Q & A: Mwangy’s Musings…

Francis Mark Mwangi, author of Mwangy's Musings...

Francis Mark Mwangi (also known as Eng. Mwangy) is an engineering student at the University of Nairobi.

One can read his blog here…

The 411…: Can you give us a picture of yourself?

Mwangy: Alright here you go… though I must warn you ain’t too photogenic.

The 411…: When did you start blogging?

Mwangy: Its been about a year now.

The 411…: Did you have any specific goal in mind when you began blogging?

Mwangy: Not really. All I wanted to do was express myself in a form anyone can access and question any issues I had or give me other perspectives. After all, they say the masses have the answer to everything right?

The 411…: What was the first blog you ever read?

Mwangy: Can’t quite remember but it wasn’t Kenyan and at the time thot it was a rather silly idea. . . penning everyday about just bout anything. . . .had thought of it as a form of digital diary. . . .and am not that into documenting my life. . . . but it caught on. . . just like a good idea well implemented.

The 411…: How much time per day do you spend on blog-related activities (i.e. writing, promotion, design etc)?

Mwangy: to be honest. . . . very little. . . unfortunately my ‘school’ career path isn’t too web based and so I have little precious time on the internet(sufficiently fast internet at that) though may have found a work around to that. . . watch this space!

The 411…: How do you attract traffic to your blog?

Mwangy: I have linked it to my facebook account and I include the blog URL on my email signature. . . . Am also searchable on (visible to ) search engines indexes

The 411…: What do you think sets your site apart from others?

Mwangy: I don’t really follow too many rules on what /how things need to be said. . . .I wud rather just say wots on my mind. . . .

The 411…: On your blog, is there a post that has gotten the most powerful reaction from people?

Mwangy: Yes, My first Entry on the reason why safaricom brought m-pesa to the people.

The 411…: In your most creative words, finish this sentence: “To blog means…”

Mwangy: to spew forth knowledge, insight and a good sense of humor. . .

The 411…: If you weren’t blogging now, what would you be doing?

Mwangy: Reading the reviews of the latest hardware to be churned out by the gaming companies. . . .

Quickfire Round:

1) Your favorite browser?

~ Google chrome.

2) Your favorite search engine?

~ Google though lately Bing is upping its game .

3) Best thing about the Net?

~ Interaction. I have met and made some good friends/resourceful people poking around the Internet.

4) Worst thing about the Net?

~ It affords bad evil characters with anonymity thus innocent ones are taken advantage of.

5) What is your favorite instant messaging software?

~ Yahoo Messenger.

Q & A: White African…

Erik Hersman, author of White African...

Erik Hersman (also known as Hash) is one of the co-founders of Ushahidi & the founder of Afrigadget.

(A short bio can be found on his blog…)

The 411…: Can you tell us a little about yourself?

White African: I grew up in Kenya and Sudan as a son of missionaries, which as you might guess means that I’m a proud graduate of Rift Valley Academy in Kijabe. After school, I left for the US and got into web technology. I’ve been writing about both low- and high-tech in Africa at WhiteAfrican and AfriGadget for a number of years now.

The 411…: How did you get into blogging?

White African: It was really quite simple, I had been in the web space for a while and just decided that I wanted to try this blogging thing that people were talking about. My first blog posts had nothing to do with Africa or technology, I only found my comfort zone there after my first couple months.

The 411…: Why did you decide to start a blog?

White African: I think it was just trying something new. Since I had never kept a diary it wasn’t for that purpose, it was more about just sharing and thinking outloud.

The 411…: What was the name of your first blog?

White African: WhiteAfrican of course. It’s funny, I set that up as a tongue in cheek name for a blog, having no idea how popular it would become. I think it’s edginess catches some people off guard, but once they realize what it’s about, they jump right in.

The 411…: What blogging platform did you use to start with? What are you using now and why?

White African: WordPress. Always WordPress, and I don’t think I’ll change anytime soon. It’s the best tool out there, has a great community behind it and it’s free.

The 411…: What makes a good blog post?

White African: That depends on the type of blogger that you are. For me, the best blog posts are those that engages my readers and causes a dialogue to happen in the comments and on other blogs.

The 411…: What would you prioritize? Content? S.E.O.? Traffic? Readers?

White African: Content is king. Focus on content that matters to readers and everything else falls in line. It takes time though, give it a good 3 months to really get going. Blogging is a a long-term strategy for both people and businesses, you can’t expect to see returns until you’ve paid your dues.

The 411…: What’s the best thing a blogger can give to his readers?

White African: Consistency over time. There are so many flash-in-the-pan blogs. Some of them are great writers, but so many of them don’t make it past 1 year.

The 411…: List your three favorite blogs (the ones that you read the most).

White African: I don’t really have 3 favorites, but here’s a random sampling of the ones I follow:

• Chase Jarvis’ Blog – I’m into photography as an amateur, and always enjoy reading this one.
• The TED Blog – Always great content and links to the TED Talks.
• The Faust Chronicle – Up until recently when he quit…

The 411…: If someone was interested in blogging, what would be a few things you would suggest?

White African: Start by reading blogs. Get involved in the commenting and get a feel for how blogging is different. Find the community you’re going to be blogging with. Think of a good name. Only after you’ve done that should you start your blog.

Quickfire Round:

1) Your favorite browser?

~ Firefox.

2) Your favorite search engine?

~ Google.

3) Best thing about the Net?

~ Information availability.

4) Worst thing about the Net?

~ It’s slow as hell in Kenya.

5) What is your favorite instant messaging software?

~ Skype.

10 Reasons to do Blog Interviews…

Here are 10 reasons why you should think about doing blog interviews, too:

1) Mix things up. It is difficult to be a news beacon, constantly finding the latest of what’s going on before others. Even if you’re great at it, you have to sleep sometime. Someone else may have the inside scoop.

2) Create a real conversation. Some of the top diggers have done a good job of every post being a conversation in their weekly podcast, the Drill down. They make a point to have regular guests as well. Social Blend does a fine job of this as well.

3) Paid reviews seem cheap. It comes off as more believable to have an interview over a paid review any day.

4) Interviewing will get you links. You’ll get links from the interviewee at a minimum, potentially along with part of their audience as well.

5) Other people will get the idea and interview you. Since you will now serve as a forum for others to get noticed, people will want to interview or quote you as well.

6) Become an influencer. If you interview a software company, you should be on their list of private beta testers. This will allow you to get a head start in the next new new thing.

7) Bring in a new discipline of expertise. No matter what your blog focus is, you can bring in folks from all sorts of disciplines. Squareoak had a good example of this recently, considering that they write a social media blog and interviewed an economist.

Freeze writer’s block in its tracks. Can’t think of anything meaningful to blog about? A good back and forth interview will not only produce a sweet piece of content (the interview itself), but will also get you thinking about follow up questions and new post ideas.

9) Beef up your journalism skills. Show the world that you are more than a borderline crazy person / ranter with some solid journalism skills. Doing some background on the interviewee and verifying sources goes a long way, and shows that you know your stuff.

10) It helps you get new gigs. Regularly doing interviews brings such a fresh source of content that you will reach your blog goals more easily, be it RSS subscribers, consulting, or new blogging gigs.

Source: NowSourcing.