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I was profiled yesterday in a Mail Today story on people whose lives were changed by blogging. The other bloggers profiled in the story included Amit Agarwal, Gautam Ghosh, Dina Mehta, and Nikhil Pahwa.
I started blogging in 2004. I saw myself as a writer and wanted to see if I can write in an engaging way on a sustained basis. I wrote stories, poetry, observations on life, marketing and technology. I met a lot of interesting people via my blog, made some good friends, some of whom became girlfriends in time.
In late 2006, I decided that I didn’t want to be a typical IIM MBA in a typical fast-track corporate career. I decided that I wanted to be the “next marketing guru” (I own the nextmarketingguru.com domain). I realized that internet and mobile, and especially social media, are not only changing how we connect with each other, but also how we connect with brands and organizations. So, I started writing about how social media is not only changing our lives, but also business and society.
I think I had that insight because I was getting tired of traditional advertising-led marketing, both as a marketer and as a consumer. In early 2008, I decided to go off-consumption for a year to understand why we choose to consume or not. This personal quarter-life crisis also strengthened my belief in the power of social media to enable brands to connect with consumers at the human level.
After a few hundred posts, a few dozen media interviews, and two book chapters on social media, I had built enough credibility in the space to be selected the 2008-009 Yahoo! Fellow at Georgetown University in Washington DC. I led research on social media in emerging countries, with a focus on digital activism in India and China, and taught a course on how social media is changing business, civil society and government. This led to even more time to think and write, even more media interviews and op-eds, even more speaking gigs at conferences and two more book chapters. I also started Vote Report India, a citizen-driven election monitoring initiative.
I met my business partner Sunil Agarwal at the SXSW interactive festival. Now Sunil (who runs PR firm 20:20 Media), Dave Evans (who is a best-selling author) and I have set up 20:20 Social, a niche consulting business where we advise Indian and international CMOs (chief marketing officers) on how they can leverage the power of communities and conversations to connect with consumers, build their brands and achieve their business objectives.
I met my life partner Mary Joyce when we met up to write the proposal of a book on digital activism. Now Mary has moved to India to help NGOs in India leverage social media and we have set up a nice house in New Delhi, a five minute walk from my office.
So, has blogging changed my life? You bet it has!
Here is the full text of the story –
Blogosphere has changed their lives
By Neha Tara Mehta
The weblog, which turns 10 this week, is not as big in India as in the West, but it has given birth to a tribe of blogging superstars
TILL THREE years ago, Kiruba Shankar, 36, was a regular nine-to-five techie in a big corporate house, who would commute 22 kms per day to office and back, braving traffic jams. His office is now next to home — or as he puts it, he could jump from his balcony and land in his office. And he is the CEO of the company now. Work is satisfying, and the money is good. He hasn’t missed a single annual day at his kids’ school in the last three years, and is training for a marathon. That sounds like a dream deal, but how did he get it?
Shankar blogged, therefore he is. Not only did his blog — www.kiruba.com — help him climb the corporate ladder by getting him two career breaks, it also helped him get out of the job market and become an entrepreneur. He was voted Blogger of the Year by Indiblogs in 2004, and gets 50,000 blog visitors on a good day. “I started blogging as a hobby in 2001. I now earn my living through it. The exposure and business opportunities I got with it gave me the confidence to start Business Blogging Pvt Ltd, a social media consultancy.”
Chennai-based Shankar is among the earliest bloggers of the country, and one of the few who is riding the wave of the social media that turned 10 years old this week. Thanks to his blog, Shankar is also living his dream of being a radio jockey — by turning into a celebrity podcaster. He interviews other CEOs on The Kiruba Show.
Nandan Nilekeni and Anand Mahindra are some top notch names that have been on his show. There was a time when he had to approach CEOs. Now, many contact him through their PRs to appear on his show. His only regret? “Why didn’t I do this earlier?”
Blogging has done different things for different people. For The Mad Momma, who blogs on http://themadmomma. wordpress.com/, blogging was a way to meet “women other than those I went to Lamaze class with”. New to Delhi, without a job, and with a baby at home, she says she was “going stark, raving mad.” Things changed when she started blogging four years ago.
