I interviewed Randy Charles Morin about Rmail and his recent sale of Rmail. I also asked him for tips to give someone thinking of starting their own business.

How did you get the idea for Rmail?

I didn’t. I was using existing RSS to email solutions for my own blogs, but these solutions were unreliable and usually didn’t work at all. So, I wrote a webpage on kbcafe.com called Rmail that would service my blogs. I didn’t preclude other people using it for their own blogs. And other bloggers started using it.

How have things changed from that initial idea?

Rmail eventually turned from a webpage to a website as more and more users needed it. I’ve added tons of features, but the core purpose remains the same; turn RSS into emails.

You wrote on February 8th 2007 that Rmail reached 50,000 users. How has that growth been driven?

The growth has been mostly word-of-mouth. I’ve never spent much time marketing the idea.

What is your big announcement today?

I sold the website to NBC.

Why sell the company now?

NBC is much more capable of turning Rmail into a success via its marketing engine.

What were the challenges of running it all by yourself?

There were big challenges. Scaling an application and dealing with all the legalities was very difficult.

What will your role be under the new ownership?

I will continue to run the Rmail website for now and transfer it to NBCs servers in time.

How will things change at Rmail?

With some money behind it, the sky is the limit.

How do you plan to continue Rmail’s growth?

This is now NBC’s game plan, not mine.

And lastly, do you have any tips for someone starting their own business?

Let’s start by saying that 95% of Americans and Canadians don’t know what an honest days work is. Most people reading this will likely say they are part of the 5% that do. Those people should ask themselves a simple question. Do you honestly work 40 or more hours per week? Remove lunch. Remove water-cooler downtime. Remove all breaks. Remove personal phone calls. Remove solitaire. If you are part of that 5%, then do it. But don’t quit your day job. Do it part-time until you can pay the bills.

Together with Miel Van Opstal from Coolz0r, we’ve decided to start a guestblogging series which will run on both our blogs at about the same time.

Today is the tenth and last interview in this series, and to end in style we feature the famous Robert Scoble, Microsoft’s Tech Evangelist and Geek Blogger.

1. How did you get into blogging?

I was helping plan the 2000 CNET Builder.com Live! Conference and two of the speakers told me that we should think about blogging. They were Dave Winer, http://www.scripting.com, and Dori Smith, http://www.backupbrain.com. They didn�t convince me it was important enough for the conference to worry about (I could only find a couple hundred blogs back then) but they convinced me to write about my experiences behind the scenes.

2. What is your blog�s name, what is it about?

http://scobleizer.wordpress.com is just �the Scobleizer� to most. Microsoft�s Geek Blogger to others. Anyway, it�s about the tech industry and what I am excited about. Often Tablet PCs, SmartPhones, Xbox 360s, and such.

3. Are there any policies you follow when reporting on an issue?

Be smart. I try to have my facts right, and if it�s something that could be explosive I get input from the people directly involved. Often, though, I�ll post something even before that just to show that I�ve seen the issue and I�m paying attention to it. I wrote a whole book, Naked Conversations, http://www.nakedconversations.com, along with Shel Israel, who was a PR guy in Silicon Valley, though, and it talks at length about policies and best practices.

4. What guidelines do you follow when linking to an outside source?

Link early and often. I link to everyone whether they are on our side or not.

5. Do you think you are trustworthy? Why do your readers trust you?

I try to be. Why do they trust me? I am not so arrogant as to believe that they do. A good reader will always get a few opinions on something and check it out for him or herself. That said, I�ve gotten a bit of readership because I�m not afraid to attack my own company when wrong, and praise a competitor when they do something great.

6. Do you think bloggers should be treated as journalists and be privy to the rights and protections that journalists enjoy?

That�s an interesting question. Should bloggers all get back stage passes to concerts? Some bloggers probably deserve that because they�ve gotten a large audience that cares about the band. But other bloggers shouldn�t.

I hate entitlements. Just because you blog doesn�t mean you�re a full-fledged journalist who should get free passes to conferences. That said, I believe legal protections given to journalists should be given to bloggers. And, so should the legal consequences if a blogger slanders or libels someone.

Hope that helps!

