic. And you work from home?

Yes, all from the front room of our house. My wife works a couple of days. So the kids are with Grandma for the majority of those days so I sort of top and tail the days on those particular days which is great. It gives me flexibility.

So you’ve got the perfect life really?

Yes, it’s pretty great.

How do you sell ads?

It’s through a variety of means. Some advertisers just come directly to us. Once you build a site to a certain point, people seek you out – if you’ve developed a prominent voice in that industry. I do have partners in the US because most of my traffic is US-based, so I’ve got partners over there that sell ads on my behalf and they take a cut of that.

And then there are other ad networks like Google AdSense which I’ve used as well. So between those three there’s always an ad on the site somewhere.