It gives me immense pleasure to celebrate the milestone of reaching 50 blog posts. This has not been an easy journey, there were days when I wanted to stop it all and there were some when I couldn't frankly figure out what to write. Quite often I found myself stumped, stupefied and shackled but figuring a way out through the hurdles that mind imposes made this journey extremely rewarding. After all life is all about mending your mind and getting the job done. 'Life Etc Etc' is the best job I had after my regular job but little did I know how far I would come when it all began six and a half years ago.
It was the last semester of my MBA and as part of my 'Internet Marketing' course we were all supposed to create a blog and write at least six posts before the end of the semester. I always wanted to provide an outlet for my perspectives. With my experience in blogging, I thought this would be a great chance to hone my business writing skills and update myself on current business trends. Before starting off I told myself that if nothing else my blogs had to be original and had to highlight my take on the matter being discussed. While a lot of things have changed with the blog since its inception this is one commitment which hasn't changed (and will never change). Since I couldn't look anything beyond marketing or business at that time I christened my blog 'Life, Marketing and More' and started off with my first blog post on a cold November night.
My first six posts revolved around technology, business and marketing. While I finished my course with a high grade, my blog still wasn't doing great in terms of numbers. I decided to switch tracks a bit and focused on blogging about cricket for the 2011 World Cup fever to rub off on my blog but that switch didn't work either. Despite the fact that India's victories drew huge TV ratings the numbers for my posts weren't great. I didn't lose hope and started promoting the posts on my Facebook and LinkedIn profiles but the numbers barely exceeded a few hundred views. Something had to be done and I took a break to figure out the missing element in the puzzle. Little did I know then that the break would almost take me to a point of no return.
You can't predict a cyclone, can't foresee a tornado and can't stem momentum getting sucked out of your life. The next few years saw me barely holding onto a job while I pieced my life together after being jolted by personal tragedy. Writing a blog was the farthest thing on my mind. I had pretty much given up on blogging and and 'Life, Marketing and More' was as good as dead. But little did I know then that winds of change would break my self-imposed exile soon enough.
Everything changed with the 2014 World Cup. India was beating anyone and everyone and the turmoil in my life had also come down a notch. I figured if Indian players could come back to win from near defeats, I should be able to revive a nearly dead blog too. So on April 4th 2014, I penned a brief post about my return to blogging. That little post gave me a lot of relief because I was getting back to unfinished business and there's no greater pleasure in life than to handle dreams which turn into personal liabilities.
Two days after I declared my comeback India royally lost in the finals of the T20 world cup to Sri Lanka. The result hurt me (no one likes to see their country lose) but it did little to dent my motivation. The final actually gave me an outlet for all my frustrations, I immediately decided to pen a blog about some of the worst performances I had ever seen on a cricket field. But before that I decided to write up a little piece about my trip to Disney so that readers coming back to my blog after a long time wouldn't be bored with another piece about cricket.
Thus started my comeback but I still turned to cricket whenever I ran out of ideas. While my blog was increasingly becoming cricket heavy another challenge sprung up on the horizon. The name 'Life, Marketing and More' seemed more and more irrelevant with each passing day as the posts no longer revolved around business or strategy. After thinking long and hard, I changed the name of the blog to 'Life Etc Etc Etc...' where 'Etcs' underscored the diversity of the topics being addressed. I started tagging my blogs to categories and introduced category based tabs on the home page. With these changes the blog saw an upsurge in viewers but I was still scratching around for ideas whenever I wanted to create a new post.
As I was struggling for the next post, the road led me to Salar Jung Museum one fateful day. I couldn't help but admire Mir Yousuf Ali Khan (the founder of Salar Jung museum) who braved many a storm to create a monument for the world to see. On my way back home thoughts swirled around in my head, While it was clear I wanted to write a blog about my trip, I also wanted the blog to have more depth rather than just be a memoir of my visit. But how do I bring about that depth? How do I leave my personal imprint on everything I write?
Suddenly something flashed and the clouds of confusion faded away. That flash of a thought made me understand that I needed to invest more of myself into my blogs and not be afraid to express my true feelings through them. I finally found the missing element in the puzzle. From that moment, my blogs no longer served to host just my peripheral perspectives but became a platform to share my feelings and an avenue for my personality to shine through. Anything and everything which inspired me and gave wings to my imagination became a post on my blog. I was no longer short of ideas and my output dramatically improved from that point. By the time I reached my 25th blog post I shortened the name of the blog to 'Life Etc Etc' to underline my focus and introduced a fresh category called 'Books', a category on which I plan to shower lot more love in the coming months.
As a kid I once held a dream to write and share my knowledge with others. 'Life Etc Etc' is a manifestation of that dream, a dream which taught me to persevere and never give up in the face of adversity. I told everyone of my readers to count their blessings, trust me I count mine whenever I write a blog or read your responses to my blogs. I couldn't have sincerely done it without your encouragement and kind words and I thank each and everyone of you (my readers) for your support. The boost I receive whenever readers quote some lines from my blog or approach me with their own take on things is enormous. I cannot forget how one reader told me how they loved watching 'Duel' immediately after reading my blog. Keep your messages and comments coming in as they are the elixir to not only my blog but also to my life.
