This week I was fortunate to catch up with Darren Rowse for a great  interview.

Darren Rowse is perhaps the most famous full time Blogger in the area of helping other bloggers add income streams to their blogs. www.Problogger.net

Adam: Your writing style is very clear, informative and focused where does your writing style come from, it’s quite unique?

Darren: It’s just the way I write and always have. I’ve not really thought much about it or done any training – I guess I just write like I think or speak.

Adam: You are obviously a dedicated and thorough person, do you think that these are two important traits for setting up your own business?

Darren: Actually I’m not naturally that disciplined or thorough (just ask my wife). But for some reason when it comes to my business I’ve surprised myself with my ability to stick at it on a daily basis for years now. I could still work some more on the ‘thoroughness’ aspect of things though.
I’m not sure that they’re essential traits of someone going into business but they certainly help. I think traits like persistence, sticking to your values and goals and learning from your mistakes are just as important.

Adam: You’ve been blogging since before most people had even heard of it, there has been a huge rise in the number of bloggers out there where do you see it going over the next 2 years?

Darren: Now you’re making me feel old!
The ‘future of blogging’ question is one that I’m asked a lot. A few thoughts:
- Obviously there’s lots of changes in technology happening which will impact what we do.
- We’re also seeing convergence of technologies (blogs are looking less like ‘blogs’ and more like sites with different mediums).
- People are still using the web to hunt for advice, news, community and entertainment – blogs that provide these things will thrive (this is one thing that isn’t changing).

Adam: Would you class yourself more as a teacher, tutor or guide rather than a professional blogger, this seems to be what all your work comes down to?

Darren: I see myself as a communicator and community builder. I’m passionate about these two things and my ultimate goal is to build communities that send people away from them better than when they came.
This means teaching and sharing information – but it also means connecting people with one another and pointing out other resources online (and offline) to help them better themselves.
I think if you consistently help people to be better at some aspect of their lives then you’re going to be a step closer to building a profitable business.

Adam: You have a Theology Degree, that is quite heavy going how did you keep yourself motivated to complete it whilst working as well?

Darren: Well the degree took me 10-11 years to complete – so it was a long term thing and something that I was in no rush to complete.
I’m not really sure I’ve got great tips to share on this except that it took me a good decade to find my feet and to discover what I was passionate about in life.
I gradually honed into it by looking at my experiences, skills, personality, gifts, values and passions and eventually ended up in what I’m doing (for now – who knows what the next stage will be).

Adam: Do you think that everyone should be encouraged to take the higher education route, what advantages does it give you?

Darren: I don’t think it’s for everyone. While I’m glad I studied Theology (and Marketing before that) what I do now has largely come about through teaching myself and trial and error.
I am a big believer in self improvement and always being a learner – but higher education isn’t the only path to achieve these things.

Adam: You are a very spiritual person, what are your thoughts on the less moral sides of the internet?

Darren: I don’t see the internet as being much different to any other place, community or medium – it’s got good and bad, life giving and life sucking parts of it.
I don’t get too caught up in condemning the ‘evils of the web’ though – I’d rather work on doing something positive and being a part of making the web known for being something that helps people be the best that they can be.

Adam: Do you think governments/law enforcement agencies should try and get involved with regulation and censorship of the internet?

Darren: I’m not sure that this is the answer. Our government here in Australia has been talking about censoring the web and I don’t really see this as being a way forward. To be honest I’m not sure what the answer is but investing billions into shutting down parts of the web doesn’t seem like a great use of money, I’d rather see them investing the cash into education and resourcing people to build parts of the web that make a positive difference.

Adam: Which of your current roles do you most relish and why?

Darren: My day is made any time that I get an email from a reader telling me that something that I’ve published has showed them how to do something that’s important to them. I regularly get emails from readers sharing how they’ve learned to make money and feed their families through blogging for instance – that never fails to make me smile.

Adam: Now that you have settled into your new area do you miss the multicultural nature of where you lived before and do you think that its important that we expose our children to different cultures?

Darren: I’ve only really moved about 15 minutes drive from where we used to live – things are a little more ’suburban’ here but I’m regularly back in my old haunts.
Our kids are still pretty young but we’ll travel with them in the years ahead and will give them some good exposure to different cultures and people of different backgrounds – I know that this has been important in my own journey and think it will be for them too.

Adam Toren