Moments with marketers: Darren Rowse

Marketingmag.com.au chats to Darren Rowse aka ProBlogger – founder, editor and blogger. If you would like to see a certain marketer profiled, please email your suggestion to Kate Kendall, online editor, on kate.kendall@niche.com.au.

1. What do you do?

I'm the founder, editor and sometimes blogger of three blogs – ProBlogger.net (blog tips), Digital-Photograhy-School.com (photography tips) and TwiTip.com (Twitter tips).

I'm also a co-founder of the blog network b5media and co-author of the book ProBlogger (Wiley).

2. What was your first job?

I worked as a 'shelf technician' (I stacked shelves at night in a super market) while I was at high school, worked selling stationery and office products during uni and as a minister (church, not governmental) after university.

3. What did you study?

Out of high school I studied Marketing at RMIT and then Theology at Whitley College (Melbourne Uni).

4. Describe a typical day?

• 6-6.30am: One or both of my boys wake up and the day begins with the normal routine seen in most households with kids (utter chaos).
• 8.30-9am: I head to work (which involves a 15 meter walk to our front room).
• 9am: The day starts with checking for anything urgent, angry emails, crashed servers, injury list at Carlton Football club etc. – this time of day I sometimes schedule US-based interviews and meetings.
• 9.30am: Most weekday mornings I head to a local cafe and spend 1-2 hours writing or editing posts for my blogs.
• 11am: Back home, the rest of my morning is spent uploading and scheduling posts on blogs, 'networking' on Twitter, interacting with readers in comments or via email
• 1pm: Lunch.
• 1.20pm-5pm: Afternoon activities vary from day to day and can include more writing and editing of blog posts, recording and editing of video posts, marketing/promotional activities, networking and Twitter.
• 5-7.30pm: Chaos resumes as the dinner/bath/bed routine begins.
• 7.30-11pm: More work (as above, a mixture of activities). In the evenings (depending how timezones/daylight savings lines up) I also spend time on calls with US partners.
• 11pm: Bed.

5. What is on the agenda for 2009?

This year I'm working hard to expand the two main blogs that I have both in terms of content, mediums and income streams. It has seen me release an e-book on ProBlogger, expand DPS with two new areas/blogs and will see the development of a new area on ProBlogger in the coming months.

While the economy has hit many hard I see it as an opportunity for growth and diversification and am working hard to position my web properties as more significant players in their niches as things bounce back.

6. What brand do you love the most? Hate the most? Why?

Google – I greatly admire their growth, their innovation and their vision. I also love that they send me a tonne of traffic each month and deposit enough cash in my account each month to pay my mortgage (and some). I also can't imagine my day without some of their products. Of course there's also moments of 'hate' (or maybe frustration would be a better word) with Google – they're such a big company which can make interacting with them as a solo-entrepreneur difficult at times.

7. What do you believe has been the most significant moment in the history of marketing?

I think we're living in it. The development of the internet and the opportunities it opens up are mind boggling (and we're still right at the beginning).

The fact that an ordinary guy like me living in the burbs and working from his front room (and local cafes) can be communicating with three million people a month while making a living gets me pinching myself every day.

8. Where can people find you?

• ProBlogger: ProBlogger.net
• Digital Photography School: Digital-Photography-School.com
• TwiTip: TwiTip.com
• Twitter: @ProBlogger