Well…I started blogging six years ago and I remember feeling terrified and super excited in equal measure.

What will people think of the way I write?

Will it be worthy reading ?  

The exact feeling of exposing yourself on such a personal level to the whole wide world is pretty difficult to get used to at the start. As most of you may know, I started a Android technology based blog in 2013 and have never looked back.

As you might be planning to venture out into blogging or already having a blog, I have listed below the 10 things I have learnt by blogging for 6 years.

Your blog can open career opportunities

Once you establish a successful blog, you will automatically be in front of the crowd. Whatever your subject may be, you must position yourself as an expert in your chosen field and dedicate your own time to build something that clearly shows your passion is impressive and trustworthy.

Since starting my blog I have now specialized my career in Digital Marketing and everything that revolves around it and work 7 days a week. If it wasn’t for my blog, I would not be who I am today and travelling places along with meeting wonderful people every day.

How to create a brand ?

Being a blogger, the blog is your brand and reflects on you. Just like other brands, it needs a good identity, a voice, a market that is targeted, an impressive visual look and point of difference. If you see, all successful brands produce or sell products that people require in their lives that they come back numerous times. In the same way, a blog is not different, and my goal has always been to create something that people are interested in and cannot live without.

The ups and downs of social media

A blog without social media today is next to impossible these days. Social media should be every bloggers first tool for exposure (brand awareness), promotion, communication and managing a community online. For me, it is where I can communicate with my readers and see their quick feedback to the content I create. When I come across engagement on my blogs, it feels so rewarding.

I have also learnt that social media also has a dark side which you ought to know. While you are working on your blog and brand, you might sway away because when you go onto social media platforms you will see a huge flow of new content to be consumed and may get addicted.

In the past few years I have tried to take a small step back from social media and try to limit myself from my phone as much as possible. Another thing I have learnt, is that one should not get caught up in figures and keep in mind that the amount of likes, followers and comments is not worth bragging about. Purely concentrate on creating amazing content and the rest will be worth talking about….

The strong need of networking with the right people

It is a known fact that bloggers spend most of their time in front of the screen either writing a blog or tweeting a message, I cannot fail to mention the importance of face-to-face networking with the right people. This is one secret through which I have been able to secure a lot of opportunities and travel associations.

When you meet someone face-to-face, the greatest thing you do is make a lasting impression and not just a random inbox message.  As a blogger, it is highly important that you go to events and schedule meetings to build new relationships as well as strengthen existing ones. If you are a people’s person, you’ve got the gift and can make it out there.

You will not make any money from PR’s

If you are at the stage of making money out of your blog, let me tell you that things will get super exciting. I had built up a good network of PR contacts in Bangalore, Chennai, Goa, Australia and London and one of my first faults of monetizing my blog was trying to get paid collaborations with PR agencies in the above locations.

Trust me, it is an absolute non starter. You have to know that all PR agencies are paid by their clients to get free coverage, so 8 times out of 10 the budgets will never be in the whole picture. If you are looking out for making some money through your blog, I would recommend cutting out the middle man and directly work with content marketing agencies.

Content Marketing agencies are the right people as they have a budget for blogger campaigns. Nevertheless, PR contacts are important as they can supply you with opportunities for amazing content whether it is for products, events or even regular release information.

Learning to say No

The brands you opt to work with will always reflect the identity of your brand and blog. As soon as you start to get offers, you will feel tempted to say “Yes”. This is such an easy hole to fall in and even before you realise, you will be covering so many different products and brands and products that you work with and keep in mind that every brand you collaborate with says a little bit about your brand and blog as a whole.

By saying No, you are harming no one. For example, if I ever turn down an offer that comes across, I always thank the person and request them to get in touch in future if they have information they think may be of relevance to my blog and can benefit them in return.

You need to ‘Switch Off’ sometimes to stay sane

If you see, most bloggers across the globe work at full time jobs too, and I did too. I can very much understand the feeling of being at work all day and then coming home to write a new piece of content can just be tiring. There were times when I used to force myself to stay up to the early hours of the morning just to create a half decent blog post with 23 typing mistakes.

There was a time, not so long ago that I realized, I was being ridiculous and decided to dedicate certain time during the week to blogging. In the same way with social media, you do not have to feel forced to take pictures of every lunch meeting and graphically document every single thing you do in a day.

I still want to go for a cosy dinner with my girlfriend and get blocked out of the world for a couple of hours. There should be some personal things that need to remain private so that you have a life other than blogging too. This could be a way you can keep on blogging without actually going insane.

Fellow bloggers that I am inspired by

In the past 6 years I have met so many young and vibrant bloggers that have inspired me in not just one, but hundreds of ways. If you look at blogging closely, it can be a very solitary thing and you can often feel like you are all alone. My friends are supportive of my blogs and they read my articles, but I do not think any of them really ‘get it’ or get what I am trying to express.

The blogging community has so many like-minded people who are interested in growing, sharing and linking to people who would love a good read. I have made friends for life from blogging and these specific people inspire me every single day.

There is so much I haven’t seen and learnt yet 

When you start gadget blogging you realize just how huge the technology world is and how things are going to shape up in the years to come. I have been able to tinker with the latest gadgets, attend known events in numerous places and being known as a go-to-gadget guy in certain demography.

Learning never stops as technology will never stop and so will I not stop anytime. The day you stop learning is the day you should stop blogging because there will be nothing new to share.

Pour your heart and experiences out through blogging, whenever you do so…..