Today we we have none other than Mr.Tony John, a professional blogger from Kerala ( The southern most state in India) who share his exciting journey with blogging.Tony started with online publishing and website marketing way back in 1998, the same year Google was incorporated. He is a familiar name in the blogosphere as one of the most successful bloggers from India and webmaster of popular web portals like Indiastudychannel.com that gets several million page views per month. Also, he is the founder of one of the most reputed digital agencies in India called ” SpiderWorks Technologies”. Even with all the success stories behind him, Tony is a down to earth kind of person who never boasts about any of his achievements and is always willing to help fellow bloggers. Please go on reading the interview to know more about the achiements of Tony John during his two decade spanning blogging journey.
1. Could you please elaborate your story that leads you to become a blogger while you had a well-paid job in the U.S.?
I started my first blog in 1998 when I was working as a software developer in Chennai. My goal of starting a personal portfolio website at that time was to impress my manager at work to grab an onsite opportunity to go abroad as a web developer. That worked out, and I moved to Japan in 1999 and then later to the USA in the same year. After moving to the USA, I had a lot of free time after work, and that is when I started expanding my portfolio and developed many other blogs which eventually turned out to be popular portals. My current business network of websites and digital marketing services were originated from that small blog I created about two decades ago.
I have been doing blogging as a hobby for a few years. About five years after I started my first blog, Google introduced the AdSense program, and that changed the whole perception about blogging. I switched from hobby blogging to business. Over a period of time, my income from blogging helped me to achieve my financial goals, and that gave me the confidence to abandon my permanent resident status in the USA and return to India as a full-time blogger.
2. If someone says that you are the first blogger from India, do you agree with that? What is your opinion about it as I believe you might be the first blogger from India considering the year at which you started your first blog?
First of all, I spent most part of my blogging career in the USA. Even when I was most active with blogging, I was never recognised as a blogger in India since I wasn’t here. Also, it is hard to define who is the “first blogger,” even though I don’t think any of the current bloggers in India have been blogging since the time started. But I don’t have any substantial evidence to say I am the first blogger from the Kerala or India.
3. How many blogs do you own at the moment? Could you please name them all for my readers to have a look?
My very first personal portfolio was built using a free website creation platform called “tripod.” It was a very basic site which I lost access eventually. However, after I achieved some success through blogging, I went back to tripod and requested them to reset my credentials and give me access back to the site. They were kind enough to consider my request. You can still see my first site here without much modifications after 1998 – http://manjaly.tripod.com/
The next few blogs I started were tonyjohn.com, spiderkerala.com, and dotnetspider.com. SpiderKerala became one of the most popular portals in Kerala during the period 2000 ~ 2003, and I had to abandon that site later due to lack of time maintaining a lot of websites.
Dotnetspider.com became a globally popular .NET tutorial website in which I was the primary author. I used to share technical tips and articles from my work as a software developer in the USA.
Over a period of time, I started nearly 100 blogs, and I had a strong network of about 40 webmasters handling these blogs on revenue sharing model. But eventually, I had to close down many of them since it was difficult to maintain quality for so many websites.
Currently, my most active websites are:
www.indiastudychannel.com – about 7 million page views per month
www.indiatravelblog.com
www.indiareviewchannel.com
www.techulator.com
www.studyvillage.com
There are several other small and micro niche portals which are developed to support our digital marketing business. We use our portals very effectively for content marketing, which is one of the main reasons for the success of our digital marketing business.
4. How do you manage time to run your blogs efficiently? Do you follow something like a weekly timetable or routine to find sufficient time for everything to be done in a day?
Well, I started blogging for the passion, and I ran them for about five years without even knowing that someday I can make money out of them. Even today, I have that passion in my mind, and that helps me dedicate a good amount of time for blogging. Bringing traffic to my content still thrills me. There is no fixed timetable or schedule. I work on various topics every day as it comes across to me.
5. What is the most significant difference in your life post blogging?
When I was working 9 to 9 in India, life was very hectic. I had little time to spend my family. After I moved to USA, it took a few years for me to fully adapt and blend with the American system but after that life started becoming monotonous. The regular work hours are 9 to 4, and after that, there was nothing much to do. That is when I started spending a lot of time for blogging.