'Life Etc Etc' will continue to grow and evolve and will continue to serve as the torch bearer for quality articles, this I promise. So keep watching this space for more, the journey has just begun.
Until Next Time,
Yours Always,
J.J. Chaitanya
It was the last semester of my MBA and as part of my 'Internet Marketing' course we were all supposed to create a blog and write at least six posts before the end of the semester. I always wanted to provide an outlet for my perspectives. With my experience in blogging, I thought this would be a great chance to hone my business writing skills and update myself on current business trends. Before starting off I told myself that if nothing else my blogs had to be original and had to highlight my take on the matter being discussed. While a lot of things have changed with the blog since its inception this is one commitment which hasn't changed (and will never change). Since I couldn't look anything beyond marketing or business at that time I christened my blog 'Life, Marketing and More' and started off with my first blog post on a cold November night.
My first six posts revolved around technology, business and marketing. While I finished my course with a high grade, my blog still wasn't doing great in terms of numbers. I decided to switch tracks a bit and focused on blogging about cricket for the 2011 World Cup fever to rub off on my blog but that switch didn't work either. Despite the fact that India's victories drew huge TV ratings the numbers for my posts weren't great. I didn't lose hope and started promoting the posts on my Facebook and LinkedIn profiles but the numbers barely exceeded a few hundred views. Something had to be done and I took a break to figure out the missing element in the puzzle. Little did I know then that the break would almost take me to a point of no return.
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| The 50th post, what an honor! |
You can't predict a cyclone, can't foresee a tornado and can't stem momentum getting sucked out of your life. The next few years saw me barely holding onto a job while I pieced my life together after being jolted by personal tragedy. Writing a blog was the farthest thing on my mind. I had pretty much given up on blogging and and 'Life, Marketing and More' was as good as dead. But little did I know then that winds of change would break my self-imposed exile soon enough.
Everything changed with the 2014 World Cup. India was beating anyone and everyone and the turmoil in my life had also come down a notch. I figured if Indian players could come back to win from near defeats, I should be able to revive a nearly dead blog too. So on April 4th 2014, I penned a brief post about my return to blogging. That little post gave me a lot of relief because I was getting back to unfinished business and there's no greater pleasure in life than to handle dreams which turn into personal liabilities.
Two days after I declared my comeback India royally lost in the finals of the T20 world cup to Sri Lanka. The result hurt me (no one likes to see their country lose) but it did little to dent my motivation. The final actually gave me an outlet for all my frustrations, I immediately decided to pen a blog about some of the worst performances I had ever seen on a cricket field. But before that I decided to write up a little piece about my trip to Disney so that readers coming back to my blog after a long time wouldn't be bored with another piece about cricket.
 |
| The match which brought me back |
Thus started my comeback but I still turned to cricket whenever I ran out of ideas. While my blog was increasingly becoming cricket heavy another challenge sprung up on the horizon. The name 'Life, Marketing and More' seemed more and more irrelevant with each passing day as the posts no longer revolved around business or strategy. After thinking long and hard, I changed the name of the blog to 'Life Etc Etc Etc...' where 'Etcs' underscored the diversity of the topics being addressed. I started tagging my blogs to categories and introduced category based tabs on the home page. With these changes the blog saw an upsurge in viewers but I was still scratching around for ideas whenever I wanted to create a new post.
As I was struggling for the next post, the road led me to Salar Jung Museum one fateful day. I couldn't help but admire Mir Yousuf Ali Khan (the founder of Salar Jung museum) who braved many a storm to create a monument for the world to see. On my way back home thoughts swirled around in my head, While it was clear I wanted to write a blog about my trip, I also wanted the blog to have more depth rather than just be a memoir of my visit. But how do I bring about that depth? How do I leave my personal imprint on everything I write?
Suddenly something flashed and the clouds of confusion faded away. That flash of a thought made me understand that I needed to invest more of myself into my blogs and not be afraid to express my true feelings through them. I finally found the missing element in the puzzle. From that moment, my blogs no longer served to host just my peripheral perspectives but became a platform to share my feelings and an avenue for my personality to shine through. Anything and everything which inspired me and gave wings to my imagination became a post on my blog. I was no longer short of ideas and my output dramatically improved from that point. By the time I reached my 25th blog post I shortened the name of the blog to 'Life Etc Etc' to underline my focus and introduced a fresh category called 'Books', a category on which I plan to shower lot more love in the coming months.
As a kid I once held a dream to write and share my knowledge with others. 'Life Etc Etc' is a manifestation of that dream, a dream which taught me to persevere and never give up in the face of adversity. I told everyone of my readers to count their blessings, trust me I count mine whenever I write a blog or read your responses to my blogs. I couldn't have sincerely done it without your encouragement and kind words and I thank each and everyone of you (my readers) for your support. The boost I receive whenever readers quote some lines from my blog or approach me with their own take on things is enormous. I cannot forget how one reader told me how they loved watching 'Duel' immediately after reading my blog. Keep your messages and comments coming in as they are the elixir to not only my blog but also to my life.
'Life Etc Etc' will continue to grow and evolve and will continue to serve as the torch bearer for quality articles, this I promise. So keep watching this space for more, the journey has just begun.
Until Next Time,
Yours Always,
J.J. Chaitanya
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