Interview with Kumiko from Kumiko's Cash Quest

>1. What got you interested in blogging? I've always had an interest in reading other people's blogs as I think that they're a fantastic way to learn about other people, cultures and lifestyles. Recently, I've been reading a lot of "information" blogs written by people who are experts in their industry. It's great to be able to contact these people easily and communicate with them. It's so much easier to contact a top blogger than a top celebrity! I became interested in blogging myself after finding some other "make money online" blogs that were generating a decent income. At first I thought, "I can do that!"...and then I thought, "I can do that better!" so I decided to 'put my money where my mouth is' and give it a go.
>2. How long have you been blogging for? Kumiko's Cash Quest is my first serious attempt at a blog and it was launched on December 31st, 2006. Just in time for the new year! I've had some other static sites in the past so it's not my first time publishing on the internet. However, blogging is definitely a greater challenge!
> 3. Where did you come up with the idea to make money online? The first site I visited on the topic was My Quest To Make Money On The http://westen30.blogspot.com/) which doesn't appear to be running anymore. That site inspired me to try out making money through online means. As I visited more sites and learned a lot about all the different programs and strategies on offer, I quickly realized that there were some severe shortages in the market that I could hopefully fill. I did about a whole month of research and reading before I started Kumiko's Cash Quest
>4. Do you have any people or blogs that inspire you? Many! I'd have to say that Finding The Money http://findingthemoney.blogspot.com/),http://www.johnchow.com) http://maddox.xmission.com) are some of the most "inspirational" as they simply don't seem to care about what people think about what they write. It's amazing the negative feedback that the blogosphere can produce if you write something that's a little controversial or against the norm. Everybody comes out and says, "that will hurt your traffic" or "your blog will get a bad reputation". The irony is that writing 'safe' posts that are carbon copies of other sites hurts you more. Sometimes you need to be thick skinned as a blogger as it's easy for commentators to write negative things about you. They can devote whole posts to how wrong they think you are! The above blogs inspire me to keep doing what *I* think is right and not worry about the negative comments!
>5. What's your ultimate goal? Are you shooting for a certain amount of money or want to blog as professional writer? I want to be ranked number one in Google for EVERY search term!!
>6. Why should people check out Kumiko's Cash Quest? There's no other site exactly like it. Or at least not as pink!! And they may learn a trick or two to make a dollar online.
>7. Do you have one blog or many? At the moment I have two main blogs. There's my biggest site, Kumiko's Cash Quest http://kumikosuzuki.blogspot.com) and my recently launched Blog http://www.bloginterview.net) that interviews bloggers from all over the blogosphere. Blog Interview Interview is still getting off the ground and growing, but I believe it's a concept that has a lot of potential.
>8. What are some tips for people who are just starting out? If you want to create a personal blog for yourself, go for it! It's fun! If you want to create a blog to be read by others, you need to read as many other blogs as you can and learn as much as you can about blogging before you even start to write. Write stuff that nobody else is writing and then promote it every respectable way that you can!
>9. How many entries do you post a day on average? I rarely post more than once a day. I try not to think about post frequency and just write whenever there is something that I want to write about. I think blogs where the author is posting because they feel obliged to update are usually not the best blogs out there. However, I make an effort to post my blog earnings every Friday!
>10. Where are most of your reader's from? Initially most of my readers from Malaysia and the Philippines. They showed me a lot of support and I thank them for it! Recently, I've managed to crack the USA market a little and now about 40% of my readers are from the USA.