I would like to procrastinate less: Tanay Jaipuria

My name is Tanay Jaipuria. I am a 17 year old web designer and entrepreneur from Mumbai, India. I am currently studying in the 12^th Grade. I own TJ Dzine, and blog about web design and graphic design on www.tjdzine.com/blog . I enjoy web design, football and listening to music.

Interview

Q: Welcome to Speakbindas. Tell us since when blogging has been a part of your life? Was there any motive or inspiration as a backbone of it?

* Ans.: I have been blogging for about eighteen months now. Earlier, I used to blog largely for entertainment purposes, about football. After I started TJ Dzine, I decided to start blogging about web design, in order to gain recognition and to share my views on the world of design.

Q: What is your blog all about? Which topics you cover there? Is that you alone running/maintaining the blog, or have a team?

* Ans.: My blog is about web design, graphic design, web development and search engine optimization. I run the blog by myself, and use the blog as an outlet to share links I stumble on, and to give out advice and help fellow designers and developers.

Q.: How important is it for the blogger to interact with their readers? Do you respond to all the comments that you receive?

* Ans.: Interacting with readers is a very important part of blogging. Without the interaction, what is the use of a blog! If no-one comments on posts and there is no interaction, the blog might as well just be a static website. I make sure I reply to every comment I receive, as this also encourages readers to come back to the blog in the future, apart from promoting interaction.

Q: What are the present statistics for your blog, i.e. number of daily visitors, visitors geographical status etc.?

* Ans.: Over the last month, my blog has received 3800 unique visitors and 20000 page views. 45% of this traffic is through referrals from others sites(like cssdrive, smashing magazine, noupe), 30% is from search engines(mainly google), and the rest is direct traffic. In the past month, my blog has received visitors from 102 countries. The countries which have sent the most visitors to my blog are USA, India, Germany, UK, and Canada(in that order)

Q: Is blogging for you just a passion or a medium for earning too? Does it help you to earn enough cash to quit a 9 to 5 day job?

* Ans.: Blogging for me is mainly a passion. I don’t sell ads etc on my blog, and thus don’t earn money directly from my blog. However, blogging has increased my exposure and recognition, and has lead to me getting web design clients. So in a way, I indirectly earn from my blog.

Q: Who are your favorite bloggers, whom you read frequently?

* Ans.: I really enjoy www.Problogger.com by Darren Rowse. Some other blogs I enjoy reading are www.SmashingMagazine.com, www.reencoded.com, www.noupe.com, www.bloggusion.com , www.blogsessive.com, www.dailyblogtips.com .

Q: From the secret bucket of your blogging experiences, what tips you would like to share with the fellow bloggers?

Ans.: Some tips I would like to share are:

* Write about something you are passionate about.
* Write regularly, at least 2 posts a week.
* Write for humans, and not search engines. Traffic will come if you right quality posts.
* Engage your readers. Encourage them to comment, respond to their comments.
* If possible, use a self hosted blog, and use WordPress.
* Use Google analytics.
* Read other blogs in your niche. Comment on them, with a link to your blog.
* Content is King

Q: Do you believe that blogging completes you? If yes, tell us how?

* Ans.: Blogging is an important part of me now, but I don’t suppose that it completes me. However, it has helped me in a lot of ways, and helped me connect with lots of fellow web designers and developers.

Q: What was the happiest and gloomiest moment of your life?

* Ans.: My happiest moment was when I did well in exams in 10th Grade. My saddest moment was when I had just started TJ Dzine. It had been about a month, and I still hadn’t got any clients.

Q: Say, you are sponsored to travel to 3 world destinations, where you need not to worry about costs for food, hotel or anything. Which destinations would you pick up, and why?

* Ans.: If I could go to three places in the world, I would go to Switzerland, because of its beauty; Goa, to relax on the beaches; Orlando, to sit on roller coasters and other rides.

Q: Are you into watching movies? If yes, which fills your list of favorite ones?

* Ans.: I really enjoy watching movies. Some recent movies I have seen which I really enjoyed are Avatar and Duplicity.

Q: How has blogging helped you other than money?

* Ans.: It has increased my knowledge about web design and development. It has increased my recognition, and it has made me enjoy writing a bit more.

Q: What would be the one thing you’d change about yourself?

* Ans.: I would like to procrastinate less.

Q: What is your deepest fear?

* Ans.: Not following my passion.

Q: If you could meet one person, dead or alive, who would it be?

* Ans.: I really love football, and would love to me Wayne Rooney.

Q: Which is your favorite television show? Favorite songs?

* Ans.: I really enjoy 24, Monk, House. My favorite bands are cold play, arctic monkeys, keane, the fray.

Q: How much money do you have in your purse/wallet right now (including change)?

* Ans.: 669 Rs. Oh, and a 50p coin.

Q: What is your favorite food? Any particular dislikes?

* Ans.: I enjoy all kinds of food, but I particularly enjoy Pizza’s. There’s nothing that I dislike as such.

Q: What’s your take on the technological advancement these days? Does it make people’s life simple or complicated?

* Ans.: I think that the technological advancements are good for society. They make are lives much easier, and help us a lot

Q: What do you think of “blogging is the next BIG thing”?

* Ans.: I think blogging is already a big thing. It has been growing exponentially for a long time now, and I think it will continue to grow, as more people take it up and as it becomes easier to start a new blog.

Q: Any special message you would like to share with your blog readers as well with everyone else?

* Ans.: I would like to reiterate that you should blog about something you are passionate about, and something that you enjoy. Also, I would like to thank you for interviewing me and thank the readers for spending their valuable time reading this.