Discipline within Limitations: Aw Blog Chain October 2008
I am writing this post as a part of AW Blog Chain October 2008. Kelly Meding was before me and she wrote about discipline. You can find her entry here:
http://chaostitan.blogspot.com/2008/10/october-aw-blog-chain.html
I have to admit that I really suck when it comes to discipline. Following rules is always a big problem for me. I was like it in my childhood. At the age of 33, I have not improved. I don’t see any hope of being a disciplined person even when I grow older.
Well, sometimes, I feel that it is the limitations that I have to suffer in my day to day life that are equally responsible for the lack of discipline. I like to talk about some of the limitations that I have to face.
The first limitation is that of basic utilities. For example, in the apartment I live, I have access to tap water for just 2-4 hours a day. So, I have to adjust my life with it. For example, sometimes, I don’t feel like taking bath at 1 PM but if I miss taking bath t 1 PM then I will have to wait for another 6 hours to get water in my shower. The same goes for cooking and washing clothes. Often, I have to wash some clothes when I have to write something in the evening.
Thanks God that electricity is some better in my part of the city. Except summer, we have to suffer from not having electricity for just 1 hour a day. In Summer, it is around 2 hours a day. Weekends are better while weekdays are worse.
Internet is a big problem. I have to spend around $40 a month for Internet but the speed is just 2 KBPS to 5 KBPS. Well, I don’t mind the speed as I have got used to it. The main problem is that once a month, there is no Internet for a day or two.
Researching is a big problem too. There is no good library in my city. I don’t have access to any online library or journal. I cannot buy any e-book because online transaction is still not possible here. I don’t mind paying $20 a month for having an access to any online library but it is impossible.
The biggest challenge I face perhaps is about language. English is not my first language but I am working in this language. I have studied English in school, college and in university. So, I have some proficiency in this language but except for working, I rarely use English in my daily life.
Yes, I have many limitations in life but still, I am a very happy person. When I see that many people suffer even much more than I do then I thank God for all the blessings.
Harriet M. Welsch is next and I wonder what the limitations she has to face are. So, visit her blog: http://spynotes.wordpress.com/
The blogs in AW blogchain October 2008 are:
Ralph Pines
Unfocused Me
Sassee
Feathers
colbymarshall1
FreshHell
ChaosTitan
razibahmed
harri3tspy
mbroadway
rosemerry
Interview of Dan Rafter: A Real Estate Blogger
In America, Real Estate sector has been badly hit by sub prime crisis. Still, people do not stop buying homes because having a home is not just a home, it is a dream. People spend their life savings to find a suitable place to spend the rest of their life in peace and comfort. If you are one of those, who has not stopped dreaming of owning a house despite hearing about the bad condition of real estate sectors then Dan Rafter is the one you should turn to. He is well experienced and has been writing for news papers like Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, Home Magazine or BusinessWeek Online. He also works as an editor for Metro Chicago Real Estate Magazine. If you are an aspiring real estate agent or businessmen then you should check out Dan Rafter’s blogs for it contains some great advice and tips for real estate business people. He has 3 blogs.
I found Dan in Absolute Write Forum (I hang out there on a regular basis). I read some of his entries and became interested for interviewing him. I sent Dan some questions and he responded earlier today. Here is the interview of Dan Rafter:
Razib Ahmed: You have been covering the real estate business for ten years. What was your motivation to get into this business?
Dan Rafter: I’d been working as a freelance writer for five years when I took the plunge and applied for an editor position at a real estate trade magazine in Chicago. I got the job, and then quickly learned what a fascinating business residential real estate is. At that time, the housing industry was going through a boom period, and agents and mortgage loan officers were making tons of money. It was an exciting business to cover then, and is still an exciting one now.
Razib Ahmed: You have been blogging for past six months. What are the problems you faced as a real estate blogger?
Dan Rafter: The biggest challenge is the same as any blogger faces: How do you get visitors to come to your blog as opposed to the thousands upon thousands of competitors. Unfortunately, I don’t have any secret answer to that question. What I try to do is to focus on my strengths. As a reporter, I know how to write. So I put up well-written, well-researched blog posts. My posts can’t usually be read in 10 seconds like those of some other bloggers. You won’t find any two- or three-sentence posts on www.propertycrossroads.com or www.blogprorealty.net. It also helps that I enjoy writing about real estate, and I hope that shows in my posts.
Razib Ahmed: How much time do you give after your blog every day?
Dan Rafter: I currently run three blogs. The third, http://indycomics.today.com, focuses on the world of independent comics. (I also freelance for comics publishers.) All told, I try to spend less than two hours a day on my blogs, including promoting them. That’s the only way to make the blogs cost-effective. As a freelance writer, I have to make sure I’m earning enough money every day.
Razib Ahmed: You have ten years of experience in writing about the real-estate business. It is a service oriented business where reputation matters most and you have that. People would take your opinion seriously but will that be the case for a person who is new in this business. Will blogging help him/her that much? What will be your suggestion for such novice bloggers?
Dan Rafter: I think that even novice real estate agents can make good impressions if they write good posts showing a strong knowledge of the industry. No one has to know when looking at agents’ blogs how long they’ve been in the industry. There’s no reason for agents to promote themselves as being new to the home-selling business. It also doesn’t take decades of experience to have a strong knowledge of what works and what doesn’t when selling real estate. Those agents who can provide a blog filled with local information and useful tips for buying and selling homes will be respected, no matter how new they are to the business.
