Gyutae Park is an SEO and Internet entrepreneur who blogs about Internet marketing strategy at Winning the Web. His blog is one of those that I personally enjoy because it seems to be rather unique while covering topics that are also covered by many other blogs. Gyutae has built a large and active following at Winning the Web, and I thought he would have some interesting insights that Traffikd readers would appreciate. Fortunately, he was kind enough to answer my questions, so I hope you enjoy the interview.

Can you tell us a little bit about your background and what motivated you to start Winning the Web?

As a child I grew up wanting to study computer science so I could create video games and robots.  My father made a good living programming computers and in a way I always wanted to follow in his footsteps.  Eventually I attended Northwestern University and decided CS wasn’t for me (I got rocked to say the least).  Instead, I majored in Industrial Engineering because the high-level business and management principles interested me.

I always had an entrepreneurial spirit even during my early years and created a few sites that I monetized through advertising and affiliate offers.  After graduation, I decided against the high-paying consulting and finance gigs that many of my classmates snapped up.  Instead, I wanted to cultivate my passion for Internet marketing and learn more about how I could grow my business.  I took up a job as an SEO strategist for a top search marketing agency and am working on some of my own projects now as well.  I’m learning as much as I can to become a top Internet marketer.

What do you hope to accomplish with your websites and your career in the next few years?

I’m planning on creating an empire of websites in various niches that I’m interested in, particularly Internet marketing and SEO, drums, fitness, electronics, and education.  Drum Set Connect, a forum for drummers, was my first flagship website that I created and now I also have Winning the Web, iPhone Nuts, and lot of others still in the works.

I’m now focusing my efforts on blogs and membership sites and I’m hoping to launch a premium members only section on Winning the Web very soon.  Stay tuned for that, it’ll be great stuff.

Your blog posts are much more original than many other blogs in the internet marketing/make-money-online niche. What is your process for coming up with post ideas?

Thanks, I appreciate that.  Generally, I keep a journal of post ideas and write them down whenever a new one comes to me while brainstorming.  I read so many blog posts and articles related to the industry that I have a general idea of what’s missing and what I can do to add value.  Creativity is key because no one likes old and boring stuff that’s been rehashed a million times.  It’s also important to add your personal touch and share your stories – it’s how people relate and find you interesting.

There are typically a lot of comments on your posts. What advice do you have for those who want to get more comments on their own blog?

There are a lot of tricks you can use to pump up comments on your blog.  However, ultimately it comes down to two things – building relationships and engaging in conversation with your readers.  Do these two things and you should never have a problem getting comments on your blog.  It’s why I try to write though-provoking posts that ask questions and why I reply to all user comments.

Do you prefer working/blogging in the internet marketing niche, or do you prefer working on sites in other industries?

Honestly, I go wherever my passions are.  I’m extremely interested in Internet marketing and SEO so that’s where I focus a lot of my efforts.  I have interests in other areas as well and I’m working on getting sites established there as well.  I especially like blogging in the Internet marketing niche because it keeps me on the cutting edge of knowing what works and what doesn’t to generate traffic.  I can then use that to grow my blog and apply it to my other projects as well.

How has social media impacted your blog and its growth?

Social media is huge and will become increasingly important as the web evolves.  StumbleUpon and Sphinn are 2 networks that bring in a ton of traffic to Winning the Web and I try to actively participate on them as much as possible.  My advice would be to focus on a few social media sites (even niche forums) that are relevant to your site and work to become a valuable contributor.  People will recognize your efforts and you’ll get a lot of exposure to your blog.

How much time do you dedicate to your blog?

I spend upwards of 20 hours a week on my blog, including weekends.  Writing posts takes a long time and promoting them takes just as long.  As I work to build on Winning the Web with a membership site that number will probably grow even higher.  It’s a lot of work and a lot of time for sure – but I enjoy every second of it.

If you’re not already familiar with Gyutae’s work, please take a few minutes to visit Winning the Web.

If you spend much time on social media sites I’m sure you’re already familiar with Shana Albert, although you may know her as TheNanny. Shana is a “power user” at sites like StumbleUpon and Sphinn. She also shares her extensive knowledge at her blog Social Desire. Thankfully, Shana was willing to answer some questions for this interview.

What do you do for a living?

I always cringe when I hear people ask me this question. I never know what to say. Most people can tell what they do for a living in under 10 seconds, but for me I always need to explain. Recently, I have started to say I am an Internet Entrepreneur. I realize that is very vague and usually still requires an explanation, but at least it gives me a Job Title to start with.

