HerProBlog.COM desires to help women create and maintain professional blogs. What better way to teach and inspire women bloggers than by being taught by professional women bloggers.

I am thrilled that our first interview with a pro blogging women is Elisa Camahort, co-founder of BlogHer. Elisa manages BlogHer events, marketing and corporate operations. Just last month BlogHer held their 2008 conference in San Fransisco. With over 1000 bloggers in attendance the event was a big success and plans for the 2009 conference are already in the planning stages.

So without further ado here is the interview with Elisa Camahort.

When did you get started blogging?

I started in 2003, purely as a personal endeavor. I got this free blogging application when I renewed my .Mac membership, so I thought i'd give it a try.

What was your first blog about?

My first blog, which is still my current personal blog is about a little bit of everything. I'll write about blogging, technology, politics, and I'll also review restaurants, theatre, books, movies...you name it. I also spend an unhealthy amount of time writing recaps of talent-based reality shows like American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance and Project Runway.

How has blogging affected your life?

It has changed it completely. I never had a goal to work for myself or to start a company, but blogging provides you with this personal platform, a personal printing press, and can have a way of changing what you thought your personal plan was!

What is the strangest, funniest or most rude comment someone has
made about you being a blogger?

Um, I'm pretty sure someone compared me to a "Nazi Abortionist" a couple of weeks ago, although they were a little incoherent, so I'm not positive. I'm guessing it's because I'm openly pro-choice, although the post in question had nothing to do with that issue.

What are some of your favorite blogs authored by women?

Oh my, I hate questions like these...because it's hard to choose, honestly. So really I'll just pick a few that I think i've never given public props to before, just to spread the love.

I'm biased, but I think Kristy Sammis, who runs BlogHer's events, is brilliantly funny: She Just Walks Around with it

Also, two political bloggers I really admire are: Talk Left

and Digby: Hullabaloo by Digby - It's notable to mention that people assumed Digby was a male blogger for years before she finally 'came out" as a woman!

Do you ever get discouraged? What do you do in times of discouragement?

Well, I used to say that I pet my amazing geriatric kitty, Samantha, but since she died at 20 years old last December I can't say I've found a great replacement. Yelling at drivers in other cars doesn't really seem like the most mentally healthy answer, does it?

What are your hopes for the future of women bloggers?

I've already seen one hope realized, because I think people don't really ask "where are the women bloggers?" anymore. BlogHer conducted a benchmark study in March 2008 that showed how mainstream blogging has really become among women...over 50% of U.S. women online participate in the blogosphere weekly! So, I think the media and the business worlds are both well-aware now where the women bloggers are: Everywhere, and blogging about everything under the sun.

My ongoing hope for the future is that blogging, and particularly women blogging, will continue to help break down barriers, cross boundaries...and smash stereotypes.

One of BlogHer's editors is a woman in her 60s who told me she enjoyed the Internet because no one could see she was an "older woman" and therefore she felt she could be taken more seriously as a technologist. But I feel like if everyone stood up and trumpeted their identity we could no longer make assumptions about identity.

Bring on the hardcore political bloggers like Digby
Bring on the senior citizen geeks like Virgina DeBolt
Bring on the parenting bloggers...who also include dads, not just moms
Bring on every bit of your identity: race, gender, age, nationality, sexual orientation, status of uterus, ideology, religion...you name it.

The blogosphere presents a tremendous opportunity to realize that our similarities are more compelling than our differences. I guess what I'm saying is that someday the wildest hope of all would be that BlogHer has to change our mission (http://www.blogher.com/node/925), because we will all have more opportunities than we know what to do with.

If you could offer one piece of advice to a brand new blogger, what
would it be?

Follow your passion and consuming interests. Blogging is best when it's from the heart and when it's something you can imagine doing for a long time...and often. Sure, I know people who have started blogs purely to make money or purely because they think blogs lead magically to some other kind of success metric they have in their head. But really, most of us, from the teeny tiny (and believe me, my own blogs get almost no traffic at all!) to the very highly-trafficked stick with it because we love it. We love the freedom of expression, we love the platform it provides, we love the community that seems to evolve naturally, and we love seeing how bloggers can really impact the world around them!

Thank you Elisa for sharing your story and advice.

Have you noticed? There has been more and more talk of women bloggers lately. Could it be because the public is finally realizing how much influence women bloggers actually have within the Blogosphere?

I think we can all agree that there has never been a lack of women bloggers on the internet. I think most women take to blogging naturally because we love to communicate. The recent awareness of women bloggers has more to do with women reaching "influencer" status.

Most top bloggers lists are based on Alexa and Technorati rankings. An influencer is usually define by how popular the site is in general and how many people are being reached. Though the way a person is gauged as a influencer can be a bit inaccurate, there a few ways you can discover the true popularity of a blogger.

I not going to get into what I believe is the best way to gauge someone's influence today but I will say this. One person may see a celebrity but another person has never heard of them. That is to say, gauging someones influence is not all together accurate in any way, shape or form because each person is "influenced" in different ways.

That being said, there are a number of lists floating around the Blogosphere that where created by people who found a way to gauge influence as best they could.

I have compiled a list of 13 "Top" lists. Some of these lists are a few years old others are only a few days old.

1. The 100 Australian Women's Blogs
2. Top 10 Women Entrepreneur Blogs
3. Top 12 Women Real Estate Bloggers - 2007 Edition
4. The Magical List of Outstanding Women Bloggers
5. My Top 10 Best Women Bloggers with Influence - Part 1 & Part 2
6. The W List: Oustanding Women Bloggers
7. 10 Most Powerful Women in Blogging
8. 100 Awesome Webmaster Blogs by and for Women - I'm on this list! # 64
9. Top 100 Personal Finance Blogs. How Do Women Rank?
10. Top 100 Female Bloggers - Updated July 7th, 2008
11. BlogHer: Who Are Your Favorite Women Bloggers
12. NxE’s Fifty Most Influential ‘Female’ Bloggers- Posted July 18th, 2008
13. 5 Top Influential Women Bloggers - Part l & Part ll

In 2006 cnet News came up with their own top 100 blogs lists. At the time only eight of bloggers on the list were women.  I think if cnet decided to compile a list today (check but couldn't find an updated list)  the count of women bloggers would be much higher.

Lists such as these are fun to read and exciting to be apart of but let's not forget what influence really is. Each blogger has the potential to become an influencer with in their own blogging community. Your influencing reach might not be as far as others but your influence still has a reach.

Women Blog. Women Influence. Women Earn! (Respect, Income and --you fill in the blank--)