Ravi Dixit Interview: Make Successful Full-Time Blogging

Hey, welcome to BloggingRay Interview Series (BRIS).

Today our guest is Ravi Dixit.

He is full time blogger and you can learn more about full time blogging from this interview.

Interview of Ravi Dixit from StayMeOnline

Without any further delay, let’s jump into the interview.

Q1. Hey Ravi, Can you introduce yourself to my community?

First of all, thanks for inviting me to your Interview series, Venkat!

Hello, Guys! I’m Ravi Dixit, founder of StayMeOnline.com and a few other blogs on various niches. I started my blogging journey in May 2016 as a part-time blogger along with my full-time call center job.

StayMeOnline is my primary blog where I share tips about blogging, affiliate marketing, SEO and other related topics. I help beginners to start and make decent money every month from blogging.

Along with blogging, I also own an Indian eCommerce store which I started in January 2021… I started it just for testing how things work in e-commerce and also to learn Facebook Ads.

The store has grown well and making decent money for me every single month.

Q2. What is your educational background?

I am a management student by education, I took Commerce stream after my 10th and pursued the BBA(bachelor of business administration) for graduation degree.

I pursued BBA because I always wanted to start something my own, yes business. 

Q3. When do you jump into full-time blogging? What makes you come to full-time blogging?

I jumped into full-time blogging in July 2019, when I quit my job at a web services company where I work as a Process Associate.

There was a plan in my mind which I made at the starting of my blogging journey, that when I will reach the 5x income of what I am getting paid in my full-time office job. I will quit my job and start blogging full-time.

I reached this milestone in July 2019 so I followed my plan and quit my job and started blogging full-time.

Q4. What are the challenges you are facing as a full-time blogger?

The most challenging thing for me as a full-time blogger is to keep myself fit. I always failed to make a habit of exercising daily…

Also, having a proper working routine of course. These are the two challenges that I am facing as a full-time blogger. 

Q5. When is the right time to jump into full-time blogging?

The right time to jump into full-time blogging is when you start getting reliable income each month from your blog. Because you always need financial support to manage your monthly expenses and if you are not generating reliable income from blogging then it does not make sense to quit your job and jump to full-time blogging.

You should start getting at least 2X to 3X income than your office job from your blog. That will be a good time to take blogging full-time. 

Q6. How are you facing society as a full-time blogger?

It was tough honestly at the start when everyone is seeing me at home all day, they often ask me, are you not working anywhere? Are you jobless?

Even some of them suggested jobs 😆, It was because they were unaware of what I am doing. And it was hard a lot to explain to them what I do to earn my living by sitting at home.

But a lot of things changed now, people started taking online income seriously, also I have explained this to some of my close persons. So, it is not that much tough now as it was earlier.

Q7. Google Adsense vs Affiliate Marketing?

Always, Affiliate Marketing… I am not saying that Google AdSense isn’t a good blog monetization option but it has lots of downsides as well:

1. Your earning depends on your niche and location where most of the traffic coming from
2. Ads placed on the blog doesn’t provide a good readers experience. This was the reason I quit Google Adsense
3. Earning potential is very low
4. You can not start earning from day one with AdSense. You need to have good traffic first

Q9. What is your daily routine? Can you share some productivity tips?

Honestly, I always failed in sticking with a routine. I tried a lot but never had a proper routine. But yes, when it comes to working productively I always make a plan to spend at least 8 to 12 hours on blogging every single day.

I took it as a full-time job. Also, I always make a list of tasks(according to their urgency) before sleeping every night for the next day. 

So, it helps me to be organized every day, I know what tasks I need to accomplish till the end of the day.

Here are some productivity tips for bloggers:

• Always keep your working desk organized and clean, it really helps in increasing productivity. 
• Take short breaks of 10-20 minutes in between, it will help you to get your mind refreshed. You can take it after every 2 to 3 hours of continuous work.
• Use ResueTime, which is a chrome extension that will track your time, where you’re spending most of your time online. It’s free to use, also has a premium version available which gives more features. 
• Make a list of tasks every night(according to their urgency and importance) that you need to complete the next day.
• Choose a good place to work, it should be distraction-free. 
• Complete your most difficult task at the starting of the day, leave rest for the end when you will have low energy.

Q10. What are the major revenue sources of StayMeOnline?

On StayMeOnline, I am not using Google AdSense from the start. My primary focus is Affiliate Marketing. So, my major revenue sources are:

• Affiliate Marketing
• Sponsored posts
• Other sponsorships 

Q11. What’s the story behind the selection of StayMeOnline name?

