What is the name of your Blog?The Weekend Chef
What is your name?
Raymond Laubert
Where are you from? (include country, state and/or city)
Hatfield, Pennslyvania, USA
What is your current age or age range?
55
Please describe your blog
My daugther and I started the Weekend Chef about 3 years ago when she was at Johnson and Wales for Culinary Arts. Since then I have really expanded it. The site boast a blog with weekly articles, a recipe exchange (forum), 2 massive databases with over 310,000 food and drink recipes.
Describe the main purpose of your blogging, what are you trying to accomplish?
I am living my dream of being a chef through this website. I enjoy cooking, have written several cookbooks about cooking and this is my way of creating a resource for all weekend chefs.
What blogging platform do you do and why?
This site is build around Word Press. It is simple to use, free and has a lot of support for other modules and add ons.
What do you blog the most about?
What else but food, cooking and recipes.
What kind of blogs make you angry?
Sales blogs. I look for information. I don't mind sales links but when the site is dedicated to selling I don't go back.
Give five of your best blogging tips.
Write from the heart. Provide useful information Keep it current Don't plagerize ( copy word for word and call it your own) Spell & Grammer check.
What are some things you would NEVER blog about?
Sex drugs Politics Illegal activites
Did you start blogging for the purpose of making money and if so, are you making enough money?
If the question is do I want to make money, yes. It would be nice if the site paid some of the bills. If I am doing this just to make money, then No. I love cooking and want to share that with others. I do want to keep the rif raf out, hence the membership requirement. But if you look there is a free membership as well.
How long have you been blogging?
Only about a year.
About how many hours per day do you spend blogging?
1-2 hours a day. I spend more time researching and building my websites and features.
Do you track RSS feeds and if so, how many do you usually track daily?
Haven't figured this out yet. At my age, it gets harder to stay on top of the Internet stuff, cooking and my full time job as a Database Adminstrator.
Do you use Digg, and why or why not?
Again, haven't figured this out. What is it? Why is it important to me?
Do you use Stumbleupon, and why or why not?
Hmm... never heard of it. So nope, don't use it.
What promotional techniques work best for you and why?
Articles, emails to friends, newsletters, and submit to directories and search engines.
If you could post a blog on any blog in the world, which one would it be and why?
Not sure if you count Yahoo's Answers but I like that one. Been only posting for a couple of weeks.
What mistakes have you made that you could warn others about?
Their is no instant success regardless of what hype you hear. But good content and they will come. It just takes some time.
What are your top five blogging site picks and why?
http://Rd-webhosting.com/blog - My webhosting company. http://theweekendchef.com - Recipe site and blog, building a community to share with. Yahoo's answers - Love the exchange of information and help Sitepoint - Webmaster resource for learning how to do all this stuff.
Have you met anyone offline as a result of your blog?
Yes and now we camp with them several times a year.. of course I do the cooking :)
Enter your own question here
What would you last meal be if you knew when you were going to pass away? Legal Seafood, Lobster dinner, clam chowder, ice tea, cappaccino, baked potatoe, salad with blue cheese dressing, fresh hot rolls with creamy butter. For desert Death by Chocolate Cake about 5 inches high.
What is the url of your blog?
The Weekend Chef
