I started blogging about one and half year ago. During very beginning of my blogging I didnt have any idea of what I could post in my blog.
Later, I visited some blogs and planned to shape my blog in similar way. I started to collect some online resources and calls such as call for papers, call for proposal, call for conferences, call for essay, call for photo competition etc. related to agriculture and environment sectors and post them in my blog. This helped me to shape my blog.
Besides, it also helped me to collect information that is useful for me in a single streamline; later I dont need to search Google several times for same information. This saves my time and helps me to workout with these opportunities. Also it reduces burden to my computer. For example, if an organization makes an open call for essay competition, I make it a blog post. Also I can collect more information related to the topic of competition to write an essay and participate in it.
Besides, many of my colleagues were benefitted. Some of them visit my blog regularly to be updated about such calls and opportunities. They also submitted their papers, proposals, essays, photos etc. after getting information from my blog to participate in those programs. One of my pedagogues from my alma mater appreciated my work in blog. According to him, he visits my blog regularly to collect information about conference, workshop, symposium, competition, call for abstract etc. Also some of my friends said that they participated in some competition after getting information from my blog.
This encourages me to do same job with more interest and I started to subscribe websites in my email. After subscribing emails, it again reduced my time to search information in Google or some other websites. Instead of searching Google, I check my email regularly and filter information useful for me. Now I have subscribed more than hundred websites and receive regular emails. I use information provided in those emails to make blog posts.
I linked those blog posts with social sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google plus etc. It helped me to flow information to those friends who are regular visitor of these social sites. Now there are more than five hundred members in my Facebook group who receive information from my blog regularly and requests for group membership are increasing day by day.
Besides, more than ten colleagues of mine started blogging after seeing my blog and make regular posts. Now they are improving blogging skill. Sometime they take ideas with me to improve their blogs. Blogging has improved their writing skill and given access to external world. Regular interaction with external world and group of common interest helped them to improve their knowledge, skills and confidence in their field of interest.
Concluding, I initiated blogging from zero i.e. without basic knowledge, to gather information that could be helpful to me. But later when I found such information could be helpful to those who are interested in similar issue like me but have no idea how to search them, I helped those people by sharing my blog posts in social sites. This helped me to increase visitors in my blog and visitors of my blog to collect information useful to them and got opportunities to participate in many programs.
Also, some of my colleagues get inspired and start blogging. This is great achievement for me and my blog. Besides, reading blog posts from other bloggers, I take ideas and life skills that are rarely available in books but can be learned from day to day life. Blog posts from other bloggers helped me to solve many problems. Now, blogging is being my passion and I cant stop blogging for my whole life.