The Extreme Ezine

Interview with Yan Susanto, Blogger Turned Internet Marketer

It is an honor to interview Blogger turned Internet Marketer Yan Susanto. Yan is very well known and liked by many and his main blog, ThouShallBlog.com – a Blog for Beginners, reflects that success. Thou Shall Blog is only 9 months old yet Yan has well over a hundred posts, around 5000 comments and over 750 subscribers.

Brian: A little over a month ago you announced you were branching into Internet Marketing. What influenced the timing and how is it working out?

Yan: To be very frank, most bloggers make nothing from their blogs so naturally passion is the driving force behind them. Otherwise, they will fade away pretty fast. Since monetary gain doesn’t come first, passion is the hook that keeps me longer in the game and I attribute my little success to it.

Didn’t they say, “If you love what you are doing, you will never work a day in your life“?

Fortunately, I came into the world of blogging, albeit unplanned,  knowing for a fact that to be truly making money online, it takes more than just writing quality contents, selling private ads and adsense.

Then somehow it dawned on me that it was no longer about blogging, It’s about business. And It’s time to go beyond my blog and dive into the business of internet marketing. So it’s all about changing my mindset as part of my 2009 resolution.

How is it working out? I’m satisfied with the progress. Though it’s still under the radar, most importantly I’ve found a new passion and that matters most to me right now.

Just to spill the beans a little, among other things, I’m now focusing on niche marketing.

Brian: Your gracious and respectful personality make you a very likable person and I suspect that has a lot to do with your online success. What tips can you offer other marketers and bloggers that find those traits a little harder to demonstrate?

Yan: The jury is still out as to whether I’ve achieved online success. I guess each of us looks at success from a different angle.

There isn’t any secret formula.

Let me just quote what Yaro Starak once said,
“If you have a passion for a topic that you can translate into benefit for other people, then you should be blogging.”
In business, the rule remains the same.
“If you have a passion for [.......] that you can translate into benefit for other people, then you should be [......].”
A simple yet powerful tip and that’s exactly what I’ve learned – and what I strongly advocate – as a graduate of the “University of Life”. (Mind ya, I dropped out of high school so that was the only U that accepted me…)

Brian: A lot of people may be surprised at how wide spread your online activities are beyond that of blogging. You must have a good grip on time management. Can give us a method or two you have mastered that allows so many projects while still keeping your sanity?

Yan: Who says I don’t lose my sanity?  Some days I lose it when everything goes past the deadline but most of the time, the other half who loses it…..;).

OK! Behind every successful man, there should a woman who fully supports him in everything he does in times of ups and downs and the opposite is true.

So having the support of a significant other is the key. Does it make sense to you?

Brian: It makes all the sense in the World Yan, I’m lucky enough to have the support of my lovely wife of twenty five years. I couldn’t and wouldn’t do it without her.

Where do you see Internet Marketing five from now? Blogging? Are there any trends you think we should be looking for?

Yan: I foresee the emergence of young bloggers dominating the internet in the next 5 years. Being more techno-savvy than we adults combined with an attitude of “what have I got to lose“, the kids are quick to embrace the internet and succeeding in what seems to be far-fetched for most adults who tend to “over-complicate simple things in life“. Speaking of which I’m guilty of it too.

Do we adults have a place on the internet? Yes, if only we could rediscover “the child in us” and find those traits we left behind when we became adults. Go figure out.

Brian: One last question. Is there one person that you consider a mentor and do you think mentors are important? Ok, I guess that was two questions but I combined them to look like one

Yan: I guess I have a strange perspective of what mentor is. Everyone that I meet, be it online or offline, is my mentor. Thing is I grew up as an orphan (no shame about it) so naturally I learned every single thing from the people I came across in my life journey and it’s only later in life I discovered the fine art of filtering the good from the bad.

So today I’m only picking what’s good and ignore what’s not. Just like I learn how to combine the two to look like one, so to speak

I would like to personally thank Yan for taking the time from a very busy schedule to do this interview. You can see more of Yan’s expert views and advice on ThouShallBlog.com. You can also find Yan writing for Sponsoreview.com, CommentLuv.com and in the comments of quality blogs throughout the Blogosphere.