“Do not try to write something just for the sake of attracting eye balls. Once credibility is lost on the internet, you will never regain it.”

-Murali M

Webneetech.com interviewed Murali M, founder of “Thought Garage”, the blog post are mainly on software, startups, India and also on some personal stuff; we found no better words than his own in describing his journey as a blogger.

Murali, a Software Developer says “At that time (2003/2004), there was not much talked about India in the blogsphere. In fact blogs were pretty new to many. So I started a blog initially on Blogger to share good news about India and my aspirations as an Indian. My blog is all about “Ideas” and “Thoughts” around India, Software, Startups and in general a perspective of the world as seen by me.”

Murali started his own blog Thought Garage in August 2004, till now his blog have 923 posts with about 11321 comments on his credit with 26000 page views a month on his blog.

In interview with webneetech.com, Murali shares his journey as a blogger and 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: Murali M

Age: 34

Occupation / Profession: Software Developer

Blog name and URL: Thought Garage (http://blogs.inspions.net)

Blog Focus Area, domain: Software, Startups, India, Personal

Blog launched on: Aug 2004

Monthly visits (page views) on website: About 26000 page views/month

Do you have team of bloggers? No (This is my personal blog)

Contact Details:

Twitter Id: ThoughtGarage

Facebook Id: MuraliMK

Email ID: iMuraliMK@gmail.com

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Interview (Q&A Round):

Q. What motivated you to start blogging?

At that time (2003/2004), there was not much talked about India in the blogosphere. In fact blogs were pretty new to many. So I started a blog initially on Blogger to share good news about India and my aspirations as an Indian.

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

My blog is all about “Ideas” and “Thoughts” around India, Software, Startups and in general a perspective of the world as seen by me. The first paragraph on my about page says it pretty much about it: “So many thoughts and ideas. ‘Thought Garage’ happen to keep track of some of those seemingly ramblings and dabblings, but otherwise quite invaluable insights. Mostly, I scribble about software, India, Technology, politics and some notes about Entrepreneurship. Some times, a little bit about how the world could be a better place if it ever listens to what I say.”

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

Topics that were most linked or discussed on my blog include strategies for startups, Immigration (specifically about H1B Visas) and Politics in Andhra Pradesh. I have always wanted to become an entrepreneur so it goes without saying my interest in learning, discussing and sharing about startups. I was pretty vocal in my views about Proto.in when it was first launched and that brought a lot of heated discussions on the blog.

I have lots of expectations on how Politics should be in India and particularly in Andhra Pradesh. My venture to bring a significant change from ground up called “Yes To Politics (http://andhra.yestopolitics.com)” has been started last year and has been a stunning success. We have removed most of the content in the process of re-launching the site with a different perspective in the next few months. So, politics is the next best thing I express my views on.

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

I started off with Blogger (blogspot) but then I quickly moved self-hosted Wordpress. I love wordpress for its power and extensibility. One best feature I would like to share is the installation/upgrade with a click of a button.

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

I update my blog roughly about twice a week. The blog has 923 posts with about 11321 comments. Attracts around 26000 page views a month.

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

This is my personal blog and I never tried/intend to promote my blog with a specific strategy to increase my readership. All my regular readers stumbled upon my site or referred by friends and most of them keep in touch. I do share my blog link in various social networks but never explicitly referred to it in order to promote. And I do respond to interviews like this one.

Q. Any specific tips you have for new bloggers who want to make it in the blogsphere?

Be yourself to express your views. And be willing to accept and understand different perspectives of others, though you may not be able to agree to all. And do not try to write something just for the sake of attracting eye balls. Once credibility is lost on the internet, you will never regain it.

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?

I use Google Ad Sense to place advertisements on my blog. Whether to monetize your blog or not is a very personal decision. If you ever want to monetize Google Ad Sense is a great starting point. Try as much as possible not to distract content with Ads (never put ads in between the content)

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

I follow quite a few blogs on a regular basis. “Signal vs Noise” by 37Signals is my best favorite blogs. “Creating Passionate Users” By Kathy Sierra is my other favorite.  I will share all my blog roll (about 45 blogs) on my blog in the next few days so your readers can import they want to.

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