THE MAD Momma also recovered her self- esteem through the blog. “ I had lost all my self- esteem and wasn’t sure if I could re- enter the job market. But then people read my blog, and writing offers began to pour in. It was flattering and reassuring to know that I could get back to work if I wanted to.” However, blogging hasn’t changed his life as dramatically, says Rajesh Jain, MD of Netcore Technologies, who blogs on emergic. org. “ I blog because I like to share an idea and love to write. The feedback I get helps me fine- tune my thinking.” He sees 15 minutes of blogging a day as an equivalent of a business meeting. “ It’s a great business investment — it helps me meet people I won’t otherwise. It also helps me save time introducing myself and my thinking.” Some of his most popular blog posts are letters he writes to his son every year on his birthday.
Between two to three million Indians have started a blog at some time, according to Juxt Consult. Yet, with an Internet penetration of less than five per cent, blogs remain a niche phenomenon in the country. That’s possibly why we haven’t seen influential blogs on the lines of The Huffington Post in the country yet. An overwhelming number of bloggers continue to be techies. Politicians who came on to the blogosphere with much promise during the elections, disappeared right after the results were declared ( LK Advani is a case in point). Celebrities are finding Twitter easier to use as a marketing tool, though some like the Big B and Aamir Khan use their blogs effectively — often to settle scores and unleash controversies.
Says CEO of naukri. com, Sanjeev Bikhchandani, who blogs on bikhchandani.blogspot. com, “ We don’t have the kind of blogs we have in the West.
While many will surf and leave comments, writing doesn’t seem to be the core strength.”
Social media expert Rajesh Lalwani, MD of Scenario Consulting Private Limited, likens blogs to pagers. “ Before pagers could become a trend in India, mobile phones came in. Similarly, in the nascent stage of blogs, social networking sites came in.” Orkut and Facebook may have just rendered blogs redundant for some, like Lalwani, who says, “ I don’t have to write a blog anymore to keep people updated.” A GREES software project manager Priyanka Sachar, who blogs as Twilight Fairy. “ You don’t get to update your blog frequently as much anymore, as you have already said much of what you needed to say on Twitter or Facebook.” But Sachar, who formed the Delhi Bloggers Bloc in 2004, hastens to add, “ Many things cannot be said in 140 characters.
The quality of discussion and expression are better in blogs.” What can we expect to see in the next 10 years on the blogosphere? Lalwani expects blogs to become more niche and purposeful. “ Gone are the days when blogs would be used like online diaries.” Regional blogging is also likely to grow in a big way. “ Farmers in Kerala are blogging in Malayalam,” points out Sachar. It could be a decade to watch out for.
neha. mehta@ mailtoday. in
GAURAV MISHRA, 29
Gauravonomics.com One of the 150 most popular marketing and PR blogs is run by the CEO of 20:20 WebTech
GAURAV MISHRA was a typical IIM guy with a career on the fast track. He had a lot to look forward to: A promotion every two years, and the promise of a CEO tag by the time he hit 35. But then, in late 2006, he was struck by a quarter- life crisis. He decided he wanted to get out of the rat race, and his next job will come through his blog.
“I started blogging about how social media is not only changing our lives, but also business and society,” he says. His blog made it to the 150 most popular marketing and PR blogs internationally, as per the AdAge Power 150 rankings. A few hundred posts, a few dozen media interviews, and two book chapters on social media later, he had built enough credibility in the space to be selected the 2008-009 Yahoo! Fellow at Georgetown University in Washington DC. He quit his job as Indica’s brand manager and his comfortable life in his Cuff Parade house, Mumbai, and plunged into social media research, which he blogged about. His blog eventually led him to meet both his business and life partner.
Last month, Mishra moved to Delhi as the CEO of 20:20 WebTech, a social media research and strategy company, which he runs in partnership with Sunil Agarwal, MD, 20:20 Media and Dave Evans, a best-selling author. Mishra’s life partner, Mary Joyce, an active blogger who was part of Barack Obama’s new media team during the presidential elections, has recently moved to India to be with him and help NGOs leverage social media. “Has blogging changed my life? You bet it has!” says Mishra.
AMIT AGARWAL, 32
http://www.labnol.org/ India’s first professional blogger who gets 2.5 million page views a month
INDIA got its first professional blogger in 2004 when computer science engineer from IIT Roorkee, Amit Agarwal, quit his lucrative IT job in Hyderabad to turn to blogging full-time.
He is the geek behind the Digital Inspiration blog — a one-stop reference point for computer software reviews, consumer gadgets, tutorials and web applications. With nearly 2.5 million page views a month, he has made it to the list of The Straits Times’Asia’s Blog Stars, alongside Chinese actress Xu Jinglei.