It is because of Society, after completing my 10th class. I started investing my time in learning about Blogging and other similar topics because I made my plan to start my blog but at that time, I couldn’t because of not having a laptop or proper internet connection but I never stopped my learning.

My relatives and other family known people started complaining to my father about my future and I am wasting my time on the internet the entire day, and blah blah blah…

But my father always supports me, then and now.

So, Stay Me Online has a meaning for me. It is saying other people let me stay online because I am doing something great there.

That’s how StayMeOnline came into the picture.

Q12. Which books do you recommend for aspiring bloggers?

Here are a few books that I recommend reading:

1. Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki
2. The One Thing by Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan
3. Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy
4. The Magic of Thinking Big by Schwartz, David J
5. The Seven Spiritual Laws Of Success by Deepak Chopra

Q13. How much time did it take you to make the first $1000 from StayMeOnline and How do make it?

It took me around 2.5 years to earn a total of $1000 from my blog. I got my first dollar after 1 year and 7 months from starting my blogging journey. It was an affiliate payout from one of the affiliate programs I was promoting at that time.

It pumped up my motivation level to the moon and motivated me to make more money because first income is always amazing whether you earn it online or through your office job. 

My primary source was Affiliate Marketing because I stopped Google AdSense after 6 months of starting my blog, as it was not performing well for me. From then, my primary focus shifted to Affiliate Marketing and sponsored posts.

Q14. For new bloggers, How much time does it take to make $500/month? What efforts he has to put?

It totally depends on the time and effort he invests in his blog. As in my case, I was working full-time also and rarely get a few hours to work on the blog on daily basis. 

It can take anywhere between 1 year to 3 years for someone to reach $500 per month from blogging. Because blogging requires time and effort at a high level, especially at the beginning when you have a completely new blog, nobody knows about it.

When you are starting, you must invest your time when doing niche research. Because niche plays a crucial role in the success of a blog. Your niche should be your strength, a topic you are an expert in and also passionate about the same.

Something you can work on without getting bored, that will be your perfect niche.

Networking plays an important role in Blogging,  you can not fly alone. Especially when you are starting, so focus on networking with other fellow bloggers.

You can use the following tips to get connected with the other bloggers and leverage the power of networking:

• Use blog commenting, it really works
• Follow them on social media, join their social groups and participate in discussions
• Conduct their interviews, invite them on roundup posts
• Guest post on their blogs and also invite them to your blog for guest posts

These are some quick tips that will help you in networking with fellow bloggers. 

Q15. Are there any cons with full-time blogging?

As everything has two sides, good & bad. Does full-time blogging also. Here are a few cons of full-time blogging I experienced:

• It would be hard for you to keep yourself in shape because you will be spending most of your time in front of computer sitting on a chair
• Also, your eyes may get affected and it may bring the eyeglasses
• You may feel lonely because social interaction becomes very less for bloggers working full-time from home
• You may lack discipline

Q16. What monetization methods do you suggest for bloggers?

Affiliate marketing is booming, it is the best method to monetize a blog and make a decent income. 

There are plenty of other monetization methods are available such as Google Adsense, Digital course selling, consultancy etc. But affiliate marketing works like a charm.

Everyone first starts with Google AdSense, so I did too. But after around 6 months, I stopped using Google AdSense and focused on affiliate marketing primarily.

But that doesn’t mean, I am not using Google AdSense at all. I have Google AdSense enabled on my tech blog which is working well for me.

In the starting, I suggest starting with Google AdSense also joining the affiliate programs within your niche so you can promote their products as well. 

Affiliate Marketing & Google AdSense are the best option to proceed with.                                                       

Q17. Can you share some tips for successful full-time blogging?

Here are some tips from my experience for successful full-time blogging:

• Choose your niche carefully, because the niche is very crucial in blogging.
• Don’t jump into full-time blogging without a reliable source of income or until your blog starts generating good money.
• Invest in premium tools so it helps you in growing your blog
• Have collaboration with other bloggers in the same niche
• Invest in your learning to increase your knowledge
• Have a proper daily working routine
• Get a good working space or have an office 

Q18. Where to contact you?

Anyone can contact me through my Social Handles:

1. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meetravidixit
2. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meetravidixit
3. Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/meetravidixit
4. Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/staymeonlineofficial

Conclusion

I hope this interview will help you.

If you have questions, let me know in the comments.

If you found this interview helpful, spread it on social media.

Thank you.