Scoble’s book is out ! You can order it on Amazon through this link:

Initiated together with Miel Van Opstal, this guest blogging series will continue to make people aware of the power of linking and the need to give credit to the people who earn it.
Together, we’re improving the Blogosphere,you can help if you start linking here!
And be sure to check out Miel’s post here.

Previously on the Blog Series :
* Philipp Lenssen
* Randy Charles Morin
* Martin Fasani
* Mark Jen
* Nathan Weinberg
* Sivaraman Swaminathan
* Marco W.J. Derksen
* Om Malik
* Chris Nolan

Note: Miel and I are not related but have a common field. Coolz0r sometimes writes for Inside Google & Inside Microsoft, which is the same place where I maintain Apple Watch.

Together with Miel Van Opstal from Coolz0r, we’ve decided to start a guestblogging series which will run on both our blogs at about the same time.

Today is the ninth and second to last interview in this series, and we turned our ear to Chris Nolan, a website startup junkie from Toronto who’s currently in the running with two nominations for an award on Web 2.0 blog and SEO blog at the KBCafe Blog Awards.

1. How did you get into blogging?

Since pre netscape 1.0 days I’ve always had a personal website in one form or another. Around 2002 I was updating it more regularly and didn’t want to lose my old content after I updated the main page so I started doing it ‘journal style’. I resisted at first to have it setup with RSS feeds and the rest, but after a disc crash in 2004 (ironic since I set things up so I wouldn’t lose changes) where I lost a couple of years worth of content I decided in my rebuild I’d include some regular blog features, and thus became a blogger by name. I think it wasn’t really until I went to my first blogger meetup, and met other bloggers that I truly identified myself as one though.

2. What is your blog’s name, what is it about?

Nothing too original, I just named it after myself (what is blogging if it isn’t tainted with bit of vanity?), I Am Chris Nolan.ca. By having such a generic name as well, it leaves me open to blog about whatever I feel like. I don’t feel compelled to stick to certain themes as really I just do it for myself, and if people happen to come by and read it and find something interesting for them, so be it (I have tag/category specific feeds too so people can subscribe to just what they like). A bit of a wide summary of my typical posts could be described as a movie loving geek living in Toronto who comments and sometimes rants on aspects of technology and society as they cross his path.

I’ve also recently started up a blog @ http://Kekova.ca with my wife as we learn RubyOnRails together, and another one @ http://blog.kweschun.com/ called Kweschuns & Answers which is for a project I’m working on (shameless plug?).

3. Are there any policies you follow when reporting on an issue?

I don’t have any sort of formal document if that’s what you mean. ‘Reporting on an issue’ makes it sound all very formal as well, and I’ve tried at times to specifically keep my blogging informal. I just try to follow my own sense of what’s right and wrong. Is this coming across as very egotistical?

4. What guidelines do you follow when linking to an outside source?

It is very rare when I make a post that doesn’t include at least one link to another source, and I often have many. But again, I have no real policy on it. Linkage for me is just such a built in thing that I wouldn’t have it any other way. I think a lot of bloggers don’t really understand how the information is spread out behind the scenes in terms of what google and sites like Technorati do with the links, and some of the lack of linkage is more ignorance than evil.

If a link exists for what I’m talking about, I do my best to put it in. I think we’re on a cusp of things where this will be made even easier to do by the different blogging softwares as well so that those that don’t take the extra time involved to mark up their posts can have it made easier on themselves.

5. Do you think you are trustworthy? Why do your readers trust you?

Of course *I* think I’m trustworthy, but does anyone not think that about themselves? Do my readers trust me? I guess I’ll have to ask them. See that kweschun soon on my blog.

6. Do you think bloggers should be treated as journalists and be privy to the rights and protections that journalists enjoy?

This is something I’ve thought long and hard about and my opinion is still up in the air butdefinitely leaning towards no.

Trust in the main stream media is declining, but is 100 million voices in the dark the answer? Maybe, maybe not. If a blogger is to get the same rights andprivileges as traditional journalists than they’d be expected to follow the same standards and code of ethics that traditional journalists do as well. I don’t see that happening, nor do I completely agree that it should. Where does one draw the line, and how does one communicate that line to such a diverse readership?

The age old problem of a journalist trying to appease their advertisers is now a problem for a certain class of blogger as well since they draw chucks of their revenue from advertising, perhaps that hassle alone is worth some of the journalist perks?

