Transcript
Page 1: The African Blogging Journey by Moses Kemibaro at WordCamp Kenya 2011

The    African    Blogging    Journey  

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In  2005…  

•  I  registered  moseskemibaro.com.  •  I  created  a  hos?ng  account.  •  I  found  some  basic  HTML  templates  I  could  “redesign”  with  my  content.  

•  I  put  the  “web  site”  online.  •  I  went  “live”.  •  No  one  came.  Nothing  happened.  NADA!!  

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This  is  where  I  got  to,  in  2005  

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And  in  2007…  

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Nothing  happened,  un?l  2007  that  is…  

•  I  fooling  around  on  my  hos?ng  account  and  saw  a  “one-­‐click”  installa?on  for  WordPress.  

•  I  tried  it.  I  am  not  a  techie.  It  worked.  I  had  a  blog.  IT  WORKED!  J  

•  But,  I  had  nothing  to  write.  Yet.    •  I  did  however  have  some  ar?cles  that  had  been  published.  So  I  re-­‐published  on  my  new  “blog”.  I  was  a  BLOGGER.  !  YAAAAAY!!  

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This  was  my  blog,  version  1.0  

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WordPress  changed  EVERYTHING!  

•  I  could  update  content  regularly  is  a  user-­‐friendly  manner  without  knowing  HTML,  CSS,  yada  yada…  

•  I  could  use  themes  and  plugins  to  “redesign”  my  blog  and  extend  func?onality  by  “clicking”  

•  I  could  manage  my  web  site  without  needing  to  be  a  hardcore  “techie”  or  needing  one  J  

•  Suddenly,  I  could  self-­‐publish  online  on  my  blog  without  any  hassles  and  it  was  super  easy!  

 

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Self-­‐hosted  vs  Free  WordPress  Blogs?  

•  Don’t  skimp  on  your  blog  –  get  your  domain  name  and  a  self-­‐hosted  pla_orm.  

•  There  are  really  good  free  themes  that  you  can  customize.  That’s  what  I  use.  IT  WORKS!  

•  Test  themes  and  plugins  before  you  go  live  –  things  can  break  unfortunately…  

•  If  building  a  commercial  blog  of  some  sort  BUY  Themes  and  plugins  –  get  Pros  involved  in  building  and  managing  the  blog.    

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The  first  six  months.  

•  Acer  re-­‐publishing  my  ar?cles,  things  went  quiet.  A  saw  a  small  up?ck  in  traffic  though  since  2005.  

•  I  then  started  wri?ng  on  my  blog  as  a  personal  journal  –  whatever  came  to  mind,  I  blogged  it!  

•  Formula1,  Rugby,  Technology,  Robert  Mugabe,  Obama,  etc  etc.  

•  You  name  it?!  I  BLOGGED  IT!  Nuff  Said…  

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Some  early  blog  posts  /1    

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Some  early  blog  posts  /2    

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Some  early  blog  posts  /3    

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Some  early  blog  posts  /4    

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The  next  six  months:  2008  

•  I  made  a  profound  discovery  about  my  blog  by  looking  at  the  sta?s?cs.  

•  I  no?ced  that  certain  content  was  driving  traffic  and  some  was  not.  

•  I  realized,  when  you  blog,  not  all  content  is  trafficked  equally.  

•  Some  content  is  more  equal  than  others.  •  I  found  the  secret  formula.  Its  all  about  CONTENT!  

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What  content  is  popular?  

•  Funny  enough,  the  content  that  gets  the  most  traffic  for  me  includes:  – Lists  and  rankings.    – Exclusives  (video,  interviews,  etc)  – Stuff  that  is  currently  in  the  news  – Product  and  service  reviews.    – Service  and  product  pricing  – Service  and  product  comparisons.    

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Top  content  on  my  blog.    

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Why  content  maoers.    

•  Think  of  your  blog  as  a  magazine  or  book.  •  Which  books  or  magazines  do  you  like  to  read?  

•  What  stories  and  genres  are  you  into?  •  What  are  you  most  passionate  about?  •  Which  topics  and  content  do  you  know  “inside  out”?  

•  Could  you  do  it  for  FREE  and  s?ll  LOVE  it?  

