“Do it if you enjoy it, but don’t feel bad if nobody notices it at first. If its good stuff, people will come. Google ensures that.”

-Saad Akhtar

“Flyyoufools” is started by Saad Akhtar in May 2008; the blog mainly focuses on observational comedy, webcomic; through this blog Saad tries to show us the comic side of the small incident which occurs in day to day life.

Saad Akhtar says “What motivated me to start a webcomic? Mainly the fact that “text blogging” takes too long to write, too long to read and there are too many grammar mistakes.  My webcomic takes on the small irritations and weirdness you face when you’re living in India. Things like incompetent security checks at malls, useless marketing calls on phones, strange advertising and of course, TV serials. “

In an interview with WebNeeTech, our first webcomic blogger Saad Akhtar shared his journey as a blogger and a word of advice for the new bloggers or who are thinking to start a new blog.

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Blogger’s Detail:

Blogger’s Name: Saad Akhtar

Age: 30

Blog name and URL: “Fly, You Fools! An Indian webcomic about life, and its irritations” www.flyyoufools.com

Blog Focus Area, domain: Observational comedy, Webcomic

Blog launched on: May 2008

Monthly visits (page views, ) on website :About 30,000

Do you have team of bloggers? No

Interest / Activities: Photography, History, Internet Craziness

Located at: Delhi

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Interview ( Q & A Round):

Q. What motivated you to start blogging (webcomic)?

What motivated me to start a webcomic? Mainly the fact that “text blogging” takes too long to write, too long to read and there are too many grammar mistakes.  Webcomics are easier to read, (hopefully) funny and gets shared easily; although they generally need a little more effort to make.

Q. Tell us in detail about your blog, your idea and how it can benefit others?

My webcomic takes on the small irritations and weirdness you face when you’re living in India. Things like incompetent security checks at malls, useless marketing calls on phones, strange advertising and of course, TV serials.

No doubt, the whole site is a rant. Just like 90% of the blogs out there. But visuals really help put the idea across. I can put up 2 pages on how much irritating the loud alarm on your UPS is, but no one wants to put that much effort to read. But a 10 panel comic on that is cool, and not much time is invested in reading other people’s winnings.

And that’s how visuals help. Experience bloggers know having a few photos around your “walls of text” help break the monotony. If you want fast communication, use a visual.

Q. What area or topic you generally cover in your blog, any special reason behind it?

I experimented with different topics, and the ones people started liking were mainly small, petty irritations. So I started focusing more on that. And yes, bad language. Now if I tone down the curses, people mail in complaining.

I might also add that I (and most of my readers) are really sick of the so-called comedy on TV. Where is the Indian South Park? The Indian Monty Python?? Why do people even laugh at things that Archana Puran Singh finds so funny?

Q. Which blogging platform you are using (wordpress, blogspot, bloggers etc), any reason about it?

I use wordpress. It provides a lot of flexibility and the sheer amount of people developing plugins/themes ensures whatever feature you want in your blog, is available.

Q. How frequent you update your blog? How many post your blog is carrying at present?

Right now there are around 90 comics. I try to update about 3-4 times a month. I say I try, because 3-4 times a month I feel guilty about not updating, and the emails from readers start piling up. So now I put maybe 2 comics a month. But I DO feel guilty about it more often, so it’s OK I guess…

Q. What tools you use to increase your blog readership and bring people on your blog? Do you use social networking sites?

I give readers a html code they can use to embed my comics on their site/blog. The images are hosted on my site, so it’s really easy. I have bookmarks to quickly share comics on Facebook/Twitter etc.

Social networking sites/tools bring in a lot of traffic. Specially Twitter. The speed at which something gets popular on twitter is fantastic. Lately Facebook has become a spam magnet filled with some really freaky quiz contests. 

Q. Any specific tips you have for new bloggers who want to make it in the blogsphere?
I read this somewhere and feel it’s true: “The world does not owe you an audience”. Do it if you enjoy it, but don’t feel bad if nobody notices it at first. If its good stuff, people will come. Google ensures that.

Also, try to be yourself on your site. If you are faking it, people will know you are faking it. If you are being yourself, you will find an audience of people who think like you. There are a billion people on the Internet, and they’ll find you.

Also read up a bit on search engine optimization, and get a Google analytics to monitor your traffic. But again, don’t go overboard with your obsession on ranking. Take it easy for a year or two (YES, a year or two). You will not make a million dollars the moment you book your domain.

Q. Do you earn revenue through your blog? If yes, then how a blogger should monetize his / her blog? If no, then any plans in future?

Yes, I have some Google ads on my site, and they bring revenue. But no, I’m not making a living out of my site nor do I plan to (or have the ability, I might add).

I don’t think ads alone can support a blogger professionally. If you have a niche domain, explore direct advertising by companies who are interested in talking to your audience (like if you have a photography blog, camera companies would be interested in sponsoring you). Obviously this all depends on how popular your site is, how good your content is etc. It takes years to build a base like this. Another method getting popular is having a job board on your site. Again, both methods need credibility and a large (but focused) audience.

First focus on getting that. Money will (OK, may) follow.

Q. What are your other favorite blogs which you follow, can you list the top 5 such blogs?

I follow a lot of webcomics. XKCD, Cyanide & Happiness, Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal are all great webcomics. Also a few Indian sites that are really cool are fakingnews.com, brainstuck.com and a whole lot of funny blogs. Too many to list here.

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