<a href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/2011/10/tulsa-blogger-meetup-prairie-fab-edition/2313604137_f657231b15_o/" rel="attachment wp-att-9333"><img src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/2313604137_f657231b15_o-500x450.jpg" alt="by Mike Licht" title="blogger" width="500" height="450" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-9333" /></a>

So we're off and running here with <a href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/tag/ok-blogs/" target="_blank">OK Blogs, a new series here at TDT that features interviews with your favorite Oklahoma bloggers</a>. Last week we talked with Ron Warnick, the creator of Route66News.com, a blog that serves a clearinghouse of Route 66 news and stories; the week before we heard from <a href="http://www.nicci6.com/" target="_blank">Nicci Atchley, the creator Nicci6.com, a dating and relationships blog based here in Tulsa</a>; at bat this week is <a href="http://www.route66news.com/" target="_blank">Ron Warnick, the blogger behind Route66News.com, a blog that chronicles news and stories from the Mother Road</a>. In this interview Ron talks niche blogging, about the impact of blogging on historic preservation and, of course, the Route itself. 

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TDT: Why does the web need a blog about generation X, and how did you come to that as a topic?

My father emphasized generations to me and many of the conversations we shared during my youth and childhood were framed around this context. I  owe my initial awareness and curiosity to him. He valued his generation and he spoke about with such pride. I was learning about Generation X as our collective persona was still forming. He encouraged me to identify and understand the mile markers in my own life.

I began blogging in 1999, but did not start writing about Generation X until 2007. I wanted something that would incorporate all aspects of my life, past, present and future; as a wife, mother and career professional. I wanted the freedom to write about faith and family; religion and recipes, parenting and politics. This all grew organically under the umbrella of Gen X versus some strategic plan I created.

I think if my blog fulfills a need it is as satellite accumulation point for all types of Generation X-related content -- everything from the 25th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion to present-day concerns about depleted 401ks. While I create a lot of original content on my blog I also curate content along the Gen X meme, and in this regard my blog almost serves as an historical record of Gen X adulthood.

TDT: You've been blogging since the late nineties. There have been lots of technical changes to the medium since then, of course, but what are some of the other changes you've seen?

The other day I was watching HLN and Robin Meade said, "Fashion bloggers report..." I thought, "Wow. We've come a long way." So, I think the biggest change, at least in recent times is that bloggers have gained credibility.

Collectively, if not individually, bloggers represent so much power in distributing information. I see marketers  relying on bloggers more and more because blogging is a tremendous channel for dynamic testimonials. Bloggers put personal skin and bones to stories that reporters, by the very nature of news, cannot. For example, I participated in a blogger program for Oklahoma Chevy dealers, and soon I'll participate in a program for another major industry.

TDT: What have you learned that doesn't work in blogging in that time?

If you are wanting to create a popular site that eventually you will monetize and earn an income from, I do not think it works to spend all your time focusing on relationships or even content. At one time or another we've all heard that one or the other is "king." I don't think this is the case. I think for the blogger who hopes to monetize someday audience is king. Lots of people are talented in building relationships and creating great content. It is much harder identify, find, develop and nurture audience.  So, what I've learned is that you must put 100 percent of yourself into relationships and content, but 500 percent of yourself into audience development.

By audience, I mean, the people who want and/or need the content you are creating or the people you are wanting or needing to impact with your content. Back in 2008,  I developed relationships with a dozen or so bloggers across the country. While they became cyber friends and were loyal to my blog, the content I created wasn't their first default. I noticed as I stopped maintaining those relationships, virtual or otherwise, they stopped reading my blog. This is when I began to remember academic lessons about audience in relation to my career in PR.

If you have a blog that features typos of the day for librarians your primary audience might be librarians and your secondary audience might be English majors or writers. If you have a site that features a different  fingernail polish design every day, your primary audience might be nail techs and your secondary audience might be teenage girls. Identifying and finding your audience, especially if you have a tight niche, will help ensure blog success. 

TDT: jenX is a cross between a personal blog and a blog focused on generation X. What's your process for deciding how and when to write about your family — namely, your children?

It has always been my intention to have a personal blog, even a highly personal blog, but I my commitment to this ebbs and flows. I have known for much longer than I have been blogging that someday I would write a personal memoir, but the time is not right yet. So, I hold back a lot, because it is very important to me that I not be an exhibitionist when it comes to hardship or joy.

I've written a fair number of personal blog posts, but I always examine my motivations as I want to present the most authentic parts of myself to the world. I think I am always thinking about my readers. I didn't want to blog about Juliette, my 14-year-old, getting new braces, because not everyone can afford braces. So, I choose to write about my children when I think the subject matter will encourage or inspire others even if in just a small way.

Of course, my most important readers will one day be my children and so I want them to always know I was always thinking of them - even if I didn't blog about them every day. They have their own lives to live and I don't want to live my life or theirs through my blog. Like my dear friend Louisa says, I don't want to write posts that constantly repeat, "Look at me living my great life!" It would be such a betrayal, and not because life isn't beautiful, but  because it is - even when it is painfully ordinary.

TDT: What's been your most popular post at JenX67.com?

My post popular post is one I wrote on September 29, 2011, Gen Y Leads Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Oklahoma City, Tulsa. It was not my best writing, but because the post ranked so high in searches for Occupy Wall Street, it got a ton of traffic.

TDT: jenX has been featured by a number of mass media entities, from local papers like The Oklahoman to national publications like WaPo, Babble and the Huffington Post. What can you pass along in terms of strategy for working with and reaching out to traditional and/or mass media?

It's important to blog consistently. If a reporter is looking to interview someone about tatting and you have a blog about tatting, but you haven't posted in six months, you'll probably get passed over in favor of someone who has created more recent content. Clean design and quality writing also help build credibility with reporters.

It's also been helpful to me to monitor the national conversation. When you see something pop up that relates to your blog's content, you can begin looking for opportunities. For example, I wrote a post about Gen Xer Conan O'Brien losing out to Baby Boomer Jay Leno. I posted the link on the Facebook fan page for O'Brien. A Washington Post reporter saw it and called me for a quote.