Comments for Living The Blogging Dream

Living The Blogging Dream

2007-02-18T21:24:20Z

New Zealand's biggest newspaper, The New Zealand Herald, has run an article about me in Monday morning's paper. It's on the back page of the Business section and is entitled Kiwi blogger logs on to make a living. This is the first time I've had any mainstream media coverage, so I admit it is quite a thrill. The article notes that Read/WriteWeb is currently ranked the 51st biggest blog in the world, according to Technorati, and that around half our readers are from the US (less than 1% are from my home country). There's also some advice from me about how to earn a living from blogging. Nothing too profound: find a niche topic that you're passionate about, then work hard and be very patient.

Thanks Simon Hendry and Alan Perrott from the Herald for the great story, and photographer Mark Mitchell (who took the above photo for the Herald). And regular readers may be wondering... I actually use a Windows machine for work, the beautiful Apple PC shown there is my wife's!

As for NZ Herald readers who have clicked through or typed in the readwriteweb.com URL via the newspaper, welcome! Our About page gives more information about this blog and its writers. If you're interested in Web technology, then feel free to subscribe to our RSS feed or subscribe to a daily email digest (see email subscription form in top right). We're currently working on a 'Best Of' section for R/WW, but in the meantime you may want to check out the Top 10 Read/WriteWeb Posts for 2006 and also these two popular posts: 2006 Web Technology Trends and 2007 Web Predictions. Those posts should give you a feel for the kind of writing we do here. Also feel free to email me for more information at: readwriteweb@gmail.com.

Comment from ProBlogger on 2007-02-18

2007-02-18T21:30:30Z

Just saw this - congratulations!

Darren

Comment from Rafat on 2007-02-18

2007-02-18T21:40:57Z

Congrats Richard...you deserve the recognition.

Comment from Frank Gruber on 2007-02-18

2007-02-18T21:47:21Z

Congrats Richard! That is very cool and well deserved. Read/Write Web is a great blog. Keep living the dream. ;)

Comment from Tim on 2007-02-18

2007-02-18T22:05:12Z

Good work Richard, a great article.

Looking at your Alexa graph It looks like mid 2006 there was a great acceleration in traffic. Was there anything specific that made it take off?

http://www.alexaholic.com/readwriteweb.com?y=p&r=3y&z=2

Comment from Peter Cooper on 2007-02-18

2007-02-18T22:12:09Z

Nice work! Keep it up :)

Comment from Richard MacManus on 2007-02-18

2007-02-18T22:19:51Z

Thanks for the nice comments :-) Tim, you're right that things started to take off mid-06. Not sure exactly why, but during 2006 I began to increase the time I spent on the blog (previously I'd been doing a lot of consultancy / freelance work). As of now, a large majority of my time is spent on writing for, editing and managing R/WW (with a few other projects making up the rest of my time).

Comment from Andrew on 2007-02-18

2007-02-18T22:28:06Z

Richard,
Congratulations on the coverage, and on all that you've achieved with RWW.

Comment from Kris Hoet on 2007-02-18

2007-02-18T22:33:17Z

Congrats Richard, you definitely deserve this. Keep on writing ;)

Comment from NitinK on 2007-02-18

2007-02-18T22:36:19Z

Hey, that's very cool, Richard, congratulations!

Comment from steve on 2007-02-18

2007-02-18T22:38:17Z

Wahoo! Congrats Richard!

Comment from warren on 2007-02-18

2007-02-18T22:52:15Z

A decent, if slightly breathless article, but nothing unusual there when it comes to print media.

As someone who "logs on" from the middle of nowhere (aka Launceston, Tasmania) to make a living as a freelance developer, I *did* cringe at the headline. I'm looking forward to the day where web working is no longer the exception, if not the rule...

Comment from Michael Vu on 2007-02-18

2007-02-18T23:40:27Z

Congrats! Keep it up!

Comment from Juha on 2007-02-18

2007-02-18T23:45:48Z

The headline is most likely concocted by Auntie Hairoiled's subs who like to stick to a few simple things when it comes to tech. Like logging on, or logging off. Shivers your timbers, it does.

