Monday 6 April 2015

About Blogging and Investing

This is Post No. 104, which makes it 2 years' worth of blog posts for this weekly blog. I hope readers will forgive me if I blog about other things during this time every year.

Blogging has never been easy for me, despite this being a weekly blog. By Thursday of every week, I would have to think about what to blog for the weekend and after I have found a idea, I would have to think about the content and organise them to form a coherent post. Occasionally, I would also need to carry out some research to check the facts. There have been a few occasions where the facts did not match the hypothesis and I had to discard the idea and find a new one. Even when I start to write the post, the thoughts do not always flow smoothly. I have to review and re-write. It is often a 2 steps forward, 1 step backward process. When I have finally completed the post, I would read and re-read, to check whether the facts are correct and see if the sentences could be written in a clearer way. The process of writing the post easily takes 2 to 3 hours. So, if I am late in my weekly blog posts, that is usually what happens. 

Despite the hard work, blogging in itself is satisfying, knowing that I could share knowledge with other fellow investors in Singapore. If not, I could never have persevered till today. Not only that, I have found a group of like-minded bloggers and readers who appreciate my posts. I would like to take this occasion to thank them for their continuous support during these 2 years. 

Besides the inherent satisfaction of blogging, I also like to keep track of the pageview count on my blog after writing a new post. It is just like a film director who not only wishes that his film is good but also popular. A high pageview count would delight me, while a low pageview count would leave me a little discouraged. Every week, I would write a post, hoping that the pageview count would increase. Sometimes, I would think that a particular blog post was well-written and could attract many views, but it turned out to be disappointing. Sometimes, I see the pageview count of other bloggers numbering into the million and wonder when could I ever come close to it. Sometimes, I see new bloggers coming onto the scene and their pageview counts quickly exceed mine in a short space of time.

In a way, the pageview count is like the wealth we are trying to accumulate. Every week and every month, we would invest our savings to increase our wealth. Sometimes, we would think that we have made a good investment and deserve large returns, only to see it fall short of expectations. Sometimes, we see millionaires living in private condominiums and driving large cars and wonder when would it be our turn. Sometimes, we see people younger than us making more money than us. 

That is Life. As a "young" blogger, I can understand your frustrations. You often hear that you can get rich by working hard, spending wisely and investing your income, but you hardly see any results despite 2-3 years of living frugally. You saw everything that I mentioned above and wondered if it is still worth the efforts and whether you are on the right path. As an "old" investor, I can assure you that you are on your way to achieving your goals. Every step you take today might not seem significant today, but every step is one step closer to your goals. When you have reached your goals and you look back, I believe you would not want to have it in any other ways. If it was too easy, you would have lost interest and not appreciate what you have achieved. So, take heart and march on. Just like if this blog post is not popular, write the next one!


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19 comments:

  1. Once blogging or investing becomes a chore then it is time to tweak (review, measure, etc) it to ensure its sustainability.

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    1. Thks for your advice. I'll still keep on blogging.

      Delete
  2. I'm considered an 'old' blogger. If you run out of things to say, then don't blog it. I don't think the side income from ads is worth it Haha! I always feel that reading helps to create seeds for the next article. It's like mind food. If i don't read, or if I don't talk to people, I'm devoid of ideas. Also, I think that if your hypothesis is wrong after the fact finding, you should still report it. There's a bias in research that only those that are found correct are published. Don't follow the same mistake! Things that you thought is correct but later to be found wrong can be equally important!

    And the last tip: if u really don't have things to blog, try blogging your worst article out. Do tour worst shot! You find that you'll remove the self censorship and doubts that writers have in the initial stages of writing ;)

    You're doing a good job, keep it up!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your encouragement :)

      Yes, I agree with you that reading helps to create fresh ideas. Which is why I like TheFinance.sg so much.

      I've never tried your suggestion of blogging about ideas that turn out to be wrong. I always feel that the facts must be correct. Maybe one day when I have nothing to write, I'll try your suggestion. Like you said, it might be useful lessons too!

      Delete
  3. Hi Chin Wai

    I think you can be considered one of the seasoned investor in our blogsophere.

    I'm still puzzled as to why you do favor the pageview count that much after so many years. I think your article is written great and with in depth experience and sharing so I think the quality is obviously much more there than the quantity, which is exactly what should be the case.