If you haven’t read “What are Journalists for?” by Jay Rosen, it may be of interest to you. Also “We the Media” by Dan Gillmor.

That said, bloggers should be considered writers and their written word should be treated as such to round out the blogarism topic. If somebody writes something thatinspiresorenrages you, write something about it on your blog and link back to the source!

Initiated together with Miel Van Opstal, this guest blogging series will continue to make people aware of the power of linking and the need to give credit to the people who earn it.
Together, we’re improving the Blogosphere,you can help if you start linking here!
And be sure to check out Miel’s post here.

Previously on the Blog Series :
* Philipp Lenssen
* Randy Charles Morin
* Martin Fasani
* Mark Jen
* Nathan Weinberg
* Sivaraman Swaminathan
* Marco W.J. Derksen
* Om Malik

Would you like to participate? Send an email to Jason or Coolz0r.

Note: Miel and I are not related but have a common field. Coolz0r sometimes writes for Inside Google & Inside Microsoft, which is the same place where I maintain Apple Watch.

Together with Miel Van Opstal from Coolz0r, we’ve decided to start a guestblogging series which will run on both our blogs at about the same time.
Today is installment number eight of the series and this time we turned to a blogging journalist who’s very well known in the blogosphere: Om Malik. Om writes mostly about the next generation of internet and he also has a weekly 20-minute podcast session with Niall about technology. Besides this he has a big archive of articles he wrote for the Business 2.0 website, where he is a senior writer.

1. How did you get into blogging?

I started blogging back in 2001, when I was working for Red Herring, a monthly business magazine. I got so much additional information on stories I wrote on a daily basis that I decided to share it with others. Of course, you know what they say…. out takes of movies are better than the movies themselves. same for me, i decided to publish my out takes.

2. What is your blog’s name, what is it about?

My blog is called, Gigaom.com/Om Malik on Broadband. I write mostly about the latest developments in the broadband world and how they impact the world of technology at large. It is an extension of my work for Business 2.0 magazine, where I write about the fast changing tech landscape and innovation.

3. Are there any policies you follow when reporting on an issue?

I follow the same policies as I do as a reporter. Three sources are a must, or otherwise the story is reported as a rumor. I never do single source posts, and have to confirm facts from diverse sources in order to put it on the site.

4. What guidelines do you follow when linking to an outside source?

I simply link to whom ever is the author of the story, and try and include folks who got me to the link in the first place.

5. Do you think you are trustworthy? Why do your readers trust you?

I think this is a question you need to ask the readers.

6. Do you think bloggers should be treated as journalists and be privy to the rights and protections that journalists enjoy?

Again, I am a journalist who blogs. So perhaps, I am not equipped to answer this question.

Initiated together with Miel Van Opstal, this guest blogging series will continue to make people aware of the power of linking and the need to give credit to the people who earn it.
Together, we’re improving the Blogosphere,you can help if you start linking here!
And be sure to check out Miel’s post here.

Previously on the Blog Series :
* Philipp Lenssen
* Randy Charles Morin
* Martin Fasani
* Mark Jen
* Nathan Weinberg
* Sivaraman Swaminathan
* Marco W.J. Derksen

Would you like to participate? Send an email to Jason or Coolz0r.

Note: Miel and I are not related but have a common field. Coolz0r sometimes writes for Inside Google & Inside Microsoft, which is the same place where I maintain Apple Watch.

Together with Miel Van Opstal from Coolz0r, we’ve decided to start a guestblogging series which will run on both our blogs at about the same time.

Today is the seventh installment of the series and this time we go to the Netherlands to meet up with Marco W.J. Derksen founder, heart and soul of MarketingFacts, a notorious resource for all Dutch marketeers. Together with his army of bloggers, Marco tries to cover all important (interactive) marketing-related topics that are happening ‘now’, often scooping up the rest of his country.

1. How did you get into blogging?

It depends on what you call blogging. I started to maintain an online diary on a business-related topic back in 1997. It was a html-site that was updated almost every day. It was in november 2002 that I used for the first a real blogging tool with trackbacks, pings, rss-feeds and comment functionality. I started with a new job and was looking for a more convenient tool to maintain my websites. Until that time I didn’t know that I was blogging

2. What is your blog’s name, what is it about?

In november 2002 I started with Marketingfacts [rss], a Dutch blog about interactive marketing and new media. Over time, MarketingFacts expanded into a group blog. Traffic built to over 50,000 unique visitors and more than 200,000 page views per month.

