GIAN CARLO AND THE CORE OF SUCCESSFUL BLOGGING

LAST AUGUST 19, 2017, I WENT to Books & Brews Cafe in Mango Plaza, Juana Osmeña Street, Cebu City, to watch and listen to Gian Carlo Jubela talk about THE CORE OF A SUCCESSFUL BLOGGER. Gian Carlo is the other half of Adrenaline Romance, an adventure blog. He documents his adventures together with Shiela Mei, be they are scuba diving, rock climbing, canyoning, hiking, kayaking, caving or chasing waterfalls.

The talk started at 13:00 and there were seventeen of us inside a room designed to accommodate eleven people. Although the theme of the talk is designed for people who are still new into blogging or wanted to start a blog, there were also long-time bloggers and media professionals attending Gian Carlo’s event. I, for one, owned a 10-year old blog and my attendance was really meant to learn something that might improve Warrior Pilgrimage.

Gian Carlo started the history of the blogging industry and then the dilemmas of blogging. When I started blogging in 2007, the Internet was overly saturated with all kinds of blogs. For example, you Google “travel” and you are directed to a long list of websites. The list is so long that it can fill up more than a thousand pages! When I started to blog, it was for that wonderful passion of writing and improving your style. Until now.

 

Lamentably, many blogs are obsessed with their earnings or engrossed in capturing many followers and a lot of blogs that were created recently were really meant for these two, sometimes their owners or administrators over exaggerate their stats just to be seen at the top of the apex or taking advantage of a trend. The passion is not there anymore. When social media became popular, microblogging and vlogging took away the attention from real blogs.

Another dilemma faced by bloggers is that business and governments utilized blogs to advance their policies and gave bloggers that bad reputation which is now happening today. These establishments have a different understanding about exaggerated figures set forth by bloggers and choose the wrong ones. Adding the last quandary is the entry of foreign bloggers who blog about our country and snare readership attention to the detriment of local ones.

Facing those obstacles, a new blogger then has a lot of work cut out for him or her. If you go with the flow, which I did for a time, you will be alright but you will be buried in obscurity. Gian Carlo identified the challenges that a blogger would face in the face of readership competition and one of these is figuring out the purpose why you blog. Is it for passion, is it for fame or is it to profit? Is it personal or is it for a client, a product or for an advocacy?

If you want to stand out from the rest, you should find a niche that you are good at or add another one. The rare the better. When I added “bushcraft” and “survival” on mine, visits have increased tremendously, mostly of foreign origin. Slowly, a local following developed when people found out that I have a constant and quality content, which Gian Carlo emphasized to the audience that they should. Mine has, at least, one article a week.

When you have increasing traffic and following, you need to find more time with your blog. Aside from maintaining your production, you should encourage yourself engaging with readers and vice versa in a professional and respectful manner as possible. Another challenge which stunt the growth of a blog is when you compare yours with others. Loss of motivation would make the blog unimportant and die a natural death.

How do you know you have attained success in blogging? Gian Carlo reveals the indicators why Adrenaline Romance is on that pinnacle. You will gain loyal readers, followers and repeat traffic. Your blog impacted and influenced the lives and choices of readers as well as business and companies you promoted. Conversion ratio is above average. You are invited to grace occasions and events from relevant parties. You have prestige.

When I used to have a widget where I can monitor traffic, I would say I have may own set of special followers. My writing style converted many to my lifestyle and opened a portal by which others could harness their selves to something greater than what they are presently doing. My endorsement and reviews of products and brands guide people to their sources and indirectly contributed to the economy. Invitations to grace events and seminars are normal and are part and parcel of owning Warrior Pilgrimage.

One day you will be a successful blogger like Gian Carlo. You would have to understand and be guided by a set of parameters. Not everyone could write good and blog. Only a few could sustain the existence of their blog for two years and then they disappear. Fewer still could reach five years. Adrenaline Romance had been in the outdoor blogging scene that long. He earns, not much, he says, but that is not important.

 

When you blog, you are exposing yourself to the public at large. You should have a good command of English grammar, syntax and all. You should also know when to use certain words and phrases and then tell a very simple tale which everyone could understand but which could generate juices of creativity and imagination to a reader.

Gian Carlo reads and writes everyday and could find time to write even after a hard day of travel, a workout in a gym or even chasing deadlines given by his boss. The greatest challenge for him is to learn another writing style. Experiment with writing styles, adapt and change, else you become predictable. 

When you choose a niche, you should be good at it or, on a lesser scale, be familiar with it. Walk the talk. You should know the jargon, the technicalities and the exigencies if you happen to have “culinary art” as your niche. To make you credible, you should invest in equipment or hire someone to assist you. Time goes by and you will become the authority of your field of expertise.

Why do you blog? For what purpose? Everybody are doing that. Do you need to go with the flow or swim against the current? Find something different in every situation? If you are a food blogger but somebody wants you to to write a content about underwear. Be creative if you can. Go around it or just say NO. Opportunities come and do not waste your day crying on it.

Choose a good schedule to publish contents and stick to it because you will be expected. You should sustain a production of, at least, two articles a month. Gian Carlo is so kind. In the old days, bloggers exchange links but, nowadays, we use social media and forums to establish links and mirrors to maximize our availability to more audience.

Be prepared. Develop a “Plan B” when you find yourself in a place which has no Internet or in the middle of a power outage. Gian Carlo has an assistant to do that function when he and Shiela Mei are on vacation. As much as possible, read and answer questions and comments.

Do not be affected by criticisms. To stay long in the business, do not compare yourself with others. Of course, there are better blogs than yours and there are lesser blogs also than yours. Do not get sidetracked by the success of others. Identify the obstacles why blogging becomes difficult for you. Do not be afraid to ask help from other bloggers. We are a community and we help each other out. We want you to fit yourself comfortably in the Internet.

 

You know why Warrior Pilgrimage stayed that long? I am on a free platform. I have not acquired a domain name. I am here to tell a story not to earn money directly. I am not obsessed. Warrior Pilgrimage is a product of passion. So is Adrenaline Romance. We gave it for free. Time, talent, skill and money. You could add mileage to that. I learned many things today. It was like I am blogging again, this time with a coach.

It is good to learn the basics once again. Gian Carlo left no stone unturned. Although I learned these things on my own, I could not connect how I did it. Gian Carlo talked about it seamlessly and I smiled inside, feeling the satisfaction of my work on my blog. Sitting there for two hours made me wiser. I see many opportunities for me as well as competition. But I have an edge. I have Warrior Pilgrimage. 

Photo by Russel Padriga

Document done in LibreOffice 5.2 Writer