This is the new edition of powerful, successful and inspirational interviews in the series of Journey of a Professional Blogger, interviews on EASKME.com.
Today we are going to publish interview with a professional Blogger, Interview with Raelyn Tan,
Other people are reading :Interview With Eric Brantner : Journey of a Professional Blogger
Q : Please share about yourself and your story to enter in blogging?Ans : I launched my personal blog & brand, raelyntan.com, to help online entrepreneurs grow their blog audience, build a freedom business and travel the world.
Before this, I spent 10 years blogging before doing digital marketing in the corporate world. One day I decided, why don't I post a couple of blogging & marketing strategies that I like on the web? And it took off from there. After awhile, I decided to launch my business doing exactly what I love.
I know what it's like to struggle and struggle and still not achieve your dream business, and having been through that, I want to help others achieve their freedom business in the smartest way. I enjoyed my work, and liked my boss colleagues, but did not really like the long working hours. I realized that I could pursue my passion online as well. I prefer to call my own shots and be my own boss through entities that I own - like blogging!
I'm also a Christian, and I hope to use my influence online to spread God's message out from a place of love. I also want to help people grow to their largest potential and get paid for what they love.
Q. How the idea to make your own blog came in your mind? How you found the right people to develop it and what big obstacles you faced?
Ans. Digital marketing is my passion, so the idea to make a blog around that topic came as a natural extension to my academic and corporate experiences.
My biggest obstacle was feeling like I was all alone.
I barely had anyone to talk to, and the few friends who understood what I was doing? They only existed behind my computer screen. I made efforts to connect with other bloggers, but it is always better to have real life friends to talk about all things business with.
My parents and friends did not know what I was doing at all, and wanted me to get a "real job". It was difficult to explain what I was doing to them.
For this reason, blogging requires passion, discipline and time management. Getting an accountability partner and mastermind group will always help, of course!
Another obstacle was building a brand that was 100% authentically me. I think it boils down to confidence - the more confident you are in the value you provide to the world, the brighter your gifts will shine.
Tactically, I zoned in on my gifts, my messaging, and what I could do differently from everyone else in the same industry.
Q. Can blogging really change someone`s life?
Ans: Yes, blogging can really change someone's life.
As a blogging and digital marketing strategist, I've seen firsthand how blogging can give a person so much freedom and choice into his/her life, to do work that they are passionate about while being location independent.
I've seen this happen enough times in my community and people in my mastermind groups to really believe in the power of growing an audience online.
While it may be difficult, especially at the start, the payoffs for the rest of your life will well be worth it. I would encourage all aspiring entrepreneurs to keep pressing on!
Q. What are your favorite Internet marketing tools?
Ans: 1) Evernote: I use this to organize my life.
Evernote allows me to save copies of my competitor's sales pages and website copy. I brainstorm blogpost ideas with Evernote. I journal with Evernote. When someone says something relevant to my business on Facebook, I place it in Evernote. The list is endless!
2) Convertkit: Excellent email service provider that allows me to segment users and serve them emails according to their behaviour. It has a very user-intuitive interface, and is priced very reasonably.
3) Tailwind: I use Tailwind to schedule my pins on Pinterest, and it saves me so much time. It appears that I'm online all the time pinning stuff, but that's not true! As a result, my Pinterest followers have grown exponentially since I used Tailwind. I actually have a post all about my favourite tools which has been shared over 3k times on Pinterest: 101 best blogging tools & resources. (raelyntan.com/best-blogging-tools-resources/)
Also See : Online Video "Must" For Mobile Marketing Q. What is your daily schedule? And how do you maintain your tasks?Ans: Everyday is different for me - so it is hard to answer this question. However, some of the tasks I would normally do would include: Content creation for my blog, interacting with my community in my Facebook groups, creating and launching digital products for my readers, administrative stuff and maintaining my website.
To maintain my productivity I plan out each week before it starts.
Q Blogging have different definition for different person. What is it for you?
Ans : Blogging is a platform for me to give value to the world. I use blogging as a way to get my name and work out there into the world, to impact the lives of other people meaningfully and to help others live to their greatest potential.
While I mostly blog informational, value-laden how-to posts to my audience, I try to add a more personal touch to my articles too.
Sometimes blogging is an avenue for me to express my thoughts and opinions about certain issues which I feel strongly about. At other times, I use my blog as a platform to inspire others and to encourage them to keep pressing on with their dreams.
Q. Which are your favorite blogs?
Ans: I don't have many favourite blogs, but I'll share about a blogger I really respect!
I value transparency and honesty a lot, so Pat Flynn from smartpassiveincome definitely is my favourite.
It is difficult to showcase your success without being seen as an arrogant person online, but Pat does it in a way that makes you feel inspired rather than annoyed through his transparent income reports.
Pat's brand is based around a topic as dubious sounding as passive income (some people will associate his website with a get rich quick scheme), but he still manages to create a trustworthy brand.
I find that Pat does an excellent job in delivering massive value too!
Q. How much time do you spend on social media promotion and SEO of your blog?
Ans. Not a lot - I schedule my social media posts in advance, and for Pinterest, I use Tailwind to schedule my pins. This allows me to match my content and manage my social media accounts efficiently.
For SEO, a lot of work goes into creating good articles for my blog so that people will be more likely to link to it. Aside from that, I do spend time on SEO occassionally - around a few hours a week.
Q. How much time do you spend for blogging daily?
Ans. It really depends on what I have to do - sometimes I spend the entire day, sometimes I don't blog at all. During launch period, it gets more hectic and I spend significantly more time. I am a workaholic - so it is normal for me to just sit by my computer for the entire day.
However, I prioritize. Church and cell group are non-negotiables for me, so is family time. I fit my business around my life, not the other way around, and that helps to put things into perspective.
Q. Message for Readers?
Ans. Write about something you are passionate about. Blog about something that excited your soul.
Otherwise, you will burn out after a few years and start feeling miserable in your business.
I've seen countless people want to blog about blogging simply because they feel it's more profitable - that will not work out for you unless you have a genuine passion! There is room in every industry to make money.
Can you imagine starting from scratch and deleting your email list, or ignoring your community because you just aren't interested in your business anymore?
Start with something you're passionate about, and build a business around it. Not the other way round.
Q. What do you like about eAskme and how it can be more helpful for readers?
Ans. I like the wide variety of articles that's available as well as this series aboutblogging interviews as it will help to inspire others to start blogging as well. I don't really have anything to input about any areas of improvement, thank you for the hard work that you're putting in to create all these value for your readers! It is really much appreciated.
Also See : My Journey
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