Featured Blogger
Mr Gadget - Arnold Aranez
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This month we meet the tech blogger behind www.mrgadget.com.au – Arnold!
Arnold is the man behind the Mr. Gadget blog – which won the Best Geek Blog category at the Nuffnang Asia Pacific Blog Awards in Singapore in November. We spoke to him to find out what drives this award winning blogger!
What is your blog about & how did you go about choosing the URL?
My blog URL is mrgadget.com.au. When I came up with the idea of starting a gadget website I already had visions of registering gadgetguy.com.au and having a zany superhero type character with a big “G” emblazoned on his chest as my mascot. Sadly the domain was taken and had to come up with something similar. People at work were always calling me Mr.Gadget because I always seemed to have the latest mobile phone and was often sighted with wires sticking out of my ears. I tried registering mrgadget.com.au and voila, it was available.
When did you first start blogging and what made you first hit the keyboard?
I started blogging in 2004. When I started mrgadget.com.au it was purely an ecommerce site. I found it tedious updating the front page with my newest products so decided to create a blog front end to make creation of new product announcements faster. I used blogger.com and their templates as my front end. Only a couple of months after I started writing about products, I noticed significant traffic increases and funnily enough the blog was mentioned on Channel 7’s Sunrise Morning Show!
Since then I have moved to Wordpress and haven’t looked back since.
What is the thing you most enjoy about blogging?
One of the most enjoyable things about blogging is the people you meet. I must admit there are some crazy people out there but on a whole, I have met some excellent people from all different walks of life from the four corners of the world. Some have become great friends and we collaborate on my different online projects. If it wasn’t for blogging I wouldn’t have met one of my best online friends and another high profile Aussie blogger, Alister Cameron (http://www.alistercameron.com).
What is the coolest thing your blog has helped you to do?
Being able to travel overseas (where all expenses are paid) is definitely one of the coolest things that the Mr.Gadget blog has enabled me to do. In September last year, there was the Nuffnang Blog Awards in Singapore which was an amazing time of meeting new people and exploring the intriguing city of Singapore. And just a few weeks ago, I was invited by LG Electronics to attend their international blogger forum in Seoul, Korea. Flying back business class (my first time) was a super bonus!
What piece of advice would you give to someone just starting out their very first blog?
If you’re starting a blog, don’t have the intention of making money in mind. Find a topic that you’re passionate about and blog as much as you can. Be genuine, be sincere and reward your readers by interacting with them as much as possible.
Tell us about your pets, friends, hobbies, star sign, shoe size… whatever!
Well obviously I love gadgets. They consume a lot of my time. But I love my little family more – I have two beautiful girls that I am very proud of and love just watching them grow.
I love sunsets, travel, reading, basketball, indoor beach volleyball, hiking and cycling when I get the chance.
What do you love about Nuffnang?
I love how Nuffnang draws bloggers together and provides opportunities for them to earn a bit of money from their hard work. I am particularly grateful to Nuffnang for allowing me to participate in the Nuffnang 2009 Asia Pacific Blog Awards, to experience Singapore in a way I would not have been able to on my own and meet some awesome bloggers. I think David Lee and David Krupp are very cool guys too. :)