I recently got the chance to interview Gyutae Park of WinningTheWeb.com. His blog is great, and he is a really smart marketer. You may remember his last contest which was insane! Tons of prizes were given away and the total of all the stuff given away was almost $15,000. Thanks again to Gyutae for doing this interview!
What initially got you started in blogging?
[Gyutae] I’ve always enjoyed the concept of blogging and started on the web in the mid 90’s through Geocities and Angelfire pages (remember those?). I later moved on to things like Xanga and Blogspot, although I never really monetized anything until about 4 years ago. Winning the Web was started in October of 2007 as a means for me to share some of my experiences in Internet marketing and SEO. Of course I can’t say that I’m not doing it for the money, but I really do enjoy it and am in it for the long haul.
What got me started? Some knowledge about a topic that I’m passionate about and a drive to succeed. That’s really all that’s needed to grow a blog. Everything else you can learn along the way.
How long have you been a professional SEO?
[Gyutae] Technically I’ve been involved in SEO since I started my first real website in 2004, Drum Set Connect. The main way for me to gain traffic back then was through SEO so I spent countless hours optimizing and building links for the site. It’s definitely paid off as I’m now ranking pretty well for some competitive keywords.
I later got a job as an SEO for a big collectibles firm and am now an SEO for a top 10 SEO agency in New York City.
So to answer your question, I’ve been involved in SEO for quite some time now but have been consulting “professionally” for the past 2 years.
I read Aaron Wall’s SEO Book back when it was an ebook and that helped me tremendously to get started in the industry. I recommend everyone sign up.
You hold many contests at Winning The Web, how has this last contest helped your blog?
[Gyutae] Contests are great for increasing your readership and attracting people to your blog. The last contest that I held, labeled as the Craziest Internet Marketing Contest You’ve Ever Seen has seen tremendous success - almost to the point where it was all very overwhelming. I doubled my RSS subscriber readership to over 850 and gained some new fans and supporters in the process.
One word of advice to everyone thinking of running a blog contest. A contest is only a form of marketing and you still need great content to make people want to stay on for the long haul.
Are you into affiliate marketing at all?
[Gyutae] I’ve dabbled in PPC affiliate marketing but haven’t really hit my jackpot yet. I still test some offers and landing pages now and then but my main focus is really SEO and building lasting online real estate that provides value to the end users.
Could you explain more about your company, Teaguy Media?
[Gyutae] Teaguy is simply a anagram for my first name Gyutae. The company exists only to house all of my web properties.
Any big plans for Teaguy Media?
[Gyutae] A lot of new projects on the way that I’m very excited about. If you’re interested, be sure to subscribe to the Winning the Web RSS feed. I’ll be announcing future releases on there.
In your opinion, what is the best way to jump start a blog? Major advertising, contests, buying reviews?
[Gyutae] In order to jump start a blog, you really have to have your content down first. Focus on creating quality articles that provide value to readers. This in itself will attract links and people to the blog organically. Once you have that foundation down I recommend you invest in blog reviews on the biggest influencer sites in your niche.
Other than that, network with other bloggers and help others. It’s much easier to be noticed if you have a large network of supporters.
Thanks again Mr. Park for taking the time out to do this interview. If you haven’t heard of Winning The Web yet, run over and subscribe! Very useful information every day!
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