I’ve been wanting to do more interviews on the blog with some amazing people. Photographers, designers, developers, filmmakers, bloggers and all sorts of creators. This is a hopeful start to a great series of interviews to come
I thought I would kick off this interview series with someone from the blogosphere. Blogging is awesome and Andrea Contino agrees! If it wasn’t for our passion for blogging, the Atlantic Ocean would still be keeping us apart from becoming new friends. Luckily we have the internet and blogging to bring us together and make great things happen.
I wanted to do an interview with Andrea after hearing about his project, #WhyIBlog. So here it is! You can check out his interview below.
—Start Interview—
Jacob – What is your name and profession?
Andrea – My name is Andrea Contino and I am from Italy. I have been the Trade Marketing Lead for Microsoft Advertising in Italy since 2012. I am a Digital PR and Social Media expert. I began my career in 2006 as a PR Specialist at Microsoft Italy. After that I dealt with Social Media and Community in Moleskine and in an Italian social agency called Connexia. I’ve been a video gamer from the very beginning of my life, in my spare time I try to share my opinions with the world through my blog AC: www.contino.com
Jacob – First off, how did you get into blogging? What’s your story? Why do you blog?
Andrea – It was 2007, I was still writing around for some online magazines about video games at that time. Apart from websites and forums I wasn’t into blogging at all. I was tired of empty places with no connections to what I was sharing. I wanted to have a place where I could be traced and always found. That year I was asked to visit a video game developer studio in Canada and I decided to open a blog to document that week to get things started.
In my search, I was directed to wordpress.com, it seemed simple and it was. So I started…never stopped.
I then decided to move my blog into squarespace.com where it now stays: www.contino.com
I realized immediately that I didn’t care how many readers I got or if I was successful in being recognized as a blog star in Italy. The only thing matters to me is to get involved into something: learning, networking, meet new people, build new projects.
That’s why I blog. I met a lot of people thanks to my blog. I’ve even attended amazing events. I founded another blog that just deals with video game opinions with 4 other bloggers. It influenced my career completely.
What inspired you to start the project #WhyIBlog? What have the results been from it?
Andrea – From the very first year I’ve opened my blog I kept on reading that blogs were dead. Death caused by social networks raising momentum and nobody cared about blogs anymore. At least that’s what I was reading.
Luckily, enough of those who started a blog in the early days in Italy (2000s something) kept doing it.
So in 2012, I’ve decided to collect opinions around the Italian blogosphere about its willing to maintain a blog alive and why these people were so motivated in doing it. I started to ask on Twitter. I decided to collect +200 replies that I received with a service that closed afterwords. So I almost lost the work in the first place. I’ve decided to revamp it just through my blog, by interviewing friend and famous bloggers. I simply asked them why they blog and what is the real meaning in keep doing it.
All the interviews are collected here.
However, I’m a really lazy blogger so, I forget to keep up with the project, but I’ve promised my self to revamp it asap!
Jacob – Do you have a favorite interview from the project? Why is it your favorite?
Andrea – Yes. I have one.
It is an interview with Donato, a friend that recently passed away very young. You can read it here.
He was a digital communications lover just like me.
I think it’s a fair witness of this.
Jacob – Are you looking to do more with #WhyIBlog? eBook? :)
Andrea – Yes. That was the first aim of the project. Collect as many interviews as I can and write an eBook.
Not a physical book, because blogging is evolving too fast to fix it on paper! :)
Jacob – If you could give one tip to aspiring bloggers, what would you tell them?
Andrea – Don’t give up.
Never give up.
Your blog not only yours. It’s you!
It deserves all the love that you have to share. Because sometimes it can be a living creature and it needs your attention.
Don’t care about little figures in terms of readership immediately. They will come, I can guarantee it.
First and only rule: have something to say. Be sure to tell it in a completely different way from any other.
That’s the key to getting attention.
Oh…yes…I almost forgot. Since your blog is you, don’t forget to show up in public places. In the real world! Go to events that deal with the topic you write about. It’s fundamental in order to get known.
— End Interview —
Andrea had some really great things to say and I’m really glad I am able to share it with all of you. Now the question is … why do you blog?
Tell us on Twitter!
