Keith Dsouza – Blogger, India

Keith Dsouza is a Mumbai based tech blogger. He blogs at Techie-Buzz which, Keith claims, to be one of the top 100 technology blogs in the world. He mostly blogs about technology and computers.

In his own words:

I am Keith Dsouza from Mumbai, the business capital of India. I was born on the 8th of October in the year 1982. I finished my graduation in 2003 and have been actively using the Internet since 1997. I am a software engineer by profession and work for a software company based in US. I have also worked at different companies earlier, rediff.com was my last company. I write on my favorite topics technology, computers, software, freeware and cricket among other things. I have also written for other popular blogs like WebLog Tools Collection and Blogging Tips along with guest posting for several other popular blogs. I have more than 10 years of experience working in the Information Technology Industry.

For those who don’t know you, can you tell us something about yourself?

Well, I am Keith Dsouza a Software Engineer by profession and the owner and Editor-in-Chief of Techie Buzz, one of the top 100 Technology Blogs in the World. I have been into blogging since late 2005 and enjoy it immensely. Right now, I head a team of several writers who dish out content day in and day out on Techie Buzz.

I am also a WordPress lover and have written several plugins for it. You can always find out more about me at my personal website.

Do you like oranges?

I like eating oranges, but my favorite fruit is raw mangoes, I love it, many classify it as a vegetable too, however, I love the khata-meetha taste of it.

How long have you been blogging? What are your favorite topics?

I have been into blogging since late 2005. Earlier I used to blog on technology content on my personal blog. However, I decided to move to a more tech related domain in 2006. Incidentally, it will also be the 4th birthday of http://techie-buzz.com on June 6th.
I am not a niche blogger as such and I do enjoy blogging in general, however, I do have my favorite in the form of technology. I also write about WordPress on weblogtoolscollection.com and other rants and issues on my personal blog at blog.keithdsouza.com.

Have you always wanted to be a blogger? What would you be if you weren’t a blogger?

When I was born and studied, blogging was a very lesser known thing. I came across blogging when I was 22, so you can imagine that I did not always want to be a blogger. These days blogging has become a glamorous thing, everyone wants to do it, however, not everyone has their mind in the right place. I have seen several people take up blogging to make money, however that is a wrong approach, start blogging about something you love, with time money will automatically come. Several of the bloggers who have this mindset quit because they could not make money, which again is not an easy thing to do.

Like I said earlier, I am a Software Engineer by profession and work full-time as a manager in a firm. Since blogging was not my full choice I cannot really tell you what I would have done if I were not one.

Bloggers need constant motivation to write. What keeps you going?

It is not about motivation always, once you have success, it is also about maintaining several things which are not usually related to writing or blogging. Many people treat blogging as a hobby, which is right for the majority of the people. However, after a period of time blogging is just like working your regular 9-5 job. Yes, you do get the flexibility to work when you want and how you want to, however, you can compare it to any other home-based entrepreneurs who decide to work from home.

There are things called as blogger blocks, these are basically phases where we can’t think about writing anything. These are pretty ok to happen and it is always fine.

About motivation, it could be anything and everything. I usually treat every small happening across the board as a motivation to do something better. If my blog gets 10 more visitors than last month it acts as a motivation to get 10 more, if it makes $1 more than last month it acts as a motivation.

However, I also treat negative traits as a motivation factor. If I made $10 less than last month, it motivates me to ensure that I make $20 more the next month.

It is really up to you what you use as a motivation to keep moving ahead, it cannot be positive things all the time and you have to also use negative happenings as props to keep moving ahead. Life is such that for every 1 good thing there is 1 bad thing and you have to learn to keep working with both of them. You just cannot only work with positive vibes all the time.

I just have to add that you should cherish every achievement and aim to do better, it is always good to lap up the limelight, however, with that you also need to plan on what better you can do in the future.

Have you ever fallen into any controversies?

Controversies are part of life, it is better to deal with it and end it, rather than talk about it.

Who are your favorite bloggers? What kind of relations do you have with them professionally?

I don’t have any favorite bloggers to name. However, I have a huge friend base in the blogging community. I started out with blogging when it was becoming famous in India, and from then I have made a lot of friends, many of whom I have personally met or interacted since 2005.

I would like to say that it has been quite a lot of fun knowing people from across India and the world who I would have never imagined to have known if it weren’t for blogging.

On my recent trip to India, I met several people who I have known for a few years now, and it was a great experience which I will always cherish. Of course, there are few more people who I would want to meet in future, but yes, I have definitely developed a great relationship with lots of people thanks to blogging.

What is your next big idea, your own Proud Idea?

Ideas are often best when done and then talked about. I have some ideas in my head right now which I want to start working on soon, however, I am not finding enough time right now. I do have the experience to execute ideas. Several of my ideas have died easy deaths because of the lack of time, however, in future I definitely do plan to execute the ideas I have and bring it to the forefront.

Do you think your blogging skills have improved since you had started? On what grounds? How do you rate yourself among your peers?

Well blogging skills is not just about writing, it is about several things. I definitely think that I am not the same Keith who started out in 2005 and have definitely improved leaps and bounds.

For me it is not just blogging. In everything you do, you have to improve yourself every day. It could be with cooking where you try out a different recipe or where you try to experiment rather than doing the same old thing every day.

Over time, whatever you do will have a saturation point and you have to innovate yourself to be able to sustain the same thing for next few months or years. I have learnt to innovate and try out lot of different things. Innovation does not have to be something big, it could be a small change too, however, that will give a fresh breath of air to what you do.

Well, I cannot definitely rate myself, that is best left to someone else.

3 things we don’t know about you?

• Though I am a commerce graduate, I never attended regular college. I did my correspondence and worked while doing it.
• Though many people think I am always on the computer, I spend a good amount of time off it. I read at-least 2 novels every month. I am a very avid fiction reader.
• I don’t like sweets much. I am not a ice-cream and rasgulla guy. I love spicy and tangy food more than sweets. However, I do enjoy ice-creams occasionally, however, not always.

Your facebook profile/page: http://facebook.com/keithdsouza
Twitter: @keithdsouza