Exclusive interview with Harsh Agrawal problogger from Shoutmeloud!

Today I am really happy because I am going to take an exclusive interview from Harsh Agrawal professional blogger from shoutmeloud.com which is one my favourite blog. You may also follow him in twitter at twitter.com/denharsh  When I sent request to him to take an interview I thought he won’t accept me since he is always busy with his various online activities. But I am really happy that he gave me time to take his interview. Ok so let’s go…

Alamin: Welcome harsh to earnbyblog.com, could you please tell something about yourself to my new readers?

• Harsh: Hi Alamin, First of all thanks for the interview. Talking about myself, I’m 24 year old, based in New delhi, India. I’m an Engineer by education and soon after engineering I started blogging because of passion. I was a part time blogger and was working with Convergys. After some time I realize the potential of Internet marketing and blogging, and took one major step by turning myself into professional blogger.

Alamin: Please tell us how and why did you come in blogging? 

• Harsh: After my graduation, I was kind of free as waiting for the joining date from Accenture. Since I’m an IT Engineer, I was very much connected to computer and technology. So I started a blog on BlogSpot and within no time people started liking my work. So I moved to WordPress and started taking blogging seriously. Initially I started with one serious blog Shoutmeloud.com and when I realize it’s making good money, I moved ahead and started many other blogs.

Taking Blogging as a serious career was a very tough decision but I took that risk and today I’m proud to be a professional blogger.

Alamin: What was your expectation when you just started your blogging journey?

• Harsh: When people start a blog, they have many reasons and some popular one is Fame, Passion or money. When I started blogging it was purely my passion for technology and general computing. I still remember the joy of getting first comment on my blog (Though later I realize it was just a spam comment), but still getting few visitors into a new blog was like a dream and I used to feel great that atleast few people like what I write. Talking about future plans at that time, I had none. I was all set to join my 9-6 job as a software engineer at Accenture and blogging was just a part time passion for me.Meanwhile I joined Convergys for some time and while working I started making decent money via my blog. Most of my income source was Adsense and affiliate marketing. That time I realize that I can make huge money via Blogging and this is where I’m now, Professional blogger. 

Alamin: Do you think everyone can be a blogger?

• Harsh:When god made a man, he makes sure that every different person will perform different task, else things would be monotonous. Talking about being a blogger, according to me a blog is a place where you can write about your life, thoughts and things which you like. There is a writer in everyone, so yes everyone can be a blogger.But talking about Blogging as a profession, I don’t think it is made for everyone. If you are passionate about something and you can write it down, or you can do videos about that stuff, you can be one. Else you may start blogging initially but within some time you might lose your interest.Another aspect which I see from the point of blogger. Blogging is more like journalism, you share news with people. Do you think everyone can become a journalist?

Alamin: Hmmm. Well, Did you know that you will be here ( I mean in leading position where shoutmeloud is at present)?

• HarshTo be honest, I don’t think Shoutmeloud is into leading position. Yes, it’s a fact that it’s very popular among bloggers or people who wish to learn blogging, but still Shoutmeloud has a long way to reach to that place we call leading.But yes, I’m very happy with the way, Shoutmeloud is picking popularity. Funny fact is many people know me by looking at my tattoo. So it feels great.

Alamin: You know lots of blog is being created every day and most of those go away after a while. So what was your secret to get success?

• Harsh: Alamin, there is no secret ingredient for success in the field of blogging. Like any other work/job, you need to be punctual, honest and most important disciplined. If you have it, your blog will be success, only difference is some time it takes lots of time and many people are not willing to wait.

Alamin: Most of the blogger who just start blogging they continue it for three or four months, then if they don’t get enough visitors they just kicked blogging away. So what suggestion you will give to them?

• Harsh: Let me ask this question to readers, You start a business and despite of doing everything right, you not getting clients. What’s wrong here? Reason could be: Bad marketing, May be your business is located in wrong locality, or you might need to review your business model.Same thing is with blogging, Blogging has become a business now and it’s good. But if are serious about your business, you should see what’s wrong with your blog. Are you giving something, which readers are willing to accept? Or are you giving enough medium for visitors to reach your blog?I work with lots of client from US and western country and one thing which I learned from them is from the day 1, they work on few things first, Design, Banner+ logo (Branding) and SEO. If your blog is missing any of these things, you should get it fixed ASAP. Of course, don’t forget about quality content.

