Interview with Glen Allsopp From ViperChill

This is the first of a new series of interviews to Make Money Online. This week I’m featuring Glen from ViperChill. I’ve been following Glen’s blog for a while now and I’ve found his posts to be a source of profound inspiration. If you like this interview, please visit to Glen Allsopp’s Blog or follow Glen on Twitter.

Would you please tell us something about you and your site?

Glen: Sure. My name is Glen Allsopp and depending on when this interview goes live, I’m either 20 or 21. I’ve been building websites for 5 years and making a living online for 18 months. I blog about how I do that at ViperChill.com

What got you getting started to build your blog?

Glen: I actually started ViperChill when I was 16 (four years ago); it was the name of the brand I used to provide SEO services with. I had been very successful with my personal SEO endeavours so started doing it for others.

The blog was my way of helping people to learn about SEO and allow me to share my knowledge on the subject. I let my blog die for a few years and started it completely from scratch at the end of 2009. I had just sold a personal development blog for a mid five-figure fee and still wanted an outlet to share my thoughts.

I also really wanted to get back into writing about internet marketing, which is my true passion. I hope it shows.

How to become a professional blogger?

Glen: If by professional you simply mean that you can make enough to live off then there is more to the subject than I could ever cover in one interview. I would say that the main steps you need to take in order to give yourself a good chance are:

• Write on a topic you’re passionate about (blogging growth can be slow, so you need a love of the topic to sustain you during the hard times)
• Blog on a fairly consistent basis
• Care more about your readers than anything else
• Give people a chance to give you a chance (that means write good content and have at least a decent looking design in place)
• Realising you will only fail when you quit

Again, there’s a lot more to becoming a professional blogger, but those tips should help to set you on the right path.

How long does it take to become a professional blogger?

Glen: I don’t call myself a professional blogger, though I have made enough money from blogs to live off. Right now I don’t even really monetise ViperChill. I own blogs that I have absolutely no involvement in but make me a lot of money simply by purchasing them and outsourcing their content creation.

For PluginID, I think it took around 12 months to start earning enough money to replace a job income. Though, I make my living through building affiliate websites so I haven’t had to rely on them.

If you’re very focused on the idea of ‘how long will it take’ then you’re already heading in the wrong direction. Blogs are not about you; they’re about the audience. Focus on that first, and the rest will probably take care of itself.

Which blogs would you recommend for any beginners starting to blog?

Glen: Problogger and Copyblogger are two big resources full of excellent information. Michael Martine with Rermakablogger also has a lot to offer.

Which ebooks would you recommend for beginners starting to blog?

Glen: There is no secret in an eBook that I haven’t read on a blog or forum for free before. The problogger physical book is a good place to start if you’re new to making money with blogs, but you can find just as good information on the site itself.

What are your methods of marketing for your blog?

Glen: For PluginID I relied on StumbleUpon, Twitter, search engine traffic and blog commenting.

For ViperChill I’ve used Twitter and nothing else.

The best way to market your blog is to write content that people naturally want to share for you. Once you have your audience doing your marketing, the tipping point to blog success is probably not far off.

What did you do when don’t have any idea for blogging?

Glen: I haven’t ran out of ideas because I only blog about things I love. If I did, I would probably read some books on the topic or read posts by other bloggers to get my creativity going. The google keyword research tool can also be useful to see what people are searching for around a topic.

Another good option is to simply ask your audience what they would like to see you write about. Be careful with this though, I’ve had a lot of immature responses like “chicken” and “penis”, so be prepared to filter out the jokers.

Did you spend time and money to SEO and advertising your blog?

Glen: I spent time on the SEO of my blog. I’ve written a large post on WordPress SEO for anyone using WordPress as a CMS which I have of course applied to my own site.

I have spent a little money on advertising, but I’m running a case study on the site soon about the results of spending $2,000, so I don’t want to giveaway too much about what is going to be covered there.

What’s the best way to make money online from blog?

Glen: There is no “best” way. I have blogs that make money via contextual advertising as their main income source and others that make most of their money by selling products. Play to your strenghts and consider which would appeal to your audience the most.

Recommended programs to earn money from your blogs?

Glen: Adsense is a popular choice, though you’ll only make a good amount of money if you have lots of traffic and don’t care too much for people sticking around on your site. I recommend people look into affiliate programs for their own industry to see if there are relevant products they can promote.

How much money did you got in first month blogging?

Glen: I never monetised my site for years so I can’t really say.

Which blogs do you regularly read?

Glen: There are a number of blogs I subscribe to but I don’t check Google Reader regularly because my schedule is just too hectic. I check my feeds maybe once or twice per week, but at totally random times. *Some* of my favourite blogs right now are Techipedia, Far Beyond the Stars, Man vs Debt, Smart Passive Income and Seth Godin’s blog.

What are your advice for beginners who starting to blog?

Glen: If you’re looking to blog just to make money then you probably shouldn’t blog. It’s a slow process and probably the most time intensive way to make money online. I make my living through affiliate marketing which I cover in Cloud Living as it requires a lot less time and is usually a “set it and forget it” type of system.

If you’re doing it for the right reasons (you want to help your audience) then my advice is to simply say stop waiting for the perfect moment to launch and just take action. You’ll learn a lot more from the process than I or anyone else can teach you.

Thanks Glen for the interview!

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