Metro

Saturday August 4, 2012

Inaugural Blogopolis a success

By CHOONG MEK ZHIN
mekzhin@thestar.com.my


BLOGGING in today’s world has evolved into something more than just a medium of self expression and many look at it as a way to earn extra income if not a career choice as evidenced by the encouraging attendance at the recent Nuffnang Blogopolis event.

Eager participants such as Aimie Harmelia Mohd Hashumi, who blogs at jejariruncing.blogspot.com, said despite having been a blogger for almost four years, she still had much to learn as she discovered at the event.

“It is good to hear opinions from these experienced bloggers. I only recently completed my diploma studies and am now 50/50 about finding a job or going into this full time,” she said, adding that she was interested in learning about blog design.

The 23-year-old said sometimes the monthly earnings from her blog could exceed that of a person who had just started work and she has plenty of fun writing.

New frontier: (From left) Bloggers Ken Wooi, Lim Chee Wah and KY presenting the first master class on idea sourcing and content generation at the Nuffnang Blogopolis 2012. New frontier: (From left) Bloggers Ken Wooi, Lim Chee Wah and KY presenting the first master class on idea sourcing and content generation at the Nuffnang Blogopolis 2012.

“I have always loved typing so it is great that I can generate income doing what I like. But as my mother says, is it not a stable job and she worries about my future,” Aimie said, adding that she could earn anything between RM500 and RM2,500 through blogging.

She was one of the dozens of local bloggers who turned up at the first-time event held for the entire day at the Concorde Hotel Kuala Lumpur.

Prominent bloggers, including Singapore’s Xiaxue, winner of last year’s Nuffnang Asia-Pacific’s Most Influential and Region’s Best blog awards, came to impart advice and give tips in nine master classes featuring subjects from idea sourcing to leveraging on other self expression platforms.

Nuffnang Malaysia country manager Nicholas Chay said success as a blogger was ultimately up to the writer themselves.

“To me, if the blogger is happy doing it, then it is considered successful,” he said, adding that the most popular local blogs could generate as many as a few thousand hits daily.

According to their database, the most popular blogs are mainly focused on entertainment and celebrity gossip followed by travel and lifestyle.

“With today’s advancement in technology and the introduction of various self expression platforms, I see blog content becoming better. People leave their rants on Facebook or Twitter but blogs are where they take their time to craft proper posts that inspire,” he said.

Nuffnang co-founder Timothy Tiah believes that the future of blogging lies in the mobile space, considering how many people these days use smartphones or tablets to go online.

He added that the first Blogopolis was held in Melbourne, Australia due to popular demand.

One of the speakers of the day, Ahmad Nazuwan Amran, 29, who is better known as Abang Nara from his blog Beautifulnara, said that the most crucial period for a newbie blogger was the first six months.

“Blogging is not for everyone really. I usually recommend posting an update every three days. If you find it hard to constantly update your blog in the first six months, then blogging might not really be what you want to do,” he said.

He said that bloggers could earn a lot, up to thousands of ringgit, particularly through advertorials.

“I believe the style of writing is what pulls a reader in. Exclusive stories are also great,” he said, adding that he had quit his accountant job to go into blogging full time a few months back.

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