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Interview with Ty Hurd - independent Pro Blogger from TysBlog.com

March 19, 2008

Ty Hurd has a background in both real-world and online marketing. He has had the pleasure to work as an independent project, market, and event manager for clients such as Philip Morris,  Microsoft, Monster Energy, L’Oreal, and Motorola to name a few. Ty recently decided to put his marketing experience and interest in internet business together and started TysBlog.com  - a pro blog for pro bloggers.  He offers plenty of tips and advice on content and technical development, promotion and marketing, monetization and more.  He also throws in a post or two here and there for fun too. Here’s today’s post about getting highly ranked blogs to link back to your blog (essential for your SEO efforts):  ”An Easy Way To Get PR5+ Backlinks! Boost Your SEO! “ .  This should give you an good idea of what you might find in one of his daily post…
 
 
 
 
 WJ:       How would you describe your profession?
 

“I’m a professional blogger (among other things), but it takes more than writing skills to be a “professional blogger”.  To be a blog pro you need to be a jack-of-all-trades. First and without question you need marketing skills, then a certain level of technical skills (graphic design, web design, HTML, and the list goes on…),  your writing skills really come into play last.  I know bloggers that are very successful, but are horrid writers – they blog, they teaches, they help the “readors” (and that’s exactly how they sound… it’s too funny).  In addition to blogging I’m also a freelance professional photographer – but that’s a whole  other questionarie ”
 
 
 
 WJ: How did you get into New Media/Online publishing/Online communications? Did you see yourself getting into this field early on? What did you used to do “in an earlier life” (prior career, if any)?
 

“I worked as the lead technician and as a salesman for an telcom many years ago (circa 1994). One of the duties I volunteered for was to put together the new company website. I really had no idea what I was doing, but was I was fairly technically savvy, had leanred a bit in HTML, and figured I could, well, figure it out.  Several weeks later (more like a couple months), we had a  brand spankin’ new 50 plus page website. That was when I really started dabbling in web design and online marketing.  My next career was working in experiential and event marketing. I stayed in that field for years, learning about cross promotions, soliciting sponsors, marketing virally online ,and so on.  It eventually came to be the that the combination of my prior experiences led me into blogging professionally.”
 
 
 
 WJ: What do you think are the turning points that helped make webmastering/online publishing/online marketing a lucrative business field?
 
“Many would say it was the .com boom in the late nineties, otheres the advancements in the technology that drives the web, while still others might say the general public’s acceptance of the internet as a medium for sales.   I say — all of the above.  It would also not be possible without the ever increasing amounts of bandwidth available to anyone with a phone line or cable connection.  It’s like going from a corner store that had only one shelf, with room to hold one product, to a never ending plethora of anything and everything you might ever want.  All available on that same shelf, right there before you.
 
 
 

 WJ: In your opinion, what is the most exciting recent development in online publishing?
 
“Blogs.  I’m confident someday they’ll take over standard websites as the your primary source of news and information.  We may even see ecommerce go the way of the blog.  This medium would allow merchants ever changing store fronts, daily specials, and so on.”
 
 
 
 WJ: What do you think are the essential skills to become a successful webmaster?
 
“WebMASTER? The budget to hire many different experts, consults, and programers.”
 
 
 
 WJ: Being a webmaster has gone from being a one-person job to a field that allows specialization. Is that a good thing or a bad thing for your business?
 
“It isn’t an issue for me at this point.  That’s one of the benefits of being a  blogger.  I can keep it simple and still succeed. Not that there aren’t a lot of things I would like to add and do with my blog but can’t as the list of available technologies is beyond my limted expertise (.PHP, HTML, JAVA – WTF?).  Hopefully I’ll make a truck load of money with my blog, then I can refer to previous question about “successful webmaster skills.”
 
 
 

 WJ: Do you think the industry is regulated enough? Have the authorities or the Net’s relevant governing bodies become too restrictive? Which areas of online activity do you think NEED further regulation?
 
 
 
“NO!”
 
 
 
 WJ: What are the challenges the industry is facing today?
 
 
 
“With different technologies and new platforms coming out on practically a daily basis it can be hard to keep up.  A little standardization would be nice, but then again that might hinder progress and that’s something no one wants.  Another thing that may become a challenge is lack of net neutrality.  If the government and major telephone and cable companies (Comcast, Time Warner, ATT, and Verizon to be exact) start making the decisions on who gets access to the internet and how much each gig of bandwidth costs, the whole world is in for a different future online.  You can go to: http://savetheinternet.com/ to read more on the subject and sign an electronic petition that will automatically be sent to your congressman”
 
 
 
 WJ: What would your advice be to someone who is just getting his or her feet wet in online business?
 
“Read, read, read, read, and read some more.  Unless your goal is to be a specialized programmer working on one platform, you need to learn a little bit about a lot of things. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different technologies. Learn a little HTML, get familiar with .PHP, try some Flash. It’s really not that difficult to learn just a little – you don’t need to be an expert. Most definitely read a book or twenty on internet marketing.  Just do all you can to learn a little about everything. But most importantly, and I can not stress this enough – YOU MUST TAKE ACTION!  You might say that you’re gonna do it someday, but you know what? Someday will never come…  Be proactive and take action now and you will find success.”

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