Most probably on this Friday afternoon, I will have to give a short speech and presentation among a bunch of information technology journalists and freelance writers belonging to a magazine about the importance of Blogging. In face, I plan to talk about the benefits of blogging in country like Bangladesh. Well, very few people can earn money through this field and their number is not a lot. So, more than money, I have to talk about other benefits. This is my challenge to motivate at least some of them to blog for the web portal of that computer magazine. As you can understand, when they write for the magazine then they get money but if they write for the blog then they will not get any revenue. So, this is my challenge to make it make attractive enough so that I can convince some of them to do it. My goal is to show them the benefits of blogging even if they cannot earny any money.
Problem of Blogging in Bangladesh
The main problem in Bangladesh about earning money through blogging is that most advertisement programs do not still support content in Bangla language. If you take a look at advertisement programs like Chitika and Adsense then you will notice that they still do not support our language. The reason is very simple. The number of internet surfing people from Bangladesh and Indian state of West Bengal is yet not that much. Since there is not a lot of potential revenue, therefore content is not created that much. So, we will have to wait another few years for getting any kind of significant amount of revenue from blogging in this country in Bangla language. Still I feel that there are some great benefits in this work. I am going to talk about some of them.
In Education
The first and foremost benefit I can find about blogging is that it helps you to become more fluent in the language you are writing. It can be a very good hobby and some people get addicted. Thus, it increases the speed of your thinking because often you have to write about something that happens today. Let me give you an example. For example, today you know suppose, there is a new version of Windows operating system and you have read something about it in internet. You will find some information in the newspapers tomorrow but if you want to write about it in your blog today then you have to do it very fast. At first it is very difficult and challenging but the more time you can spend with it the more it becomes easier for you. Thus, it can directly benefit you in improving your writing and reading skill.
Future career
Well, unfortunately I have to admit that most job recruiters in our country do not read blogs but this trend can change. I am confident that this will change a lot in the next few years because when you apply for a job then naturally they will want to know more about you. Our traditional system is that we sit for written exam and viva. But in multinational companies and private companies, they always want to make sure that they get the best qualified person. One of the best ways to show your skill is your writing in your blog. I am sure that this trend will change because more and more jobs are created in the private sector instead of the government sector.
Job Recruiters in the West Read Blogs
Jobs recruiters in the Western countries like USA, regularly read the blogs. In fact if you are a part of a very popular and famous blog then getting a job in USA becomes much easier. Understanding the potential of this medium, now Microsoft, Google, Intel, Apple, Dell all the companies have their own blogs and they give a lot of information with it. I am expecting the same thing happening in Bangladesh within the next five years where companies like Grameen phone, Coca Cola, British American Tobacco Corporation and other top companies will have their own blogs in which they will give a lot of information for consumers. So, if you have some blogging skill then I am sure in future it will help you in your career.
Foreign University
If you apply to a foreign university then perhaps you know that you have to give all kind of information about you. Especially those of you who are looking for getting scholarships, you have to produce something extra. The blog can be a very good platform for you in this regard. You can show your skill and talent by the content you produce. The best part is that in blogging you don’t have to give a lot of time. You are free and suppose this month you have pressure of exam you don’t need to upload anything. After exam, you become more free and you can easily put more content.
What kind of Conent?
Now, I am going to address a very important question that what kind of content should you put in your blog. Obviously, the first kind of content that most people put in their blogs now a days is funny post. For example, they give their idea on politics or share some memories or give a picture. This is good and it is a nice kind of entertainment. I also have the same advice if you want to post funny things or not so serious topics. However, if you want to get some kind of benefit for your career or for the future then you must put some serious content in your blog. You can show your knowledge about the field of your study or field of your expertise.
Suppose you want to become a software engineer. Then you can write a number of entries in which you can give some tips about the software or program that you are skilled in it. This can help you to establish as an expert in your field at least in Bangladesh. Of course, you must put your CV or Resume in your blog because then the people who want to hire you will get your CV or Resume very easily. Even if someone is not going to hire you by reading your CV or Resume they can get more information about you.
Why blog in the computer magazine portal and why not your own blog:
This question may come to you that why you should create content for this computer magazine instead of opening a blog for yourself. If you want to open a blog for yourself I have no problem and even I will encourage you to do it. However, you must remember that you need to devote a lot of time and effort to make the blog popular. For example, we know already a lot about this magazine and we know that this is the leading ICT magazine in Bangladesh. So, everyday several thousand people visit this blog and website and there is a huge opportunity for you to showcase your skill. However, if you open a blog then this thing will not happen. First of all you will have to inform everyone that you opened a blog and you have to invite them to visit it. Some of them may visit it or may not.
If you are interested about how to open your blog in Blogger or WordPress then just go to these two websites and you can find all the information. In fact, it is very easy and it should not take more than ten minutes for you. So it is up to you.
Benefit of the Blogging for the Portal
However, if you don’t have the time then as I have said the computer magazine website is best because here you can just focus on uploading your content. You don’t have to think of design, you don’t have to think of technical problems, you don’t have to think of getting people to read them and so on. The only thing you need to bother about this is just writing something and uploading it and then you can be sure that some people will read it. If you can write good quality content on a regular basis then you can be double sure that more and more people will read what you are writing and you may become famous.
Bangla Typing Support
Another very big advantage of this website of this computer magazine is that it has very good Bangla typing support. You have a lot of options and you can type with these options. This kind of Bangla typing support will not be so good in places like Blogger or WordPress.
Another great benefit is that you are a part of the community of like minded people who have the same interest. Here, most of the people who visit the websites everyday have similar interest. They are all interested about computer and technology. So, if you are a regular visitor here and you read the blog entries then you will find some other people who share your passion, your interest. However, if you open your own blog then it will be difficult for you.
Who am I? I am Razib Ahmed and I am perhaps the first professional Blogger from Bangladesh. I started professional blogging in 2006 and at that time I use to work for Know More Media which was a California based company and after that I worked for another two blog networks. Thus, I have some experience in this field and my profession is now full time blogging. If you want to come in this field I have to warn you that it needs a lot of dedication and efforts. It is not an easy work and there is no short cut in it.
You are right Razib vai,
In our country our boys and girls are more interested to do just noting on Facebook then blogging or earning from blogging. In India students are earning a good amount of dollars from blogging. Now we have started in our country.
You are absolutely right about blogging benefit and others issues. Blogger like you should guide us blogging, we need more professional blogging, business blogging and specially corporate blogging from our country. In west and other country people are earning their living from blogging. We should give it a try.
I have started, please visit my blogs if you have time, your suggestion would guide me in right track. Here is my blogs –
1. http://itmanagerblog.blogspot.com/
2. http://voipforbangladesh.blogspot.com/ (Co-writer)
3. http://howtomakemoenyonline.blogspot.com/
4. I will start one on SEO and Blogging
My mom also owns a blog for her unique and authentic Bangladeshi recipes and cuisine -
1. http://vulusrecipe.blogspot.com/ (বাংলা)
Best regards
Siraj