If I mentioned the name Alan Johnson, 9 out of 10 people who blog would know what blog to associate it with. That is of course TheRatingBlog.com a blog about online business, SEO, internet marketing and the that it’s the industry’s fastest growing blog. Alan was able to gain 1000 subscribers within a month and 2000 within 7 weeks, and his statistics that he has earned through his dedication show for everything!

This month I wanted to post an interview on Thatblogsite and I thought about who I could ask. I’ve been following Alan’s blog since it pretty much started and the information I’ve gained from is worth paying $1,000’s for. Alan’s articles will take up hours of your time as they are interesting and hold tons of useful information!

Alan was happy to reply and accept my interview request that I presented to him in an email about a week ago. I posted the questions straight to Alan in the same email and within a couple of days he had replied with answers that were very interesting. I hope I asked the right questions and I hope you enjoy reading the interview.

1) Do you have roughly the day that the idea of starting TheRatingBlog popped into your head and what was the first thing you did?

Basically, the idea behind TheRatingBlog.com came as a result of the
fact that I was sick and tired of seeing all sorts of self-proclaimed
“gurus” trying to trick people into buying their overpriced eBooks
thinking that they can get rich overnight. I was sick and tired of the
hype, I was sick and tired of seeing those long sales letters and
decided to do something about it.

I have decided to approach the market with something far better than
anything they could come up with and offer everything absolutely free
of charge. We can take “The Online Business Handbook” as an example.
You have all sorts of clowns trying to sell an eBook containing a few
pages of useless information and, as such, I have written a 200-page
moneymaking guide which puts such products to shame and I’m offering
it for free.

2) You seem to have never ending knowledge with the quality articles that you produce, where did you learn it all?

I had the best possible teacher - life. I have worked hard for
everything I have ever had and that way of thinking has helped me
secure the lifestyle my family deserves. I’ve also been running a
brick&mortar business (and, until my children are ready to take over
the family business, I will still be running it) for quite some time,
and that has definitely helped as well.

Life has taught me never to rely on luck and that hard work is always
the way to go. My attitude towards blogging has reflected that right
from day one and the results have indeed proven to be more than
worthwhile.

3) I wondered if you’d be to kind to share what methods do you currently use to monetize your website with my readers?

Since, as far as this niche is concerned, there are more than a few
great options to choose from, I have been promoting products as an
affiliate right from the beginning and, recently, I have started to
accept private ads as well.

4) How many hours a day do you spend writing?

Maximizing results is the name of the game. Since I am also running a
business, being productive is a must and that’s why I decide what
tasks I spend my time on at a certain point based on how I am feeling.
Since we are only human, it’s impossible to always be able to maximize
results with a certain task. For example, if I feel creative then I
write as many articles as possible in advance, if I feel in the mood
for tasks related to managing my brick&mortar business, I take care of
them.

Assuming that I am in a great writing mood, let’s say that I can write
x words per hour but, if that is not the case, I will only be able to
write three times less. Or in other words, when I am not feeling
creative, I have to spend far more time in order to write a certain
number of articles and, since the day only has 24 hours, that is
simply not an option.

Again, if you are serious about being productive, maximizing results
is simply a must.

5) Once you’ve finished writing, what do you usually do?

I try to spend as much time with my family as possible because, as a
father or husband, you are far more than just a walking paycheck and
yes, there are always things money can’t buy.

6) The amount of blogs you guest post on it amazing, how many posts do you write daily just to do this?

I always write posts in advance and, whenever I feel that I am able to
maximize results, I do just that, as previously mentioned.

7) I hope you don’t mind me asking, how are your earnings going since you’ve started your blog?

I have earned money right from day one, and as traffic has increased
(for example, I have received over 50k unique visits and 200k
impressions last month, and I’m sure these figures speak for
themselves), so have my earnings. I am currently earning 4 figures per
month, and that is definitely impressive given then fact that
TheRatingBlog.com is only three months old.

My blog has received some impressive exposure right from day one (I
have, for example, been able to hit the Digg frontpage on the very day
of the launch) and I have managed to build upon a solid foundation,
with the results being more than worthwhile.

8 ) Finally, do you have any blogging tips for the readers?

One of the most important principles by which I am guided as a blogger
(I have also shared this on my blog): “when doing something, do it in
style and stand out”.

Be passionate about what you’re doing and make sure your attitude
reflects that. Believe in yourself and in your ability to provide
value, add hard work to the equation and you are on the right track.
As far as your journey is concerned, the road will, rest assured, get
bumpy every once in a while, being successful can never be a piece of
cake but, as far as I am concerned, I am loving every minute of it.

Best wishes,

Alan Johnson

Thank you very much for doing the interview.