Tuesday, January 22, 2008

From One Failure to Another!

This entry is written as a part of AW January Blog Chain. Theme: "Writing". Laurie has an excellent entry, The Writer's Path. Here is mine:

Throughout my student life, I was a good student. I was always one of the top students in the class and like most good students; I had little idea about failure. I always wanted to be a journalist from my childhood. I started writing in newspapers and magazines at the age of 20 (1995) and I got a taste of failure perhaps for the first time.

It took quite a while for me to understand that writing in the newspaper was entirely a different ball game from what I was doing in university. The editors were not interested about my writing and my ideas. They even did not see anything exceptional in me. I have to admit that it was a bit difficult for me to accept this kind of neglect and sometimes, I felt too much frustrated. I tried for 3 months in 1995 and after I saw that only 5 of my articles/features out of nearly 30 were published, I got fed up and stopped trying. However, the good thing is that I did not lose my dream of becoming a journalist.

So, I again gave it another shot in August 1997. I had almost the same result- even worse. However, this time, I was mentally prepared. I was determined to continue as long as it takes and it took nearly 9 months. After 9 months, I got a much needed break in May 1998. I felt very happy but that was not the end of the story.

I have seen many ups and downs in the last 10 years. I have experienced a number of failures. I have often failed to earn enough money from writing to pay my bills. So, I did many things. I was a university teacher for few years. I taught students at home, did a lot of ghostwriting and did lots of other things.

I started professional blogging in March 2006 and at first, I had hardly any success. The most important part of professional blogging is to get a lot of page views. It was a scary thing for a person like me who had little knowledge of marketing. I was determined to keep on trying and for the last 20 months, I have worked 12 hours a day without taking any holiday. Even 12 hours was not enough at the beginning. For first 6 months, I had less than 15,000 page views per month. For a professional blogger, this was not a good sign. I got the much needed break after one year. I am not that successful in blogging yet but I earn enough money to pay all the bills and then save some.

I have learnt a few lessons in my quest from one failure to another. The first important thing that I try to remember these days is the value of being persistent. You have to keep on trying as long as needed. I also have realized the value of having a dream. Many of my friends and relatives felt that I was a lousy dreamer and sore loser in life. They did not suffer like me because they had no dream. The dream will help you to go through the rough patches of life. However, the most important lesson that I have learnt is that you must learn to appreciate failure. I am happy that I have gained this wisdom now after years of failures. In fact, to me, failure has a new meaning now. It is an essential part of growing. I have achieved modest success in blogging. If I want to remain as a mediocre blogger then I do not need to do anything special. If I want to grow and do something bigger then I have to experience some failures again.

There is another valuable lesson that I have learnt- the importance of relationship. I am deeply grateful to my wife for supporting me in my failures. She had to sacrifice a lot. Perhaps the biggest sacrifice was to get married and then love and support a man without any ambition and prospect. She never complained for the fact that since the day I started professional blogging, I did not take her any place or even in the wedding day, I wrote an entry in my blog.

Then, there are two of my students to whom I am a big hero. They admire me a lot but more than that, they support me in everything. Thus, I am lucky that even in all the failures, I have managed to get some good people.

Thanks a lot for reading about my failures.

Next in line is: Dawn at Anything That Pays

The participating blogs in this AW Chain are:

awchain

17 comments:

  1. I remember when your quest began and I couldn't help feeling intrigued, and inspired. I followed you for a bit, but then you seemed to fall off the radar. Who knew you'd have to put in so many hours for so many months in order to bring yourself to the level of success you desired . . . and you did! That's amazing! My page hits are extremely low in comparison to a professional blogger's, so I would hardly give myself a title like that. That doesn't mean, however, that it isn't a goal of mine . . . despite not being able to put in that kind of time investment. Thank you for sharing your story!

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  2. Anonymous8:45 AM

    Thanks for your comment. One reason I have to invest so many hours daily is the matter that I have extremely slow Internet connection- 2-3 KBPS. So, the amount of web pages that you can open in 30 minutes becomes 10-15 hours for me. There are other limitations too. For example, I have no scope of having a credit card. Paypal has not included my country yet. That means no form of online transaction and I cannot get any project that includes payment by Paypal. In America and Europe, you can take these things for granted. So, I have to work extremely hard to overcome the limitations.
    Still, I enjoy my work with all the limitations. Last month, my blogs had over 300,000 page views last month. So, my hard work is paying off.