Congrats Richard :)

Comment from Vinny Lingham on 2007-02-18

2007-02-18T23:47:29Z

Congrats Richard! I totally understand where you are coming from! My blog (albeit 1/50th the size of this one) would rank in the top 20 websites (not just blogs) in South Africa according to our OPA stats, but my readership is about 5% from SA and 50% from the USA.

Comment from shaz on 2007-02-18

2007-02-19T01:05:49Z

congrats!! first time commenting, but I do enjoy your blog.. and from Canada even! :)

Comment from Josh on 2007-02-18

2007-02-19T01:41:00Z

I read a lot of blogs, though only subscribe to a few (about 20), but I never hesitate to tell people that RW/W is my favorite--I mean it too, of course. Nice work, Richard! Keep it up.

Comment from Alex Iskold on 2007-02-18

2007-02-19T02:21:53Z

Congrats Richard, this is well deserved! I look forward to doing more work with you.

Alex

Comment from Well done! on 2007-02-18

2007-02-19T02:30:32Z

And well deserved!

Comment from Sameer on 2007-02-18

2007-02-19T02:35:43Z

Congrats Richard. You deserve it for sure.

Comment from Geoff Pound on 2007-02-18

2007-02-19T03:18:54Z

Just read the Herald Article and have viewed your blog.

Well done. Congratulations. You'll soon be able to pay for another house.

Geoff, UAE

Comment from Erik on 2007-02-18

2007-02-19T03:20:57Z

Kudos! Well deserved indeed.

Comment from jared l. on 2007-02-18

2007-02-19T03:44:27Z

hi there! i guess this is my first time leaving a comment on your blog. anyway, congrats!

blog on!

Comment from Michelle on 2007-02-18

2007-02-19T03:51:53Z

it's nice when NZ finally catches up :) good stuff!

Comment from Dino on 2007-02-18

2007-02-19T04:00:13Z

congrats

Comment from Mike Riversdale on 2007-02-18

2007-02-19T06:03:42Z

Well done!
I don't know if you know but not only are you "living the dream" but are showing the way for a lot of others - keep up the inspirational behaviour!

(BTW: I agree with Josh , this blog is definitely one of the few I actively tell people about and it's because the content is so consistently well thought out, written and timely.
(and you're a 'Canes fan ;-)

Comment from Gen Kanai on 2007-02-18

2007-02-19T06:24:48Z

Well-deserved kudos. Congratulations!

Gen Kanai
Tokyo, Japan

Comment from Craig Mackintosh on 2007-02-18

2007-02-19T07:10:32Z

Congratulations Richard - that's a great plug. I hadn't visited your site before, but since I had the honour of being mentioned on the same page (Celsias) I thought I'd drop by and say "hi". :)

While I'm here, I'll try to glean a few ideas to help me get us into the top 100 too!

I hope the Herald article helps raise your profile even more - if it were possible!

Best.

Comment from Pramit on 2007-02-19

2007-02-19T08:41:18Z

Congrats Richard.

Comment from Huanmin on 2007-02-19

2007-02-19T09:25:40Z

Á•?Ë¥∫‰Ω†„ÄÇ
you got some fans in China.keep writing, Richard,(Á?ÜÊü•ÂæóÔºâ

Comment from Mikael Bergkvist on 2007-02-19

2007-02-19T12:47:53Z

Cool.

Comment from webonics on 2007-02-19

2007-02-19T14:49:10Z

Congratulations! I have only been a subscriber of your blog for a couple of months, but I love it. I have a long-time reader of TechCrunch but I like your writing better as it focuses more on trends rather than specific entities and the analysis is pretty outstanding. Thanks for your in-depth posts that keep me in the loop and help advance my career in the web space!

Comment from Adrian keys on 2007-02-19

2007-02-19T14:59:20Z

The king is not recognised in his own country...how sad?

I all seriousness, congratulations! I am sure more of your countrymen will logon when they discover the excellent work.

All the best!!

Comment from Paul Walsh on 2007-02-19

2007-02-19T15:38:36Z

They're obviously a little slow if they're only featuring you now Richard. Congrats :)

Comment from ipanema on 2007-02-19

2007-02-19T16:15:20Z

Is this reason why I got my RSS 6 hours late today? :)

Congratulations! Finally, Middle Earth is waking up.

