Interview With Malaysia’s First Full Time Blogger

An inspiration to those hoping to make a living out of their blog, Liew Cheon Fong of LiewCF.com is Malaysia’s first and possibly only full-time professional blogger. He was also kind enough to take time off his busy schedule to do a quick email interview with me.

You are seen as an icon to anyone in Malaysia who hopes to make a living off blogging. While success is definitely possible, the failure rate is extremely high. Is full time blogging something you would encourage others to do? and why?

Everyone has his/her own talent. Not everyone is suitable to become a full-time blogger. I strongly encourage everyone have some real working experience first. Before you jump into full-time blogging, I would suggest you to do part-time blogging first. Make sure you are able to make money from your part-time blogging. When the income of part-time blogging has become double of your full-time job salary, then you can start consider to become a full-time blogger. You should have a backup plan or enough saving before you decide to be a full-time blogger.

You are now enjoying a good measure of success. Can you elaborate on any difficulties you faced early on?

For a blogger, site traffic is very important. It is not easy to attract new visitors and keeps them returning to your blog. It takes effort to learn what your visitors want and satisfy them. English is not my mother tongue. Therefore, I spend more time than others to publish an entry but it is still full of mistakes. I am still learning in these areas :)

Some have critisised your command of English. Others are fond of the ‘Malaysianised’ style of writing you have. Do you think your current language skills hurt or helped you? and why?

Yes, this is a big problem which I am still trying to improve. Currently, I have a proofreader to help me correct some of the mistakes in my published posts. I’m not aware of anyone fond of my “style of writing” Haha! I don’t think my current poor language skills have helped me. I might even get more local press publicity if I had a better command of English.

Is LiewCF.com your first blog? How & why did you get started?

No, my first blog was LcFwebsite.com, but I dumped the domain name few years ago. My initial idea was to share my computing knowledge with friends, and to write an online diary.

What do you hope to accomplish with LiewCF.com in the long run?

I hope “LiewCF.com” will be mentioned when people are talking about Malaysian blogs. :)

Can you tell me what revenue programs have worked for you and what have not?

Can I put my referral links in this interview in this post? Just kidding. :P .These work for me: Google AdSense, Text Link Ads, Tribal Fusion, BlogAds, Chitika, FeedBurner Ad Network. These don’t work well enough for me: All kind of affiliate programs.

Can you give a rough indication as to how much of your traffic comes from Organic (search engines) vs Referral (website links)?

Search engines make up a large amount of traffic at LiewCF.com, and accounts for around 65% of total traffic. Referral traffic is around 15%. Thanks to my loyal readers, I get quite amount of direct/bookmark traffic (which make up the remainder of the traffic).

You have embarked on other projects as well like the Malaysia Bloggers Forum. Can you tell me how succesful that has been in terms of users/traffic and are you happy with them?

Malaysia Bloggers Forum is quite successful. I believe it is the biggest forum for Malaysian bloggers. Currently, we have 1,685 registered members and hundreds visitors per day.

What other projects are you planning to embark on in the coming future?

I plan to create my own blogging network and help bloggers to make money.

Any last bits of advice you have for any bloggers out there?

Be responsible about your content and to your readers. Do not get yourself into trouble because of your blogs. If you want to make money by blogging, please take note that it takes time and effort. Be patient, and you will get what you want. Good Luck!

Liew Cheon Fong is a professional blogger based in Johor, Malaysia. His main project LiewCF.com is an extremely popular tech blog with more than 1500 feed subscribers and thousands of daily visitors. His other web projects include:

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    • 19 Responses to 'Interview With Malaysia’s First Full Time Blogger'

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    1. Ashish Mohta said,

      on November 5th, 2006 at 8:19 pm

      Hey,
      Thats a real good finding you made.Its really intresting to know all about this.I wish i could become India’s Full time blogger but conditions are not the same.Good Work

      However I have started a page called as Blogger’s Pool.I have added your link there but you should check it out.I have added a new implimentation in it.The link is as follows http://www.technospot.net/blogs/?page_id=7

      Happy Blogging

    2. Thilak said,

      on November 6th, 2006 at 12:07 am

      I love to read stuff like these. Good one here…

      After reading this post, your blog found a sweet spot on my Feed Reader.. Keep going

    3. James Yeang said,

      on November 7th, 2006 at 8:16 am

      Thanks guys, will continue to source for more ‘people behind the tech’ for my interviews :)

    4. colbert said,

      on November 9th, 2006 at 12:06 pm

      possibly only full-time professional blogger. ?? come one…I became one in July 2006…

    5. James Yeang said,

      on November 9th, 2006 at 12:09 pm

      Colbert: I was considering that… But you’re not one now… right?

