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Posted by: Elena Grama - 31 January 2011 / 10:26

Welcome to Behind the Blogs, where we take a moment to get to know the bloggers in the Scribnia Community on a more personal level.  We’ve read their words, but now it’s time to learn a little bit about the person behind the keyboard.

Today’s interview is with Lucy Thorpe. Lucy blogs about media and social media for small businesses at www.Lucythorpe.wordpress.com. She is an ex BBC radio journalist and newsreader who can’t get enough of social media. As a journalist she used to spend her time finding stories and working on interesting ways to tell them, now she uses that curiosity to nose about online and discover what’s going on. Lucy helps small businesses with social media and PR and still do some voice work as a legacy of her radio days. She reads, runs and swims to keep herself sane and away from the computer!

1 ) Why did you start blogging and why do you blog today?

I started out blogging about social media because I wanted to understand it and this was a way of making sense of what I found. I have always wanted a blog and at one stage considered writing a mummy blog about life in the suburbs but I got scared because I thought my friends would never speak to me again! Blogging about social media means that I can share my discoveries with others, particularly the kind of businesses that I work with – small operators who do their own marketing and PR and don’t have the time to keep up with every trend. However I do have the occasional rant when things annoy me, like bad customer service.

2 ) Has blogging helped in any way your life/career?

Blogging is at the centre of what I do. If someone wants to work with me they can look me up online and see what I have to say. If they like my style and the way I think and write then we can take it from there. My blog is also a place where I enter into industry discussions about best practice and knock around ideas and I am proud to say that social media influencers from around the world have stopped by to comment.

3 ) What advice would you provide for people looking to start a blog?

You have to just jump in and do it – it is fine to tweak things as you go along but if you wait until everything is ready you will never get on with the whole wonderful business of writing and getting your thoughts out there. I know lots of top bloggers who change their themes and posting schedules and even miss altogether for a while. You are the boss – don’t be a slave to it. Oh and don’t get hung up on all the American blogging sites telling you you have to make money. Decide why you want to blog and if it is not about monetizing your site then don’t get distracted by it.

4 ) What is your biggest fear?

Discovering that Twitter has been replaced and having to start the process of building up connections all over again. I love Twitter and couldn’t blog without it. It is how I tell people about my posts and where I get all my inspiration from.

5 ) What is one unique fact that your readers don’t know about you?

I once read the shipping forecast on Radio 4

6 ) Who are your biggest inspirations in life or in blogging?

I am inspired by everyone who has ever made a success out of blogging. I am impressed by the people who take the time to discuss, to comment and to praise – however big a name they are.

Thanks so much for sharing your story with us Lucy. A useful blog for small businesses interested in social and media . Keep up the good writing.

Again..Make sure to read Lucy’s Blog, follow her on Twitter and review her.

If you know of an interesting blogger/author that we should interview for the Behind the Blogs series, or if YOU are that blogger, send me an email at Elena [at] Scribnia.com

Tags: Behind, blog, Interview, Lucy, media, Scribnia, social, Thorpe