The Road To Blogging
YOUR JOURNEY TO MASTER BLOGGING AND MAKING A SIDE INCOME
Welcome to Feb 2023! Hope all of you had a wonderful Jan 2023.
In this edition, I talk about the road to blogging.
How to start a blog
What to write
A second-order effect of blogging
Making money from a blog
If you like the content, please encourage your friends, family and colleagues to sign up here for 2-1-1 Let's get started :)
Writing is becoming an increasingly important skill for developers in remote work.
Blogging is a powerful magnet that a developer can use to find future opportunities in software engineering.
When I re-started blogging in 2020, I thought I was too late. It seemed like blogs had already peaked. It’s never too late. Someone is starting the next big blog this month.
If you're thinking about starting; do it this week.
And if you want to become a standout developer in 2023; start a blog.
How To Start a Blog
Let's start with the hot tip of the day: never write and start a blog to earn money. Instead, start and write to sharpen your knowledge and network with people all over the world, and opportunities will come to you on autopilot.
A blog is an incredible tool for expanding our knowledge in a specific tech domain.
Blogging gives you the chance to conduct in-depth research on a specific technology, tool, or concept. You can share what you learn with others in a clear and concise way by writing about it.
In my strong opinion, If you’re getting started with writing, Just signup on to any existing platforms for e.g:
Hashnode
DevTo
Medium
Treat them as a rented space, just as you would when starting a new job in technology and moving to a new location, looking for a rented space rather than buying an apartment. Write good blog posts and get some valuable feedback from the audience, professional and start planning to build your own blog space in parallel but don't think too much at the start because blogging is not for everyone.
What To Write
Here are some unique and out-of-the-box ideas for using blogging to expand your knowledge in a specific tech domain.
Choose a current or controversial topic in your tech domain and write a piece that takes a stance on one side of the debate.
Share your personal experiences related to your tech domain. For example, a software engineer who specializes in cloud computing could write about the challenges they faced while migrating a legacy system to the cloud, and the lessons they learned from the process.
Create a series of blog posts that dive deep into a specific technology or concept. For example, If you’re starting your web development journey write a post every month about what did you learn, what mistakes you did, and how did you overcome them.
Supplement your blog posts with multimedia content, such as videos, podcasts, or infographics. Instead of just words, use images. In blogs, a screenshot or diagram is often worth a thousand words. Incorporate these into your writing.
Experiment with different formats Doesn't be afraid to experiment with different writing formats, such as how-to guides, opinion pieces, or case studies.
I received many direct messages on Twitter asking for advice on how to begin and what to write, and most of the time my advice is simple and straightforward.
Write about your experiences and learning; everyone in tech is unique.
This became more solid proof once I read David's ultimate writing guide, which says to write from your daily conversations.
If you want to start a blog, don't think of yourself as a blogger, writer, or expert.
You must imagine yourself as a cockroach trying to survive and write at least one blog post per month.
Your ultimate goal isn't building a writing daily habit. It's falling so in love with interesting ideas, side projects, tech tools, and frameworks that you can’t help but tell the world about them.
Don't feel bad about stealing someone else's blog idea or headline. They also stole it from someone else.
Ideas are everywhere.
Most ideas are repeated.
Execution is everything.
Your uniqueness is everything.
Writing should be the medium, not the objective.
My idea with blogging is simple; never go back to the office and be independent in the next 24 months (I’m on a work visa and waiting for a PR in Sweden if I can survive the cold till then 😉 ) and move to a low-cost countryside area in Sweden or back to India in my hometown close to family and friends and do things that I like.
Hot Tip: Writing hack: Allow yourself to write poorly.
Second Order Effects of Blogging
Blogging is the most effective way to promote your ideas on the internet.
It’s the best business card on the internet which works for you round the clock.
The average developer who blogs have 10X times the job opportunities as a great developer who stays hidden.
Writing increases your visibility, builds your personal brand, and gains recognition for your work and opportunities will come to you.
For e.g: Have a look at this inbound lead. 🙌🔥
Improve your writing skills and develop a unique writing style.
You receive feedback and engage with your readers in real time. This can help you to improve your writing, receive constructive criticism, and build a community around your work.
Don't forget to interact with your readers; I usually don't return the same day I post, but I make sure to read through all the comments and respond to them all.
Making Money from a Blog
The first and by far the best method, in my strong opinion, is to offer your paid writing services and cold emails/DMs are the best way to land a blogging contract in remote work.
This is the most recent invoice I received payment for from a client.
Note: Many people have asked me how I can charge so much for a single blog post. Stay tuned; I will cover this in detail in my book and share a detailed excerpt in next month's newsletter.
Here's what I've learned:
Email the CEO, CTO or Founder
Show why you're unique
Make a clear & bold request
Have a clear call-to-action
Don't ask stupid questions
Now, wait & see the magic!
Top 4 Tips to Master the Art of Cold Emailing.
It's a practice, not an action.
It's like a high-stakes chess game.
Mastering the art of cold email involves finding the right audience & following up effectively.
The subject line in a cold email = is a headline in a blog post.
Time to read my most recent blog post for some ideas.
Update on Book and I’m excited
Book progress was hampered because I went to India for 15 days because my father was ill, now he is doing well and I’m back in Sweden and I resumed writing and made some excellent progress. It has already surpassed 120 pages; I will begin editing next week. You can still pre-order my book Getting Started in Technical Writing if you haven't already, and the good news is that Gumroad supports PPP, so you can take advantage of purchasing power parity.
That's it for today, the more I know about what you read & want, the easier I can help you do that.
If you enjoyed this, please share this with others on social media or hit a reply if you have any questions, feedback or you care about a topic you'd like to see covered or you just want to say hello 👋
Where to get more. if you want to get helpful tips that sharpen your mind & help you perform better then you can follow me on Twitter & LinkedIn.
Until next time,
Stay awesome,
Cheers!
- Ankur Tyagi