Hosteling International has this annual competition to find 16 bloggers to swap blogs and share their experiences with the world. First started last year it has garnered more than 1200 bloggers from over 100 countries.
Most people would be quite skeptical of such competition as it would mean how many votes the blogger can garner in such a short time as there are almost always the charge that astroturfing – the deceptive practice of presenting an orchestrated marketing or public relations campaign in the guise of unsolicited comments from members of the public – will get more votes from unknown and unverified sources.
It is a valid concern as those who has more reach, would surely get more support and those who have lesser reach would be penalised. It doesn’t sound that fair for people who just started out.
Hence there’s this rule that 14 bloggers out of the top 100 list would get to do the exchange with 2 wild cards, all picked by the jury. So yes you can get to the top 100 or maybe the one with the most votes but it also depends on what your blog does, how informative and how it is perceived etc. My mantra is always this: you won’t know till you try.
I always hold up to the ideal that that is a divine ‘arrangement’ that those who are sincere, right and positive would get what they deserve. Give this exchange a try because it may lead you to places you won’t even fathom at this point of your life. At least you have started the first step yes?
Just give some history of what I have done with my own blog. It actually started out as a way to communicate with people who are passionate about photography and a way for potential clients to view what I have done in the past.
Sort of an active portfolio that people can follow and up to date. Yes it is something new especially when it comes to photography portfolio. Since I like to travel too, this blog also serves as a way for me to remember my trips and share experiences that fellow photographers can plan towards their own holidays and shoots. Somehow it slowly changes when I got reacquainted with the good people at Techgoondu.com when I have more access to gadgets and cameras to do reviews.
So from a purely photography based blog it has become something for me to help others in their journey with IT gadgets and photography with a view to do travel photography, highlighting the things I have done while there. It was thanks to Samsung that I was able to join them for the NX Traveller program to Australia and that in itself helps the blog gets a boost too.
So this Big Blog Exchange thing came at a time when my entries on Travel, Photography and Gadgets review have come together and made the content for my blog that much richer. The blog/website has since garnered over 70,000 views since the blog started 3 years ago (anniversary is coming!!) with average daily views of 29 in the first year to over 114 now.
Statistics aside I am glad that my posts were read by people all around the world from US to European countries, Asia and as remote as Malawi and Saint Vincent & The Grenadines in the Caribbeans. And for the over 22000 views from Singapore, many thanks too! If you want to vote for me you can click to this page and vote.
Many thanks for the support over the last 3 years and with the 200th post and 3rd anniversary, this calls for a mini celebration.
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