Interview with Main Uddin, Pro-Blogger and Digital Marketing expert from Assam
Main Uddin is the founder, CEO & MD of the FOCUS A-Z Entertainment Private Limited. Main Uddin, who is a Bloggers Guru & E-marketer, has been in the blogging field for more than 5 years. He is a pro-blogger who is passionate on writing and also in internet marketing. His primary blog is Perfect Bloggers Tech. Read the below interview to know more about Main Uddin and also his advise on blogging and internet marketing.
Interview with Main Uddin
Q : You have been a well known blogger. Can you please tell us about yourself?
Main Uddin:
Ha ha ha... well known blogger! I don't agree with this point. Now coming to the next point of your query, I am a very simple guy who have come from a middle class family from an interior village in Assam. After completing my B.Sc, I joined as a science teacher but after a few months I left the job and continued my studies in different streams. I have completed B.Ed, B.Th, PGDCA and MBA. Unfortunately I was unable to complete LLB due to work pressure.
Q : How old are you and how many blogs do you have? Is your family involved in blogging?
Main Uddin:
I was born on 07/07/77 - So you can easily figure out how old I am! I started blogging in 2004 when I was a MBA student in Madurai Kamraj University. Our respected teacher , guide and friend Dr.V.Chinniah sir inspired us to start something creative like a diary online. In those days blog was an unknown word for me as well as for other students. It was a big news in October 2004 when co-founder of Pyra Labs, Evan Williams had left Google and this news had brought us to blogger.com. Chinniah sir opened 15 free blogs for us. Mine was umain23.blogspot.com. I continued with that till 2006 as a diary writer which was intended just for fun and knowledge.
Regarding family members, ha ha ha... My wife Shazida Khatun is a blind supporter in my each and every task from my college days till date.
Q: Can you tell us about your blogging journey?
Main Uddin :
I have already told you that Dr.V.Chinniah sir is my first inspiration and later a large number of bloggers inspired me, you can get the list here "50 Blogs & Bloggers Inspired Me". I discovered that Blogging is a global discipline to express yourself. Then I started a large number of blogs with Google blogger and later WordPress. In 2007, I registered umain30.com(Perfect Bloggers Tech) and migrated all my articles to it but unfortunately it was hacked in 2008(December) along with the domain and all my articles and domain was gone. In 2009 I re-purchased the same from the hacker. He claimed that the domain was purchased from some one and re-sold it to me. Now Perfect Bloggers Tech is running well. I also have a few other blogs running anonymously.
Q : How do you make your blog interesting or popular?
Main Uddin :
I don't think my primary blog is a popular one but my anonymous blogs are really popular for its real time content and publicity. Actually readers want real time and trustworthy information in any blog or web pages.
Q : What are the niches that you are blogging on?
Main Uddin :
It is wrong to say my niche is technology because I have blogs on eleven niches such as entertainment, arts & culture, education , food beverage, current news etc like Focusa2z Connects World. Another blog of mine is fully dedicated on global business & marketing Shazidamain Global Research Center which is owned by my wife where I am also a ghost contributor.
Q: What do you do in order to keep up with latest tools and technologies?
Main Uddin :
There is no such tools or technology which I can get updated on because some tools which might be valuable now will be outdated after 6 months. So, I use Google, Yahoo and Bing search for the latest updates. Normally I use 3 hours daily for searching on new updates. According to me, manual search is the best way to get correct information from internet or offline.
Q : Do you write for other sites? If so, For how many blogs have you written?
Main Uddin:
I was working as a freelancer a few years ago, so it is quite impossible to mention all those sites here. Now if you want to know exact number then it may be around 150 blogs/websites.
Q : What do you do when you are not building software or contributing in technical web sites and blogs?
Main Uddin :
Ha ha ha... I was working as a Sales Manager in Hindustan Lever Limited and Sales Manager in Tata Motors Limited, Guwahati region. So I will rejoin any one of those or join any other one.
Q : What is your daily schedule?
Main Uddin :
It is one of the most important questions for any professional entrepreneur. I work for an average of 15 hours daily, but if you have efficiency in work then 12 hours is sufficient for technology geeks. Else he/she will lose a lots of things in the outside world.
Q : Which webmaster/blogger is your role model?
Main Uddin :
I have already given you the list - "50 Blogs & Bloggers Inspired Me"
Q : Can you mention the name of the big bloggers in your network?
Main Uddin :
There are thousands of experts in my network whom I can mention - Ileane Smith, Tony John, Matt Marshall, Doreen A.Toben, AJ Kohn, Randy Davis and so many more.
Q : What do you think about the future of blogging?
Main Uddin :
Every thing has a starting and ending point which is radical, oh I had written a blog post on this almost 4 years ago, just check "understand radical blogging in virtual world"
Q: What are your future plans? Do you have any other online business you plan to start?
