Blogger talks about her blog
Monday, 21 June 2010
Sharing your thoughts online can be both fun, lucrative
BY ANA SANTOS Columnist

A question Noelle de Guzman is always asked is “What is a kikay runner?” de Guzman has already posted an answer to this question on her blog www.kikayrunner.com, “Well, for me it means being a female recreational runner who, besides being interested in all that sports science has to offer when it comes to helping me run faster, also likes looking good while doing so.”

When she first started running and started falling in love with the activity, de Guzman started a blog on running, thinking that this would keep her motivated to train towards running her first marathon in July. And you can make sure that part of her preparation is to make sure that she looks damn good running.

While she has yet to make a significant amount of money from her blog, de Guzman managed to grab a number of gigs through it, “There are a lot of perks in terms of giveaways and other freebies,” says de Guzman relishing the idea of doing what she loves and actually getting rewarded and recognized, even if not paid, for it. Working the tracks, she scores interviews with other runners for her blog’s content.

Attracting online visitors
On building an online following, de Guzman offers this advice to other bloggers, “When you write intelligently and passionately about your topic, you make yourself a trusted source of information. I like it when people tell me they learned something new from reading my blog posts, and will be back for more.”

She said that she always tries to post articles on events as close as possible to the actual date that they would happen because runners may be looking for information or stories about them. “That way my blog serves as a practical guide,” de Guzman explains.

Creating and sustaining rapport
A blog unlike an ordinary website is interactive on a very personal level. On this, de Guzman offers this parting shot, “I try to answer each comment posted, and maybe even throw a question back on the person who posted the comment or add a comment of my own about what a reader has posted. It’s a give and take thing. When I visit other blogs and link them to mine, I try to comment relevantly on their posts. Sometimes I may even write a post inspired by a topic I’ve read from other blogs.”