3. Are there any policies you follow when reporting on an issue?

There are many marketing blogs in the Netherlands nowadays so I try to cover actual news and to be the first blog with scoops. To be the first I don’t always have the time to check the facts, for scoops especially, that is done afterwards (sometimes with consequences). For the remaining postings, I always check the facts. Issues have to be related to interactive marketing and/or new media.

4. What guidelines do you follow when linking to an outside source?

It is common practice to refer to both the original source and the source where I got it from. The postings are a mixture of content that is found elsewhere and personal opinions. Occasionaly we post related press releases as well.

5. Do you think you are trustworthy? Why do your readers trust you?

Marketingfacts is one of the leading marketing blogs in the Netherlands with traffic built to over 50,000 unique visitors and more than 200,000 page views per month. We have left the time behind us that we didn’t check the facts and the readers know that. And when we are wrong (we are still humans), our readers are the first to let us know in either the comments or by email.

6. Do you think bloggers should be treated as journalists and be privy to the rights and protections that journalists enjoy?

Marketingfacts is already treated as a serious publisher of marketing news by both the communication departments of companies, PR agencies and traditional publishers. This means we get the same press releases that are sent also to traditional magazines and get invitations to events just like the traditional journalists do. I don’t know if I want the same rights and protections that journalists enjoy as I’m not a journalist but a business blogger which means I have no educational background in journalism but in marketing.

Initiated together with Miel Van Opstal, this guest blogging series will continue to make people aware of the power of linking and the need to give credit to the people who earn it.
Together, we’re improving the Blogosphere,you can help if you start linking here!
And be sure to check out Miel’s post here.

Previously on the Blog Series :
* Philipp Lenssen
* Randy Charles Morin
* Martin Fasani
* Mark Jen
* Nathan Weinberg
* Sivaraman Swaminathan

Would you like to participate? Send an email to Jason or Coolz0r.

Note: Miel and I are not related but have a common field. Coolz0r sometimes writes for Inside Google & Inside Microsoft, which is the same place where I maintain Apple Watch.

Together with Miel Van Opstal from Coolz0r, we’ve decided to start a guestblogging series which will run on both our blogs at about the same time.
Today is the sixth installment of the series and we’re travelling to another part of the world to let Sivaraman Swaminathan from Customer World vent his opinion on blogiarism. Swami lives in India and is Sr.Vice President of iContract, a one-to-one marketing services company. He has over 14 years of work experience in the 1-2-1 marketing field and he’s a member of the Institute of Direct Marketing in London.

1. How did you get into blogging?

I have always had a passion for reading and sharing. My friend, Nishad had introduced me to bloglines. Having had a passion for writing, I found this to be a useful and easy tool to share. That’s how I got into Blogging.

2. What is your blog’s name, what is it about?

My blog’s name is www.customerworld.typepad.com. It is everything to do with customers, technologies that affect customer experience and communication tools that will enhance relevance, customization and personalization.

3. Are there any policies you follow when reporting on an issue?

I normally give credit to the source. I believe it is extremely important.

4. What guidelines do you follow when linking to an outside source?

I give credit and a direct link. Any article reference and words, I provide a link so that my readers can have a access to the source. I think the key is to have transparency and honesty. If sharing is true promise of blogs, then we have to do it by giving credit where it is due.

5. Do you think you are trustworthy? Why do your readers trust you?

Yes. I would like to believe I am trustworthy because I follow some very strict practices of referencing my articles/posts.

The reason why they trust me, I guess, is the authenticity of the information being provided. And on top of it I have my comments and view of the topic. If you have a point of view on the topic and have a certain reputation that you carry, I think readers will trust you. I believe I am building-up towards that.

6. Do you think bloggers should be treated as journalists and be privy to the rights and protections that journalists enjoy?

Well protecting one’s idea or thought is a must. If you go back to traditional papers and articles, they always give references. I think that is something we must adopt. I don’t think we need to “exert” control but we need to “encourage” referencing.

