I Started A Tech Tutorial Blog. Here’s What I’ve Learned.
Tags: Blogging Tips, Technology, Writing Tips, Blogging, Education

A bit of background…

Let me start off by saying that I (blindly) started my tech tutorial blog. The emphasis here is on the word “blindly” because admittedly, I started it out on a whim.

Contrary to the idea that research plays a key role in starting online businesses (even blogs), I had an impulse to write a tutorial on SAP Electronic Bank Statements. This impulse was rooted from my feelings of frustration — we will get into that soon.

You see, I “Googled” the topic with as much creativity as I could but I still could not find the content I was looking for. This was how the feelings of frustration kicked in. I needed something — fast.

I needed something that was straightforward enough to understand, organized, had step-by-step examples, and most importantly did not sound like a technical paper.

It seemed like a long shot at that point to find something in that criteria so I had to learn it from different sources, apply it, test it, and put the pieces together to get the whole picture. What was the next step? I needed to document what I have learned. I have this habit of creating personal documentations for the purpose of having something to refer back to. At this point, I realized — Why not put this out on the internet?

With that, I looked up Wordpress (this was the only blogging platform I was familiar with) and put up my first post. Now, I have my blog techlorean.com up and running where it focuses on SAP finance-related tutorials and career insights.

It focuses more on analysis — getting the readers to understand the purpose, process, and behavior of the configurations rather than providing the usual configuration recipe. If you’re interested in learning SAP and reading on some career insights, check it out!

With the blog’s growth and my realizations of starting a tech tutorial blog, I decided to share some thoughts with you.

Find Your Purpose

I don’t expect you to change the world with a blog. I am saying, you need to know what purpose the blog will serve.

Purpose = Audience

Audience = Traffic

It is similar to finding your niche but your adding more value to it. I’d like to think that it is a healthy mindset for the writer (you). With so many other tech tutorial blogs out there, it would be difficult to start a blog and drive traffic with an overly saturated topic without purpose.

Why are you starting the blog? What are you aiming for? Why do you want to educate others? etc.

Don’t Take SEO for Granted

One thing I realized is that SEO (Search Engine Optimization) plays a huge role in driving traffic to your blog. It helps to learn a thing or two about SEO. You could enroll in a free class, watch YouTube videos, or even do a simple research on what SEO is.

SEO to me is like having a relationship with a search engine like Google. How do you build on that relationship with Google such that your blog is trusted enough to be ranked higher? It is not enough to create great content or quality blog posts. You want to be able to kick up your game by applying improvements to your blog through SEO.

You could create amazing quality posts but the issue would be me finding you.

At the end of the day, your blog won’t live its purpose if the right people cannot find you.

The Big Players are Intimidating — Don’t Doubt Yourself

I mentioned that tech tutorial blogs or tech blogs in general can be overly saturated. There are BIG websites out there that have established audiences and have secured their rank through SEO.

That being said, that is not a reason to give up or scrap your blog idea especially if you are passionate about it. I admit that I thought of that after a few months of starting my blog. I had doubts and and even questioned if the blog was even worth putting effort in.

I agree. They can be intimidating but I realized that I have my personal reasons:

I did not start this blog for the sole purpose of competing with gigantic websites. I am simply putting content out there with the hopes of helping others.

Everyone starts somewhere — A cliche way to put it but it’s true. It builds through time with the right amount of effort.

Let your purpose rise above your doubts — I am not saying that my blog is at the top or peak of its game but I choose to believe in it and its purpose.

Conversational Tone > Smart Talk

Writing a tech tutorial blog can be an opportunity to use technical words or deep technical concepts. Truth be told, I would rather read a blog that has a conversational tone than one with smart talk. Why? I plan to read a tech tutorial blog to understand a concept.

As a reader, the faster I am able to digest or learn something, the better my experience.

The conversational tone has more impact than you think. It is like a friend that is helping you understand something. It is not you reading a formal technical paper.

The goal is to help others understand not scare them away with technical jargon.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not asking you to completely remove technical concepts or words. I am simply saying that explaining a technical concept in a conversational tone (and using words that can be easily understood) gets the knowledge across in a much lighter note. More often than not, those who do go to a tech tutorial blog would most likely have less to zero knowledge. That in itself is a sign that they wouldn’t appreciate full blown formal technical writing.

Less Smart Talk = More Help

On Monetization — Don’t Expect A Get Rich Quick Scheme

I have seen numerous YouTube videos and blog posts on earning from blogs — shockingly as much as 6 figures.

To give you a background, I am not a full-time blogger nor do I have extensive background in writing. In fact, I work as a consultant and simply write when I have time to spare. Lately, I have been putting aside at least 1 hour to do some writing which is a schedule I can manage with.

Like I mentioned, the original intent of starting my tech tutorial blog was to put helpful content out there so monetization wasn’t the first line of thought. I understand that it would be great to have another source of income — who wouldn’t? I understand that it takes time and effort to put up and maintain a blog.

At this point, you need to understand that it isn’t a “get-rich-quick” scenario. You need to have an audience, consistent traffic, an email list, maybe even a digital product. All of those need time to grow.

You cannot create a digital product as early as Day 1 and expect people to purchase something or sign up especially if you just started. I am not a sales or marketing guru but I can tell you that it really takes time to build enough trust for people to purchase.

However, if you have a decent amount of monthly traffic, you can try to sign up for ad revenue, affiliate programs, etc. Bottom line is that starting a blog does not guarantee quick cash especially if it is a tech tutorial blog. Like all other things, it takes time to flourish.

Some parting words…

I say, go for it.

“Begin” — As the coffee mug says in the picture.

I would like to share that starting a tech tutorial blog was really rewarding for me.

I am thankful to create a platform that helps educate others.

I am also thankful that I am able to improve my skills — especially in communication.

Again, I am not the best writer. In fact, I have not formally published articles or books but I find that I am more comfortable with my writing. Being able to reword technical concepts and make it more “conversational” helped me communicate to clients effectively as a consultant.

I hope this helped. Good luck!