Smart Man Online: Jim Turner

Dear Readers, today we're going to talk to a Daddy Blogger. Jane is embarrassed to admit that we were not really aware of these Dads out there, blogging away, until we went to Blogher. Visiting that conference was a real eye-opener. We didn't get to meet this Daddy blogger, Jim Turner -- maybe next time -- but we discovered him via blogging, anyway. He's a great guy -- a fantastic Dad, and someone with some great ideas...our Smart Man Online, today...Jim Turner:

Lip-sticking: We would like to start with your blog, One by One Media, where you say, "Helping Connect, One by One." Currently, you're celebrating the birth of a new baby. We're so jealous! And excited for you. There's a cute picture on the blog -- so tell us: aren't you afraid that posting pics of the kids will -- harm them in some way? Encourage kidnappers...or worse? We ask because this issue came up at a Blogher session.

Jim: Child safety has never really been an issue with me I always assumed if someone wanted to do something to my family, they would be able to do it whether I posted pictures or discussed them. We take our kids out to public places numerous times and they are in more danger of being taken or lost in a public forum than they are on the internet.

I know that there are people that tell me that I should never take a chance with my kids' safety, but I can't protect them from the dangers of the whole world. The internet is the new public forum.

Lip-sticking: It's an understatement to say we love and admire your blog -- you have a way with words, and you are very genuine. Which brings us to the Never Fear: Genuine is here! blog;
A Daddy blog! Before meeting you, Jane had no idea...but we've learned a lot since then. What inspired you to write this blog? (we know it was the children, but...what's your purpose in writing the blog and...who reads it?)

Jim: I started Genuine in the spring of 2004. I had never heard of a blog and had no idea that I could write or even work with technology. I first thought of writing and connecting with people when I had a column each week in a Fantasy Football League. The column was called "Just in Jest", and it was a whimsical look at the week in football as it related to the teams in the league and the owners of the teams.

This actually became more popular as the season went on, and at the end, they all wanted to continue to receive the column. I decided I would look into writing. One of the guys in the league said that my voice was a lot like Gregg Easterbrook of ESPN, and that I should go check out his Blog. The virus was borne at that point and I immediately fell in love with the idea of writing my own blog where all of my friends and family could enjoy my writing. Little did I know, other people might like to read it and follow along with the sitcom I call my life. Now I get about 800 readers a day that stop in to see what crazy things are happening, to get my thoughts on being a Dad, and raising a family.

I first started reading blogs that were written by Dads and Moms. It was a natural progression because my life is filled with children right now, and they are great fodder for writing. I started a looking at the more popular sites and found that my writing style was not too different than their writing style, and I decided that I would jump into the mommy blog mix and see what would happen. Now most of if not all of my readers are parents. The rest as they say….

Lip-sticking: We know you're off to the Blog Business Summit. Tell us your goals. And, aren't you going to miss the family -- hey, who's home helping the new Mom???

Jim: I'm headed out to San Francisco as we speak, and my wife and the rest of the tribe are all at home cheering Daddy on while he goes out to make a name for himself. It's summertime and the kids are all at home making it even more difficult for my wife to handle things. Luckily, her mother is out to help with the kids while we get used to having the newest addition to the already overloaded family. I guess more than a few sacrifices have been made to be successful, but my wife has been very supportive throughout all of the blogging experience.

Lip-sticking: We're sure you'll report on the Summit...but for now, let's get on with it -- we see on the Genuine blog that you're writing a novel! This is exciting. Why write it online? Jane suggests this over at the Aha! blog...but many authors are reluctant to "give away" their copyright. Any thoughts on that?

Jim: You are speaking of the Genuine Romance. This is a project that has taken forever, but it began as more of a dare than anything. I was making fun of the fact that I had a number of women reading my blog, and in fact at the time, I may have known about a handful of men that were visiting regularly. I made a crack about writing a Romance Novel for all of the women readers, and they all called me on the ruse. I began writing the novel, and actually involved all of my readers in the process, asking their advice on what characters I would use, including names, and discussed plot ideas.

I have slowly written 7 chapters now, and I have been reminded on a number of occasions that I need to get them chapter 8. As far as sharing my novel, I am not a professional novelist, but who knows someday, someone may ask me to write on for real, and the reason they might ask is because I have advertised my writing style right out in the public forum. Then I actually had a few romance novelist stop in and critique some of the chapters, and they fell into blogging themselves as a marketing tool for their books. It was a great match for them.

Lip-sticking: Ok...enough of you. Tell us about The Philosophical Mother. Your Genuine Moments post was like reading a Hallmark Movie. This is an ezine posing as a blog. We're confused... can you clear up our confusion? And, your submission page says you are not accepting anymore submissions, that the 'ezine' is in redesign. We think you have enough on your plate -- how can you possibly be handling this, too?

Jim: The Philosophical Mother is an online e-zine specifically designed to discuss all things Mother. I ran across this e-zine while looking and reading a number of mommy blogs. Never one to be too shy, I emailed the editor and asked whether a Daddy might be considered as a Philosophical Mother. She thought the idea was great and always thought that a father's perspective on mothering would be great for the publication. She signed me on and I submitted my first column and now I'm a full time Philosophical Mother. I had no writing experience other than my blog at that point, so the editor really took a chance and I think that my blog opened that opportunity that I would not have had otherwise.

Lip-sticking: One reason we wanted to interview you is because you (though you're of that other gender) are among the folks who make up the target market we focus on helping companies reach.
We know you have a connection to the Mommy Bloggers, and that the Daddy Bloggers, such as yourself, are part of a partnership with their wives...or significant others (whatever the case may be). We want to hear some insight into the shopping habits of busy, Internet oriented folk like you and your wife. So, has shopping online been a help...or do you just stick to the old-fashioned
way of doing things?