Alamin: You know early stage of blogging is always crucial, and most of the blogger find out its hard. So could you please tell us how you walked your first three or four months in your blogging path?

• Harsh: My starting days of blogging was quite easy, as I started with 0 investments and without worrying about money or readers. I used to write stuff, which I liked and learned by my own practice. Later on when I invested my first 100$ on Hosting+ domain, that was the time when I got serious. I used to feel low, after seeing the popular blog, later on I realize my way of looking at things are wrong, Instead of feeling low about success of other blog, I should be studying the reason behind success, and that’s about it. I started following some popular blog strategy and implemented few for my blogs. One of them is connecting with readers and forming a community. Treat every reader as special one and if you win a heart you win 100 readers. After all word of mouth marketing is the best way to reach new heights.

Alamin: The main frustration comes to new blogger when they see very few traffic and comments to their blog after three or four months. So what do you think about it and what’s the average daily visit of a new blog I mean three or four month’s old blog?

• Harsh: The best way for new blogs to get comments and traffic by connecting with other bloggers into same niche and most important active commenting. I have already explained some of benefits here at: Why commenting is important for any blogger..It’s hard to determine the daily visit for any new or old blog. If you start a niche blog on some hot topic, and you doing everything right including SEO, you should be getting anything between 1500-10000 Visits atleast a day.

Alamin: Now a day’s people come in blogging that they think it’s a great way to make money. What do you think about it?

• Harsh: Certainly blogging has more money than any regular 9-6 job. But your approach should be right. Always remember it’s your passion which should make you blog and more important, it’s traffic which you need. If you have traffic, money will automatically flow 

Alamin: People normally wants instant money from blogging but its not easy. So could you tell us how much time did you need to get your first payment only from your blog?

• Harsh: I started blogging seriously in Oct 2008 and that was for my passion. For next 5 months I was not making any money, neither I has a single advertisement on my blog. In Feb 2009, I picked someone from forum work and fixed 1 small WordPress issue the guy was facing, that was the time I got my first 10$ on paypal account, and that money is still more valuable than those 100$ which I make in a day today.

From my blog, I put ads at Shoutmeloud.com around March 2009 and my first month earning was 45$. Though now if I start any new blog, my target is to make atleast 100$ from the very first month. I started a blog on WordPress hosting Discount and my first month earning from this blog was 200$.

Alamin: What suggestion will you give to newbie who wants to make money blogging?

• Harsh: First thing is write for yourself. Have a business plan from the day one. If you starting a blog or have a new blog, you should plan how you going to make money out of it. Is it going to be adsense, Affiliate marketing or may be your own set of services? Having a business model for your blog will help you a lot.

Alamin: Now would you please us what your top 5 favourite blog?

• Harsh: This is something hard to answer, because I like the different writing style of many blogs. But to put in a list, I read 
• problogger.net
• dailyblogtips.com
• quickonlinetips.comon regular basis.

Alamin: I know its self promotion but cant stop myself from asking this question. What do you think about this blog earnbyblog.com?

• Harsh: Ok let me be honest, I like your content and it is good. Though putting yourself into BlogSpot platform, you missing the advantage of being on WordPress. You should seriously check out Why WordPress blog is better?

If I have this blog I would be changing few things to make it better:
1. Shifting to WordPress
2. Getting a unique design
3. Banner + logo
4. Facebook fan page
5. Dedicated Twitter profile
Rest it’s always content which win millions of heart. You doing great.

Alamin: Last question though its out of topic your avatar is really interesting. Could you please tell me the specialties of this avatar?

• Harsh: The avatar which I have is my Permanent tattoo.. Which is also my sun-sign cancer. Tattoo seems to be very fascinating to me and that’s the reason I use it everywhere as my avatar. Thanks

Alamin: Thanks Harsh for being with us hope your success.

• Harsh: Thanks alamin bye.

Well that was my interview with Harsh Agrawal. Hope you have enjoyed this interview. Thanks

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