    I think you are doing great, hope you will continue your sharing.

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    1. Hi B,

      I guess I'm still "new" to blogging, hence the attention on pageview counts. May be after some more time, I'll grow out of this fixation. Thanks for your encouragement. I'll keep on going :)

      Delete

  4. Unless we intend to become trainer one day, is page-view count still relevant to hobbyist bloggers?

    Like SMOL said, "Some hobbyist bloggers don't treat readers as customers". :-)

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    1. I guess I'm still "new" to blogging, hoping to be well-received by readers. That shows that I still have much to learn from experienced bloggers like you, to not be fixated on things that do not really matter. Thanks ;)

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    2. Over the years, I found that most readers can tolerate our blog posts even some time they are just "nonsense".

      Do we always read worthy news in our daily Newspapers? No. Right? But, we still take a glance and then quickly flip through.

      :-)

      Delete
    3. Yes, I've also experienced that before. I thought I would lose readers after the post, but no, they still came back for the next post. I'm thankful for those regular readers who come back even though I do not always post useful ones.

      Delete
  5. Hmm.. Chin Wai,

    Page count is a delusional number, I think you have real meat in your articles. There are ways to increase page counts, but it is quite meaningless after a while. e.g. write about popular counters, blog about counter that just hit the news big time, write more frequently, break up your posts etc. Oops I am guilty of some of them although not intentionally.

    For me, I treat blogging less seriously, I don't proof read my work like you do. If as I write, I feel more confused, I let it be, one of the 2 objectives is to crystallize my thoughts.

    there are few occasions where after after blogging, I decide against buying or waiting.

    The next objective is an outlet for me to talk about how I feel, things which sometime I could only say to myself.

    I USED to think about blogging about sharing knowledge or even perhaps "wealth" due to the uncover of "gems". I now see myself my humbly and think that I can safely strike that objective out.

    You are one of the bloggers where new post will be followed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, Chin Wai's posts are amongst few other bloggers having real meat in them. I do self reflection sometimes after reading them.

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    2. Hi Sillyinvestor & Money Honey,

      Thanks for your continuous support. I think I take things too seriously. Will try to relax in future. It should be fun and not a chore.

      Delete
  6. There are many blogs having page count and it attract advertisers and repeat visitors. If it is not really important then remove them from your webpage.

    Also, remove the sitemeter, sitestats, statscounter - unless they are different from page count?

    I wonder how many blogs out there really do not have these statistical visits meter?

    The truth is with the bloggers own conscience on having page view info on their web page.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Thanks to your and everybody else's advice. I understand that it's a silly exercise to get so fixated on the pageview count. Will learn to kick the habit.

      Delete
  7. Hi Chin Wai,

    I am a newer blogger than u. I must say I shared similar views in most of you points in particular the below one..

    "When I have finally completed the post, I would read and re-read, to check whether the facts are correct and see if the sentences could be written in a clearer way. The process of writing the post easily takes 2 to 3 hours."

    That shows the effort and maybe some perfectionism in you wanting to present the best to the readers!

    To me, looking at page views and getting some form of appreciation from it is perfectly ok and normal. While it cannot be the main reason of blogging/investing, it do serves as motivation to continue generate more and better posts.

    Everyone needs occasionally pat on their back!

    I will give u five more views clicks now! :-)

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Hi Rolf Suey,

      From those more experienced bloggers, I've learnt that it is probably a silly exercise. Maybe when we are more experienced and look back, we'll also feel so. It is a process that bloggers have to go thru. Yes, the pageview count is not the main reason for blogging. I'll keep on writing good posts for everyone. Thanks for your support :)

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  8. Hi Chin Wai,

    I am also reaching my 2 year mark for blogging. And pardon me for saying this but I do have a few times of your pageviews.

    But does it really mean anything other than just pageviews?

    Does it prove that my articles are a few times as good as yours?

    Nah. I actually think that my readers would benefit more from reading your posts than mine. Like what sillyinvestor said, pageviews can easily be manipulated.

    And what's most popular might not be the most beneficial.

    Nonetheless, I have to admit that as bloggers, it's inevitable that we would be a little concerned about traffic once in a while.

    So yup, I ain't going to procrastinate further and will link your blog up this very next moment. =)

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    Replies
    1. Hi 15HWW,

      There are always things that we can learn from each other :) Thanks for your support :)

      Delete