Blogging Pro - Jason Katzenback Jason Katzenback is the widely known owner of the popular blog JohnCow.com, a money making blog that has just around 10 thousand readers. Jason is also the owner of PortalFeeder, a popular opt-in method on how to build an internet business.

First of all, I just want to thank you Jason for taking some time to spend with us and tell what you are all about and share some tips.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Your name, age, location, hobbies, etc.
My name is Jason Katzenback, I live in a small town in Ontario Canada called Sault Ste Marie. My wife and I (Plus my 2 daughters) moved back here 2 years ago to be close with our family. I am the youth leaders for our teenage youth group at our church and between work, family time and the youth group I really do not have any time for anything else

As the owner of JohnCow, you must have some serious experience in the industry. What do you think got you to where you are today?
I have always felt that I could do more than my current situation allowed, I was never really satisfied. Not that I am not content with my life but I always feel that there is more I can do. I remember about 13 years ago, I was sitting at my job and asking myself “is this it?”.  I was making good money but I felt like a sports car that was not allowed to go full out. It was very frustrating and I realized that I had to change my circumstances, I was responsible for where I was in my life and if I wanted something better I could not blame others but rather I could only blame myself. Ever since then I have set myself aggressive goals and worked hard to achieve them and I am today in a spot I remember dreaming about not that long ago.

JohnCow has over 6k readers now. There are tons of bloggers out there trying to figure out how to achieve these types of reader amounts. What tips would you give them?
I believe there are two things… The first is you need to prove yourself in a market. Do not expect people to listen to you when you have not even proven yourself as someone worthwhile to listen to. You need to gain peoples trust. The second part of that is to offer something different. You need to have your own unique position in the market that makes you stick out from the rest. Ask yourself why you subscribe to other peoples blogs. Is it because they have a “Subscribe to my RSS” link? No, of course not… It is because you have a specific reason and that might be because they are funny, news breaking, informative or whatever. Find a way to stick out from the crowd.

What’s a typical day look like for you?
I usually wake up at around 7am and sip on my coffee while I check my email on my laptop at home. I try to get to the office for about 9.

At the office, I first go over my to-do list for the day and get started. I go to the gym at lunch for an hour with my friend Hue and then work until about 6pm. The last half hour of my day is spent reviewing the day and planning out the next day’s priorities. I will usually assign a task or two to myself for the evening.. This way if we are vegging out watching TV or something, I will fire the laptop up and get a little extra work done. As for writing for JohnCow, I will usually start it in the morning and work on it for a bit and then go back to it either later that day or in the evening at home.

Do you have an idol or someone that you look up to? Who and why?
Jesus Christ is the only idol I look up to. As for friends that I rely on for advice, I have a few of those. My business partners are the main ones, Jason Potash and Marc Quarles… They are great guys that each has a different way of looking at things and a lot of experience in the world of making money online. I also talk with my good buddy Jerry West and Marc Lindsay a lot. There really is not anyone that I follow, read books about and look up to in the world of business or anything like that… Well that is not completely true, now that I think about it some more I do have three books from Seth Godin. I guess if I had to say one person, I would say Seth as someone I admire and respect and listen to. He has a very practical way of explaining things, always thinks outside the lines of where everyone else is going and has proven himself over and over again.

What are your future plans for JohnCow or just for your career in the online industry in general?
If I told you I would have to kill you. Just joking of course… We have lots of plans for Johncow, we are going to be starting a lot more videos, doing regular case studies and are starting some challenges for our readers. We have recently started an affiliate opportunity for our readers and have some cool JohnCow exclusive software tools coming and the list goes on and on. As for my career, we are still in the beginning phase of this internet, the technology is always changing and growing and there are always bigger and better opportunities out there. There are so many nay sayers out there that think it is too late to get into this industry and I have to laugh. We are only seeing the beginning of this.. I remember 8 years ago Yahoo owned the internet… Then Google and now social media seems to be taking over… It is always evolving and my plan is to continue to evolve and grow. My business partners and I have loads of things planned for the coming months and we truly see no end in sight.