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  3. The failures definitely help us grow; that's such a true lesson and very hard to learn.

    I'm in awe of your page hits...I only dream of reaching even half of that number. Wow.

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  4. What you consider failures would be successes to other people. Getting five out of thirty articles published isn't a failure. Many people wouldn't get any of them published.

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  5. Anonymous12:21 PM

    "What you consider failures would be successes to other people. Getting five out of thirty articles published isn't a failure. Many people wouldn't get any of them published."
    I agree with you 100%. I was foolish in 1995. I did not know how to appreciate failure that time. I am happy that I have my lesson.

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  6. Anonymous4:20 PM

    What an encouraging and inspirational post -- and sound advice about weathering failure. I have never liked the word "failure" anyhow -- you aren't a failure as long as you keep trying. "Failure" is for those who have given up. I think of things in terms of temporary disappointments -- and in pursuit of a dream, it's perhaps those temporary disapointments which teach us the most.

    Great post!

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  7. Anonymous7:20 PM

    "I am deeply grateful to my wife for supporting me in my failures."

    You are very lucky. Most marriages wouldn't have survived. Your wife is a special person indeed.

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  8. Razib,

    Thank you for an inspiring post. I am so glad you've gotten so far despite some setbacks that would put most people off the track. Your tenacity and determination and perseverance are awesome. Congratulations for making it to the pro blogger midranks---and here's hoping to see you rise!

    Blogging is hard work, even if you do have a good connection. Cheers, good luck, and may your passion continue to run strong!

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  9. This is inspiring and thought-provoking. I read once that you can have anything you want but you can't have everything you want. If you want something bad enough, you have to put in the time and make it your number one priority.

    Your "failures" were really just the tough lessons you had to study on the way to success.

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  10. without a few bumps in the road, it wouldn't be nearly as fun when the work finally pays off!

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  11. What a great post!! You have given me a lot to think about... failures, successes, persistence, heroes, support...even making a living blogging! :)

    Can you do a post in the future sharing some tips of how you get so many hits? I think all of us in awe of your abilities would love that! In terms of professional blogging, hits, and results, you, Razib, are a hero of mine! Wow, I have to stop with the exclamation points today.

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  12. Anonymous4:10 AM

    I agree with Thomma Lyn - it's not failure when you pick yourself up and keep trying or try something else. That's determination!

    I'd also love to see you do a post about how you got to the point that you have the kind of page hits that you have. :)

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  13. I'm not a fan of the word "failure". I like to refer to things that didn't quite work out the way I'd expected as "experience", something to learn from and improve upon. :)

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  14. Anonymous10:49 AM

    I have tried my best to read as much as possible about blogging in the last 2 years. The only tip I can give you is that find your passion then give as much time as possible for blogging. Becoming a
    famous blogger is difficult and most people will not become famous in blogging but getting 100,000 page views a month is not that difficult if you give time
    everyday. The difficult part is missing all the parties, wedding invitations, trips and movies. If you work daily then gradually you will get links from other
    blogs, websites and forums and search engines would love you too. I wrote an entry about it:

    How to Become a Successful Blogger within One year?
    I wrote it in August
    2006 when I had little idea about blogging but I tried to follow my own tips

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  15. Learning to accept and grow from failure is one of all writers' most important lessons. In an industry where rejection is the norm rather than the exception it is easy to become discouraged and give up. The ones who succeed have the determination to stick it out.

    You've shown remarkable determination and I know things will continue to improve for you. You're doing what you want to be doing with your life and you have an opportunity to achieve great things.

    Have you considered taking a journalism course? You could blend journalism with your blogging and continue to develop your personal style and voice.

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  16. Anonymous8:23 AM

    I think that persistence is definitely the key. When you have a dream, you can't give up. You just keep plugging away and eventually you figure out what you were doing wrong and fix it.

    Congrats on sticking with it and following your dream.

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  17. That was a very encouraging article. With, fighting all the limitations in our country, men like you have succeeded with all the hard work showing a bright future for online earning in Bangladesh. I was a student of English Language and Literature in Rajshahi University but never thought of being a content writer. I also tested failure and trying to build the pillar of success pushing through it. Anyway, your article was helpful to me and this blog that you have created sounds very frindly.


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