I Dreamed A Blog Nobody Wants To Read And It Became A Huge Success

It was against every belief I had about a successful blog

Photo by Designecologist from Pexels

You press the publish button on what you think would be interesting for others. You sit. You wait. You tap your fingers in anticipation. All you hear is crickets.

Sometimes, you do the exact opposite and it goes viral. That’s my recent story.

First my belief system.

I broke my Mom’s only request when I started to blog

The month was August, the year 2014. I saw a small icon show up on my LinkedIn profile. It was an icon for a pen — an icon that gave me the gateway to pepper the digital space. When I decided to take the plunge, I shared with my mother that I plan to blog.

She gave it a quick thought and said, “Son, one advice — don’t advise.” The assuredness of her voice on the phone threw me out of balance.

I asked her, “Can you elaborate more?” She added with a smile, “No matter which part of the world and irrespective of language, when given a pen and paper, people have a proclivity to become authority figures on do this and don’t do this.” She added, “Just share your experiences, trigger the reader’s curiosity and let the audience draw their own conclusions, respect them as individuals and they will in turn respect you.”

Her advice made me think. How much do I remember from instructional classroom work vs. the stories outside of it? The childhood shenanigans and bonding with friends and family seem to be the memories without expiry date. On the other hand, concepts taught came a distant second. Reflecting on my own experience reference points, I saw myself nodding in agreement with her advice. Many of us think, few do. On this activity, I decided to act. The best way to describe it is through William Wordsworth’s words — “Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.”

I broke all the 5 rules I believe about a good blog

1. Story unites us all: “If you shipwrecked on a deserted island and discovered an indigenous people group who had never known anything but the island, you would find three things in common with the rest…