The African Blogging Journey is a presentation I gave at the inaugural WordCamp Kenya 2011 where I spoke about my experiences in blogging over 4 years and gave tips on what works and does not work.

1. The
African
Blogging
Journey

2. In
2005…
• I
registered
moseskemibaro.com.
• I
created
a
hos?ng
account.
• I
found
some
basic
HTML
templates
I
could
“redesign”
with
my
content.
• I
put
the
“web
site”
online.
• I
went
“live”.
• No
one
came.
Nothing
happened.
NADA!!

3. This
is
where
I
got
to,
in
2005

4. And
in
2007…

5. Nothing
happened,
un?l
2007
that
is…
• I
fooling
around
on
my
hos?ng
account
and
saw
a
“one-­‐click”
installa?on
for
WordPress.
• I
tried
it.
I
am
not
a
techie.
It
worked.
I
had
a
blog.
IT
WORKED!
J
• But,
I
had
nothing
to
write.
Yet.
• I
did
however
have
some
ar?cles
that
had
been
published.
So
I
re-­‐published
on
my
new
“blog”.
I
was
a
BLOGGER.
!
YAAAAAY!!

6. This
was
my
blog,
version
1.0

7. WordPress
changed
EVERYTHING!
• I
could
update
content
regularly
is
a
user-­‐friendly
manner
without
knowing
HTML,
CSS,
yada
yada…
• I
could
use
themes
and
plugins
to
“redesign”
my
blog
and
extend
func?onality
by
“clicking”
• I
could
manage
my
web
site
without
needing
to
be
a
hardcore
“techie”
or
needing
one
J
• Suddenly,
I
could
self-­‐publish
online
on
my
blog
without
any
hassles
and
it
was
super
easy!

8. Self-­‐hosted
vs
Free
WordPress
Blogs?
• Don’t
skimp
on
your
blog
–
get
your
domain
name
and
a
self-­‐hosted
pla_orm.
• There
are
really
good
free
themes
that
you
can
customize.
That’s
what
I
use.
IT
WORKS!
• Test
themes
and
plugins
before
you
go
live
–
things
can
break
unfortunately…
• If
building
a
commercial
blog
of
some
sort
BUY
Themes
and
plugins
–
get
Pros
involved
in
building
and
managing
the
blog.

9. The
first
six
months.
• Acer
re-­‐publishing
my
ar?cles,
things
went
quiet.
A
saw
a
small
up?ck
in
traffic
though
since
2005.
• I
then
started
wri?ng
on
my
blog
as
a
personal
journal
–
whatever
came
to
mind,
I
blogged
it!
• Formula1,
Rugby,
Technology,
Robert
Mugabe,
Obama,
etc
etc.
• You
name
it?!
I
BLOGGED
IT!
Nuff
Said…

10. Some
early
blog
posts
/1

11. Some
early
blog
posts
/2

12. Some
early
blog
posts
/3

13. Some
early
blog
posts
/4

14. The
next
six
months:
2008
• I
made
a
profound
discovery
about
my
blog
by
looking
at
the
sta?s?cs.
• I
no?ced
that
certain
content
was
driving
traffic
and
some
was
not.
• I
realized,
when
you
blog,
not
all
content
is
trafficked
equally.
• Some
content
is
more
equal
than
others.
• I
found
the
secret
formula.
Its
all
about
CONTENT!

15. What
content
is
popular?
• Funny
enough,
the
content
that
gets
the
most
traffic
for
me
includes:
– Lists
and
rankings.
– Exclusives
(video,
interviews,
etc)
– Stuff
that
is
currently
in
the
news
– Product
and
service
reviews.
– Service
and
product
pricing
– Service
and
product
comparisons.

16. Top
content
on
my
blog.

17. Why
content
maoers.
• Think
of
your
blog
as
a
magazine
or
book.
• Which
books
or
magazines
do
you
like
to
read?
• What
stories
and
genres
are
you
into?
• What
are
you
most
passionate
about?
• Which
topics
and
content
do
you
know
“inside
out”?
• Could
you
do
it
for
FREE
and
s?ll
LOVE
it?