The reason why it is difficult to explain is because my job has evolved over the years. In 2001 I was a Webmaster. In 2003 I designed my own Preschool Curriculums and developed an eCommerce Website to sell them. In 2006 I started my first blog and it was in 2007-2008 that I added Social Media Specialist to my lists of things I do for a living. It’s difficult to say all of that when people ask me what I do for a living…… Internet Entrepreneur is my way of explaining everything and nothing all at once.

How does social media impact you on a professional and personal level?

In so many ways. And, many of these ways actually are intertwined between professional and personal.

The Social Media activities I participate in on a daily basis is a pleasure for me. I truly, truly enjoy it all. I love the people I work with/network with online. The people are not only my Colleagues, but my friends as well.

I also love writing about Social Media and I get to do a lot of that on my blog Social Desire and on Collective-Throughts.   I enjoy Social Media so much that it is sometimes difficult to explain to people what is professional and what is personal to me.  It is kind of like a person who works outside their home full-time, but loves the social aspect of working outside their home.  Doing what I do is both social for me as well as work.  Does that make sense?

I love what I do and I adore the people I work with…. How many people can actually say that honestly?

How did you get started with social media?

I have an eCommerce website where I have designed and sell my own Preschool Curriculum . It is 5 years old and I appeared #1 for the term “Preschool Curriculum” for the first 3 years. Then, all of a sudden I began dropping in the serps. I was so busy running my Preschool Curriculum eCommerce website that I put SEO on the back burner. And, I began paying for that stupidity by slowly jumping down to as low as #17 for the term “Preschool Curriculum”.

I made a point to learn what was new with SEO and what I needed to do to return to my much appreciated #1 position. Anyway, I read about blogs and how this Social Media activity can be a great idea to add to a static website. It’s a great way to have original content added to the website often. Not only do readers/viewers love to see updated content on a website, but so does Google. So, that was my first taste of Social Media. Then, in the Summer of 2007 I discovered StumbleUpon and Sphinn. My Social Media activities grew much more in the last year still. And, I am also happy to say that as of the answering of these interview questions my Preschool Curriculum eCommerce site, ABC Home Preschool, is appearing #1 for the key phrase “Preschool Curriculum” in Google. So, I credit that to Social Media and making sure I always remember never to put SEO on the back burner.

How much time do you typically spend on social media sites?

A lot!! Seriously, more than most people think. I love human interaction…. I need it. I always have my social networking sites open, Im’s open, Microblogging open. Even when I’m doing quiet work. So, unless I’m sleeping I’m working within Social Media…. Probably around 19 hours a day on the average.

Do you currently do any work as a social media consultant?

Yes, I do…. Among my other internet duties. I’m also a Web Designer, Webmaster, Blogger, eCommerce Entrepreneur. I just love working within the internet, and as I mentioned in one of my earlier responses, what has happened to me is more of an “evolution”. I have evolved as the internet has changed. So, I was once a quiet Webmaster and I am now a Social Media Specialist who happens to be a Webmaster as well.

What is your most basic advice for new bloggers looking to draw traffic from social media?

My most basic advice is “Converse”. Social Media is all about Conversation, so make sure to join in the conversation through Social Networking and Comments. Add social networking buttons to make it easy for others to join in the conversation…. This way it makes it easy for readers to bookmark your site and/or vote for your site. Spend time networking in your blog’s niche on Social Networking sites like MyBlogLog, Twitter, StumbleUpon, and other Social Networking sites in your specific niche. Comment on other blogs that write in your niche.

Just be real and genuine about what you write about and who you network with…. that is the most basic Social Media tip, but one of the most important I can think of.

As an influential user, do you get a lot of requests to submit/vote for other people’s content?

Yes, I get some…. But not as much as I use to oddly enough. I’m not sure what that is about. But, when I first entered different social networking communities I use to get asked a lot to vote on this & that. But, more recently I only seem to receive a few here and there.

How has social media impacted you in terms of name recognition and branding?

It has been an amazing experience for me. It has only been a little over a year that I have been using Social Media at this extreme level (other than blogging) and I think other than Fran Drescher people online recognize me as “TheNanny“.

Do you use any tools or services to aggregate info or organize everything that you’re exposed to online throughout the day?

UGH!! I’m so bad at this!!

Not really…. I kind of have my own ridiculous system. I can’t explain it even if I tried. And, trust me…. If I tried to explain it I think you all would think I was crazy!!

