An Interview with Chris Garrett of ChrisG.com: The Business of Blogging and New Media

Tell me about your Blog?

It’s called “Chris Garrett on New Media” but it is mainly about attracting and engaging your audience using kick ass content so you can build trust and sell more stuff.

What was your first experience of social media?

I guess it would be bulletin boards and usenet back in the early 90s! Or more recently slashdot.

What is the biggest tip you would give to a newbie in social media?

Remember the “social” part – Social Media is more about people than tools. Too many people focus on the “media” part, or think it is about technology. Tweet others as you would like to be tweeted!

Where do you see growth in the social media field?

Initially I think the growth is coming from a widening demographic and the celebrity factor. Another growth area will be more traditional media embracing social features, but that will also lead to more fragmentation. Services will need to integrate and allow more data sharing but right now they profit from lock-in.

What new ideas are advertisers coming up with to take advantage of new trends?

Advertisers are largely struggling to be honest. They are trying to make old models fit. Facebook ads are very much like Google Adwords, and the most cutting edge idea I have seen lately is blog product placement and sponsorship, which is just the TV model turned to blogging. The space is wide open for real innovation.

What is the biggest tip you would give to a newbie blogger?

Put your audience first. Find out what their real and pressing challenges are and address those.

What do advertisers do that you wish they wouldn’t?

Spam for one! So many advertisers do what I call “check book marketing”; they want to pay money and get results, and not actually engage with the process. The problem is with social media you can’t do that.

What do bloggers do that you wish they wouldn’t?

Copy each other rather than extend and add to the conversation.

Where do you see growth in the blogging field?

A lot of the growth recently in blogging has seen the field go back in time – newsletters, forums, ebooks. I actually think the “blogging” field has fragmented into many different areas. Twitter, FriendFeed, Facebook, Flickr, have taken “lifestream” – traditionally blogging content, and many of the larger blogs are hard to tell apart from traditional big media online magazines. Growth will come from an unexpected direction I think.

What do you do to improve the world?

Apart from bless the world with my magnetic personality? LOL.

Seriously I do my bit but maybe not enough.

What do you do that is green?

We recycle, and one of my clients has helped us become a lot more eco-friendly, but I have a long way to go when you look at the carbon footprint of all the travel I do around the world.

What is one thing about you that not many people know?

I am not sure there is much left that isn’t out there. There are things I will not talk about in public, as you have no doubt noticed from this interview, heh.

When I was a teenage computer geek I once met one of my all time favorite game designers and programmers. There was nobody else around, I don’t think anyone else recognized him, but I stood there in silence with my mouth open rather than speak to him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Minter

Whatís your favourite book?

Probloggerbook.com 🙂

Hmmm … I have too many favorites. Probably Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

What is on your iPod?

I have two ipods, a 60GB for the car and a touch for dog walking and email checking, my wife and daughter have their own also of course 🙂

You can see my listening habits at last.fm as it is hooked up to one of the computers here

http://www.last.fm/user/chrisgarrett

People laugh that I have Muse and Marillion next to Take That and Miley Cyrus, but that is what you get when you have a family, your tastes are influenced by a 9 year old girl you will get an eclectic mix 😉

What are your contact details (email, company, blog, facebook, myspace, forums, etc)?

http://www.chrisg.com – you can get to the others from there 🙂

What events do you go to?

Most of them but a lot of the big ones are overseas in the USA so I have had to cut down in the last year because of family issues. I speak once or twice a month so lose track.

How do you prefer to communicate?

Email is best for me because I am a shy type.

Who would you recommend, and why?

I don’t play favorites 🙂

What is one thing people can do for you?

Say hi on twitter @chrisgarrett

Thanks to Chris Garrett of ChrisG.com: The Business of Blogging and New Media!

Photo Credit: DWakeman under Creative Commons License