What is the name of your Blog?Keyboard Culture Global Warming
What is your name?
Corbett Kroehler
Where are you from? (include country, state and/or city)
Orlando, FL • USA
What is your current age or age range?
39 and holding
What makes your blog unique?
There are countless environmental blogs with more coming online every day. Mine is the only one which is dedicated to global warming and is part of the Keyboard Culture Expert Community, offering solutions for your life in a range of topics. Additionally, very few environmental blogs have authors who carry the professional sanction of National Wildlife Federation certified global warming presenter.
If you have a question about the climate crisis and would like to hear from a recognized international authority on the subject, whom would you ask? Keyboard Culture now makes it easy through the addition of exclusive member areas of the site. We are very early to market with this concept and foresee real growth in the segment.
Lastly, an Oscar-winning Nobel laureate, the Honorable Al Gore, has seen fit to give his personal imprimatur to the work of Keyboard Culture by appearing as an anchor expert. I maintain a convenient redirect to that section of the site at
http://www.AlAndCorbett.com
What is the main goal of Keyboard Culture Global Warming?
Individual responsibility is a key component of the world's response to the growing climate crisis. However, even if everyone did as I have and became carbon-neutral, we have passed the tipping point of saving Florida and other low-lying areas from rising seas. Hence, with so much at stake, we must seek to generate a truly (peaceful) uprising from the streets of every village, town and city and demand real action to reverse global warming before we kill off hundreds of millions of people in a planetary cataclysm.
What advice would you give a new blogger?
I founded Keyboard Culture Global Warming in May of 2007 with the goal of writing 3 posts per week at an average length of 250 words each. With only 1 or 2 exceptions, I have met that goal. In fact, in April of 2008, I added narration (in the form of a podcast of each post) to my site. When Lori Prokop and I settled on the core themes for my content, I had no doubt that I had enough ideas in the cobwebs of my mind to provide for 6 months of content. After that, though, I hit a brick wall. It wasn't writer's block per se but I began to founder in the freshness department.
This is 100% avoidable. My advice is to write about a topic which you love and/or which elicits a zealous response whenever someone discusses it with you. Then, create free Google alerts to send you headlines or other blog posts from the around the Internet which are germane to your topic. These ideas are free! Naturally, you don't want to plagiarize anyone else's work but these alerts can catalyze your creative juices. In my case, they surely did!
Have there been any chronic difficulties with writing your blog?
Once I solved the challenge of theme freshness, I discovered that it's been smooth sailing. However, even though I have more than 7,000 unique visitors per month, almost no one leaves comments.
Please, dear readers: let me know how I'm doing. All feedback is welcome!
What kind of blogs make you angry?
The blogsphere is a wonderful creation. Over time, it really can inform and change hearts. However, there are very powerful vested interests who like the world's energy practices just the way they are and do not hesitate to employ any and all tactics to distract people from the truth. I savor the fact that most anyone can start a blog but am saddened when that truth is utilized to slow our march toward renewable energy and environmental sustainability.
Give five of your best blogging tips.
1) Write a minimum of 3 posts per week - 5 would be ideal.
2) Write your posts in batches but don't upload them all at the same time. A hungry reader will return another day.
3) Be informal yet deferential - even professional journalists let their guard down a little bit when they blog.
4) Include video if at all possible. If you employ SEO strategies, outbound links may count against you but in a Web 2.0 world, your readers expect multimedia content.
5) Include photos whenever possible. Too many blogs are plain text. Even if you can't find a video which is on point for a particular post, include a photo to make the visuals of your blog more appealing.
Did you start blogging for the purpose of making money and if so, are you making enough money?
In Central Florida, I have a reputation as an environmental expert with a speciality in energy issues. I began blogging in order to create a global reputation. I am at the cusp of making a full-time income from my blog. By the end of calendar year 2008, I expect profits to be on autopilot.
How long have you been blogging?
I participated in discussion boards religiously for about 2 years before founding Keyboard Culture Global Warming. Now, it is my main focus. Keyboard Culture Global Warming was founded in May of 2007.
About how many hours per day do you spend blogging?
Now that I include narration, each post involves about 90 minutes of total labor, including the establishment of the theme, basic keyword research, composition, image gathering, narration, MP3 encoding and upload time.
Do you track RSS feeds and if so, how many do you usually track daily?
I track about 20 on a casual basis.
Do you use Digg, and why or why not?
I LOVE Digg and use it daily. It is central to my online activities, including research, link sharing and promotion. Everyone should use Digg! Make sure to look in the Environmental category for my work.
Do you use Stumbleupon, and why or why not?
Absolutely! Stumbleupon is another wonderful tool which I encourage everyone to use.
If you could post a blog on any blog in the world, which one would it be and why?
Well, my goal is to return in the top spot in Google when a user searches on "Global Warming" which means that I have a long way to go. As of this writing, Wikipedia has the top spot for a non-news site so my answer would have to be Wikipedia.org
What mistakes have you made that you could warn others about?
When I founded Keyboard Culture Global Warming, I knew that most people conduct their online research with search engines. Even I do that from time to time. However, I didn't make the conscious effort to include search engine algorithms in my compositional process. Hence, while I am proud of the integrity of my early posts, they were not the easiest to find. Now, I know how to make my human and robotic audiences happy and several search terms point to me in the top spot, such as "buy photovoltaic products".
Have you met anyone offline as a result of your blog?
Most definitely! In fact, this has been one of the greatest benefits of founding Keyboard Culture Global Warming. One of my fellow experts on the Keyboard Culture Expert Community is Colette Chandler. She shares the related box with me on http://www.AlAndCorbett.com
Well, when she heard through the KBC home office that I was the co-founder of the Green Earth Expo, she reached out to me with an idea of expanding the Expo beyond Florida. She even traveled from Ohio to Florida in order to attend the inaugural Expo. She and I have become fast friends and it was Colette who put me in touch with the prestigious global speakers bureau, Celebrity Speakers Associates, which now represents me. Without blogging, these important connections would not have happened.
Is writing a blog difficult?
Well, I take a great deal of pride in my work so I set strict standards on my content. Likewise, when I record my narrations, they need to be perfect or nearly so (in terms of presentation and the technology) or I will start over. That being said, I am my own worst critic so I will say that it doesn't have to be difficult. The team at the headquarters of Keyboard Culture are a caring bunch so if web technology intimidates you, give some thought to applying to be a Keyboard Culture expert. If you qualify and are accepted, the difficulty will fade. It did for me.
What is the url of your blog?
Keyboard Culture Global Warming