My interview with the lovely ladies behind Cinema Obsessed

The first of my blogger interviews is in, and what a great interview it was! This week I had the pleasure of talking to Angie and Chantale about their phenomenal blog CinemaObsessed.com. The blog is a haven for movie buffs, with bucket loads of ever-expanding content and fantastic regular features. It's a very successful blog that was recently awarded the prestigious title of "Blog of Note" by Blogspot. Here is the interview, and there are a plethora of links at the bottom to help you locate CinemaObsessed.com on the World Wide Web. Thanks girls for being my first ever blogger interview, hopefully the first of many.

1. Why did you start your blog?

We are genuinely obsessed with all things movie related. We have always been the go-to people for our friends and family for film suggestions, for borrowing from our ginormous library of titles, and for general movie talk. We decided to channel it into a blog!

2. What does your blog offer that others don't?

Firstly, we're female - and most MOVIE bloggers are male. We offer a female perspective. Also, we're not movie snobs. We like pretty much everything, meaning it has to be a real piece 'o shit for us to hate it. But even then, we find the good in everything. We're not critics. That's a dirty word. We're just film lovers.

Second, we're sisters, and who doesn't love that? (joke) We're not a dry database or strict fact source or news outlet. We spice things up with our quirkiness. We have original content everyday, at least two pieces of our own writing, but we also have little extras that make our site quick and easy to navigate.

3. Do you promote your blog? If yes, how?

We've promoted with traditional media like newspapers and radio, and also use all the usual social networking tools - Facebook, Twitter, and have found other great more little known networks to help get the word out like Blog Catalog, 20 Something Bloggers, Blog Lovin', The Large Association of Movie Blogs, etc. We are also partnered with local radio station to give them video movie reviews (available here <http://www.cinemaobsessed.com/p/89-second-review.html>) so they give us on air promotion.

4. What are the positive aspects of blogging?

Finding other people who appreciate movies the way we do. That's the whole reason we started doing it. We knew we weren't the only people out there with this film-crazed mentality, and now we've found others! It's like a support group for an addiction.

5. What are the negative aspects of blogging?

Haven't found anything truly negative yet, it's been a fun ride. The only thing we know that frustrates most bloggers (especially the newbies) is the lack of a pay-off, at least at first. You have to be patient. Not everyone will explode into fame like a TMZ or Perez, but you have to work at it for a long time to be noticed. And the reality is you might not ever be noticed outside of the blogging community, but that's why you have to be blogging for yourself - because you love doing it.

6. What are your future plans for your blog?

We'd like to secure more advertisors, for one. We're always looking for new ideas, new segments, new games for reader participation, etc.

We'd like a redesign of our layout, we'd like to expand our podcast, our brains are always workin' on it! We talk constantly about this blog, as it's like our baby. And you thought two sisters couldn't parent the same child - well we've done it with a website. We birthed it and we're raising it together. Ok that was weird, but you get the metaphor.

7. What advice can you give to first time bloggers?

Have a gimmick, a schtick, something original to offer. We feel the most important thing about blogging is to pick a topic, a theme, a subject to stick to. Truly, nobody will care what you had for lunch, or how your cat's vet visit went. Unless you can deliver your own anecdotes in a completely original way (ie you're hilarious) then don't assume people want to read about the random details of your life. Only celebrities can get away with that.

We may be bloggers, but we're also huge blog READERS. We read many many many blogs on a regular basis, and we're always trying to find new ones we like. So as members of the general public, we always come back to blogs with a gimmick. If people scroll through the entire first page of your blog and still don't really "get" what your blog is about, you'll probably lose them. Avoid automatic music playing when people enter, avoid large chunks of text, bad spelling/grammar/internet speak, avoid dropping your url on other blogs comment sections (its considered tacky), and most of all - involve yourself with your readers! We're not trying to sound preachy here, these are just tips we've picked up along the way.

Some links to connect with us:

Click below:

Or try:

Twitter.com/cinemaobsessed

youtube.com/cinemaobsessed

search "Cinema Obsessed" on Facebook

or email: info@cinemaobsessed.com