As any of you all may or may not know I currently run a web publishing company over at Blog What Design. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love what I do, but like any employee, it is important to separate “fun time” and “work time.”

I love the internet, browsing blogs, and finding new things. I love reading, making online scrapbooks, and (of course like any highschool/college student’s vice) Facebook. However, my kind of work requires this kind of computer and the internet activity as well.

This means, (unlike many students my age), I have to set aside some computer time for a “no IMing, no celebrity blog reading, no message-boarding” session. Since our launch in November, I’ve learned to do this quite well. I come home from school at around 3:00 and work starts at 4:00. From four until dinner time, it’s work time! After dinner, I’ll relax, check my personal e-mail, and do things you’d find any other senior high school student doing. (For example… no homework.) After I’ve taken care of all my personal “stuff” I will continue to tie up any work-projects for the day, maybe throw in a little bit of blogging, and take the time to do some organizational company work.

Weekends are generally off-limits for work. However, in my attempt to be a normal business owner, I’ve found that I really can’t do things this way. I’m at school for nearly six hours every day, so that chops off QUITE a bit of time. (College, here I come!) So, I often times find some weekends overwhelmingly work-filled, and some not.

However, in the end, it always all seems to healthily balance out. Excuse me now… it’s Sunday after-noon veg-out time!

At a family dinner conversation today we got onto the topic of “niche” blogging and the many opportunities out there for those who are very “specialized” to make some extra cash. We also started talking about podcasting; podcasting allows anyone who works on the computer (freelancers, designers, etc…) quite a bit to absorb information that would otherwise take the time to read and scan a traditional blog.

I generally enjoy podcasts related to freelancing and design, but I’m sure there are other great “niche” areas with some great programs. So, I have a question: Do you enjoy listening to podcasts as you work (or do anything else) and what are your favorite programs?

P.S. That’s the Snowball USB Microphone & Tripod Kit from Jazebra.com. Pretty cool eh?

I started exploring the world of web publishing when I was 10… so it puts quite a smile on my face when I see something like this!

David Wilkinson is only 12 years old and manages to pack in $500 a month from his tech blog, Techzi. I read about this story first on ProBlogger, a daily read of mine, who reported an interview of the young blogger at Repliqua.

David just started blogging during July of 2006 as a simple hobby. He has “had tonnes of blogs since July” and currently blogs at Profy.com as a Web 2.0 correspondent, b5media, and TheBlogJoint.com. His parents are supportive, although “Their only concern is the amount of time I spend sat hunched infront of my computer.” Quite the resume eh?

After he appeared on the BBC Radio Manchester, he has become a local celebrity. Many of his peers have been asking him about blogging, and requesting how to create one. He also attributes much of his success and hits to MyBlogLog.com.

From Repliqua:

David is also in the process of raising $5K to buy a server, update his blog, and replace Blogger with Wordpress. This young man has another $4.5K to meet his goal and I am hoping my readers will help him. There are a lot of rich guys reading my blog so shoot over to David’s Blog and make a contribution to help him out. I will match you dollar for dollar. Email me at mark.seremet {@} gmail. com and let me know what you contributed – I will confirm it with David and send him an equal amount. Let’s get serious and get this young entrepreneur his money by the close of business today.