Blogging gave me the flexibility to work on my own schedule and also gave me the financial freedom to enjoy the life in the way I want. I can choose to work or not to work, and there is no one to question other than myself.
6. What do you think is the best service a blogger can provide to his readers?
You can provide good content but getting huge traffic is a challenge. Bad content or misleading content can easily fetch higher traffic with relatively lower efforts. The best thing a blogger can do is to provide genuine content to the readers with the intention of providing them value rather than producing junk content with the goal of fetching traffic.
7. A lot of people think that blogging is an easy way to make money online. What is your opinion on this? Do you have any tips or strategies for those who believe in that way?
It used to be but not anymore. The golden era of making huge money out of blogging without much efforts is over. 2005 to 2011 was the glorious period of blogging as a quick money making business. With thousands of new blogs starting every day, making instant money is no longer an option. The well-established bloggers who already fetch huge traffic are still making such money but building a new blog and making huge money out of it is not an easy task.
8. Other than money, what motivates you to be consistent in the field of blogging?
As I said earlier, I didn’t start the blogs to make money. I didn’t even think I could make any money from blogging even in my wild dreams. It was purely out of passion. But once the opportunities came up, I used them and took advantage of all opportunities in the blogosphere. I am still continuing the blogging with the same passion I had when there were no money making opportunities.
9. What would you priotise? Readers? Content? SEO? Traffic?
My primary focus is content and then comes readers, SEO and traffic. When I write, I just write useful content, that’s it. But being a blogger since the time the current search engines were not even started, SEO is part of me, and so it will reflect in everything I write. When I write content that are useful to people, readers and traffic will follow.
10. I am aware about all your businesses you run alongside the blogging related activities. It would be very useful for my readers if you share those details in this interview so that they can reach out for any such services from you. Please share the details of the institutes and agencies you run in India.
I am currently providing digital marketing services under the brand name “SpiderWorks Technologies.” We are +currently one of the leading and most trusted digital marketing company in Kerala with our primary focus on SEO. We provide the following core services:
SEO
Social Media Marketing
Google Ads
Content Marketing
Website Development
Lead Generation
You can see our full list of digital marketing services at http://www.spiderworks.in. Also, we have just launched our UAE based digital marketing service website at http://www.spiderworks.ae
I also run a digital marketing training academy called “Digital Skill Master.” We train a limited number of people everything and prepare them for a rewarding career in digital marketing. You can see the full list of our digital marketing courses at http://www.digitalskillmaster.in
11. Kindly share few strategies that helped you gain more traffic to your blogs?
Content has been the key to my success in blogging. I have a passion for writing, and I usually write on topics from my experience which helps me provide the most valuable content to my readers.
12. Can you share some of the exciting moments of your blogging career?
Well, I enjoyed every moment of my blogging life with a lot of excitements, including the international sponsored trips I did, one of the job interviews I attended where the interviewer picked up the questions from my own technical bog post , the MVP awards I received from Microsoft for my contribution towards the community and so on.
One of the most exciting experiences I like to share is a recent domain acquisition from me by an international travel company. I had booked their Indian brand domain name (.in and have been renewing it for past ten years hoping someday I can sell it to the brand. And finally, just a few months ago, a domain acquistion company approached me for that domain and I closed the deal for a very attractive price( an unbelievable price to me). That was a very intersting experience in my digital life.
13. Everyone knows that a professional blogger can have more time with his or her family as it gives a lot of choice for choosing their working hours. So, can you share more about your family life with us?
I have three children who are going to the school now. My wife used to help me on my blogging in the early stages when I didn’t have a team. Later, when I started the office in Kochi, she played an active role in managing our network of websites. Currently, my wife is managing the finance and accounts of our company SpiderWorks Technologies Pvt Ltd and Digital Skill Master.
14. How do you see yourself five years from now?
In the digital segment, it will be very hard to predict the future. Five years is a long-term pretty long term in the digital industry. I expect to expand our digital marketing business and open offices abroad. We are currently working towards that goal.
15. If someone wants to get in touch with you, what are the best ways?
The best way to reach me is through my Facebook profile. If you are looking for business engagements, you can contact our office at +91 9495559690
Bottom Line
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