How Blogging has Kept Me Sane!

Blogging isn’t for everyone. Video blogging is even more “not” for everyone.

When we blog we sit down in front of our computers and pour out our thoughts and feeling on various topics. When blogs first started to emerge in the late 1990’s they tended to be an almost diary style form of online writing. Even in 2012, many people who write bogs follow a similar style.

I began writing blogs in the late 1990’s. My first blog was a fan page for an indie musician based in Canada. I stopped maintaining the site and stopped doing the “blog thing” by 2000. Just a few years later, I was living and working in South Korea and I decided to jump back into my old hobby. It had become so much easier. I could simply write something in Blogger and hit “post.” In the 1990’s I would write all of my web page language in HTML using Notepad on my Windows machine as my main editing tool. I would upload all text and photos using a File Transfer Protocol app called Cute FTP. I thought it was a lot of fun at the time, but it was also a lot of work.

Jump ahead to 2006. I began to make video blogs on You Tube. I now had a blog and vlog presence on the Internet. It was a fun way to let off steam, complain about stuff that annoyed me in Korea, play around with technology and be a little creative.

Jump ahead to 2012 and I have three You Tube channels, two blogs and have tried my hand at podcasting. I would probably attempt to do more, but having a family and “non-online” life luckily keeps me from attempting to take on more.

I’ve been in Asia for almost ten years now. While I’ve been here I’ve made some amazing friends and then inevitably said goodbye to them. Once I became married and started a family I became even more cocooned I my little world far away from home. Sometimes I miss communication with other native English speakers and those who share a similar cultural understanding. Luckily, blogging and vlogging have given me an outlet. They have given me a way to reach out to like-minded folks around the world.

Through this amazing hobby I have been able to share my experiences in Korea, Japan and as a teacher with those around the world who are interested in those very things. Not only have I been able to meet amazing folks from all over the globe, but also I have been able to meet so many wonderful people in person right here in Japan.

Blogging has given me the chance to meet new people as well as share my thoughts, feelings and knowledge.

If you have the ability to read this blog then you have the ability to start your own. I highly recommend it. It’s been lifesaver for me!

Some of the great things you can see while living in Asia...worth blogging about!

8 Ways to Make a Successful Blog

A constant for me in the previous two or three years are emails of a common theme. People from around the world have often emailed me asking how they can get more people watching their You Tube videos or reading their blog. I have spent about 6 years regularly, and more often irregularly, blogging and vlogging about life in Korea and Japan, about being an educator, about my views on a wide range of other topics.

I have spent more time than I can count chatting and discussing strategies with other bloggers. How can we get more traffic coming to our sites? How can we get more subscribers? How can we become professional bloggers? How can we become successful?

I think I have learned a great deal in my years of blogging. I do understand how you can create a successful blog or You Tube channel (the latter becoming harder these days since You Tube no longer seems to support new talent or even mid-pack partners such as myself). Now I have learned a great many things, but have often not put them into practice. I suppose I have learned how I "could" be more successful, but haven't taken many of the appropriate steps in that direction.


How can I become a successful blogger?

1. Choose a theme and stick to it! Most people who have successful vlogs or blogs have a specific theme and rarely, if ever deviate from it. If your blog is a random mishmash of ideas and topics, it will be hard to draw in a specific following. People with a narrow focus tend to find more success. A great example of narrowing a blog/vlog’s focus is the Korea-based You Tube vloggers, Simon and Martina. They used to make videos only about Korea and being a teacher. They were good and finding some success on You Tube. Once they zeroed in on making K-pop (Korean pop music) videos and created their K-Pop Mondays series, they blew up as You Tubers and are now VERY successful. Their blog eatyoukimchi.com is also hugely successful.

Although I know that I myself should be more narrow and focused, I tend not to be. In a way, I am shooting myself in the metaphoric foot!

2. Consistency pays off. If you want people to notice you, you must create a body of work. In order to do this, you must write or shot video consistently. People tend to not pay attention to or simply forget those who only post a new blog a few times a month. A few times a week or more is always better. Once you start building a following, those who really like you will crave content!

I personally have a great deal of trouble producing regular content. With a demanding job, wife and infant son, as well as a marathon running hobby, I have very little time to sit in front of a computer these days.

3. Interact with your readers/viewers. Followers love it when you interact with them by replying to emails and responding to their comments. This gives your readers a more personal connection. They begin to feel like you care about them and they in turn will support you even more. I suppose it is about community building. Unfortunately, as your following grows, this will become more difficult to do.

4. Build and maintain your community. Use other complimentary social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter to promote your writing or videos.

5. Toughen up. If you can’t take criticism or rude comments from the occasional Internet troll or someone who disagrees with your point, blogging isn’t for you. The Internet is full of people who have strong opinions and many may be the opposite of yours. There are also a lot of idiots with too much time on their hands. From time to time they may target you. This is part of online life. Don’t take it personally!

6. It takes time. To many impatient people send me emails (which I normally delete and never respond too) about how they have made one or two videos and now they are ready for Internet fame. If you are a blogger or vlogger seeking success, it can take a very long time and a lot of hard work! The now famous You Tube star Wheezy Waiter, who now has hundreds of thousands of subscribers still only had about 200 followers after he had made 100 videos! He was doing it for years before he broke out!

7. Accept failure when it happens. Not every idea for a blog or video channel will work. Sometimes, after trying for a long time, it might be better to just call it a day and move on to a new theme or project!

8. Build a network. Make friends and connect with other bloggers and vloggers. If you have a great online network, they will help you and promote your content. Building a network takes time. You must regularly comment on people’s blogs, interact with them on Twitter and Facebook.


These are all very good pieces of advice. If you follow them, you may achieve success. There is also of course an element of luck involved. Sometimes someone accidentally notices you big and they promote you. Other times, your luck may not be so good.

You mustn’t only produce good regular content; you must also spend a great deal of time promoting yourself. Your blog is a product and you want people to buy in.

I know these rules, but I am often guilty of not following them. I am sometimes scatter-brained so making videos or blog posts on a consistent theme is difficult for me. I also have a lot of trouble producing consistent content and interacting with followers. This is due to a lack of time.

Would I like to be a super-duper successful blogger someday? Of course I would! Will I? Probably not, but you never know (Any famous bloggers out there waiting to notice me?).