August 01, 2016

Interview with Vinil Ramdev : Journey of a Professional Blogger

Today I am going to introduce you with one more blogger Vinil Ramdev, who is very much excited to share his blogging journey with us. Interviews are the great way to know person, his struggle, life journey and achievements. It make all of us strong and also give inspiration to create our own world of happiness.

This is the new edition of powerful, successful and inspirational interviews in the series of Journey of a Professional Blogger, interviews on EASKME.com.
 
Today we are going to publish interview with a professional Blogger, Interview with Vinil Ramdev from ceohangout.
Interview with Vinil Ramdev : Journey of a Professional Blogger : eAskme
Interview with Vinil Ramdev : Journey of a Professional Blogger : eAskme
Other people are reading : The Process of Personal Branding

Q : Please share about yourself and your story to enter in blogging?

Ans : I started blogging way back in 2009. It feels like I just started yesterday. I had just exited my retail business, and I now wanted to become a business consultant helping startups create business plans, help in sales training etc. I had a list of about 5-6 services. But the challenge was - how do I convince people that I am really good? So I started blogging and sharing my expertise on my blog. The purpose of each article was to showcase my expertise, give people something that can help them in their business right away, and position myself as an authority in my field. Once I started blogging consistently, several other contributors started contacting me to post articles on my website. Before I knew it, there were over 160 contributors who were contributing articles to my blog. Slowly and steadily traffic started increasing on my blog. Then advertisers started contacting me to place ads. Before I realized, I was making money from advertising more than my services.

That's when I started looking at my blog as a media enterprise rather than a place to just sell my services. Eventually in 2014, I sold that blog to someone else. And I started another one called CEO Hangout which is not just a blog, but an entire business with various different revenue streams like live events, coaching, affiliate marketing and advertising.


Q.  How the idea to make your own blog came in your mind? How you found the right people to develop it and what big obstacles you faced?

Ans.  The idea was rooted in the concept of content marketing. The initial purpose was only to sell my services, not sell advertising space on it.

In terms of web development, it's best to hand that part to specialists and not do it yourself. But find a specialist who doesn't just do a good job but educates you about the process. You may not want to do it yourself but you should know enough to be able to outsource it to other people. There is big difference in delegation and abdication. You must be able to delegate efficiently, and hold people accountable for their tasks.

Finding people is definitely a challenge in every business. In my case, most of it happened organically. I believe your vision and purpose has to be clear. If your vision is clear, you will attract the right people. Everybody talks about the law of attraction, but what does it mean? Does it mean, sit down and do nothing and people will knock of your door? No, it means have a clear vision and purpose in your business. And live that purpose. That's how you attract the right people. As someone said, "You can't hire talent, you can only attract talent."

Q. Can blogging really change someone`s life?

Ans: If you do it right, and are passionate about sharing your ideas to the world, it is one of the most democratic ways of growing your presence in the online world. It can definitely change your life. But don't expect it to give you dramatic results right away. Sometimes, it can take a long time before your blog eventually takes off. The quality and quantity of content matter, so do your connections with other bloggers and influencers. It is a great way to meet new people and grow your business. Many people also use it as a channel to explore new ideas.

Q.  What are your favorite Internet marketing tools?

Ans: The tool that I use now is SumoMe. I believe it's a complete solution with - pop-ups, scroll bars, share buttons and heat maps. Truly a brilliant solution.

The basic tools that a blog needs is - sign up forms, autoresponders, email marketing softwares. SumoMe and and an email marketing software are pretty much what you need when you start off.
 
I am not a big believer in using every piece of technology that I can find. I like to keep things simple. Sometimes, less is better!

Also See : Online Video “Must” For Mobile Marketing

Q. What is your daily schedule? And how do you maintain your tasks?

Ans: Well, the best time to write is early in the morning or late at night. As soon as I wake up, I write for like one hour and then I work on my To-Do list. Not everyday is the same, but the one thing that is same is that I write everyday for one hour. It is very important to develop good habits. If there are just two habits you want to develop as a blogger, that should be "Writing for at least one hour a day," and reading a bit, even if it is just a few pages a day. Two pages a day adds up to 730 pages a year. Every small, consistent task eventually adds up on the long run.

Q Blogging have different definition for different person. What is it for you? 

Ans : For me, it's about sharing my thoughts and opinions with the entire world. Unlike a newspaper which is a 15 minute medium, your impression on the internet stays for ever. You could write an article today, and 5 years later someone might read it.

It's a great opportunity for people to connect with you, get to know you, build a relationship with you, and eventually trust you enough to do business with you.

It's like the message in a bottle concept. You put your message in a bottle and through it into the ocean and see where it reaches. Blogging is exactly that and the internet is the ocean.

Q. Which are your favorite blogs?

Ans: There are so many favorite blogs. But if I have to name a few - I've enjoyed Darren Rowse's Problogger. Most people who started off in blogging have started by reading Darren's Blog. When I started, it was one of the first blogs that I read frequently. For anyone who wants to become a blogger. This is a great start.

Q. How much time do you spend on social media promotion and SEO of your blog? 

Ans. A lot of us kinda get distracted by shiny objects and social media is just that. If you check out my social media profiles @VinilRamdev and Facebook, you might think that I spend a lot of time on social media. Well, that is not true at all. I automate most of my social  media activities. If you are not careful, social media can take up a lot of your time. I don't spend more than 15 minutes a day on social media.

There are many big companies like StarOfService that are not that active on social media. But they still manage to get substantial traffic to their websites.

For my blog, we do optimize our articles for SEO with relevant keywords. We use the Yoast plugin for wordpress. Besides that, I do a lot of guest posting, which also helps me in getting visibility and new readers.

Q. How much time do you spend for blogging daily?

Ans. I spend about 90 minutes on blogging daily. However, there are other activities like setting up autoresponders, guest blogging, connecting with other bloggers that take up my time.

I am also a freelance writer and also need to handle client work. So I like to maintain balance and keep my blogging time consistent.

Q. Message for Readers?

Ans. If you are looking to become a blogger, it is one of the hardest jobs in the world. In the beginning, you will struggle but you will learn a lot. Before you even start blogging, tell yourself that you won't give up when things get tough. Because things will eventually get tough sometime or the other.

The one word you need to remember in blogging is consistency.

Blog fewer hours but do it consistently.


Q. What do you like about eAskme and how it can be more helpful for readers? 

Ans. I like the tag line: Everyone Ask Me Anything. The great thing about eAskme is that the information is practical and not theoretical. Most of the blog posts are from people who have done it before. Doing what you preach is more important than ever before. Nothing beats first hand practical experience.

Also See : My Journey

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