Sui Generis

Merry Christmas

Dec 25, 2008 Announcements, Personal, blogging

Thanks for visiting! Hope you find what you're looking for. And if you like what you see you may want to subscribe to by RSS, or by Email so that you get notified when I return. And if there's anything else I can do for you, feel free to drop me a line. I'd love to hear from you

I know I haven’t been around for a while. And I’m sorry for that, really. I’m really sorry I’ve been very on-and-off for months. And yeah, I just thought I should take some time off to just really sort out everything that’s on my mind and all.

But yeah, just wanted to wish you guys a Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays. =).

I was already sort of planning on doing this (and I have already been quiet here for a while), but since Richard Millington blogged about “shutting your community down“, I figured I might as well come by and announce it.

So don’t worry, I’m still alive. And you can still contact me if you want to – I’ll still be glad to hear from and talk to you guys. I’ll be back, probably on January 1, 2009 – and hopefully better than ever.

Tags: blogging, break, Holidays, Merry Christmas

Liveblog: Podcamp Singapore, Part 2

Nov 1, 2008 People, blogging

The second session I’ll be live blogging is Amsie from http://curiousfoodie.wordpress.com. She’ll be sharing her story and her blogging journey. I’m starting a bit late, so the first 10 minutes aren’t covered. But yeah, here’s the liveblog and my thoughts.

Tags: blogging, curiousfoodie, journey, Personal, podcamp signapore, podcampsignapore

Liveblog: Podcamp Singapore, Part 1

Nov 1, 2008 blogging

I’ll be live blogging my thoughts on Coleman Yee’s session here. It’s about choosing the right medium for your content – blogging, audio or video. It’s my first live blog, though, so the notes will probably be a bit disconnected and all, but yeah. Hope it provides value for you guys.

Tags: blogging, live blog, medium, podcamp singapore, podcampsingapore, podcasting, youtube

It’s not all about the money

May 26, 2008 blogging

Picture via About a week ago, Digital Life (the tech-focused section of the most widely-read newspaper here in Singapore) had an article about blogging. The online version is only available to paid subscribers, I think, but it basically asked the question of whether people are earning money from their blogs – and as such, whether blogging was worth it.

Reading it kind of got on my nerves. The shortsightedness of it reflects part of why blogging hasn’t picked up in Singapore.

Blogging shouldn’t be about how much you can earn. Some of the best bloggers I know – Chris Brogan, Dan Schawbel, Robert Hruzek (among others mentioned on my recommendations page) – bloggers who provide amazing content consistently, don’t run ads on their blogs, and as such, I don’t think they make an direct income from their blog.

There’s nothing wrong with putting ads on your blog in the hope of earning from your content. But that shouldn’t be the focuus of it. You shouldn’t be blogging to earn money. That isn’t the point of it. The point of it is to let yoru voice be heard.

And the benefits go far further than direct income. The benefits are how it builds your personal brand, the number of relationships you can build, etc. It’s not about how much you make from it. If anything, the money comes indirectly from building your personal brand.

If you’re starting out just because you want to earn money online, it’s not going to work. Blogging should not all about the money.

Picture by monkeyc

Tags: blogging, earning, money, personal brand, singapore

Who are you writing for?

Apr 4, 2008 Personal

Seth Godin recently asked that question.

Are you writing for the first time visitor? Or for the one who has been following you since the start?

I’d like to throw in a third part. Or are you writing for yourself?

That third question is the one I’m struggling with a bit lately. Where do you draw the line between being expressing your thoughts about what matters to you and writing about what people are interested in?

If you go too far to the former, you run the risk of being insignificant – speaking with nobody listening. And that’s not what I want this blog to be about. I don’t want it to be a ghost town, or just me ranting to nobody. I hope to be able to be part of a community, and make an impact on people.

But on the other hand, if I drift too far to the latter, is it compromising on authenticity and who I am?

And that’s not even going into the tone and style of writing.

Honestly, it’s something I’m still trying to figure out. It’s a tough balance, in my opinion, and I’m not sure. Any suggestions?

Tags: audience, authenticity, blogging, community, seth godin, writing