Comment from Megan Cole on 2007-02-19

2007-02-19T16:22:31Z

I've been a fan, advocate and avid reader for months now, all the way over here in Vancouver, Canada. Thanks for all of it. You are one lucky bastard!

Comment from hombrelobo on 2007-02-19

2007-02-19T16:36:08Z

Good for you Richard.

For us, bloggers in Spanish, it's a bit more difficult still. But will keep working, or better, focus more in our other projects, like http://eyeOS.org.

Comment from Ali on 2007-02-19

2007-02-19T17:03:03Z

Congrats Richard.

I like the Mac even though it's not yours.

Comment from China Law Blog on 2007-02-19

2007-02-19T17:53:01Z

Just got here on a LexBlog referral and loving it. You have maybe the best looking site I've ever seen. But I will be back for the content. Keep up the good work and congrats on the media coverage.

Comment from Dejan Bizinger on 2007-02-19

2007-02-19T18:25:57Z

Congratulations, Richard! Your blog is really one of my favorites and I'm subscribed to more than 120 blogs. Keep up the good work.

Comment from Timo Heuer on 2007-02-19

2007-02-19T18:36:12Z

Wow, congrats. But the picture isn't very well choosen me thinks ;-).

Comment from Christen O'Brien on 2007-02-19

2007-02-19T19:49:44Z

Hey Richard - that's great news and I have to say I'm not exactly surprised....reading your blog is part of my morning ritual :)

BTW, I found this article this morning about the life of a blogger....I think we all can identify -- http://vashistvishal.blogspot.com/2006/09/top-10-activties-of-blogger.html

See you soon....we really look forward to it.

Comment from Richard MacManus on 2007-02-19

2007-02-19T20:23:29Z

Thanks all for your kind comments. I was also pleased that the article showed that blogging is not just a 'what I had for breakfast' diary style of writing, which is often how it's portrayed in mainstream media. (he writes, while wolfing down his breakfast of vogal toast and coffee)

Right, I better get back to work now...

Comment from Parag Mathur on 2007-02-19

2007-02-19T23:03:35Z

Congratulations Richard.
I truly enjoy the analysis in your blog posts.
Wishing you continued success in the future.

Comment from lemon obrien on 2007-02-19

2007-02-20T00:08:20Z

kick ass. after i become rich, i'm moving to new zealand.

Comment from Cristian on 2007-02-19

2007-02-20T01:01:59Z

This is the best blog coming out of New Zealand.
I check your RSS feeds on a regular basis.
keep up the good work.

Comment from Liz on 2007-02-19

2007-02-20T05:01:06Z

It's about time that New Zealand wakes up to the blogsphere. Articles such as in the NZ Herald and another recent article in the Next magazine about bloggers will open up another new world to the average New Zealander. Keep up the good works....

Comment from Doug on 2007-02-20

2007-02-20T15:32:38Z

Congratulations. Always great to hear about online success stories.

Comment from /pd on 2007-02-20

2007-02-20T23:35:58Z

Con'grats !! is great to see you gaining MSM traction !!

oh well as for blogsphere, you already have my vote of confidence for a long time :)-

Comment from Robin Capper on 2007-02-21

2007-02-21T08:51:36Z

Hi Richard, Great article and nice blog, subscribed!

I'm an amateur Kiwi blogger who posts mainly about CAD software. There was a post about the viability of professional blogging for the CAD/Design audience which created a bit of traffic/comment on my blog back in January so have referred my readers to your article & own post about it. (see the link on this comment)

Comment from Honor Gunday on 2007-02-21

2007-02-21T10:31:49Z

Great work such as your blog deserves more awards.
This is way more well-deserved than many other blogs out there.

Comment from Alister Cameron, Blog Coach on 2007-02-21

2007-02-22T00:15:44Z

Well done Richard, and richly deserved.

I've been following your writing from pretty much the very start.

Perhaps I keep coming back here not just for the great content but because we're both from the Upside Down part of the world - Australia, in my case :)

- Alister