I consider myself Not a Famous Blogger so when I saw the headline “Newlands, Murray Newlands… Famous blogger?” I thought it might be time to ask this guy some questions. And since he he regularly asks other people questions with his interviews I figured I would turn the tables and ask him his own questions plus a few of my own.

I love reading Murray’s blog- he is as he describes others a super affiliate guru and he comes at online marketing with years of experience and expertise.

BenSpark: Tell me about what you are up to?

Murray Newlands: Murraynewlands.com is a blog about online marketing, from the affiliate side to the green world. I write about a broad range of matters within those spheres. Most of my readers are bloggers, online marketers, affiliates and people trying to change the world. This gets me into everything from carbon offsetting to famous people on twitter and of course my blog competition. I am into Facebook and Twitter- I’m happy to say that this week I hit 26,000 twitter followers and I’m still growing. I also have my own affiliate network called Affiliate Heat.

BenSpark: What was your first experience of social media?

Murray Newlands: I have had websites for a number of years including personal websites that never really went anywhere or were updates. Then in spring of this year I was at Affiliate Summit in Las Vegas and engaged with two people who opened my eyes. (Shawn Collins and Missy Ward put on a great event. I have a lot to thank them for in providing the networking medium to make my career possible, as well as Adtech London ). At the affiliate marketing shows I kept meeting Steve Hall who told me he was a blogger. I did not really know what that meant. I did not know who he was except
a cool guy who I hang out at parties with. I was trying to get
some PR for a company I was working for and asked him about his blog.

He told me it was a blog called Adrants; and (sorry Steve) I had never heard of it. Then he told me he gets over 15,000 visitors (that is the number from my memory) per day- that opened my eyes. Then I meet Heather Smith AKA HeatherinBC, an Izea insider, who told me people pay her to blog about stuff- another revelation! We got on like a house on fire. She has been my mentor. I recently did an interview with Missy Ward who also thinks Heather is great.

BenSpark: What is the biggest tip you would give to a newbie in social media?

Murray Newlands: Lots of bloggers work away in isolation. To be a great blogger you need to know about writing, SEO and marketing. Talking with and working with other bloggers is very motivational, and the blogging community is strong for networking and making new connections.
The key is to get yourself out there.

BenSpark: What do your interviewees do that you wish they wouldn’t?

Murray Newlands: Don’t tell anyone about it. I interview some people who blog about it, put it on Facebook, Twitter it, and let everyone know. If it is a good interview and piece of PR about you then you want the world to know and you want it to rank in search engines. People pay lots of money for great PR. If I have done most of the work then finish the job. Promote it and link to it.

BenSpark: Where do you see growth in the social
media field?

Murray Newlands: Online reputation development and protection is increasingly important as well as personal PR. This can be via Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn but blogging with its potential for filling Google searches with either good or negative reviews is being recognised as very important. An example of this is my Clickbooth Review

BenSpark: What do you do to improve the world?

Murray Newlands: I promote green marketing and carbon offsetting to educate online marketers about the possibilities of promoting green products and services to the public.

BenSpark: What is one thing about you that not many people know?

Murray Newlands: I recently bought a Ducatti 900 monster as my first proper motorbike. I had a Vespa before. It is more fuel-efficient than a car for getting around. It is great fun and scares the living daylights out of me all at the same time.

BenSpark: What are your contact details?

Murray Newlands:

• Blog: www.murraynewlands.com

• Twitter: www.twitter.com/murraynewlands
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=635655238
• Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/in/murraynewlands

BenSpark: What events do you go to?

Murray Newlands: Adtech and Affiliate Summit are the
ones that spring to mind.

BenSpark: How do you prefer to communicate?

Murray Newlands: I actually prefer the phone but Facebook
is a great way to contact me.

BenSpark: Who would you recommend?

• BenSpark

• Shawn Collins
• Missy Ward
• Joe Tech
• HeatherinBC
• Steve Hall
• Nadeem Azam
• Jamie Evans
• Ted Murphy
• Dina Riccobono
• Vince Stevenson
• Eric CB
• Jeff Valentine and Anthony Hall Adtech
• Brian Nelson
• Jim and Jennifer Mansfield
• Marc Car
• Samantha Leigh
• Roland Navarro de Ros
• Jess Luthi

BenSpark: What is your best blog post ever?

Murray Newlands: I think one of my earlier ones with Shawn
Collins when I asked him about being a member of the secret super affiliate forum on video. He denied being a member of the secret super affiliate forum and walked away.

BenSpark: What are some odd keywords people use to find your blog?

Murray Newlands: Super affiliate guru, Scot Richter, Famous
people on twitter, solar affiliate, ad:tech London and of course secret super affiliate guru.

BenSpark: Pirates or Ninjas?

Murray Newlands: Ninja pirates on a night out partying.

BenSpark: What one thing would be improved by adding Bacon to it?