I’m terribly bad with change, so my system that I came up with myself has worked since I began this Social Media journey and it is pretty much what I’m using today. I have made some alterations to it as I add more Social Media activities. And, I recently started to use FriendFeed a little more to have some organization to my craze.

I’m extremely organized. However, looking at my life, my desk or my computer…. You would never think so. But, it works for me, so I’m sticking to it.

Thanks Shana for taking the time out to do this interview.

I know Blogging Tips is just one of your sites. What others do you own?

At the moment I don’t have many. I update my personal blog www.system0.net sometimes. I also have a joke blog I started last year with a friend but we never really put 100% into it. Apart from the only other blog I update is my tech blog www.electricbandits.com.

How would you compare the opportunity/difficulty of making money from a blog with that of making money from other types of websites?

I’ll be perfectly honest, in many respects it doesn’t stand up that well against other methods of making money online. The main reason for this is time – it can be incredibly time consuming to write blog posts every day. Once your blog has reached a certain level you got pretty good value for the time you spend on your blog but it’s a long journey to that point and you don’t make much money along the way. It’s possible to make money from blogs with a few hundred subscribers however in my opinion a blog doesn’t start making good money until it has about 10,000 subscribers.

Compare this to say, a mini site. I designed a minisite 2-3 years ago which took me about 5 hours to build. I have never updated it since then yet to this day the site consistently brings in $80 a month. On some blog posts I have spent 2-3 hours writing the post and the next day I only have 30 more subscribers so I’m sure you can see what I mean about getting value from the time you spend online.

However, building most types of mini sites is monotonous. It’s incredibly tedious to have to update the same thing for hours on end, copying and pasting. In many respects it’s like a data entry job. Which is one of the reasons why I prefer blogging. I enjoy blogging and it doesn’t feel so much like work which is why I’m ok with making a little less money for my time.

What part of working online do you enjoy the most?

The freedom it gives you. I have no boss, I can sleep late and I can work my work around my lifestyle.

I have spoke in the past about the lack of social interaction in a job like this though and that’s something I miss from working full time. When I worked full time I hated those early mornings, the 2+ hours of commuting per day and most days I hated my job too but I made some great friends and had some great nights out with them.

Unfortunately that’s the price you pay for working yourself. It would be difficult to go back to a full time paid job though which is why I make the effort to keep myself busy by going to the gym and training etc ie. I try not to stay in a dorm room all day in front of a pc!

When Blogging Tips was just getting started, what did you do to promote it and build an audience?

I don’t recall the exact figure but I think I spent close to a thousand dollars on paid reviews at the time. I wrote posts for a month or so and then I planned it so that most of the paid reviews were published on the same week. This helped the blog go from around a hundred subscribers to several hundred in the space of a month or so (I tried to find the exact figure via Feedburner but I recently migrated the account to Google and everything is messed up).

I strongly believe that the hardest part of developing a blog is the first few months. Once you get to around 1,000 subscribers things get a lot easier ie. your posts get linked to more often so you get more traffic organically so you can decrease the amount spend on advertising (or you can keep it the same but by now you should have money coming in too).

Of course, I was an active commenter on a few blogs too but the paid reviews was probably the thing which gave the blog the jump start it needed.

A few months ago you made some significant changes at Blogging Tips in terms of writers, content, and posting frequency. In my opinion as a reader it was a positive move. From your perspective, how have these changes impacted the blog?

They have definitely improved the blog. I had around 15 writers and many were going over the same topics other writers were covering. I had create a private forum room for writers to discuss these kind of matters but most writers were too busy with their own blogs to drop by so the problem continued. It is ironic that with less writers there is now more variety in the topics which are covered.

What are the biggest challenges of running a mult-author blog?

Time and man management. The more writers you have the more people you need to look after.

I do think that for most blogs to be really successful and go over say 30,000 subscribers, they need to get more writers in.

I have definitely made some mistakes along the way with running a multi author blog. I think the secret is to make sure each writer has a focus ie. a certain topic which they will be covering. I also think that it’s better to have a 2 or 3 writers writing a few times a week than 10 writers writing once or twice. This allows readers to connect to authors more and writers will probably take their job more seriously too.

You have a forum as part of Blogging Tips. How hard is it to get a forum moving and to keep it active?

Web development type forums are hard to get started because there are so many of them but once it reaches a certain level they kind of run themselves (compare this with a niche forum which targets a new TV show, this can very quickly get new members and become a busy community).