Initiated together with Miel Van Opstal, this guest blogging series will continue to make people aware of the power of linking and the need to give credit to the people who earn it.
Together, we’re improving the Blogosphere,you can help if you start linking here!
And be sure to check out Miel’s post here.

Previously on the Blog Series :
* Philipp Lenssen
* Randy Charles Morin
* Martin Fasani
* Mark Jen
* Nathan Weinberg

Would you like to participate? Send an email to Jason or Coolz0r.

Note: Miel and I are not related but have a common field. Coolz0r sometimes writes for Inside Google & Inside Microsoft, which is the same place where I maintain Apple Watch.

Together with Miel Van Opstal from Coolz0r, we’ve decided to start a guestblogging series which will run on both our blogs at about the same time.
Today is the fifth installment of the series and it is about Nathan Weinberg of the Blog News Channel. Nathan talks about growing his own network of blogs, his policies on rumors and linking, and the misinterpretation of the freedom of speech by bloggers.

1. How did you get into blogging?

I guess it just kind of happened. Last year, I was getting bored with editorial duties and the fact that I didn’t write articles as often as I’d like, and I was very interested in Google’s IPO. I was reading so many Google-related websites, that I decided to start a LiveJournal community called “InsideGoogle”, hoping that others would contribute and save me the effort of doing all the newsgathering. Instead, people started relying on me to publish, and I moved, first to Blogger, then to my own website at the Blog News Channel. I enjoy it immensely, but I never sat down and said, “This is what I want to do”.

2. What is your blog’s name, what is it about?

I write both InsideGoogle and InsideMicrosoft, and I am trying to grow a small collection of review blogs. InsideGoogle and InsideMicrosoft are about the companies titled, about the industries they play in, about their competitors, and about their employees and corporate culture. Besides that, whenever I find something fun or interesting to blog, I spend a few seconds deciding which blog it belongs more on, and post it there.

3. Are there any policies you follow when reporting on an issue?

I don’t like reporting rumours. When you are dealing with a company like Google, rumours come down the pike multiple times a day, and I have no interest in mindless speculation. As a general rule, I won’t present a rumour as a story, and many times I will ignore the rumour entirely until it has been proven/disproved, and report that.

Besides that, my goal is to be as broad and expedient as possible. While I currently cannot work on my blog 24 hours a day (although that may happen if the money is good), I try to keep one eye on Bloglines at all times, so that if a story happens, I can be one of the first to report it. Half the excitement of a blog is not the reporting of a story, but the thrill of seeing it unfold, and every time I can be a part of that, I think it adds a lot of value other media cannot compete with.

4. What guidelines do you follow when linking to an outside source?

Always link. Link to who I quote, link to whom I get information from, link to who linked to that page, link to who sent me an email pointing me in the right direction. I always link, except when dealing with anonymous sources. There was one incident where I refused to link to a page because it had messy popup ads, but for the most part I link anywhere, even into a bad neighbourhood, using the nofollow if the site is doing something illegal.

5. Do you think you are trustworthy? Why do your readers trust you?

I’d like to believe so. I’ve never screwed a source, never flamed a person who didn’t deserve it, never made anything up, and I avoid stories that sound untrustworthy, even when they come from legitimate sources. I think that if you want to be trusted, you need to hold yourself with dignity. That’s also why I never use profanity directly.

6. Do you think bloggers should be treated as journalists and be privy to the rights and protections that journalists enjoy?

Of course. Many bloggers are indistinguishable from columnists, and many columnists are indistinguishable from bloggers. The protections of a free press in the United States and most other free countries were designed not to protect any sort of media establishment, but to allow citizens public recourse against government actions; to allow accurate information to defeat acquired power. As long as bloggers are publishing information that furthers freedom in this country, the government has no right to stand in their way.

That said, some bloggers think freedom of speech applies to everything. Wrong. Freedom of speech is designed to safeguard the public good. It is not designed to protect you from lying, profanity, false accusations and irresponsibility. If your speech has little value but does significant harm, the government will agree with your right to that speech, but you will still be responsible for the consequences of it. You can say what you want, and no one will stop you. But if the pen be mightier than the sword, then the penalties for misconduct must be equally serious.

