Periodically here at Mahalo we like to feature a top contributor and somebody who goes above and beyond to help Mahalo become a better community. Today we feature @smartweb.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33749589@N07/4056082399/

Q: Where are you from and where are you now?
I'm originally from Texas, and after living up north for a number of years, I'm back in Texas.

Q: Where is the most-interesting place you've ever been?
I think that would have to be Venezuela. It is beautiful country. Piranha fishing in the Amazon River is something to experience.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f8/Piranha_fish.jpg/250px-Piranha_fish.jpg

Q: Favourite Book, Movie and Band?
I'm not really into popular culture. I think the Scriptures are the most important book... but I do recommend What To Say When You Talk To Yourself and The Peaceful Solution Character Education Program. I'm very passionate about character education.

Q: How did you first hear about Mahalo? And how did you decide to Sign up?
I landed on a page for a specific digital recorder I was looking for. The page was not claimed, and I was intrigued by the "Claim this page" aspect. I already worked online, so I saved the page to come back and check it out a few days later. I liked what I saw and decided to give it a try and see what I could earn.

Q: What do you enjoy the most about Mahalo?
Wow. That's a hard one. I once compared Mahalo to a blossom with many petals... I love the whole thing! You can read the LOOONG version of my answer here. Short answer... how it makes me feel. =)

Q: What page of yours earns the most money?
Currently it is Bed Bath and Beyond but that sometimes changes.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33749589@N07/4056095671/

Q: How do you know if a page will be profitable?
I never know for sure beforehand... sometimes it surprises me - but I base my research on three things.

1. What is already doing well on Mahalo? (Pages like coupons do well here but might not on other sites)
2. How many people are searching for the term I am considering and how could I make that an interesting page?
3. What are people paying for clicks on ads related to the terms I'm considering?
Then I will do pages based on what is the best combination of that.
But I do have to say that the barnraising pages do earn... Mahalo staff does a pretty great job of choosing those terms. More earn than not for the ones I've done... and I've done a couple hundred, I think.

Q: What methods of updating do you use, and when do you decide to update?
LOL. I need a whole thread just for this one. =)
Short answer... I make a lot of little tweaks to the page, make sure they have certain basics, and I also update through asking questions from the pages and advertising them.
I definitely try to update if there is news or if something is not working, like a video being removed. I have a rotating schedule and a spreadsheet to make sure I don't miss any.

Q: What are your ideas to get traffic to your less popular pages?
First... gotta have great content and great SEO. Then I make sure it has categories - that alone got traffic for several pages that had none. And one of the best ways is to link to them from a popular page... go where the people are and channel them to where you want them to be. I try to have several related pages on a subject so I can do that - or I ask another page manager to link to it. I also link from outside Mahalo. I have other websites and blogs. Some just for that purpose.

Q: If you could give one piece of advice to a new Mahalo user, what would that be?

Do you know how *hard* it is to just give *one* piece of advice? XD

You can pick one of the following, if you like. =)
Don't be afraid to jump in. I did and I've never regretted it.
Read How Mahalo Works and go through a lot of the pages that are linked from there. Watch the Mahalo Tutorials and be at the ones you can live on Wednesdays.
Most of all... don't get overwhelmed by all Mahalo has to offer. Take your time, get your feet wet and get to know the community. Ask questions. We don't bite. =D