Jim: Shopping? Do parents actually have time for this? We actually do a lot of research on the internet when making larger purchases. We used the internet to buy our minivan for the tribe
a few months ago. Parents with lots of kids and no time often use the internet during the quiet times (read late at night), and I think this has been a time saver. I can see as businesses
become more of a presence online, we will be using it more often than not. Do you suppose they have a diaper outlet online?

Lip-sticking: With 4 kids (we're so jealous -- we wanted a fourth but our ex said, 'no way, i'm not paying for another one!' <sigh> Guess that's one reason he's an ex.) we're sure you need more rest, but...your days must be full of life, full of excitement, full of wonder. Tell us about being a Dad. Tell us if you think it's different now, in the techie world of the 21st century, or the same, as in that old Dick and Jane world of the 20th century.

Jim: My parents I think still chuckle at me when I visit. I'm the oldest of 4 children in my family, and I don't know how may parents did it. How did they get anything done without email, cell phones, and computers? I guess our lives change with the technology. We have yet to get into the parent as taxi routine, but I know that time is coming. I think we will have 6 cell phones, and each child will be carrying a locater so we can keep track. It is a little different than when I was young, except the part of the core family values. We just do it more and faster these days. My parents are still chuckling.

Lip-sticking: From a business perspective (we'll get into Bloggers for Hire next), do you think blogging is a good marketing tool? It's a great diary tool, and family connector, but does it translate into a business focus? And, is what do you expect to get out of going to the Blog Business Summit?

Jim: Blogging has introduced me into a whole new world of friends and people I would never have connected with, and I think that it can do th same thing for business. As a business, blogging will open up networking and other business opportunities that were never before available. It's not like an investment in a yellow page ad. Blogging opens up a communication with potential customers throughout the globe.

While in San Francisco, I hope more than anything to meet my colleagues in the field of blog consulting, and let them know there really is a man behind the blog. I have commented and
written with a few people, and I am even now a contributor to the Business Blog Consulting blog started by Rick Bruner. I figured I should probably let them know that there really is a human person behind the name they have heard. I also want to let others in the field know that Bloggers For Hire is ready and available to take on their needs. I'm sure many of the business consultants out there pitching the blog idea have heard the same things I hear, and I want them to know that there are alternatives available to them and their clients.

Of course the other thing I was hoping to accomplish was more than three hours of sleep at one time.

Lip-sticking: Ha! That won't happen any time soon...We'll end with Bloggers for Hire, your newest venture. Tell us all about it and what to expect from it.

Jim: My company actually has transmogrified into what it has become today as a result of a vision to be an expert blogger. I had just witnessed the Wizbang Blog Awards, and noticed that none of the personal blogs were even considered in any of the categories. They certainly did not have a mommy blog or daddy blog category. My partner and I decided it would be a great idea to start our own awards, and that spurred on the Best of Blog (BoB) Awards. We decided this would be our stepping stone into the world as blogging experts.

One By One Media, was born out of this idea for the sole purpose of helping people and businesses blog. I had no mentor and no help when I first started and I was very overwhelmed with the technology and the language that was being used. I was being asked questions about what platform I was using, and when trying to understand HTML, my eyes glazed over and I had the deer in the headlights look. When I started talking about blogs later as to how they were this really nice way to communicate, I had a lot of people tell me that they too had heard of them, but had no idea how to get started or whether it would even be something they liked. I decided I would help them. Now I'm putting people in touch with one another One By One through blogging.

While telling and evangelizing the use of blogs as a business tool, I would constantly run into people that could not for one reason or another blog. The constant excuse was that they did not have enough manpower, and they did not have resources to maintain a blog with fresh content. In other words they did not want to spend the money it would take to put someone in front of a computer and blog on their dime. I decided it was time someone provided that resource for them. I put together the idea of providing a quality writer/blogger at an affordable price.

Thanks, Jim. You've opened a few eyes, today, no doubt. I respect you immensely, for your professionalism, but more for your dedication to being a great Dad. That's what will stand the test of time. Let's do this again in a year... and see where each of us is. That could be interesting...

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Jim, we think you're the epitome of entrepreneurship. You combine your work with your homelife and an award winning way. Gee, you should write a book about that!

So, dear readers, what's not to like about that?

Comments

[Yvonne DiVita]

Jane is so impressed and thrilled! This interview attracted so many comments and introduced us to numerous new blogs, making it a top 10 for all time. We expect to keep in touch with Jim, and follow more of these personal blogs...for their insight, their humor, and their focus. Life -- that's what these good folks write about, Moms and Dads, and more. Say, what's not to like about that? Thank you, Jim. This was truly a pleasure.

[Jim Turner]

Thanks for the interview J/Y and I hope you have much success!

[Edgy Mama]

Nice interview. I'm a long-time Genuine reader and came over from his site. Jim deserves all the success that is coming his way--he's worked really hard for it.

[Marti]

I love reading the Genuine blog! One by One did a blog template redesign for me that is great!

I'm so glad he had a link to this site...I hadn't heard of you before - nice place you have here!

Best wishes to all!

[Lizzie]

Great job on the interview, Jane and Jim!

As a Philosophical Mom, I applaud this Dad's work, especially who has the you-know-whats to step up to the plate with a bunch of women, he has my deepest respect...and sympathies...trust me...I know...my husband works with nine women and they tear him up to pieces and leave me all the yucky parts.

Great read.

[Mamacita]

Thank you so very much for featuring one of the very best Daddy Bloggers in the blogosphere! I've been a 'Genuine' reader for over a year, and every day it just gets better and better. Excellent choice, Jane.