Professional Blogger

Professional Blogger

NunesMagician

Seattle, WA

Male, 33

I am the creator and writer of Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician, a blog dedicated to Syracuse University sports, which gets over 500K pageviews/month and has been featured on ESPN.com, SI.com, Deadspin.com and others. I am also an Adjunct Professor for Syracuse University on the topic of blogging (seriously!). I currently live based on income generated from my blogs as well as books, magazines and related writing jobs. For more, visit...

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22 Questions

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Last Answer on March 04, 2013

Best Rated

How did you deal with competition when you started your blog? I have a blog that gets moderate traffic, but I have two major competitors that have caused me to stagnate a bit.

Asked by Spud almost 13 years ago

Fill in the gaps. What stories aren't being covered by your competitors that you can capitalize on? Are they posting 3 times a day? You should post 5 or 6. Create linkposts that link to your competitors but position yourself as the "source" from which all news flows. Maintain the friendship, there's value in sticking together and cross-linking. But just always think about what's not being done and how you can become the "expert" on it.

Do you get overt negativity or personal attacks in your comments? Did it take you a while to build up an emotional shield to that kind of anonymous nerd-rage?

Asked by Steven almost 13 years ago

Yeah, it's an unfortunate effect of writing on the Internet that you will attract trolls and negative people from time to time. The thing you have to remember at all times is that it's not about you. When someone anonymously comments about how much you suck or how the topic you wrote about is dumb, that's about them and their issues. They're just taking out their anger/boredom/depression on you and your article. It's not about you, so try not to take it personal. Sometimes it can feel a little overwhelming when you get a bunch of negative comments so its also good to remember that only 1% of all readers will actually take the time to comment. So even though you've got three negative comments, there's probably hundreds of readers who would disagree. The key to avoiding negative comments is to really focus on your community. Making people feel safe to comment, making people feel like it's a fun environment to be around, etc. The community will become self-policing and the trolls won't feel welcome. And of course, don't be afraid to yield the ban-hammer. Commenting on a blog is a privilege, not a right. Feel free to take it away if someone misuses it.

What kind of day job(s) did you work while building your blogger livelihood? I'm having trouble figuring out what day job will let me earn enough to sustain myself without killing all of my creative energy when I get home at night.

Asked by JoyceK almost 13 years ago

Good question. I'm not sure what a "good" day job would be for a blogger. I suppose don't do what I do...have a 9-to-5 in which you're required to be working all day. Otherwise, you're missing out on the critical hours to hit your audience and probably wasting your companies' time and resources when blogging when you should be working (I know from experience...). If you can find a job in online media in any form, that might be a great way to learn the tricks of the trade and be in the online space. The more time you spend there, the better you'll be at knowing how things work once your blog takes off. It might sound weird but a job that has you writing all day might not be beneficial to your blogging. You'll be burnt out by the time it comes to write for yourself.

Hey, What do you recommend for someone that can not do Amazon? The state I live in is one blocked. Any other rev streams you would recommend?

Asked by Charles~Humble Mechanic over 12 years ago

I recommend checking out Commission Junction (http://www.cj.com/). They give you access to tons of different site affiliate programs. This way, you can emulate the kind of products that you could have offers on Amazon and really find partners that are perfect for your site and audience.

What social media elements (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) do you consider to be must haves on any blog?

Asked by The Fleisch about 12 years ago

I saw a stat not too long ago that basically said 80-90% of most blog social media traffic comes from Facebook and Twitter. If you do nothing else, that should be your baseline (just make sure your pages aren't just linkdumps, add personality to both). Depending on how much time you have and what your topic is, you can branch out from there. Google Plus won't do much for traffic but it will make your blog come up first in Google searchs that people in your circle make, so that's worthwhile. A Tumblr and Pinterest feed can come in handy for pushing traffic as well but require more time for every post you make.

You mentioned your sources of indirect income (e.g. selling books, classes, etc). What if I DON'T have some ancillary "thing" to sell, and I just want to write prolifically in a blog or two? Am I a complete idiot to hope that I can make a sustainable income on that alone?

Asked by powerofthepen almost 13 years ago

Well, not a complete idiot... ; ) The truth is, with a massive readership comes revenue. The only bloggers I know of that make money on ads and affiliate programs alone are those who get millions of pageviews a month. And even then, they're usually also selling stuff. The only other ways to start making money are to join a network, who will bring in ad revenues/sponsorships, or to build up your community to the point where you can attract sponsorships on your own. Safe expectations are that you'll be able to pay your electric bill every month with blog earnings. As you get bigger, those expectations will as well.

Just read the book "Social Media Is Bullshit", which debunks the idea that social media is helpful for growing a business, and that it really only helps celebrities and large companies that are already entrenched. Do you agree with that?

Asked by goldenea9le almost 12 years ago

I haven't read the book but I'm intrigued, I'll check that out. My personal opinion is that social media can't make or break a business but...it certainly can't hurt. If you've got an amazing product, social media is going to help spread the word about that product a whole lot faster than if you didn't use social media. BUT...if you have a crappy product, no amount of social media will do anything to change that. Social media is a tool, not an answer.