Oh, to be able to read in French! Alain, our next featured blogger is on a great adventure to the US and is telling his French readers all about it, in words and pictures. I’ve looked around his sites and while I can’t read the posts, the photos themselves are moving!
When I asked you all who you’d like to see interviewed, or if any of you would like me to interview you, Alain raised his hand. I am sure you will enjoy his story as much as I did!
Name: Alain
Blogs: L’homme du train and
From Besançon to Philadelphia
(both of them are written in French)
Tell us when you started for first blog, and what it was about.
I started my first blog in 2000. It was mostly about me and about stuff I like: Software development, interesting websites, etc. It did not last very long though. I gave up after 3 or 4 months because I was the only person on earth to read it!
How many blogs have you started, and of those, how many do you still update?
I believe that I have started 5 or 6 blogs and two of them are still being updated. I gave up the other ones because of lack of time and motivation to keep writing on them. Passion is essential to run a blog successfully.
At what time in your blogging journey did you realize you could turn this cool journaling into a business?
In 2009, the traffic on my personal blog started to increase dramatically. A good tribe of followers was built and it was a new challenge for me because I wanted to keep these readers interested in my writing. Day after day, I wanted to write more and more. I wanted to become more personal, closer to my readers. Then I decided to start writing a book about my adventures in the US. I intend to release it at the end of 2010: My blog will then become a business.
In December 2009, I started a more business oriented blog called “l’homme du train” on which I share my knowledge about blogging and how to make money out of it. The response from the readers has been quite good so far so I believe that I will be able to create and sell my first product very soon.
What has been the hardest part of your blogging journey?
In my opinion, the hardest part was to stay focused and motivated when the traffic would not reach my expectations. For instance, I would write an article, expect a lot of feedback and interactions with my readers and in the end the article would just get one or two comments. It’s frustrating but once you understand the reasons why things did not work out, you learn and grow and the following articles are much more successful. Failing is sometimes necessary to learn new things and get more experience.
If you sell a product of your own on your blog, what is it, and why do you feel it’s important for bloggers to have a product of their own?
I do not sell any product yet but I do believe that selling a product is a key element to successful blogging. It is a great way to establish authority and to show that your blog is more than a succession of articles: It’s an actual business. By selling something, the blogger shows how serious she is about it.
Who designed your blog and how important is having a good design?
Being a software developer, I have designed all of my blogs myself. I usually find a nice free template that I modify and publish once I’m satisfied with the result. A good design makes a huge difference: Redesigning my personal blog six months ago has resulted in a 100% increase of the number of visitors since then!
If you were just starting and you had $100 to spend on your blog, where would you spend it?
I would buy a great hosting for it because I had several hosting problems in the past and it is really unpleasant, to say the least. Never hesitate to pick a good web hosting company even if it is more expensive.
What is your passion?
My main passion is soccer but I’m interested in many other things like photography, travel, books, video games, movies… I could probably start a blog about any of these subjects!
I am a software developer who came to the US in 2008. Since then, a lot of things have changed in my life. I travel a lot (more than 20,000 miles in 2009!) and I write about my adventures in the US on my personal blog along with some of my best travel pictures. I started a second blog in November where I share some ideas, tips and tricks along my way towards financial independence.
Thank you, Alain, for sharing your story with us and for inspiring me with your gorgeous photography!
You are reading Interviews in 2010 Read more from this series of articles.
Yep, the world can always need more European Bloggers
Too bad my french is below-disastrous, couldn't he blog in Spanish or German ?
I'd love to see more Europeans who are not from Britain but blog in English
Thanks for the interview Erica! Isn't the Manhattan bridge picture gorgeous?
Mars: Unfortunately I don't speak Spanish and my German is… well, embarrassing! Blogging in English is something I will definitely try at some point.
It is! I had such a hard time picking pictures to include and would have brought in a whole lot more of them if they didn't make the post seem so long. haha Besides, we want just enough to make people want to visit your site to see more, right?
LOL I'm pretty much English-only. I know just enough Spanish to joke about being able to ask for a glass of water, politely. Would love to learn more, and even have a nice course sitting in my closet… one of these days! haha
To my credit, I am a bilingual of sorts… I know quite a bit of sign language…
I'm with Mars here – the more European bloggers, the better! Interesting interview, and I wish I could remember all my French, but learning Spanish did it for me – it seems I can only handle two at once!
Another nice interview, Erica.
I've always admired folks who could speak more than one language. I studied Spanish as an elective back in Jr High, but have forgotten most of the little I did grasp back them.
Big up the Europeans
It’s amazing how many bloggers don’t blog in English. I know a few Welsh Language bloggers – many of whom are published authors (as in real books, not just ebooks)
How cool, Rhys! I know one who blogs in both English and German. Separate blogs, separate topics. But, I think it is fabulous that he can do both!