Interview With Saad Hamid – Founder Of Sizlopedia

Saad is one of our top young bloggers, that's not surprising when you find out his blog had over 700,000 unique visitors last month which earned him over $8,500! Saad shares with us some great advice and tips that he has picked up in the last two years blogging. First off – can we have a little background information on you Saad – Where you live? How old you are? (if you don't mind answering) What motivates you? What inspires you?

I am an engineering student from Pakistan pursuing his bachelors in the field of Telecommunications. I turned 20 back in October last year and honestly feel quite sad about losing my teenage life (Lol).

Technology itself has been my biggest inspiration.
 
Other Questions:
 
1) Tell us about your main project, Sizlopedia ? Why did you launch Sizlopedia? Where are you at now with Sizlopedia?

Sizlopedia.com was launched back in January 2007 as a platform to share my interests and discoveries. With time, it has evolved into a technology-only blog focusing on software, operating systems, gadgets and web applications.

I find Sizlopedia.com quite successful as a blog not because I am the author running it, but because that's what people tell me about it. I find that the content I share on my blog has it's own taste which is very much unique as compared to other technology blogs.

2) Sizlopedia has a vast amount of great content, what advice would you give a blogger trying to find new stories for their blog and producing new great content everyday?
 
I personally believe that 'reading' is the key to producing great content. The more you read, the more ideas you get and when you mold those ideas into the right words, you make exceptionally great content which people really love to read.

3) Last month Sizlopedia brought in over 700,000 Unique Visitors, what advice would you give a young entrepreneur trying to drive traffic to your blog?

Driving traffic to your blog is no different to standing in middle of a busy street and attracting the crowd from around to watch your show.

You need to be unique in presentation and above all, you need to understand the needs of the users. Creativity and patience are two other factors which are never to be forgotten when it comes to driving traffic to your blog.

4) Earlier when we talked you told me you were able to earn over $8,500 last month from 700,000 unique visitors, how did you manage to do this? What works well and what doesn't when monetize high traffic blogs?

Much of the revenue I generate on Sizlopedia.com is using Google AdSense ads. In case of AdSense, it all comes down to how well-positioned the ads are and a point to be kept in mind is that the blog must not be overdone with ads.

Blogs having a pile of ads all around them tend to repel users and the user might not even visit the blog ever again. So make sure to put ads at the right place, such that they blend in with the design and colors of your blog.

5) I understand that you blog nearly every day, what are the benefits of blogging on a regular basis?

Blogging on a regular basis may help in many ways. From one perspective, regular blogging can help gain a lot of loyal and regular readers for the blog who would like to keep checking back for regular updates.

From another view, it may also help is Search Engine Optimization as most web crawlers (such as the Google spider) would usually check back more often if the blog is updated on a regular basis. This keeps your content well-indexed in the search engines.

6) You are one of Retire at 21's top young bloggers , do you think blogging is one of the best ways for a young entrepreneur to get online and start making money and why?

It definitely is. Even for a person like me, living in a country with less-awareness about a revenue medium like this, I have found Blogging to be one of the best professions.

Start blogging with passion and you will eventually start making money too.

7) What do you consider your greatest accomplishment to date and what did you learn from this accomplishment?

I wouldn't focus on any particular accomplishment here but in general, blogging has helped me become the man that I probably would never have become otherwise. Its not the money, rather the power of communication that makes me unique to all young people around me and I take that as the biggest accomplishment of all.

I speak with facts, deliver words with confidence and my word really counts in the technology industry.

Do you have any suggestions for coping with set-backs, negative experiences?

As you grow and evolve, you experience failures which is a natural process. Never let failures push you back.

I personally take failures to be the aftermath of a failed experiment and the best way to get back on track, is to create a whole new path and experience more.
 
9) How do you keep your business focus – Do you have any suggestions for entrepreneurs who are experiencing challenging times?

In the start I found it quite difficult to manage between my online work, my studies and my social life. But assigning proper priority levels to tasks helps you in managing time and keeping a focus on everything.
 
10) Is there anyone that you look up to and model yourself on? (You can name more than one person)

Its hard to say as I have never been inspired to blogging through a person or a web-celebrity. It was all part of a self-experiment.

Though there are people who have supported me a lot in my journey including my friends and family and I really thank them for this.

11) Do you have any favourite business related or blogging related books that you can recommend to other entrepreneurs?

Books are old-fashioned resources of knowledge and information, thats what I believe. For everything you want to know, we have Google now.
 
12) What is the best advice you have ever been given?

"Never let success inject the poison of arrogance in your blood"
 
13) You are one of the most famous Young Entrepreneurs in the world today  – based on your experiences, what advice would you give to a Young Entrepreneur starting their first business today?

Focus on your passion and always treat the money as a luxury.

Start a business not because it will earn you more rather because it will earn more from you. And try not to lose focus ever.
 
14) What do you like best about the Internet?

Internet is like a maze with no entrance and no exits. The best thing about the Internet is there is always something new to explore and discover.
 
15) What do you like least about the Internet?

Freedom of speech with no control and content theft. Not to mention the Spam.
 
16) Have you any plans (personal or business) that you can share with us about your future plans / goals / lifetime goals?  

As of now, I plan to put more focus on the development of Sizlopedia.com and hire professional writers to assist me in the writing. I do also have plans to start a web startup focused on blogs soon.

As for my life, I plan to continue my work and support my family in the way best I can.