The forums have certainly grown a lot slower than I had planned though it does seem that many other blogging based forums which have started have had the same problems so perhaps it’s not something I have or have not done.

Making the forum active is one of my main targets over the next few months but I’ve had some problems. In particular, I plan on doing a banner campaign across several blogs but I have struggled no end to actually get these designed! For years I used 20dollarbanners but they aren’t replying to emails. BannersMall were terrible and after a week I had to get a refund because they hadn’t even started it.

Nate Whitehill told me about a guy he uses so I emailed him the other week…but again, that was a disaster. He appeared to be a great designer but more so with static logos than animation and he kept getting things wrong. I asked for a white background and he designed it with a red one. I said I’d prefer to have it white so he did a redesign with a half white and half grey. I then had to remind him I just wanted a plain white background and he emailed me to say that it may be best if we don’t work together haha. I’ll probably just design a basic one myself and advertise it because dealing with banner designers has been a nightmare from start to finish!!!

Do you have any plans (that you can share with us) for adding new sections to Blogging Tips, like the forum and the free themes?

I have a few ideas for adding new features at BloggingTips but most of which will require a programmer to design it from scratch so I’ll probably wait till the site is making more money.

I’ll probably add some more themes over the next few months too. I was planning on picking up some cheap designs via sitepoint/digitialpoint etc but the last one I bought there had horrendous coding and I had to spend a lot of time tidying it up. Therefore it may just go directly to a good blog design company.

I do have some more ideas for the blogging niche but the main question is whether I add them to BloggingTips or a brand new domain and then promote it on BloggingTips. I do want to add more tools for bloggers on the site but I don’t want the site to stray too far away from the main point of the blog.

Are you currently looking for any writers for Blogging Tips?

Yes, I’m always on the lookout for good writers, be it on a guest post basis or full time

I won’t get into too many details about the site because the interview covers all the basics, but essentially Health Ranker is a very new niche social media site that targets the health and fitness industry and it is quickly becoming a go-to source for information in the industry.

I’m always intrigued by successful niche social media sites and I think there are some things that all bloggers and marketers can learn through an interview like this one. So without wasting any more time, off to the questions.

1. Can you tell our readers a little bit about Health Ranker and your motivation for starting the site?

Health Ranker is a social media/news site that is dedicated to all things health, where we encourage our community to spread health news and information. Simply put, it’s like a digg for health. I came up with the idea after realizing that other major social media sites, the big boys, were just not cutting it for health. From a readers perspective, I kept finding that health stories on these sites were not getting the attention they deserve. It was also insanely impossible from a bloggers perspective (I have a weight loss blog) to try and get any exposure from the big “general” sites.

2. How would you describe the target audience?

Our target audience includes anyone interested in health news and information. From casual readers to intense social media users to writers/bloggers wanting to get some extra exposure to their sites and possibly get some story ideas, we try and target those kinds of individuals.

3. Where do you see Health Ranker going in the future?

I see, in the very near future, Health Ranker being a very popular source for health news and information. It has only been a few weeks since our launch and we have already had some great developments. Our voting button has been added to the very popular Diet Blog and Medical News Today. We have also begun a white label service, whereby we become the “health section” for web portals. Our first release should be in 3 weeks. We have also set up strategic partnerships with health sites that will help bring more exposure to the site.

4. Can you tell us a little bit about the benefits of using a social media site built specifically for the health niche rather than using a general news site like Digg?

Where do I begin!? It’s more targeted. No need to filter through endless garbage stories. It’s important to note that each story submission on Health Ranker is checked by a human editor. Some submissions may get by, but we eventually catch them all. This makes for a far better user experience. We have story submissions from small blogs to gigantic mainstream media news sites, so there is something for everyone. As a site owner, it also helps you with your marketing and search engine rankings. I’m not saying to strictly stick to niche social media sites, but you should definitely take advantage of them if they exist in your niche. By targeting sites in your niche, it is more likely that readership and targeted traffic will go up for your site. I won’t even get into the search engine benefits of Health Ranker. I will leave that to Steven…

5. What have you done to promote the site and get users in the early weeks and months of the site?

Three things: I launched the site via my blog, I spoke to a few good friends in my niche (see point above), and I sent a introduction emails to sites I thought would be interested. Health Ranker has not had any exposure from any major sites, so I am very encouraged with where we are at right now. It has been welcomed with open arms and it’s only the beginning.