This is a blogger interview with Zach Younkin of College for 10k.

Tell us a little about your blog.

College for 10k is a blog that just started January 1st, 2010 to be a public journal as I travel through my education career with the goal in mind of keeping less than $10,000 of debt throughout the entire process. Thus far, I’m in my second year of school and I only have $1500 of debt. I am well on my way to making my goal!

How long have you been blogging for? What made you want to start blogging?

I have been blogging on and off for since 2006 when I posted an experience that I had with a child that I worked with at a special needs camp. Originally, it was posted on WordPress. In March of 2009, I switched over and began to self-host my blog.

I honestly just started to blog because my youth pastor had a blog and I was trying to emulate him. Now, I believe that a blog is a powerful tool.

What were some of your biggest challenges when you first started blogging?

When I first started blogging, I posted about whatever I felt like blogging about. I did not have a topic and could not imagine having one. Now, I have a topic and feel confident in posting about my topic.

How did you overcome these challenges?

I relied on the members of the Problogger community to help challenge me in topics. While I am in a big niche, I believe that I have an advantage as a student that is going through these topics as I write them, rather than looking back and seeing what I could have improved upon.

What is a recent milestone that you have accomplished with your blog? How were you able to achieve this milestone?

As I’ve mentioned before, I recently switched topics on my blog. I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to compete with the Wisebread’s of the world. Because of my action on social networks, I have been able to sustainable traffic throughout my time.

What is your next goal that you want to achieve with your blog?

My goal next goals are to, by July 1st:

• have a 3x increase in visits
• increase my subscribers to 100
• increase my posting to two times a week

What is your best tip for other people out there who might be new or struggling with their blogging?

Be consistent and use your current networks. Take advantage in building relationships before you go and launch your blog.

Thanks again Zach for taking the time to do this interview.

Zach Younkin is a college student who is working a part-time job while pursuing his accounting/finance/personal finance degree full-time at Columbus State Community College in Columbus, Ohio.  Follow Zach on Twitter at @zachyounkin.

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