Welcome to the very first interview of the WP Mains interview series.
I recently had words with Vashishtha Kapoor, a young passionate blogger who has earned a reputable name in the blogging industry. In this interview with Vashishtha Kapoor, we’ll know exactly what it all takes to become a successful blogger.
Vashishtha is a tech blogger, a digital marketer, and a very humble person who can talk for hours about blogging and how to create an online presence. He has very good experience in the Ad-tech industry and shares his knowledge at his blog https://vashishthakapoor.com/
Let’s start this interview with Vashishtha and know more about his blogging journey.
Hi Vashishtha! Can you please tell us a little bit about yourself?
Hi Rahul, Thank you for having me on your blog.
I am Vashishtha Kapoor and I am a blogger. More than a blogger, I’m a digital marketing professional, web design expert, and a part-time system administrator. Blogging is what changed my life completely and is the reason why I am here talking about myself on WPMains.
At my tender age, I was very fascinated by the profession of a chartered accountant. If I would have not switched to digital marketing aka blogging career and would have managed somehow to become a chartered accountant; my childhood dream could have come true. But no, that didn’t happen.
Currently, I am working as Lead – Marketing & Product at Digifynd which is a platform exclusively for digital marketers to find the best job and get hired. Apart from that, I also run one of the leading affiliate marketing portal affNext which I started back in November 2018.
What are your hobbies, likes, and the things you love to do?
8 ball pool is what I love the most. Exploring the web and learning new things is what I like doing most of the time. Due to the lockdown, It has been a long time since I went to the pool shop to have a match with my best buddy, Amit. I hope everything will be normal and we’ll get back to the usual course of life.
How did you start blogging? And why blogging?
Blogging was not a first try success to me. It took a long time to learn the game and actually start a blog on WordPress. As a student, I had not many resources to make purchases online (domain, hosting, and tools). I somehow bought my first domain and hosted it on blogger.com which helped me to learn a lot about the word, blogging.
For the next 1 year, I did not make even a single penny out of that blog. However, till that 1 good year, I connected with plenty of like-minded and good bloggers who were doing good in the industry. I had to quit my very first blog and that was when I realized that you need a purpose to do anything in any industry. Making money should not be the only reason why you started blogging.
This time I started a website called vashishthakapoor.com
The biggest motivation to start a website of my own name was to share what I am learning with someone who just started exploring the same thing. My learnings/observations can somehow help people make better decisions and save time.
How many blogs do you have and how do you manage them?
I currently have a handful of blogs and all of them are using WordPress.
To manage them all, I have hired a remote team of writers who are currently managing the content. Apart from that, I manage time on weekends to write tutorials and guides for the readers of vashishthakapoor.com
We all make mistakes while starting up and learn a lot from them. Could you please tell us some things you know now, but wished you knew at the start?
Technology has changed to a great extent and we have come a long way. But one thing that I wish I knew at the start is that we should not take it too seriously. Of course, blogging is a profession and one has to take it seriously. Just like overconfidence is dangerous, being too serious about blogging is also something that affects a lot.
To make it more clear, I will explain with an example. When I used to start writing, it used to be too serious and over-thought. Thinking that whatever I am writing has to be of the top-notch quality and blah blah blah. But what I figured out now is that your writing should reflect your nature and the way you really think. There is nothing wrong with writing in a very simple plain language.
Blogging requires consistency. What motivates you to keep working on your blog?
As I really love exploring new things and talking about it within my network, I keep on visiting sites like Producthunt that give me ideas of what is new in the market.
While blogging requires consistency, it requires you to refresh your mind every single day to stay motivated.
How do you keep yourself updated? Whom do you follow?
I am a very selective reader. I follow multiple websites using Feedly. So, I have several subjects to be updated about. For example, blogging, SEO, server administration, WordPress, Digital marketing and so much more.
I actively follow sites like:
- Seroundtable for SEO
- DigitalOcean for Server Administration tuts
- WP Beginner for WordPress
What are the blogging tools you use that helped you get traffic on your website?
To get traffic, I depend on Google.
Talking about tools, I use SEMrush, Sendgrid, Mailchimp, and many from AppSumo.
How are you currently monetizing your blog traffic?
Affiliate commission is the top-earning source for me as of now from the blogs I have. I had bad luck with my failed blog in 2015 and did not make even a single penny from Google AdSense. I rely less on Google AdSense and it rewards me with a better user experience also.
Apart from the blog, I provide web services which include server administration, website bug fixing, WordPress management, website maintenance, and digital marketing consultation.
Since you’re a pro blogger, what are your learnings so far? Did blogging change your life?
Yes, blogging changed my life to a greater extent!
I was more into accounting and wanted to become a chartered accountant in the starting phase of my career. However, after getting introduced to blogging as a profession, I am into it and doing the same for more than 5 years now.
Could you please share a picture of your setup with our audience?
What advice would you have for someone who is just starting with their first blog?
My first advice is to give more time to your blog when you’re starting out. Even if you’re getting less time to manage your blog and write new content, be consistent. Consistency is what makes your blog successful.
Apart from that, not forgetting that SEO is a long-term game. You need to have patience. Domain authority, page rank, backlinks (quality backlinks), keep working on these things; slowly but consistently.
Also, make sure that your content is actually fulfilling the customer’s intent for visiting your website. If someone wants to learn something from a blog post, make sure that the whole content material is there on the blog post itself to explain the subject matter.
I am sure your story will inspire many bloggers. Where can they find or read more about you?
To read more about me, you can visit my page at https://vashishthakapoor.com/about/
In case you want quick access to it, just remember vkapoor.co, it will take you to my website.
I am also available on social media:
Key takeaways from Vashishtha Kapoor’s Interview:
Things might fail initially, but this will help you find your purpose.
Money is important and will come with time, but it should not be the sole reason for starting a blog.
Don’t try to perfect everything at the start, keep executing, and learn in the process.
Work consistently and have patience in getting the results.
Wrapping up the interview with Vashishtha:
Thank you so much Vashishtha for sharing your story with us. The way you have come this long is inspiring and truly commendable.
I am sure our readers will learn a lot from your story and implement the tips you shared with us. So this was the story of a young blogger who failed at the first blog, yet kept learning and is a renowned name among the bloggers.
If you’ve more questions for Vashishtha, please feel free to ask in the comments section