“Had I been working in a software company, I would have had a 9-to-5 job, and done this alongside as a hobby. The best is that I am now paid for my hobby,” says Agarwal. “I do not work at home in pyjamas, but go to a proper office to do my writing.” It’s a move that has worked: He has switched from a Maruti Zen to a Honda CRV. The best thing? “I get to stay with my joint family in Agra, instead of living away in IT hubs like Hyderabad and Bangalore,” says Agarwal, who has just been blessed with his second child.
NIKHIL PAHWA, 28
www. medianama. com At least 220,000 page views last month. Editor of the digital media blog, ContentSutra. com, at 25, he now runs his own venture.
NIKHIL PAHWA started his career at 25 with a blog. As a BBA student at the India campus of the Western International University, he figured that he wanted to work in an online business.
He went on a lark to ContentSutra.
com, where he realised he was “ happy spending 12- 14 hours a day blogging on the Net and doing mobile business.” Pahwa’s writing was part reportage and part opinion.
Within six months, he was made the editor. His obsession with his work had his boss worried who didn’t want to be known as a slave driver.
ContentSutra. com’s parent company was bought over by The Guardian Media Group for what is believed to be a sum of $ 30 million ( Rs 1,448 million). But just before that, Pahwa decided to form his own blogging company.
MediaNama. com was born last June — taking only two weeks to be set up. A business blog on the digital and media business in India, it got 220,000 page views last month. Pahwa now plans to monetise the blog with ads and research.
“ It will become profitable because it has a lot of depth, reader base and credibility in the content.” He is also going to start two more blogs. This new kid on the blog promises much in the years to come.
DINA MEHTA, 42
http:// dinamehta. com/ She first made headlines by mobilising the online world for 2004 tsunami aid
A QUALITATIVE research and ethnographer for 22 years, Dina Mehta got some friends to help her set up a blog in 2003. Two years later, the blog led to the formation of her research company — Mosoci, when Mehta joined hands with USbased Stuart Henshall, a blogger she had been collaborating virtually with.
Mosoci provides the research, tools and connections that lead to more innovative brands and communities. A lot of Mehta’s clients — including Nokia, Dell and Unilever — come to her through her blog. “ A blog says a lot to a client. It has your identity fleshed out through your posts. It’s your PR vehicle for yourself. A lot of referrals also happen through other bloggers.” Mehta’s blog also led her to help build several communities on the Internet, such as Worldchanging, Tsunami Help, Katrina- Help, Asia Quake Help and SkypeJournal. She is an advisor to Global Voices Online and a sub- Board Member of the Information Program at Open Society Institute.
Mehta doesn’t really care about the top blogger lists she’s on. She writes in her blog: “ My blog is my social software. It is also my social network… A profile that changes, grows, flows — not a cold resume or ‘ about me’ pages filled with past achievements and accolades — but is touchy- feely and one that says more about me through my thoughts, interests, preoccupations, rants, rambles and angst — that makes me more than just a consultant or a qualitative researcher — or a demographic statistic, ‘ female blogger from India’… A profile that is salient too — it gets me high up on Google in many areas of search — so I do get noticed.”
GAUTAM GHOSH, 36http:// gautamghosh. net/ Rated by HRWorld as one of the top 25 HR bloggers in the world. His blog gets nearly 3,000 hits daily.
“ I AM not a great blogger. And there are tonnes of people better than me in HR,” says XLRI graduate Gautam Ghosh, whose blog is ranked as one of the top 25 HR blogs by HRWorld and also finds a place in the Career 100 blog list compiled by RiseSmart . What makes him click? “ Speaking with a marketer’s hat on, a brand is a promise of a value. Just because you have tonnes of great products doesn’t mean people will buy them. People will buy them if they know about them,” he reasons.
Ghosh thinks he got lucky because he started blogging seven years ago when there weren’t too many HR blogs around.
“ Initially, I used the blog as a personal tool to archive my thoughts. I wasn’t blogging about my kids and my cat but on organisations, work, people, strategy, learning, knowledge, innovation and high performance.” Soon, he was being approached by companies to do consultancy work for them. He quit his job in Deloitte, Hyderabad, and became an independent consultant for two years, before moving to Delhi.
Nearly 3,000 people follow Ghosh’s blog posts everyday. “ My blog gives a lot of visibility to a bookworm like me. I get a disproportionate number of books to review.” Among those who have sent Ghosh a copy of their books to review is management guru David Maister, formerly a professor at the Harvard Business School. That’s, indeed, something.
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