Murray Newlands: Hum- now you have me thinking about the great smell and taste of bacon. I tend to eat a healthy breakfast but a breakfast late on a Saturday morning consisting of a homemade burger with bacon and a fried egg in it washed down with a pint of beer, makes for a very lazy Saturday afternoon!

BenSpark: What are things people can do for you?

Murray Newlands: Link to murraynewlands.com from the
word newlands. I am big into working with partners so find a way to work together. If you know someone who would be a great interview then let me know or get them to contact me!

When I interview you make the most of it

BenSpark: I would like to thank Murray Newlands for this great interview. Murray invited me to do an incredible interview with him recently and I’m also in the Murray Newlands blog contest as well. Murray is going to do big things.

I buy a ton of stuff from Amazon.com. If you do please buy through our links and help support BenSpark.com. Thank you.

Copyright (c) 2010 Blog Consultant, Photo-A-Day Photographer & Daddy Blogger - BenSpark.com - Everyday Pictures... Every... Day

Newlands, Murray Newlands… Famous blogger?

I’ve been caught up in another meme, but unlike other memes out there I volunteered to participate. How novel. Most often I get tagged to participate and I must tag someone else. This time I visited a site and saw what the meme was about and I volunteered to give it a go.

The cool thing about this is that it required the participants to get to know the person that they will interview. I learned about this meme from Skeet’s Stuff. There Skeet answered 5 questions from Lisa. The Questions were sent from Lisa to Skeet. Then Skeet posted both the Questions and Answers on her blog. And since I read Skeet’s blog as often as possible I wanted to participate. Skeet has been reading my blog for a while and she knows about me so her questions are great questions. So, without further ado, here are the questions and answers.

1. You say you’ve been taking at least a photo a day for 739 days. Truth now: haven’t you missed a day here & there & cheated just a little?Nope. I have not missed a day of taking a photo. I often take several each day. I have been steadfast in the commitment to taking a photo each day and I have not faltered. I can always get a camera either on my phone, someone else’s phone or something but I get my photo each day. And now everyone knows I always have a camera with me. They expect it they know it.

Sometimes I am unable to post that photo on the specific day and so I have to post it the next day. That according to my own self imposed rules is not a cheat. The photo has to be taken each day. In posting I try as hard as possible to get it posted on the same day.

2. What do you consider to be the best photo you’ve ever taken? Show us, then tell us what makes it so special.

My favorite photo is this one.

This was taken on Great Diamond Island, ME. Allison and I took an early morning walk around the island and I just love how the sun came through the slats of the chair. This photo makes me want to sit in one of those chairs for hours and watch the ocean and boats upon it.

3. You travel around the country as a marketing rep. What exactly are you repping?I market medical software for hospitals all over the country and I’ve also been to Canada. Company name is not to be posted on this blog however. But I can tell you I enjoy working at the company and if I hadn’t been working for them I would not have been able to go so many places and see so many fun things.

4. If a train leaves Dallas, Texas each morning at 6:42 traveling northeast at 73 miles per hour, and another leaves Philadelphia each morning at 7:19 traveling southwest at 68 miles per hour, why do you spend so much time stuck in airports?

Well you have the question wrong. I think you are assuming that the trains will leave on time. I don’t travel by train and I’m not sure if they are as unreliable as planes, I’m assuming that they are not. However if I did start traveling by train they would all be late each and every time. So I can’t very well speak of trains and their schedules.

Why do I spend so much time stuck in airports? Well, there are just so many things wrong with the airline industry. When one of those things happen I document it in a Travel Rant. Once I have moved all my posts over from BenSpark 2: Electric Boogaloo and categorize them here you can click Travel Rant and read all about why I am stuck in airports. I’m interested in finding out how many of those I actually have.

5. There are seven state you haven’t visited and Hawaii is one of them. What’s wrong with you?

Nothing is wrong with me, I just haven’t been given the chance to get out there yet. The two places I really want to go are Hawaii and Alaska. If I was to go to either of those places I would have to get myself a stack of memory cards for all the photos I would take on those trips. I will see both states someday. We can go for a Photo-A-Day walk when I get out there.

Well those are the questions. Thanks Skeet, you did your homework. Now I pose the question to my readers. Who would like to be interviewed by me?

If you are thinking to yourself, “I really need Drew to put on his investigative reporter hat and dissect my blog to find 5 very special questions” then leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”

What do you do?

You will then update your blog with the answers to the questions.
You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

This time-limited offer is available on a first come/first serve basis. I will take up to three bloggers who are ready to bare their souls. I will notify the 3 lucky bloggers on Friday night and send them a message with the 5 questions.

I buy a ton of stuff from Amazon.com. If you do please buy through our links and help support BenSpark.com. Thank you.

Copyright (c) 2010 Blog Consultant, Photo-A-Day Photographer & Daddy Blogger - BenSpark.com - Everyday Pictures... Every... Day

5 Questions