Wednesday, July 1, 2009

The Zoo Crew Wins Best Blog Award!!

It's offical now - I love Canada, even if they can't pronounce the letter 'O'. Eh? I also love all the people who supported the Johnson's Zoo - thanks! For those of you who ignored my shameless begging and pleading for votes, I hate you; go straight to hell and do not collect 200 dollars, even if it's in Canadian funny money. Eh?

In addition to winning the contest, I was asked to be interviewed. Eh? Yes, that's right, they asked for it. They might change their mind and remove it from their site, so I have bashfully decided to include the interview here. Enjoy. Or not.

BNALets start with asking you to tell us a little about yourself,
whatever you'd like to share from your personal life, and then tell us about your blogging: How long have you been blogging and what prompted you to start and who taught you how to create such a winning blog?


Steve Johnson
I grew up as a military brat, which meant that in addition to being a pain in the ass, I also moved around every four years. I left the U.S. when I was seven and have only been back to visit and have my cousins make fun of me because I do not speak 'Philly'. I loved exploring new cultures, but constantly moving meant that I had to keep in touch with friends using letters - yes, actual, handwritten letters. Competition was fierce among losers who would lose touch easily, so being funny gave me an edge over my boring rivals.

I have been blogging for exactly one year. I started last June after returning from a trip to Ireland to kick off a friend's European roadtrip. Eisi introduced me to his blog and somehow the concept of a blogging platform and ideas running through my head merged and transformed into The Johnson's Zoo.


BNA
What is the ultimate Goal for a blogger in your opinion?

Steve Johnson
The ultimate goal of a blogger is, of course, world domination. Falling short of global annihilation, I always turn to simple honesty - I don't know. For me, it was simple and honest. I wanted a way to capture our family's memories and histories without boring the crap out of my two readers. One day I will pass down my insane collections to my three sons and hope to hell they have gotten their sense of humor from Papa and not Mama.

BNA
Where do you see yourself blogging wise in the next 6 months, and 5 years down the road?

Steve Johnson
I am not trying to make money overnight, nor am I trying to pimp myself to stardom, so I don't see any big changes in the next six months. In five years, I can only hope that I don't have any more children. Three are more than a handful and generate enough material to keep me blogging for the next twenty years and three months. Yes, I plan to stop embarrassing them if I ever let them turn 21.

BNA
We note that your site has a page rank of 3/10 for Google, which is very good by the way. How or what have you been doing in your opinion, to get Google to notice you?

Steve Johnson
That is a damn good question. I wasn't actually aware that my website was public. Man, my wife is gonna be livid. Aside from really caring, I don't know. On the site, there are always topical ads that are normally quite unusual, such as "How to Potty Train Australian Zoo Animals". It must pick up on keywords from the blog and my guess is that a) The blog is pretty strange and b) There are a lot of strange googlers out there.

BNA
Do you have a favorite blogger and why?

Steve Johnson
Yes, I do. Thanks for asking. Her site is Ceci's Corner and she started blogging about the same time as I did. Ceci and I found each other by accident when we ended up in the same support queue after both of our blogs crashed. Her blog has nothing to do with zoos, funny looking creatures, or family humor, and she has completely different reasons and motivation for blogging, but the passion still comes through. I like that and hope my two readers feel the same way about my writing.

BNA
Last question. What advice would you give to new bloggers coming onto the scene?

Steve Johnson
Start by sending your blog to all of the Canadian blog award sites you can find! They are awesome people - they have funny money, great tastes in blogs, and really give the unknown a chance to make it.

4 comments:

  1. Thank you for the advice Steve and congratulations!
    I must run now and try to get the Canadians to notice me.

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  2. Congratulations! Entering the Zoo in non-english speaking countries paid off lol

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  3. Congratulations, Zoo Keeper. Well-deserved!
    You gotta lot of blogging to do; ‘ can’t afford to sit on those laurels.
    Thanks for listing my hodgepodge of a blog as a favorite. I could write about drooling and pooping but no one would get a laugh.

    By the way, I didn’t vote. The Zoo won on its own merits! I figured you didn't need my vote.
    Hate is a strong word, but I forgive you.

    Let’s hear about that awesome road trip.
    Keep on bloggin’

    Ceci

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  4. @Sue: try anything involving maple syrup - they love the stuff. Just please, no pictures.

    @Eucina: thanks, I see you took home one of the comment awards - aren't these foreigners friendly?

    @Ceci: drooling and poop will always get a laugh, trust me. I forgive you and promise to downgrade my hatrid to subtle irritation, okay?

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