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STOP  Rambling!  START  Focusing!  

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Epiphany!  (and  other  strange  words)    

•  I  love  lots  of  things  but  what  I  really  know,  and  know  well  is  technology.  

•  I  LOVE  reading  and  wri?ng  about  technology.  •  I  have  been  working  in  technology  for  15  years  and  started  coding  when  I  was  12  years  old.  

•  HINT:  Am  I  pain?ng  a  clear  picture  of  what  happened  next?    

•  BLOG  what  you  LOVE!  LOVE  what  you  BLOG!  

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Its  kind  of  like  this…PASSION!  J  

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Everything  changed.  EVERYTHING!  

•  I  started  REALLY  enjoying  BLOGGING.  •  BLOGGING  got  easier  as  I  FOCUSSED  on  topics  and  content  with  a  technology  bias.  

•  IT  was  not  easy  to  focus.  It  took  discipline  and  pa?ence.  

•  My  effort  paid  off.  Traffic  spiked  like  a  hockey  s?ck.  

•  The  media  started  calling.  I  became  an  EXPERT!  This  was  not  part  of  the  plan…  

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2009:  Learning  the  Niche  

•  I  started  to  realize  that  technology  blogging  had  a  gap.  I  could  cover  global  issues  or  focus  on  local  issues  where  I  could  be  more  relevant.  

•  NICHE  is  everything  in  blogging.  I  decided  to  focus  content  “sharper”  on:  – TECHNOLOGY  (Topic)  – KENYA  (Geography)  – PEOPLE  (Technophiles,  like  ME)  

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Niche  blog  posts  /1  

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Niche  blog  posts  /2  

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Niche  blog  posts  /3  

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Outcomes  of  a  Niche  TechBlog.  

•  Ini?ally  a  drop  in  traffic  and  less  people.  •  However,  beoer  focus  meant  more  loyal  readers,  more  comments  and  eventually  more  people.  

•  My  blog  slowly  became  the  “go  to”  place  for  all  things  “tech”  in  Kenya.  

•  All  of  a  sudden,  my  blog  became  bigger  than  me.  I  was  expected  to  “publish”  regularly  like  a  newspaper.  Be  careful  what  you  wish  for!  

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WordPress  Stats  /1    

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WordPress  Stats  /2  

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AfriGator  Stats  /1  

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AfriGator  Stats  /2  

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Alexa  Stats:  122  rank  in  Kenya  

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“Safaricom  Kenya”  

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“Yu  Kenya”  

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“Airtel  Kenya”  

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“Orange  Kenya”  

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“iPhone  Kenya”  

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“Mobile  Web  Kenya”    

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Find  your  OWN  voice.  

•  When  blogging,  think  of  the  way  you  speak  or  talk  to  a  friend.  Keep  it  PERSONAL!  

•  Imita?on  is  good  when  you  start  but  in  ?me  develop  your  own  wri?ng  SYTLE  as  this  will  resonate  with  your  audience.    

•  Do  not  SELL  OUT.  Write  authen?cally  and  say  it  as  it  is  –  this  will  make  your  blog  stand  out  from  the  cluoer  online  –  there's  lots  of  it  BTW  

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Passion  is  key!  Trust  me  on  this  one!    

•  Blogging  is  not  for  everyone.  You  need  to  be  really  really  KEEN  and  PASSIONATE  about  what  you  write  about.  

•  Burnout  is  possible  but  there  is  always  something  around  you  to  blog  about.  

•  Being  consistent  and  regular  keeps  a  regular  audience  “checked-­‐in”  to  your  blog.  

•  Breaking  news  can  become…ADDICTIVE!  

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Nakumao  Fire:  2009  

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Makmende  goes  viral:  2010  

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Makmende  on  Google  

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More  Makmende  on  Mishale  (Archer)  

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Makmende  goes  GLOBAL!  

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Makmende  “breaks  into”  CNN!  

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Bloggers  Gold:  Making  money  online    

•  Started  using  Google  AdSense  in  2010.  US$  500  to-­‐date.  

•  Realized  quickly  that  there  is  no  way  I  could  live  off  my  blog  if  I  ever  considered  AdSense  –  I  would  need  to  create  my  own  products  &  services  to  sell  or  go  Affiliate  marke?ng  (This  is  s?ll  Work-­‐In-­‐Progress  but  we  are  geung  there).  

