What is the name of your Blog?Interhome Blog - Vacation Rentals and Beyond
What is your name?
Philipp Heinzelmann
Where are you from? (include country, state and/or city)
Warren, New Jersey, United States
What is your current age or age range?
Would you buy 28?
Please describe your blog
Our blog is mostly about the great places, art and food of Italy that would appeal to travelers and vacationers. We aspire to talk about anything and everything italian that should interest people around the world and make them want to visit such a beautiful place.
Describe the main purpose of your blogging, what are you trying to accomplish?
Our goal is to get people to know more about the art, culture and cuisine of italy. We want people to desire italy so much that they travel there to vacation.
What blogging platform do you do and why?
We use wordpress 2.5.1. We use it because it seems to be the most updated and versatile platform out there. It's also one of the most heavily written for blogging platforms when it comes to themes and plugins.
What do you blog the most about?
I would say that we blog the most about art and architecture. We've got a few articles that talk about food and festivals, but mostly it's art and architecture.
What kind of blogs make you angry?
Well, I generally don't visit anything that is going to make me angry, but I suppose extremely hostile and narrow minded political blogs make me angry. Who isn't angered by that? Even the writers seem angry to be there.
Give five of your best blogging tips.
My five best blogging tips huh? Write about sex and pop culture, make sure to have controversial titles and then slap it up on digg. That's practically guaranteed to get your blog crashed with too much traffic. Seriously though, I recommend writing informational pieces about things people are going to want to read again, reference, bookmark and come back to later.
What are some things you would NEVER blog about?
That's an interesting question. I'm not sure there is much I wouldn't blog about as long as it's in good taste. So perhaps the only things I wouldn't blog about are extremely taboo subjects, or things that just aren't useful to the community at large. I like my writing to be helpful to people and not harmful.
Did you start blogging for the purpose of making money and if so, are you making enough money?
I did, in fact, start blogging to make money, and am doing fairly well at it. The interesting thing though is that the more I blog the more I enjoy it and the more I tend to do it for the fun of it rather than the money.
How long have you been blogging?
I have been blogging for about two years now. I started blogging in order to promote my company, but I would say I've also been blogging for fun for about a year.
About how many hours per day do you spend blogging?
I think I spend about three hours a day between reading, researching and writing. I tend to like to read up as much as I can regarding anything I'm going to write about. You never know who might have already written your article until you search for it.
Do you track RSS feeds and if so, how many do you usually track daily?
I track five currently. Most of them are about blogging and SEO.
Do you use Digg, and why or why not?
I use it sometimes. I primarily use it when I'm writing something particularly pop culture oriented. I don't like using it for everything though because the community there is not as conducive to my articles that are, shall we say, more down to earth.
Do you use Stumbleupon, and why or why not?
I definitely use stumbleupon. I think stumble is one of the greatest sites out there because it allows readers to judge sites, which helps people who are legitimately building sites that are useful and interesting rather than sites that are purely for spoof/scam/profit purposes.
What promotional techniques work best for you and why?
I think the best promotional technique is to utilize social networking. Talk to people, build relationships, get the word out through word of mouth.
If you could post a blog on any blog in the world, which one would it be and why?
I think one of the most interesting blogs out there is scotusblog, which is dedicated to the supreme court of the united states. Another one is potusblog. I like them because they illuminate what is going on within the inner workings of the united states without really spinning or smearing anything. I would like to post there simply because I admire their work.
What mistakes have you made that you could warn others about?
I think the biggest mistake I've made over the past two years is thinking that I needed to be some kind of world renowned author to write in a blog. No one needs to be an author to blog about things, you just need to know what you are talking about.
What are your top five blogging site picks and why?
Probably scotusblog, potusblog, itcinterhome (mine), remarkablogger and wolf-howl. I like mine because I get to write there and talk about whatever I want. I like the others because they generally give out useful information and try to keep things unfettered by the more negative aspects of personal opinion.
Have you met anyone offline as a result of your blog?
I've met a few people offline as a result of my blogging, which can be a little bit disconcerting at times, but the more it happens the less uneasy I am about it. I think meeting people offline is fine as long as you have at least some inkling regarding what kind of person they are.
Why do you like Italy?
I love Italy and very much like to explore, talk about and wander through it. I think the best thing I like about Italy is the food, but the architecture is a close second. I'm terribly fascinated by its history, people and culture.
What is the url of your blog?
Interhome Blog - Vacation Rentals and Beyond
