What is the name of your Blog?King of Telecom
What is your name?
Harris Von Essen
Where are you from? (include country, state and/or city)
Philadelphia, PA
What is your current age or age range?
34
Please describe your blog
Blog that focuses on next generation solutions in the telecommunications industry as well as other IP concerns. Each week the King of Telecom tackles a new issue in the telecommunications arena to bring insight and trends to readers to understand the rapidly changing industry.
Describe the main purpose of your blogging, what are you trying to accomplish?
I'm trying to give readers insight to an emerging all IP world as it relates to the telcommunication industry. Moreover I'm trying to share my industry experience in a non-biased, non sales oriented way so that they can learn and make intelligent decisions in the future that might affect their businesses or themselves. I am also trying to self brand myself and get my name, my thoughts, my knowledge, and to some degree my evangelism out to my marketplace. There are many mis-conception in telecom these days and the IP world is moving quickly. My goal is to speed up the understand of how these market chnages will affect people and companies and do so in a non technical way or in an easy to understand enviroment.
What blogging platform do you do and why?
Blogger by Google. It was the easiest way to get out there quickly and I like Google in general. However I do have my own domains at this point and eventually I will host the site on my own with the help of Quonix Networks, a data center and enterprise hosting facility out of Philadelphia. At some point I will develop my own site and not use someone elses tools by right now I figure there are a lot of good tools out there; why not use them.
What do you blog the most about?
Misconception in the telecommunication indusrty and good ideas on how solutions could be architected better. I also like to focus on on real world knowledge sharing in my industry like "4 things all people should do before signing telecom contracts" so that readers can learn how to avoid the risk associated with next gen IP solutions.
What kind of blogs make you angry?
Blogs that do not attempt to be unbiased or share common practices that any good journalist would practice. Blogs are simply a form of personal publishing aided by the web but when they are not maintained under some good general guidelines of writing and publishing then they tend to become advertisements or propaganda in my mind. Its about good knowledge sharing at the end of the day and people need to hold themselves accountable to that just like someone would who would publish something academically. This is one of the reasons I ask my readers to share or comment and to keep myself in check about what I write so that we all can learn together.
Give five of your best blogging tips.
1.Treat blogging like a job. Consistently push yourself to write something new at least one a week or once a month to keep content fresh. No body reads a magazine or a journal if it comes out once a year if topics are timely. 2. Edit and edit and the edit some more. Writing is difficult and you will find over time that the more you re-read something you'll want to revise it to stay on point or not to confuse your audience. My first real long blog amazed me on how many mistakes I made even though I edited a few times before publishing. I must of changed it three times since then. 3. Be unbiased and be fair to opposing points of view 4. Be simple and to the point. Every journalist or good communicator would agree with that logic and your readers will benefit from it. 5. Use humor when ever possible - its the highest form of language and it will keep the reader engaged no matter how mundane the topic is your are blogging about.
What are some things you would NEVER blog about?
My own company. Even though I myself am in sales if I were ever to write about my own company I would find it to be difficult to be honest with my audience and improper. I may in the future write about other companies in the industry but I will try and focus on strengths not mud slinging or negative ideas that don't aid to the learning experience.
Did you start blogging for the purpose of making money and if so, are you making enough money?
I did not start blogging for the purpose of making money but I did do it to further my career. I believe if you can share knowledge with people and do so freely and without bias then you provide value first without asking for anything in return. This is seen in business as the easiest way to promote yourself because it is truly honest and sincere. Those were my initial intentions for the blog as I truly want to help people. Moreover I want people to know who I am.How long have you been blogging?
I am just starting out but my goal is to have enough there in a short time frame so I may be able to present it and get published in other forms of media.
About how many hours per day do you spend blogging?
I allow myself about 4 hours a week to write. that might all be in one day or it might be spread out throughout the week. The four hours is a committment to myself to write just for writing sake. The editing I have found can take much longer. This is the real challenge a good blogger must face in order to stay consistent.
Do you track RSS feeds and if so, how many do you usually track daily?
Not yet but I have talked with some friends of mine in publishing and marketing and they instruct me to start doing so.
Do you use Digg, and why or why not?
Not yet. But I am aware of it and I am ramping up on how to incorporate it in what I am doing.
Do you use Stumbleupon, and why or why not?
No. No aware of what it is.
What promotional techniques work best for you and why?
Word of mouth and self branding techniques. My philosophy is build it and they will come but build it right and learn as you go - this is the true beauty of the Internet and Blogging in general. Later on I will start to promote the site to my friends, colleagues, customers, forums, and other forms of media.
If you could post a blog on any blog in the world, which one would it be and why?
My own because it is my own. It may not be the most popular but I can implement my own guidelines.
What mistakes have you made that you could warn others about?
Getting behind on the writing and being consistent. When I just started out I had a lot of great ideas but I didn't get a lot out there quickly. My friends started reading the site because they wanted to see what I was doing and I got a lot of praise at first. Then they checked back only to find nothing was new. This is a no-no according to one of my friends with new media marketing experience and I realized I have a duty to get new content on the site for my readers. Sometimes you learn that any new content is better than no content at all even if it can't be perfect at first.
What are your top five blogging site picks and why?
I am still a little new to the world of blogging so I don't have a good answer to that question but I find that the better blogs out there typically come from those who are already in journalism or who understand how to write well. I find the New York Times and other major publications put very good blogs out there from their best writers. I am not that good at writing and probably follow a style that is more like Jeffrey Gitomer, a sales and business author, but I learn more from writers I find at better media houses.
Have you met anyone offline as a result of your blog?
No not yet. When that happens then my goals are being realized. But it has improved the relationships I have today.
Enter your own question here
What would be a great way to organically grow interest in a blog by doing something creatively in the real world?
What is the url of your blog?
King of Telecom
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