Recently, I had the honour of interviewing ProBlogger Darren Rowse about blogging from his perspective as a father.

If you’ve ever read or written anything on a blog…

Chances are, ProBlogger Darren Rowse has influenced that experience some how.

He only has the biggest blogging blog on the planet, ProBlogger.net (with 300,000+ subscribers).

Photography blog, Digital Photography School (with 600,000+ subscribers).

A new, and growing blog, that helps people feel good, aptly called FeelGooder.com.

Although this statement would totally make him blush, the man IS a celebrity in his own right (his Klout score says so) -

AND

According to one very smart (and unbiased!) 5 year old boy, ProBlogger Darren Rowse is in charge of the internet.

Literally.

Well, he’s pretty much in charge of social media.

If you’ve ever had the privilege, that’s how you feel when you get a message, saying Darren Rowse @ProBlogger has retweeted your little ol’ Tweet to his gazillion Followers.

I would be very happy to have him in charge of the internet.

Especially knowing that he has a very wise, straight-talking, commando crawling, child holding him accountable and reminding him to keep things in good perspective.

Here’s Successful Blogging 101, from the words of Xavier Rowse:

“Daddy, what are you doing?”

I’m writing a message to the world.

“Daddy, make sure you tell the world something important.”

As Father’s Day in Australia is coming up, I asked this father of three sons (ages 5, 3 and 9 weeks) to reflect on his experiences of parenting, family and blogging, with these 6 questions.

Talking To ProBlogger Darren Rowse

How do you explain to your children, what you do for a living?

 

I’ve told them numerous things but I’m not sure how much really goes in. This is illustrated by me overhearing my eldest (5) tell a friend ‘My Dad is In Charge of the Internet’.

The latest thing that I’ve described blogging as to my eldest is ‘typing messages to the world’. When he asked why I talked about trying to help people get better at using their cameras. He seemed happy with that.

 

Does your blogging business give you the ideal work/life balance to allow you to spend time with your family?

 

It certainly opens up some opportunities for a different work/life balance to what I would have imagined years ago. I guess the main thing that I love is that it gives me flexibility to participate in some aspects of family life that I may not have had working in other situations.

Last week for example I took an afternoon off to do Fruit Duty at Kindergarten while this morning I spent 15 minutes before lunch time kicking a football around in the back yard with my eldest boys.

Having said that there are still temptations to get the ‘work’ and ‘life’ balance out of balance. I’m a bit of a workaholic so I could quite easily fill up much of my life with work.

 

What boundaries do you put in place between your blogging and your family?

There are a couple of types of boundaries that I have in place. Firstly there’s the privacy stuff. It’s something we talk about a lot as a family. I do share some family photos online but we don’t talk much about where we live and I try not to use family members names too much.

The main other boundaries are more about when I work. I try to work from 9-5pm on weekdays and then not again until the kids are in bed. I also don’t work on weekends for more than a few minutes (unless something big is happening).

 

What have been some of your observations of parenting blogs, and in particular, the mummy blogging niche in Australia?

My first real interaction with parenting bloggers was with a number of groups (mainly mums) in the USA when I was involved in some month long training programs around my ’31 Days to Build a Better Blog’ eBook. I was blown away by their enthusiasm, friendliness and eagerness.

More recently I’ve had opportunity to interact with a number of Australian parenting bloggers groups and was excited to see that the scene is alive and well here and that there is just as much enthusiasm.

In fact the parent blogging scene here in Australia is just as vibrant as what I see in the US and there seems to be a real community feel about it between bloggers – really exciting to see!

 

How do your children inspire you to be a better blogger?

I love the way my kids say it as it is – there’s no holding back with my boys. They tell you how they feel, they’re passionate about life, they’re inclusive to anyone that is around them and they ask a lot of questions. All of those things are the type of qualities I think bloggers could learn from.

 

What legacy would you like to leave for your children?

 

I want my kids to grow up to know that they’re loved, secure and are encouraged to reach their potential in life. I am also keen for them to learn that along with the opportunities that they have in life there are responsibilities to care for those around them and to leave the world they live in a better place than they found it.

Check out ProBlogger Darren Rowse

The “Tell The World Something Important” story is told here in full with awesome pics (it has been Tweeted 280 times):

What My 4-Year-Old Son Taught Me About Successful Blogging

If you’d like simple, practical ideas on how to improve your blog, which you can apply immediately, I highly recommend any one of these books which I have personally read (and most importantly, taken action on) myself. Check out my affiliate links:

31 Days To Build A Better Blog

ProBlogger’s Guide To Your First Week of Blogging

ProBlogger: Secrets For Blogging Your Way To a Six-Figure Income

Happy Father’s Day, Darren. Thank you for making a difference to the blogosphere in the way that only you can.

May your love for your children continue to guide you in all that you do, especially when it comes to telling the world something important.

We’re looking forward to the ProBlogger Training Day in Melbourne on 21 October 2011.

Written by Lina Nguyen

Mother’s Love Letters © 2011