    6. Albert said,

      on November 14th, 2006 at 10:11 am

      I do not think when 65% of your traffic is because of search engines. Some of them are terrible, especially yahoo. Google knows its restrictions. On my site 70% of search engine visits a day is yahoo, and they also do NOT read robot.txt

    7. Malaysia Blogger said,

      on April 25th, 2007 at 5:14 pm

      Hi,
      i am new in the blogger world
      i just created my first blog called “Malaysia Alternative Voices” http://malaysiavoices.blogspot.com/
      i would like to learn from you on how i can earn money online and how to increase traffic to my website

      Regards

      Malaysia Blogger
      http://malaysiavoices.blogspot.com/

    8. Ray One said,

      on August 11th, 2007 at 12:31 am

      I just wanna congratulate you. I personally as owner of a website believe anyone could be a full time blogger if done properly. I am on my way to achieve full time online business with my website.
      Great….good luck.

    9. hanafi said,

      on October 5th, 2007 at 11:48 pm

      I am proud of you Liew CF.

    10. Hulkcame said,

      on October 8th, 2007 at 11:01 pm

      I don’t think that he is the first Malaysian to be full time blogger. There are irfan khairy and Gobala, not mentioning other unknown niche bloggers. Read it more here.

    11. came said,

      on October 8th, 2007 at 11:05 pm

      Owh, i am a full time blogger soon to be o and i believe there are more out here. Read my post at http://oceanincome.co.cc

    12. James Yeang said,

      on October 11th, 2007 at 9:48 am

      Hulkcame: Those other ppl make a bulk of their cash through affiliate sales rather than pure blogging, hence I’m drawing the difference…

    13. Hulkcame said,

      on October 16th, 2007 at 1:04 am

      “Those other ppl make a bulk of their cash through affiliate sales rather than pure blogging, hence I’m drawing the difference…”

      Are you sure of where you draw the line at the first place James?

      “Can you tell me what revenue programs have worked for you and what have not?

      Can I put my referral links in this interview in this post? Just kidding. :P .These work for me: Google AdSense, Text Link Ads, Tribal Fusion, BlogAds, Chitika, FeedBurner Ad Network. These don’t work well enough for me: All kind of affiliate programs.”

      Arent they the same? The name of the category those so called pure blogger gave might differ but it is essentially the same. Affiliates means you have an affiliation with an organization, and maybe the affiliation might be enhanced by activities of referring new members and posting links.

      It is the same, if you look at the basic principles of course! However, for those who might not have the ability to think deep and get the basic ideas instantly, you might think the other way around.

      And James, before you draw a line, please, i beg to you to be neutral. Sorry to say this, but sometimes idolizing others make you blind. As older generation might say “u r blocking it, the truth!”.

      Im sorry if this comment is a bit harsh on you James. I do respect you as an author and a man.
      Thank you.

    14. James Yeang said,

      on October 16th, 2007 at 1:31 am

      Hulkcame: I am neutral. Your bone of of contention is this: and I quote “I don’t think that he is the first Malaysian to be full time blogger. There are irfan khairy and Gobala, not mentioning other unknown niche bloggers”

      Well, let me defend my approach this from 2 angles.

      #1 timeframe:
      Look at the archives, and you’ll see that Gobala started in Mar 2006, and Irfan May 2006. LiewCF went full time BEFORE these other two started blogging.

      #2: Method of income.
      The difference I draw between LCF and Gobala and Irfan is that if LCF’s blog goes down - his income will be extremely compromised. The other two are internet marketeers who rely much more on affiliates and seminars etc. If their blog goes down, it won’t affect the main portion of their income.

      So there you go. But seriously, why be so finicky over terminology?

    15. Hulkcame said,

      on October 30th, 2007 at 4:40 pm

      Im sorry, i got it all mixed up. huhu..
      I thought Gobala started at in 2005.
      Anyway, i have to say that you are a good writer James. Sometimes i rebut others just to see whether they know exactly what they were saying but most cant even say anything,unlike you who seems to be very firms on your point. Job well done mate!

    16. Money Man said,

      on January 18th, 2008 at 4:14 pm

      What a great interview! Liew is the best. I like this interview very much. Thanks :)

    17. coolingstar9 said,

      on March 9th, 2008 at 9:41 am

      This interview really give us a lot of tips how to improve our blog site. Thanks for the interview and I would to extend my wishes to all bloggers a good success. Have a wonderful year 2008.

    18. 1800-teacher said,

      on March 13th, 2008 at 9:40 pm

      We currently producing e-workbooks and giving them away for free. We are also providing free online tutoring. Hope this will helpful to you all.

      From a friend from singapore

    19. Peter said,

      on March 23rd, 2008 at 3:56 pm

      Get Rich Quick Scam on way to Malaysia

      http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/xl-results-foundation-c55257.html

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