Razib Ahmed: Suppose you are an experienced real estate agent or someone running a real estate service. You also have a blog with lots of good information and you update it regularly but don’t you think you have to equally emphasize on promoting your blog?
Dan Rafter: Certainly promotion is key. If you don’t promotion your blog it will get lost in the sea of competitors out there. I recommend that agents feature their blog’s address prominently on all their marketing materials, including their business cards, print ads and “For Sale” signs. They should also spend some time posting on real estate sites and message boards, being sure to leave their blog address in their signature.
Razib Ahmed: There are many blogs that allows guest authors. Do you have any plans to allow guest authors especially, other real estate industry people contribute to your blog. It can be a great way to promote your blog.
Dan Rafter: I’d be happy to do that. I haven’t done it yet, but it’s certainly a good idea.
Razib Ahmed: You said real estate bloggers should avoid ever green topics. Do you think, instead of writing on such topics, giving pictures of houses and rooms that the blogger (the agent) decorated is a great idea? It will also show his/her expertise in about houses and redecoration.
Dan Rafter: That’s a fantastic idea. Actually, anything that personalizes a real estate blog – that sets it apart from other blogs – is a great idea. Also, anything that showcases an agent’s skills is a wonderful thing to post.
Razib Ahmed: Aside from giving posts on local market, statistics, what other issues a real estate agent should cover in his/her blog?
Dan Rafter: They should focus on real tips, not ones that readers have read thousands of times already, to help sellers move their homes and buyers find their ideal home. I’d also include suggestions on how to make the negotiation process between buyers and sellers move more smoothly. They may also want to address the way the media cover the housing market, and maybe correct what they consider misstatements or mistakes. I know that many real estate agents hate the way that newspapers, T.V. and radio cover the housing market.
Razib Ahmed: America is now facing economic slow down. Real Estate sector is badly hit. What message of hope you can give to home buyers/sellers and real estate agents?
Dan Rafter: That’s a tough one. My Property Crossroads blog has been filled lately with bad news, very gloom and doom. But that’s the market right now. I’d say to agents and homesellers to try and wait things out. The real estate business has always been a cyclical one. This bad market won’t last forever. It was a necessary correction, in my opinion. Housing prices were rising too fast, too quickly. It was unsustainable. When the market does begin to improve, I think we’ll see a more realistic, and, therefore, a healthier market than we saw during the boom times. For buyers, I’d say, “Go buy a house!” Seriously, prices are low and sellers are desperate. This is a great time to be a buyer … unless you have a home of your own to sell.
Razib Ahmed: How long it would take for the real estate sector to recover from the ongoing crisis.
Dan Rafter: No one knows this for sure, but most real estate analysts I’ve interviewed say to expect a gradual recovery beginning in mid- to late-2009. In 2010, they say, the market should be on the way back.
Razib Ahmed: What is your future plan with this blog?
Dan Rafter: I’d like to build up traffic on all my blogs, and use them, of course, to generate other business, most notably new freelance stories.
100 Posts, 100 Comments and 10,000+ Page Views for SouthAsiaFair
Yes, it is an amazing experience for all three bloggers of SouthAsiaFair.com. I have to give much more credit to Mehdi Hassan and Biplob Kishore Deb as they have been working extremely hard since 25 July 2008. Today is, 10 August 2008 and thus the blog is just 17 days’ old and we have seen some encouraging stats. The first entry was:
Mobile Banking revolution in Maldives
Since then, we have written another 99 posts and thus we have reached 100 entries for this blog. We have received 103 comments so far. We have also received, 12500+ page views. 85% of the traffic have come through search engines.
This is the month of Olympics and we are trying to give adequate coverage to Olympics 2008.
I have already stated that most of the credits go to Mehdi and Biplob. They were my students in real life and now they have become my assistants and co-bloggers. I just think like a lazy person and they do most of the works. I enjoy the fact that both of these two co-bloggers of mine are smart and hardworking.
Cosmo Fair Blog Network (CFN): A New Blog Network
This blog (SouthAsiaFair) is a part of Cosmo Fair Network (CFN). You know that there are many blog networks in Internet at this moment and every week, you can see some new blog networks. So, I guess that most people even will not notice that Cosmo Fair Nework (CFN) is there. No problem, behind Cosmo Fair, we have got 3 experienced bloggers who have experienced around 15 million page views combined in the last 2 years with Know More Media Blog Network. The three bloggers are: Bill Belew, Tanya Palta and yours truly Razib Ahmed (yes, that’s me). We used to write for Know More Media blog network until it became closed on 31 July 2008.
In addition to these 3, we have S M Mehdi Hassan (Mehdi used to write with me in SouthAsiaBiz and in some of my personal blogs) and Biplob Kishore Deb.
We also have Animesh Chandra Bain who is working round the clock to check the technical matters related to the blog network. Thus, we have a small but committed and dedicated team.
We are still at our beta level and yet to make any official announcement for CFN. We hope to officially announce the emergence of our blog network within a few days. We are busy with last minute preparations.
This is surely a big challenge. However, our main motto for CFN is to enjoy the world and encourage others to enjoy the blessings of this world. Yes, we are serious about our network but we want to have fun.
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A book by CosmoFair founder
A book by CosmoFair founder, Bill Belew, that might change your world