18. STOP
Rambling!
START
Focusing!

19. Epiphany!
(and
other
strange
words)
• I
love
lots
of
things
but
what
I
really
know,
and
know
well
is
technology.
• I
LOVE
reading
and
wri?ng
about
technology.
• I
have
been
working
in
technology
for
15
years
and
started
coding
when
I
was
12
years
old.
• HINT:
Am
I
pain?ng
a
clear
picture
of
what
happened
next?
• BLOG
what
you
LOVE!
LOVE
what
you
BLOG!

20. Its
kind
of
like
this…PASSION!
J

21. Everything
changed.
EVERYTHING!
• I
started
REALLY
enjoying
BLOGGING.
• BLOGGING
got
easier
as
I
FOCUSSED
on
topics
and
content
with
a
technology
bias.
• IT
was
not
easy
to
focus.
It
took
discipline
and
pa?ence.
• My
effort
paid
off.
Traffic
spiked
like
a
hockey
s?ck.
• The
media
started
calling.
I
became
an
EXPERT!
This
was
not
part
of
the
plan…

22. 2009:
Learning
the
Niche
• I
started
to
realize
that
technology
blogging
had
a
gap.
I
could
cover
global
issues
or
focus
on
local
issues
where
I
could
be
more
relevant.
• NICHE
is
everything
in
blogging.
I
decided
to
focus
content
“sharper”
on:
– TECHNOLOGY
(Topic)
– KENYA
(Geography)
– PEOPLE
(Technophiles,
like
ME)

23. Niche
blog
posts
/1

24. Niche
blog
posts
/2

25. Niche
blog
posts
/3

26. Outcomes
of
a
Niche
TechBlog.
• Ini?ally
a
drop
in
traffic
and
less
people.
• However,
beoer
focus
meant
more
loyal
readers,
more
comments
and
eventually
more
people.
• My
blog
slowly
became
the
“go
to”
place
for
all
things
“tech”
in
Kenya.
• All
of
a
sudden,
my
blog
became
bigger
than
me.
I
was
expected
to
“publish”
regularly
like
a
newspaper.
Be
careful
what
you
wish
for!

27. WordPress
Stats
/1

28. WordPress
Stats
/2

29. AfriGator
Stats
/1

30. AfriGator
Stats
/2

31. Alexa
Stats:
122
rank
in
Kenya

32. “Safaricom
Kenya”

33. “Yu
Kenya”

34. “Airtel
Kenya”

35. “Orange
Kenya”

36. “iPhone
Kenya”

37. “Mobile
Web
Kenya”

38. Find
your
OWN
voice.
• When
blogging,
think
of
the
way
you
speak
or
talk
to
a
friend.
Keep
it
PERSONAL!
• Imita?on
is
good
when
you
start
but
in
?me
develop
your
own
wri?ng
SYTLE
as
this
will
resonate
with
your
audience.
• Do
not
SELL
OUT.
Write
authen?cally
and
say
it
as
it
is
–
this
will
make
your
blog
stand
out
from
the
cluoer
online
–
there's
lots
of
it
BTW

39. Passion
is
key!
Trust
me
on
this
one!
• Blogging
is
not
for
everyone.
You
need
to
be
really
really
KEEN
and
PASSIONATE
about
what
you
write
about.
• Burnout
is
possible
but
there
is
always
something
around
you
to
blog
about.
• Being
consistent
and
regular
keeps
a
regular
audience
“checked-­‐in”
to
your
blog.
• Breaking
news
can
become…ADDICTIVE!

