How Long Have I Been Blogging?
Visited 1455 Times Published by Rico May 23rd, 2007 in Blogging, How and Rico's Ramblings.
One Year of Blogging
Last May 22, 2006, I wrote my first blog post. Which means I’ve been blogging for just over a year now! So much has happened over the past year, and it still amazes me when I look back. It all started when I signed up for Blogger and moved to Wordpress a few days later. That was just the beginning.
July 14: The Smart PDA was officially launched. My first problogging gig continues to be enjoyable, because I get to indulge my inner geek by writing about smartphones and PDAs on a daily basis.
August 12: I became an official SOB. This was my first “official” validation of my blogging career. That same day, my guest article on Technosailor went online, where I wrote about feed advertising before it became mainstream.
August 13: I moved to my own domain, saying goodbye to fool45.wordpress.com and hello to fool45.com. There are many advantages to blogging on your own domain, all that have something to do with having greater control over everything. Such as getting to try out the latest and greatest plugins.
November 29: Contract Worker officially launched. It’s great that my second problogging job allows me to share the insights behind the freelancing experiences of others and myself.
January 7, 2007: Manila Bulletin’s Blog-O-Rama featured Fool for Five. I got to share some of my blogging principles and a little about my inspiration behind this blog.
January 31: The Bayanihan Blog Network went online. Thus began my dream to showcase the Filipino voice to the rest of the world.
Learning Things the Hard Way
What a ride! It’s a good thing I sometimes paid attention and learned these along the way:
The Importance of Friendship and Support. If it weren’t for the help of many people I’ve met throughout the last year, Fool for Five and my blogging career would’ve died a long time ago. Sometimes it takes other people to see what you’re capable of, because you’re probably too busy being insecure about yourself, and push you to achieve your potential.
The Importance of Reaching Out. No blogger is an island, because blogging has and always will be about the discussion. You won’t get far staying inside what some derisively call the “echo chamber.” Yes, a significant number of my readers come from search engines. But some of the most meaningful relationships of my life—online and offline—came about when I took the chance of reaching out and joining the conversation.
The Importance of Letting People Know Who You Are. Fool for Five helped me express myself and get my message across. Many doors opened, simply because my constant ramblings let people discover who I was and what I could bring to the table, so to speak. Most of the opportunities I’ve enjoyed have something to do with this blog.
The Importance of Knowing Yourself. Ironically, while many people find out about who I am online, answering questions on a regular basis helps me know more about myself. I know I’m a long way from this, but maintaining a written record of all my opinions, explanations, commentaries, and articles brings me closer to fully knowing myself. That’s because many of my posts record my life experiences for later reference/analysis. I imagine myself a few years thinking “I wrote that?! What was I thinking?!”
The Importance of Being Yourself. It’s a given that unique and relevant content attracts readers. Yet blogging is also about the personality behind the post. Ultimately, what makes content unique are the voice and perspectives that drive it. So many toil away, mimicking a successful formula that’s been proven popular and lucrative. But I’ve learned the hard way that being yourself is the only way you can stand out among the millions of blogs out there.
Dedication
I hereby dedicate my one year blogging anniversary to the following people:
Jayvee for pushing me to start blogging in the first place. Suffer from months of “start blogging na!” and you’ll know what I mean. Seriously though, none of this would be possible without him. 
Torsten and Anita for welcoming me into Creative Weblogging. Thank you very much for the continuing support.
Liz for providing early positive reinforcement. May you never stop nurturing successful bloggers.
Aaron for letting me guest on Technosailor. Congrats on your third year as a blogger.
Abe for hosting this blog. And for sharing your experience and expertise as we build the BBN.
Jeremy and Doug for welcoming me into b5media. May more Filipinos help the network grow.
Annalyn for featuring me on Blog-O-Rama. May you continue to support the local blogosphere.
Melissa for agreeing to become a partner in the BBN at the last minute. And for returning to the motherland this December.
Sasha for helping me find my voice. And a whole lot more.
And last but not least, all of you dear readers who took the time to drop by. Your continuing support makes everything worth it!
You all helped my blogging career flourish, and for that I’m eternally grateful.
The Future
It’s been a wonderful journey, one I hope to continue even when blogging is no longer the darling of the net-savvy crowd. For I suspect that blogging will never die (unless the Internet does), since it’s simply an extension of mankind’s two favorite activities: communication and interaction.
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12 Responses to “How Long Have I Been Blogging?”
- 1 Pingback on Jun 6th, 2007 at 10:46 am
Liz is such a wonderful blogger, huh? She’s positive and down-to-earth. She cares about her readers and her blog. She’s one of the bloggers that I admire and respect since she’s NEVER snotty and wouldn’t pull ranks on you. Know what I mean?
BTW, your voice is something that other people should hear more often. It’s been there all along and all you need to do is not to be afraid to use it.
But thanks for thinking that I helped you find it though I’m not sure if I deserve the credit.
Congratulations on your first year as a blogger! I hope this year would be a better one for you and your blogging career!
I’ve always admired how easily she encourages discussion. She’s always been approachable. And I do know what you mean.
No worries. You do deserve credit because you always push me to believe in myself. And I’m sure with people like you to help me out, my next year as a blogger will be better.
No way! Just one year blogging? And you’ve racked up these achievements? You are not human =)
Congratulations on your first of many more to come. Your voice sounds alright. Cool and precise, unpretentious and has an air of innocence to it - childlike even (and that is a good thing).
May you ask more questions and find more answers to lead you to more questions. (I almost wrote happy birthday.. ooops i did).
God bless.
I’ve been blogging for…uh…seven years but this is the only time I took it seriously. From “My day was nice. Please sign my guestbook!” to long, winding entries talking about whatever I want to.
But you, it’s only been a year and you’ve gone so far. Congratulations! And happy blogging anniversary!
You have good friends indeed. Seriously I thought you had been blogging for years now. Congrats and keep blogging away.
jun: Like I said, I’ve only “racked” them up because so many people were willing to help me out. Thanks jun!
Tina: Thanks Tina! When did you start? I wanna greet you on your anniversary.
noemi: Thanks noemi! May the BoB adventures go on forever!
I’ve been blogging for almost three years now and been creating websites for 10 years.
Well, I’m impressed at your progress. I also thought that you’ve been blogging for more than a year now. Congrats!
Uy one year na pala? Bilis ah. Congrats my young jedi! Hehehe.
Eugene: Cool, so you actually started making websites with HTML 1.0? To be honest, the one year flew by like it was nothing!
markku: Thank you master! *bow*
Congratulations on your anniversary:) And because of you, Abe’s, Sasha’s, Jayvee’s and Marc’s words of wisdom, I’ve started on mine too! Salamat sa inspiration Rico:)
Thanks for the kind words Cathy! But trust me, I learned a lot from them too.