Emirates Diary in the Year 2014
Hello Readers and my well wishers,
Greetings.
3 years back, in the beginning of the year 2012, Emirates Diary was born as an insignificant Blog in Dubai. This was all because I wanted to do something on the internet, that changed the world a bit. I achieved this by writing about various issues that I would come across in my life in UAE. Soon, people started taking notice and Emirates Diary grew from strength to strength. All thanks to you, my dear Readers and Well wishers.
My idea initially with Emirates Diary was to cover events and happenings around UAE; however it proved very difficult for me alone to cover such a vast ocean of events in Dubai.
I tried looking where is the real pain point that everybody faced and how I could help others. This is where I changed the traction of Emirates Diary to address issues such as Labour Law of UAE, useful information on Life in UAE, information on Money and how to save money and few other topics. I stuck to these basic and core issues.
And YOU listened and gave me a thumping round of applause.
Why do I do what I do?
The below is a screenshot of one of many emails that I received: (Click on image for Large View)
Wouldn’t you feel great receiving such emails for what you have done?
Not only this. I do earn little money through ads placed on my site and affiliates. However, money is not my primary motivation!
Few important statistics of the year 2014 (Till November 2014)
TRAFFIC
The year 2014 has been a great success for Emirates Diary when it comes to traffic. Web traffic increased 50% YoY!
See the below screen shot of traffic from Jan 2014 to Nov 2014:
[junkie-alert style=”grey”] This statistic is removed upon request by Webmaster. [/junkie-alert]
This is a massive number for a blog that has less than 500 posts and is 3 year old!! I am really stunned and thank you for your support.
NEW MEMBERS
Emirates Diary currently has more than 20,000 registered members who have subscribed to the blog. Although I have not been actively sending email campaigns, this is an area where I would like to improve and send regular and useful info to my readers.
COMMENTS
Emirates Diary has reached a milestone of 10,000 comments published on the site on 12-12-2014. Thank you for that.
I make it a point to reply to each and every comment that I receive. However, this is not possible some time amid my other commitments.
WHAT HAVE I LEARNT THROUGH THE BLOG?
Through Emirates Diary, I learnt that you do not need to be an ultra expert in any field to spread the knowledge. I was not a web designer! I was not an expert in UAE Labour Law! I wasn’t a great writer! I was not an expert on SEO! I was nothing! But now I know that anyone with focus and a bit of dedication can learn and conquer anything. Money is not the only priority; Love, Trust and Respect of others is more important. It feels great when experts email you and ask for advice!!
I also learnt that you do not need to spend money on marketing a blog as I have not spent even 1 Dirham on any marketing. This is pure trust of readers and nothing else.
WHAT HAVE I PLANNED FOR THE FUTURE OF BLOG?
There is nothing particular in my mind other than bringing new articles and posts to Emirates Diary. But I will do my best to bring in some creativity and will keep you informed.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
If you face any problem or challenge chances are others have the same problems and challenges too. I suggest you start your own blog
Start something. Dedicate little time and I bet you can also help others and in the process earn little bit of income. There is very little that you have to spend to start your blog.
If you need help initially to set up of the blog, just drop me an email [deepakmelwyn at gmail.com] or comment below. I will be happy to help you.
[junkie-alert style=”yellow”] IMPORTANT NOTE: If you want to criticise something, please do not start a blog. Do not criticise any country or any officials. Do something good instead! [/junkie-alert]
MY BASIC ARABIC E-BOOK – AN EXPERIMENT
My experiment with e-book reaped huge rewards!! My first and FREE e-book “Learn Basic Arabic” has now been downloaded more than 1000 times!!
You can download it here
A HAPPY NEW YEAR
I wish all the Readers and Well wishers of Emirates Diary, a very Happy New Year. May all of us have a best 2015.
I hope this article has motivated you. Don’t sit down and think. TAKE ACTION TODAY. Read my RESOURCES page
[junkie-alert style=”grey”] I have a very special announcements regarding something personal in the coming year for you. [/junkie-alert]
Till then,
All the Best!
Deepak