•  Did  I  men?on  I  s?ll  have  a  day  job?  J  

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Google  AdSense  Revenue  

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My  blogging  makes  money  “offline”  

•  How?  I  get  invited  to  conferences  globally  to  make  presenta?ons  for  a  hecy  fee.    

•  I  consult  independently  for  businesses  that  want  to  leverage  digital  media  strategically.  

•  I  write  ar?cles  for  mainstream  media  who  pay  me  for  my  “expert”  insights  based  on  my  niche.  

•  I  find  myself  turning  away  money!  (too  busy)  

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PERKS  of  blogging  to-­‐date.  

•  Lots  of  interna?onal  travel.  •  Front  seat  invita?ons  to  media  events  and  “exclusives”  ahead  of  mainstream  media.  

•  Lots  of  free  “goodies”  like  phones  every  month  and  free  Internet  access  (SERIOUSLY!).  

•  Global  (&  local)  recogni?on  as  the  “go  to  guy”  •  You  can  become  a  ROCKSTAR!  through  blogging.  Not  always  that  cool….  

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Things  go  wrong  when  you  blog  

•  My  blog  got  hacked  in  2009  when  I  did  not  update  my  WordPress  version.  Quite  silly  and  avoidable.  

•  My  blog  “broke  down”  earlier  this  year  when  I  upgraded  but  did  not  confirm  first  if  my  host  supported  version  3.0.  2  days  offline  and  a  real  techie  needed  to  fix  things  -­‐  s?ll  reeling!  

•  Some?mes,  blogging  makes  you  TOO  visible.  

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Good  things  happen  when  you  blog!  

•  You  “jump  the  queue”  when  it  comes  to  business  and  social  engagements.  

•  Job  interviews  become  a  formality  since  employers  already  know  who  you  are,  what  you  do,  and  why  they  want  you.  

•  You  stand  out  from  the  crowd  and  this  has  many  many  dividends  when  everyone  now  has  an  MBA.  Nuff  said!  

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Diversify  your  content.  

•  Wri?ng  all  the  ?me  on  your  blog  can  get  hard  and  downright  boring.  

•  By  diversifying  your  content  to  audio,  video  and  photos,  you  enhance  your  content  and  your  audience  appreciate  it.  

•  Diversifying  content  also  can  be  less  work  –  people  love  video  and  audio  content  as  its  easy  to  access  and  a  no-­‐brainer.  

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KTN  Interview:  2009  

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NTV  Interview:  2011  

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Pivot  25:  2011  

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Integrate  social  media  to  your  blog  

•  I  have  integrated  social  media  to  my  blog  using  plugins  and  feeds.  

•  The  effect  is  that  I  “one-­‐click”  publish  and  all  my  social  media  profiles  get  my  content.  

•  I  get  more  traffic  from  social  media  than  from  Google.  This  is  HUGE.  

•  It  also  means  I  effec?vely  control  and  grow  my  reach  without  using  expensive  digital  marke?ng.  

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LinkedIn  

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Facebook  (Personal)  

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Facebook  (Fan  Page)  

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Twioer  

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The  Blog  

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Ensure  your  blog  is  MOBILE!  

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What  sort  of  mobile  traffic  do  you  get?  

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Mobile  traffic  graphs.    

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Blog  Traffic:  Highlights  

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Blog  Traffic:  Regions  

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Blog  Traffic:  UVs  and  PVs  

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Blog  Traffic:  Bit.ly  for  social  media  

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My  never-­‐ending  blogging  journey.  

•  Content  makes  all  the  difference.  •  Passion  keeps  you  going.  •  Mix-­‐it-­‐up  to  keep  it  fun  and  compelling  for  your  audiences.  

•  Be  authen?c  in  your  own  voice  and  tone.  •  Always  be  regular  and  consistent.  •  Blogging  has  explicit  and  implicit  benefits.  •  BLOG  what  you  love.  LOVE  what  you  blog!  

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Drop  me  a  line.  Cheers!  J    

     t:  @moseskemibaro  b:  moseskemibaro.com  e:  moses  (at)  moseskemibaro.com