This is my journey as a blogger and how this activity has helped me to improve myself.
I started blogging back in 2003 when I was preparing for the Common Aptitude Test (CAT) and wanted to vent out my thoughts somewhere.
Story so far
Back then I was not aware of the multiple blogging platforms or the different CMS’es available. Thus, I ended up on Rediffblogs! I don’t think they are around anymore!
Blogger
After getting an admit from IIM Indore in 2004, life became much more hectic and the blog lapsed into a period of silence. The next time when I thought to take up blogging (and this is because second year is always a little less jam packed than the first), was in 2005. This time, I started off with Blogspot/Blogger engine by Google. To add to this, Google Analytics had already launched and as s I was keen on using this in conjunction with Google Adsense.
WordPress
Post IIM Indore, I joined a start-up based out of Hyderabad. That was the time when I started experimenting on WordPress … and the different blogging platforms made the shift from Blogger to WordPress a bit difficult. However, I realized that the jump had to be made and jump I did.
It’s been around 7 years that I am now on WordPress and over those years, I have managed to post around 600 blog posts (the last one less than an hour back – on Techies in DOTA2).
Change in Writing Style & Content
I started my blog as a place where I could articulate my thoughts, an online diary of sorts. It was also a place where I could pen down thoughts too complex or too controversial to discuss in public. Just like this post, it was more personal and was a conversation starter of sorts.
However, as I started working on Content Marketing, I realized that the world needs more informative content and useful articles as opposed to simple food for thought. People on the internet search for solutions to their problems … the how to’s and tips were written by me after that ponit.
Unfortunately, writing these type of posts does not excite me. Do not get me wrong, I love generating traffic on my blog and having a blog which has nary under 2000 visitors a month. But writing content that’s too simple or does not appeal to the writer within me slowly kills my drive to write more of such stuff.
Similarly, I shifted from random musings to all things tech and digital analytics and finally to games. I still blog about analytics and games though. I still have not settled on my sweet spot, but ever since my wife has started consistently blogging about Pathare Prabhu Recipes, it has given me inspiration to blog at a renewed pace!