Initiated together with Miel Van Opstal, this guest blogging series will continue to make people aware of the power of linking and the need to give credit to the people who earn it.
Together, we’re improving the Blogosphere,you can help if you start linking here!
And be sure to check out Miel’s post here.

Previously on the Blog Series :
* Philipp Lenssen
* Randy Charles Morin
* Martin Fasani
* Mark Jen

Would you like to participate? Send an email to Jason or Coolz0r.

Note: Miel and I are not related but have a common field. Coolz0r sometimes writes for Inside Google & Inside Microsoft, which is the same place where I maintain Apple Watch.

Together with Miel Van Opstal from Coolz0r, we’ve decided to start a guestblogging series which will run on both our blogs at about the same time.
Today is the fourth part of the series and we give the word to Mark Jen, the former Google employee who now works for Plaxo.

1. How did you get into blogging?

I started my original blog when I started working at Google in January of 2005. I switched to my current blog (and imported my original entries and set up a redirect) when I switched jobs.

2. What is your blog’s name, what is it about?

My current blog is called “Plaxoed!” [rss]. It’s about my life while working at Plaxo. My original blog was called “Ninetyninezeros” (http://99zeros.blogspot.com). It was about life at Google from the inside (the “inside” of a Google is 99 zeros).

3. Are there any policies you follow when reporting on an issue?

I follow Plaxo’s Public Communication Policy, but other than those relatively loose guidelines, I blog whatever I’m thinking.

4. What guidelines do you follow when linking to an outside source?

When linking to an outside source, if I mention the author by name, I always link to their top level blog/bio/etc. If I talk about an article in particular, I link to the article.

5. Do you think you are trustworthy? Why do your readers trust you?

Obviously, I think I’m trustworthy. I’ve got nothing to hide and besides, what’s the worst that can happen to me? I get fired?

6. Do you think bloggers should be treated as journalists and be privy to the rights and protections that journalists enjoy?

I think this depends on the blogger and on the particular writings in question. If the blogger is acting as a journalist and the writing is reporting on something based on journalistic research, then they should be given the rights and protections of journalists.

Initiated together with Miel Van Opstal, this guest blogging series will continue to make people aware of the power of linking and the need to give credit to the people who earn it.
Together, we’re improving the Blogosphere,you can help if you start linking here!
And be sure to check out Miel’s post here.

Previously on the Blog Series :
* Philipp Lenssen
* Randy Charles Morin
* Martin Fasani

Would you like to participate? Send an email to Jason or Coolz0r.

Note: Miel and I are not related but have a common field. Coolz0r sometimes writes for Inside Google & Inside Microsoft, which is the same place where I maintain Apple Watch.

Together with Miel Van Opstal from Coolz0r, we’ve decided to start a guestblogging series which will run on both our blogs at about the same time.

Today is the third installment of the series and it’s all about Martin Fasani, he started the Movil Mobile Community. Miel and I have started this interview series to raise awareness on blogiarism and we’re inviting other bloggers to share their thoughts on linkage and credits with the blogosphere.

1. How did you get into blogging?

It was back in 2000. I was going to London for some weeks and I started a kind of personal diary. I think there is still some of that on the waybackmachine (link). Now when I read those old lines, I feel a little embarrassed :/

2. What is your blog’s name, what is it about?

In the beginning of 2005, after doing some easy premium SMS applications for TV and newspapers, I started projecting in my mind a sort of interactive virtual community combining web and mobile. After a few months, when the idea boiled out in the first version of movil.be , I decided to install a blog called “Experiencing mobility and social software“. I kind of like the name because it actually describes in 5 words what it’s all about.

3. Are there any policies you follow when reporting on an issue?

I try to refer always where the news came from. Sometimes I combine different sources and write my own story, it depends, but basically I ‘d like to respect the others.

4. What guidelines do you follow when linking to an outside source?

Exactly what I described before. I try to avoid copying and pasting a big piece of text without any analysis or personal touch. I think it loses all sense like that…but even if you rephrase, it’s good to link to where you’ve read it first.

5. Do you think you are trustworthy? Why do your readers trust you?

I don’t think they are many readers really interested in what I say. Movil is kind of an internal development blog where the users can get informed of the new features and state of the product they are actually using.