Main Uddin :
I have already 7 types of online business excluding blogging already which are running well. So no more new ventures as of now.
Q : Would you like to share your earnings? What are the sources of your income?
Main Uddin :
It is one of the highest puzzling question of any interview. It is not possible to disclose the amount - 5% of my income comes from Google AdSense, 20% income comes from paid post, 60% comes from paid services and the remaining 15% comes from Affiliate Marketing. My monthly online expenditure is around $1500.
Q: Do you use affiliate marketing to earn revenue? What is your advice to others on affiliate marketing?
Main Uddin :
There are thousands of affiliate marketing websites which are running well. However my best choices are Amazon, Clickbank, Flipkart , Google Affiliate Program, Commission Junction, eBay Partner Network, TradeDoubler.
These are only a few excellent affiliate marketing websites and networks which you can earn money from. The possibilities for money making from affiliate marketing are limitless and it completely depends on you, how many products you promote and therefore how much money you earn. Just keep in mind the new content around each product you are trying to promote. So my suggestion in this context is to pick a product relevant to your niche and then plan an article or webpage which will compliment that product. Now add the product promotion within the same niche or group. This will help your promotion blend in with your site or blog and not look like a money making attempt.
Q:-Which source of revenue do you suggest as an alternative to Google AdSense?
Main Uddin :
There are tons of Ad networks available online, so there is no fixed alternative. However, I can suggest to use any of these - Bidvertiser, Chitika, Infolinks, Intellilinks, Dynamic Oxygen, B4PSAds.com, Clicksor, Skimlinks, Exit Junction and Kontera.
Q: Which are the online social communities that you are most active on?
Main Uddin:
Social media has become a passion and fashion too. There are tons of social media networking sites and this list is growing daily. However I am active only on a few social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Linkedin.
Q: Most big bloggers have reported that their revenue has been coming down in last few years due to high competition. How is your traffic growing?
Main Uddin :
It is true, a lot of big names in the blogging industry expressed their income decrease and I am also in the same category. Traffic has decreased in my major blogs but increased in a number of other blogs.
Q: How did blogging help you personally other than making money?
Main Uddin :
Blogging is a method to learn and teach - there is no doubt, it is helping thousands of information hunters. A lot of mails have inspired me to continue as a blogger.
Q: What does your family think about your blogs?
Main Uddin :
My family members think that I am wasting valuable time and knowledge with an idiot box except my wife.
Q: What do you think about the Panda and Penguin updates from Google?
What advice would you give other bloggers to avoid Panda/Penguin penalties?
Main Uddin :
Panda updates and Penguin updates from Google have affected a lot of bloggers and webmasters. As per the available information, these two updates waved out a majority of the websites and blogs.
My advice on panda and penguin updates are:
1. Avoid spelling and grammatical errors in your content.
2. Insert relevant keywords.
3. Add some extra spice to your writing.
4. Promote with subtlety.
5. Never use link exchange.
6. Remove the low quality pages.
7. Beware of content scrapers.
8. Diversity in anchor text.
More details are available in my article Points To Safeguard Shield To Website & Blog.
Q: What do you think about the future of SEO?
Main Uddin :
SEO will never die but you need to be updated if you want to become an SEO expert. Become an SEO expert before becoming a blogger.
Q: What do you advice - focus on a single site or create several sites in various niches?
Main Uddin :
Single site in a particular niche is better. But if you fail to get attention from audience then you can try some quick gain niches such as entertainment, arts & photography etc. Because these niches get quick response from readers/viewers.
Q: I have seen in many online blogger communities, many bloggers sharing insulting information about other prominent bloggers. What is your take on such unhealthy practices?
Main Uddin :
It is one of the cheapest method to get short time popularity but honestly, I dislike these tactics and have never used it in my websites or any social media.
Q: Microsoft/Google/Apple - Pick your favorite
Main Uddin :
Microsoft is the first choice for me followed by Google. However I have a little affection on Apple.
Q: Do you have any Microsoft certifications or other certifications?
Main Uddin :
I have completed Microsoft Office Specialist(MOS) which was previously known as Microsoft Office User Specialist (MOUS).
As per my understanding, MVP program is all about identifying people in the technical community who are active participants and are always willing to share their experiences and knowledge, pertaining to a particular technology area(like C#, ASP.NET or XML Web Services etc).
1. MVPs are Microsoft's "volunteer army" and the best way to build a quality brand is to encourage customers to support other customers.
2. Microsoft MVPs are an important public face on the company.
3. Microsoft MVPs will be granted a high level of interaction with the product teams.
N.B :
If you need more data regarding the blogger, kindly visit :- http://about.me/umain30
Read more interviews on bloggers and get inspired here.
Very inspiring and helpful interview,worth reading, got valuable inputs about the world of Blog. Thanks to Mainuddin, thanks to Pinki.