OpTempo Interview with Carla Chadwick

Carla Chadwick writes the WordPlay blog.

OpTempo: Tell me a little bit about yourself. How long have you been blogging?

Carla Chadwick: I’m a graphic artist and writer, and as of the beginning of November, a blogger.

OpTempo: Why did you start blogging?

Carla Chadwick: I created my blog because I was writing an article about blog content for an e-mail newsletter with a readership of 275,000 people. It would have been disingenuous to write the article without actually knowing what the heck I was talking about, so I built the blog. I was going along fine until the newsletter deadline was moved up. I then had to rush to fill my blog with enough content to be useful to my readers because the article was going to link to it! Once the newsletter deadline passed, I could have abandoned the blog. But I was hooked.

OpTempo:  What Blogging platform do you use and why?

Carla Chadwick: I use Wordpress because it was recommended by ProBlogger. It’s been a good experience because I get traffic from Wordpress tags. I also was able to make a significant alliance with another Wordpress blog, 99Bloggers.com, which I found by tag surfing in Wordpress.

OpTempo:  What goals do you have for your blog over the next month, 6 months, year?

Carla Chadwick: I’m still assessing that because I have a lot to learn. But at a minimum, I want my blog to be interesting and helpful. (I know that’s boring, but it’s true.) Also, I would like the short story and photo contests I’m developing with 99Bloggers.com to be successful.

OpTempo: What do you consider the most unique thing about your blog?

Carla Chadwick: It probably would be that I understand how difficult it can sometimes be to write well. I try to offer information and tools that specifically help bloggers to improve their editorial content. I know there probably are others doing that, but it’s my hope that my 30 years of production experience gives my content some value.

OpTempo: What do you do other than blogging?

Carla Chadwick: I’m a professional writer and editor, and I also do a little graphic and Web design.

OpTempo: Do you have a hobby?

Carla Chadwick: I love to do crafty-type stuff, like mosaics.

OpTempo: What is your strongest asset in blogging?

Carla Chadwick: I think my writing ability is my strongest asset.

OpTempo:  What was your biggest blogging mistake?

Carla Chadwick: My biggest mistake was not knowing what I was getting into before I started.

OpTempo: What do you consider your greatest achievement in blogging?

Carla Chadwick: My greatest achievement so far has been that people give me compliments about what I’ve created.

OpTempo:  What articles on your blog are you most proud of? What’s your best work?

Carla Chadwick: I just started a new section called Odd News, which I get a kick out of. I summarize several odd news stories every day or two and offer them free to people to put on their blogs or Web sites, as long as they give WordPlayBlog.com a credit.

http://b2bcontent.wordpress.com/odd-news/

I’m also proud of these pages:

Keyword Analysis 101

Book review of Stephen King’s "On Writing"

OpTempo:  Do you have more than one blog?

Carla Chadwick: Sort of. I have an alliance with 99Bloggers.com, which was the brainchild of James Little of New Zealand. All the "99ers," including me, contribute to the content and promotion. Although the blog is new, the traffic is already starting to jump. We look forward to it being a powerful presence in the future. (By the way, we don’t have all 99 slots filled yet, so we’re always looking for good content-based blogs to contribute.)

OpTempo: How do you promote your blog?

Carla Chadwick: First, there’s 99Bloggers.com. I also wrote the article I previously mentioned and have another one in the works. Additionally, I use Stumble, BlogCatalog.com, MyBlogLog.com, Technorati and Digg, and try to network with individual blogs I think are allied.

OpTempo:  Who’s your blogging idol?

Carla Chadwick: My blogging idol is Darren Rowse of ProBlogger. He really understands what it’s like to be a blogging newbie and he never talks down to anyone. Because there’s such a steep learning curve with blogging, I already feel stupid (or at least ignorant) most of the time. I don’t need anyone’s help to make me feel worse. His articles do the opposite. They make me feel like even if I’m not on track at the moment, I could be in the future.

Thanks for the interview Carla. Remember you can have your own interview in OpTempo by clicking on the Get Interviewed button.

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