40. Nakumao
Fire:
2009

41. Makmende
goes
viral:
2010

42. Makmende
on
Google

43. More
Makmende
on
Mishale
(Archer)

44. Makmende
goes
GLOBAL!

45. Makmende
“breaks
into”
CNN!

46. Bloggers
Gold:
Making
money
online
• Started
using
Google
AdSense
in
2010.
US$
500
to-­‐date.
• Realized
quickly
that
there
is
no
way
I
could
live
off
my
blog
if
I
ever
considered
AdSense
–
I
would
need
to
create
my
own
products
&
services
to
sell
or
go
Affiliate
marke?ng
(This
is
s?ll
Work-­‐In-­‐Progress
but
we
are
geung
there).
• Did
I
men?on
I
s?ll
have
a
day
job?
J

47. Google
AdSense
Revenue

48. My
blogging
makes
money
“offline”
• How?
I
get
invited
to
conferences
globally
to
make
presenta?ons
for
a
hecy
fee.
• I
consult
independently
for
businesses
that
want
to
leverage
digital
media
strategically.
• I
write
ar?cles
for
mainstream
media
who
pay
me
for
my
“expert”
insights
based
on
my
niche.
• I
find
myself
turning
away
money!
(too
busy)

49. PERKS
of
blogging
to-­‐date.
• Lots
of
interna?onal
travel.
• Front
seat
invita?ons
to
media
events
and
“exclusives”
ahead
of
mainstream
media.
• Lots
of
free
“goodies”
like
phones
every
month
and
free
Internet
access
(SERIOUSLY!).
• Global
(&
local)
recogni?on
as
the
“go
to
guy”
• You
can
become
a
ROCKSTAR!
through
blogging.
Not
always
that
cool….

50. Things
go
wrong
when
you
blog
• My
blog
got
hacked
in
2009
when
I
did
not
update
my
WordPress
version.
Quite
silly
and
avoidable.
• My
blog
“broke
down”
earlier
this
year
when
I
upgraded
but
did
not
confirm
first
if
my
host
supported
version
3.0.
2
days
offline
and
a
real
techie
needed
to
fix
things
-­‐
s?ll
reeling!
• Some?mes,
blogging
makes
you
TOO
visible.

51. Good
things
happen
when
you
blog!
• You
“jump
the
queue”
when
it
comes
to
business
and
social
engagements.
• Job
interviews
become
a
formality
since
employers
already
know
who
you
are,
what
you
do,
and
why
they
want
you.
• You
stand
out
from
the
crowd
and
this
has
many
many
dividends
when
everyone
now
has
an
MBA.
Nuff
said!

52. Diversify
your
content.
• Wri?ng
all
the
?me
on
your
blog
can
get
hard
and
downright
boring.
• By
diversifying
your
content
to
audio,
video
and
photos,
you
enhance
your
content
and
your
audience
appreciate
it.
• Diversifying
content
also
can
be
less
work
–
people
love
video
and
audio
content
as
its
easy
to
access
and
a
no-­‐brainer.

53. KTN
Interview:
2009

54. NTV
Interview:
2011

55. Pivot
25:
2011

56. Integrate
social
media
to
your
blog
• I
have
integrated
social
media
to
my
blog
using
plugins
and
feeds.
• The
effect
is
that
I
“one-­‐click”
publish
and
all
my
social
media
profiles
get
my
content.
• I
get
more
traffic
from
social
media
than
from
Google.
This
is
HUGE.
• It
also
means
I
effec?vely
control
and
grow
my
reach
without
using
expensive
digital
marke?ng.

57. LinkedIn

58. Facebook
(Personal)

59. Facebook
(Fan
Page)

60. Twioer

61. The
Blog

62. Ensure
your
blog
is
MOBILE!

63. What
sort
of
mobile
traffic
do
you
get?

64. Mobile
traffic
graphs.

65. Blog
Traffic:
Highlights

66. Blog
Traffic:
Regions

67. Blog
Traffic:
UVs
and
PVs

68. Blog
Traffic:
Bit.ly
for
social
media

69. My
never-­‐ending
blogging
journey.
• Content
makes
all
the
difference.
• Passion
keeps
you
going.
• Mix-­‐it-­‐up
to
keep
it
fun
and
compelling
for
your
audiences.
• Be
authen?c
in
your
own
voice
and
tone.
• Always
be
regular
and
consistent.
• Blogging
has
explicit
and
implicit
benefits.
• BLOG
what
you
love.
LOVE
what
you
blog!

70. Drop
me
a
line.
Cheers!
J
t:
@moseskemibaro
b:
moseskemibaro.com
e:
moses
(at)
moseskemibaro.com