6. Do you think bloggers should be treated as journalists and be privy to the rights and protections that journalists enjoy?

Well, I don’t really know that. Real journalists study some years in the university to get a degree. That doesn’t imply that you will get better communication skills, but hey, I don’t think I would come even closer to write like a journalist. I think they are two different mediums. So that depends on how things evolve in the future. Mileage may vary…

Initiated together with Miel Van Opstal, this guest blogging series will continue to make people aware of the power of linking and the need to give credit to the people who earn it.
Together, we’re improving the Blogosphere,you can help if you start linking here!
And be sure to check out Miel’s post here.

Previously on the Blog Series :
* Philipp Lenssen
* Randy Charles Morin

Would you like to participate? Send an email to Jason or Coolz0r.

Note: Miel and I are not related but have a common field. Coolz0r sometimes writes for Inside Google & Inside Microsoft, which is the same place where I maintain Apple Watch.

Together with Miel Van Opstal from Coolz0r, we’ve decided to start a guestblogging series which will run on both our blogs at about the same time.
Today is the second installment of the series and it’s all about Randy Charles Morin of KbCafe, who will explain how he treats people who blogiarize, how he lists his sources, and why he is trustworthy.

1. How did you get into blogging?

I first got into blogging in 2002 while working for Opencola. I opened a Userland Radio (paid) blog primarily as a means of figuring out what RSS and blogging were all about. I immediate got excited about the opportunities in this space. I founded a blogging company called Dude, Check This Out! on an idea I had about using associative relevance to determine what you didn’t know you didn’t know.

2. What is your blog’s name, what is it about?

I have two personal blogs; iBLOGthere4iM and RVDad. I post things on the iBLOGthere4iM blog that I think are cool! Very little on this blog is personal. RVDad is my blog where I talk about personal things, like my motorhome, my family, my adventures and my life.

3. Are there any policies you follow when reporting on an issue?

I really don’t have many policies. That said, there are some blog authors who blogiarize (plagiarize blogs, steal ideas and content) or are generally not nice people who I avoid linking to. I avoid linking to any IDG Website as I caught them re-publishing one of my articles on their Website without asking permission or paying me. I emailed the authors listed on their Website and found a dozen more that were never contacted or paid. When I approached them, they told me I was privileged to get one of my articles on their Website. They ignored most of my emails and thru lawyers at me the rest of the time. They refused to compensate me and basically put me in a position where I would have to take legal action to get any compensation for myself or the other authors. I personally wasn’t interested in a lawsuit and abandoned the issue. But, I avoid giving them any Google juice.

4. What guidelines do you follow when linking to an outside source?

I usually link to the author and the source when blogging. If you look at almost any blog entry I write, I will link to the original content author within the body of the post, but I will also add a source link in the footer of the post that links to the blog entry that got me started down the path to this great content. Quite often, their might be several sources between my source and the original content author and you can usually click thru to find that path. That said, these are not guidelines, it’s just something I do. It’s not that I’m trying to be righteous either. I’m linking because linking encourages accidental discovery of my own blog. Yes, I’m doing it for selfish reasons.

5. Do you think you are trustworthy? Why do your readers trust you?

I’m trustworthy, that is, if you are playing fair. When you are not playing fair, then you can be assured that I’ll come down on you. I think my readers generally trust me, because I tend to play on both sides of the fence. There are bloggers out there who think Microsoft (substitute any company name) can do no right and will bash them for donating money to orphans. Myself, I’ll bash Microsoft with the rest of them, but I’ll compliment them on their orphan donations too!

6. Do you think bloggers should be treated as journalists and be privy to the rights and protections that journalists enjoy?

Why not? Just because somebody pays you to write crap don’t mean your crap is any more valuable than Joe-blogger’s.

Initiated together with Miel Van Opstal, this guest blogging series will continue to make people aware of the power of linking and the need to give credit to the people who earn it.
Together, we’re improving the Blogosphere,you can help if you start linking here!
And be sure to check out Miel’s post here.

Previously on the Blog Series :
* Philipp Lenssen

Would you like to participate? Send an email to Jason or Coolz0r.

Note: Miel and I are not related but have a common field. Coolz0r sometimes writes for Inside Google & Inside Microsoft, which is the same place where I maintain Apple Watch.