Interview with:Karen Bryan [karenbryan]
ENTREPRENEUR
 | How did the entrepreneurial spirit rise up in you? Were you exposed to entrepreneurship in your family or your social environment when you were a child? My Grandad owned a newsagents shop, my Dad had a toy and book shop so I suppose I was used to the idea of self employment. |
| Do you have employees or people that you outsource tasks to? What do they do? I have a team of freelance writers who contribute once a week to the Europe a la Carte Blog. |
| How do you balance work with relaxation? It's really hard to relax when you're running your own business, you can't just switch off. It can be even worse as a travel blogger, as even when you go on holiday, you are still thinking about gathering material for the blog. |
| What is your main motivation: being your own boss, adventure and discovery, getting rich, doing good for others, or is there something else? I'd like to be able to do something I enjoy for the forseeable future to keep me occupied and to earn money as opposed to thinking of retirement, like many of my contemporaries. As I spend time at home with my kids when they were young, I haven't been able build up a large pension pot. |
| What do you do to maintain morale and continue persevering in low times? That's hard when you're bogged down with a long to-do list but hopefully if you take a break, then you're keen to get back to work afterward. |
BLOGGING
| What is your blog address? What subjects do you deal with? http://www.europealacarte.co.uk/blog
The Europe a la Carte blog features Europe travel tips about the best places to visit and stay in Europe. |
| What was it that made you create your blog? On what date did you start it? In October 2006 I received an email from a tourism student who was writing a dissertation on travel company blogs. Initially I thought why would a business have a blog? OI did some research and it was all so positive about blogging that I decided that the original Europe a la Carte site, founded in July 2002, would be better structured as a blog. |
| What blogging system have you adopted and why? I use self hosted wordpress, it was reommended by our techie son who said it was easiest for non techies to use and most flexibile blogging platform. |
| How many visits a day do you get? What type of comments do you receive? The Europe a la Carte Blog receives around 1700 visits a day. I get quite a few interesting comments asking questions, adding useful links, relating experiences but a lot of spam too. |
| How has 'having a blog' contributed to your life? Being editor of the Europe a la Carte Blog has, to a large extent taken over my life. I work at least 70 hours a week. |
| How often do you post? Does regular posting of your blog require a lot of effort on your part? My Europe a la Carte posting is irregular but probably averages 3 - 4 posts a week. IK spend a lot of time on SEO, on social media, marketing the blog, selling advertising
However there is a blogging team of 10 writers who all contribute once a week, |
| Does blogging bring in income for you? Can one make a living from posting? It's hard to make a living from travel blogging. It's very competitive as everyone and their Granny thinks they can be a travel writer. I only gave up my part time day job in June 2009, once the Europe a la Carte Blog was well established. |
| What advice would you give to someone who wishes to begin a blog? Don't think setting up a blog is an easy way to make money. It takes a lot of time and effort. |
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Karen Bryan
UK
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