Blogger Interview – Rachel Steed, ‘quotes from the street’

To kick off this year’s blogger interviews I have asked my colleague, Rachel Steed, to talk about her blog ‘quotes from the street’ and her other experiences with social media. Hope you like it and check her blog, it’s worth it:)

Syl:  When did you first hear about blogging? How did you start to get involved in it?

Rachel: I started blogging in June 2009 when a friend of mine suggested that I take a list of things I’d overheard people saying whilst out and about in London and put it into a blog.

Syl:  ‘Quotes from the Street’ – how did it start? Tell me more about the blog. Does it affect your life, I mean: do you pick up more quotes now, while writing it, or is it something you always did? Did blogging change your life? If so, how?

Rachel: Has the blog affected/changed my life? Definitely, and in more than one way – creatively, it’s an outlet and something I really love to do – Personally, when my friends and readers tell me they laughed or thought about one of the quotes it makes me happy; I think it’s really cool to know that there are people out there reading and actually enjoying what you’re producing . – Socially, everyone in my life seems to have deputized themselves as veritable quote machines – and the idea that they’re now all out there eavesdropping on public conversations is quite amusing – it’s sort of become a game.

Professionally, I’d say blogging has a few benefits, demonstrating that I’m able to build, optimise and maintain a blog is fairly relevant to my job in word of mouth/social media @1000heads, it also helps to convey my personality in a way I might not have the opportunity to do so otherwise – at the end of last year I signed with a book agent who took the contents of the blog to the Frankfurt book fair with a view toward publishing it as a book in 2011 – that alone, was really cool!

Syl: Did your blogging change after you got involved in work in social media? What other online presences do you have?

Rachel: Not really – although, in a few months, Lisa Burprich @lbp and I are launching a new blog called londonbridged.com which will have a slightly satirical spin on the difference between East and West London, but also offer helpful reviews of local restaurants, gigs, shops etc.

Syl: When it comes to other online presences, do you incorporate them in your blogging? If so, how?

Rachel: I use a Twitter account @QFTSblog and Facebook Group to help make it more accessible and also add my posts to bookmarking sites such as StumbleUpon and Digg.

Syl: Tell me more about your charity related projects – you are involved in Bright One and Child’s Foundation Network – can you tell my readers more about those?

Rachel: I work with a group founded by Ben Matthews called ‘Bright One’ which is a volunteer run communications agency for  professionals who want to donate their skills to small NGO’s in need of assistance with marketing/comms – we are currently working with an amazing charity called Childsi Foundation, which was founded by an inspiring woman called Lucy Buck who is currently on-site in Uganda building an orphanage for  abandoned children. Lucy uses social media to raise awareness of her charity and its activity, you can follow her on Twitter @childsi or if you’d like to give your support you can do so using an Obama-esque mechanic of donating as little as £2 by buying a brick in the virtual wall.

Syl: When I call myself ‘geekette’ I sometimes come across people who claim there is no such term. Is there a ‘blogette’? What type of a blogger is she (tell me in 3 to 5 words;))?

Rachel: I am TOTALLY a blogette! and I would challenge anyone who disputes the usage of the term

– Creative

– Observational

– Conversational

– Dedicated

Syl: Would you like to share anything else with this blog’s readers?

Rachel: My current favourite blog ‘I AM THE CLIENT’ epic reading when you need a laugh.

Syl: Thank you, Rachel!:)