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I blog...therefore I am!

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Tathagat Varma
Tathagat Varma

How does one go about blogging? Or, why to even blog in the first place? In this talk, I have shared some of my key learning over last 15 years of blogging

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I blog… therefore I am! Tathagat Varma Pic: https://larnidavies.com/2012/10/25/mug-%E2%99%A5/
My blogging journey… ~2005 Crawl Wrote some random stuff using Rediff blogs, blogger, LinkedIn Answers, etc. ~2008 Walk Registered http://managewell.net (installed wordpress myself!) and started blogging. Have some ~150 blog posts. Experimented a LOT with SEO, Google PageRank, etc. (it wasn’t worth it!) ~2014 Run Apress (Springer) “discovered” me! Resulted in my first book “Agile Product Development” (2015). Experimented with short- format, and several platforms. ~2017 Fly Blog almost exclusively on LinkedIn in the short format (1,300 letters!). 3-4 times a week. Over 1,000+ blog posts. Still don’t have a clue how the next one will do J
1. Why blog? • Attract an audience • Establish authority • Build rapport and engagement • Create opportunities • Organize your thoughts and learn • Tell your story • Meet new people • Stand out • Validate expertise • Make money! • From : https://www.huffpost.com/entry/10- reasons-you-should-sta_b_5326353 Pic: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/business-benefits-of-blogging/377747/
My experiences • Ideas in the mind are like the tree that fell in the forest with no one to hear it! • When you share it, you are going out on a limb! First of, it is testing your own courage of conviction. • If you go with the flow, what’s point of blogging? Sticking out is the real deal! • So first decide, what’s your purpose? Of course, you don’t have to write to please people either! • That leaves you with discovering your middle ground.
2. What to blog on? • Passion: you should have an unquenchable thirst on the topic, whatever that is. • Expertise: you need to have some level of expertise on it. • Relevance: does your audience really care about that topic? Pic: https://blog.udemy.com/interesting-debate-topics/
Which one will likely generate more interest?
3. How do I go about it? • Start with what you believe in. Write down your unique perspectives, your key insights, your bold views. • Don’t preach. Respect your audience. But don’t be seen as whining or seeking social approval either. • Don’t care about using sophisticated English or a polished well-edited blog. Best posts are simple, raw and little edgy. • Engage with your audience. The value of a blog post is much more in the comments section than your own writing! (Yes I know, very humbling!)
4. Where do I blog? • Literally anywhere! But choose where your target audience frequents • Some popular sites: LinkedIn, Medium, Facebook (yes, why not?), Huffpo, … • Your own domain!
What else?

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I blog...therefore I am!

  • 1. I blog… therefore I am! Tathagat Varma Pic: https://larnidavies.com/2012/10/25/mug-%E2%99%A5/
  • 2. My blogging journey… ~2005 Crawl Wrote some random stuff using Rediff blogs, blogger, LinkedIn Answers, etc. ~2008 Walk Registered http://managewell.net (installed wordpress myself!) and started blogging. Have some ~150 blog posts. Experimented a LOT with SEO, Google PageRank, etc. (it wasn’t worth it!) ~2014 Run Apress (Springer) “discovered” me! Resulted in my first book “Agile Product Development” (2015). Experimented with short- format, and several platforms. ~2017 Fly Blog almost exclusively on LinkedIn in the short format (1,300 letters!). 3-4 times a week. Over 1,000+ blog posts. Still don’t have a clue how the next one will do J
  • 3. 1. Why blog? • Attract an audience • Establish authority • Build rapport and engagement • Create opportunities • Organize your thoughts and learn • Tell your story • Meet new people • Stand out • Validate expertise • Make money! • From : https://www.huffpost.com/entry/10- reasons-you-should-sta_b_5326353 Pic: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/business-benefits-of-blogging/377747/
  • 4. My experiences • Ideas in the mind are like the tree that fell in the forest with no one to hear it! • When you share it, you are going out on a limb! First of, it is testing your own courage of conviction. • If you go with the flow, what’s point of blogging? Sticking out is the real deal! • So first decide, what’s your purpose? Of course, you don’t have to write to please people either! • That leaves you with discovering your middle ground.
  • 5. 2. What to blog on? • Passion: you should have an unquenchable thirst on the topic, whatever that is. • Expertise: you need to have some level of expertise on it. • Relevance: does your audience really care about that topic? Pic: https://blog.udemy.com/interesting-debate-topics/
  • 7. 3. How do I go about it? • Start with what you believe in. Write down your unique perspectives, your key insights, your bold views. • Don’t preach. Respect your audience. But don’t be seen as whining or seeking social approval either. • Don’t care about using sophisticated English or a polished well-edited blog. Best posts are simple, raw and little edgy. • Engage with your audience. The value of a blog post is much more in the comments section than your own writing! (Yes I know, very humbling!)
  • 8. 4. Where do I blog? • Literally anywhere! But choose where your target audience frequents • Some popular sites: LinkedIn, Medium, Facebook (yes, why not?), Huffpo, … • Your own domain!