Decoding decade long journey as a blogger to marketing practioner
Revisiting my journey & finding if it was worth starting in the first place
I into blogging since 2010, I heard about blogging when Dr. John Whatson mentions his blog in “Sherlock Holmes”.
I had no idea how things work in blogging & I wanted to get into blogging. I had my friend help me get my blog up & running on Blogspot.
I’ve started blogging anything that would come to my mind — majorly it was about tech & the internet. My first page was a complete copy-paste about Instagram being banned. I quickly realized that I’m not supposed to copy stuff from the web just like that.
I took that post down & started writing on topics that interested me the most. In no time, I had 30,000 visitors a month. Just when things were things were getting on track, I got a job offer & I took it.
There was a huge gap of 3–4 months where I didn’t publish anything on my blog & traffic started declining. The traffic came down to three digits & that’s when I took blogging seriously.
Since then I have constantly taken some steps towards producing content in form of blogs. Sure there were other content formats that came along but nothing has still replaced the comfort & fluency that I have with blogging.
It’s a decade since I started blogging & still, I haven’t made a sustainable income from most of my blogs. Just one blog is doing good & guess which one it is? The first blog I ever started.
Did I fail? Absolutely not. I just haven’t adapted a rigorous monetization strategy. Honestly, monetization was the last thing on my plan’s list & I never really paid attention.
A big mistake. Never put monetization to the last seat. Think about recovering the time or money you’re putting in. I’ve wasted a hell of lot of time not thinking about it & putting in efforts without getting anything back.
So, here’s the crux of this post. Was is it worth it? Here’s what I’ve discovered, which I think is more than money.
#1 People connect with you to learn from you
I’ve interacted with hundreds, if not thousands of people who’ve found value in my work, especially on Quora. I’m glad I’ve not learned this hard way. As soon as I started getting in front of a lot of people on Quora, I figured this out.
I started getting very specific questions from people I wanted to target anyway. The questions not only placed me in front of similar people, but I also got ideas for my personal blog.
More important than that, I learned people want to learn from people like me who have the knowledge. In this journey, this was one of the most important things that have occurred to me.
They don’t have to buy things from you to learn something. Give away everything you know for free, charge only for what you’ve learned by applying what I know.
#2 I got access to highly knowledgeable people
This is what I think; Since I had no intention to empty the wallets of people who approach me for collaboration or want to hire me, I’ve gained their trust & they’re openly sharing some of the most precious things I know.
Which I’m darn sure I wouldn’t have learned had I focussed only on money. People open up when they trust you & know for sure you’d not misuse their attention. I’m not even talking about other people you can get introduced to. I get preference for partnerships, industry insights, trends & more.
Tell me what’s the price tag you’d put on such relationships.
#3 I got the right mindset for growth
I’ll bring the money again. Had I focussed on earning money, which was very easy considering the start I had. I know bloggers who’re making 1–2 million a year just from one blog.
I’m not denying that their growth is nothing. They’re growing & they’re icons in their respective spaces. The definition of growth is different for everyone.
What I know right now or the mindset that I have right now would’ve surely been much lower if I had focused on making money. Consider this scenario, where my primary goal is making money & not growing.
Would I stretch long hours to learn things I know right now when I’d be making thousands of dollars a week? I don’t think so.
I don’t know the value of the knowledge I have, but I know one thing for sure that once I start sharing with people, that’s going to change their world. Because this time around, my primary focus is the mindset that has set things straight for me. I’m the case study that I’ll be selling to my target audience.
#4 I learned to survive
There were times when I had little to no money. I had a couple of thousand rupees saved & I survived in that. I spent on learning, Facebook ads, web hosting & domain.
It never occurred to me that I’m just surviving & not running towards financial freedom. Maybe that’s a problem, maybe it cost me a decade. I would’ve been an authority in this industry right now, but I was working for other businesses with their visibility online.
I don’t care about my earning curve when my learning curve remains beautiful. I made the mistake of living under a rock when I was building businesses for others but who can take away the learning I’ve had all these years.
Most important of all, I realized that I need very little to survive.
#5 I value relationship over money
I recently got into a monetary relationship with one of my oldest clients. We were negotiating the terms & the conversation got a little heated up.
It’s common & it has to be that way. This ensures both share honest thoughts, unfiltered.
So here’s what happened. At the point where things heated up, I gave up & admitted that I value our relationship over money. We not only settled for common grounds but I also learned that he also values the relationship over money, without him even admitting it.
I’m 100% sure this wouldn’t have been a reality if I had been monetizing since the beginning.
#6 I don’t have a freelancer mindset anymore
One of the biggest hurdles many people face is the freelancer mindset. That mindset doesn’t let you invest in people & tools. You simply focus on making money, trading time for money. In this case, you have the liberty to choose the number of hours.
Unlike 9–5, you do get paid for more hours you put. You can work with multiple people during work hours to make more.
But there’s an important element that goes missing in the freelancer mindset. The balls to take risks.
A business mindset gives you the liberty to take risks & get ahead faster than you could with a freelancer mindset.
I’m not telling that monetizing should be neglected. What I want to say is never put money ahead of anything. If you have 5 things to do as a businessperson, making money should be the last.
Before I’ve mentioned that making shouldn’t be at the last seat & here’s the context of it. Money being the fifth thing & being at the last seat has a difference.
Money being the fifth on the list means you value the business more than money. Money being at the last seat means you’re ready to take the loss.
I’m a better marketer, better practitioner, better blogger & more importantly, better human because I value people over money.
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