An Interview with Don Charisma

Don Charisma kindly agreed to an interview with me with regards to my research on blogging and its effect on writers. Don is an avid blogger[1] who is clearly eager to promote himself and his brand through blogging. Therefore, an interview with him proved very worthwhile in learning about blogging as a form of self-promotion.

Do you use blogging as a way of promoting your work?

Yes. First and foremost I believe promoting the brand, business or individual comes first. So my blog is partially about that. I work in partnership with another guy. We have a web design/development/seo firm http://DonCharisma.com, which is promoted (a little) out of http://DonCharisma.org

Is your blog a self-contained project, or do you use it as a means of exposure for your projects?

Both really. DonCharisma.org is my personal/professional blog. It could and has been entirely self-contained, apart from outlying social media such as tumblr, facebook, twitter etc. Currently our projects on DonCharisma.com are on contractual basis for specific clients, whom we have a duty of care to protect their privacy, so we don’t publicise our client’s projects. Well that is unless it’s been agreed that we are doing that for them as part of their SEO.

I notice that you have adverts on it. Does the blog produce a reasonable profit or a token one? Please elaborate if possible.

I joined the WordPress.com WordAds program a few months ago. Income is entirely a token one, it pays around 1/4 of my electricity bill per month or a meal in an inexpensive restaurant for two people. It’s pay-per-impression advertising which is a small fraction of a cent per CONFIRMED impression with the advertiser. Practically speaking to get meaningful amounts one would need 100,000 of impressions per month – Words of the WordAds team, not mine!

As for making a profit, the expenses far outweigh the income, so it’s just a little money that helps.

What is your main motivation behind writing your blog?

I enjoy the social and community aspects of writing the blog. I enjoy the challenge of design, the art, the technology and also the interpersonal challenges. So main motivation is being the best I can be at what I’m doing, whilst having fun and enjoying. Charisma hopefully is contagious and others are inspired too.

What do you see as the future of writing? 

I don’t consider myself “a writer” in though in actual fact I am. Everyone that has a blog is a writer and a publisher. Artists and photographers still have to write a little and still have to publish.

Blogging has improved my writing tremendously, and given me the opportunity to write in many different styles. Without blogging, this wouldn’t have been possible. Blogging gives a reason for writing. So I’m very much pro-blogging as a way of encouraging writers to become the best they can be.

For the future of what I’m doing on my blog (which isn’t the future of writing per say), I hope to be a positive influence in unlocking people’s creative potential. Much in the same way I have and I am unlocking my own creative potential. I really like the “improv” way of spontaneously creating, and I am working on methods that are applicable to creativity in blogging that others can use.

So bottom line I’m entirely pro-blogging as having an almost entirely positive influence on the future of writing.

[1] http://doncharisma.org

Photo from: doncharisma.org