Behind the Scenes at Sundar.com - Enhancing My Mission with Podia Blogging

From time to time, I have helped fellow creators in the area of healing, self-care, self-improvement, meditation, and self-discovery with their technical choices. In this blog post, I thought I would give a behind-the-scenes peek into what technology platform I chose for my offerings, and why. In that context, I thought it will be helpful to share my experience with blogging, and specifically the new blogging feature now available on the Podia platform.

My journey as a creator

I am an author, mentor, healer, and spiritual teacher. My offerings aid in your self-discovery and center around self-care and healing, self-transformation, and Self-Realization. You can see more about me here: Sundar Bio.

When I started on this journey to help others be the authentic form of themselves, I had a clear vision of the ways in which I could be of service to others.

I branded my offerings under the umbrella of "Being YOU with Sundar Kadayam."

Selecting a tech platform for my work

I was a tech entrepreneur for 34+ years. I had a clear idea of the kind of tech platform that I'd need to run my business. I evaluated many approaches and platforms that could help. I looked at tools which could do a few of the things I wanted, but left me to figure out the rest on my own. On the other extreme, there was always the extensible WordPress platform with endless choices of plugins to extend the core functionality. In the end, I chose Podia (the platform that runs my site, https://sundar.com).

Why Podia?

What I love about my work is engaging with the creative flow, which, gratefully, has been enormous. This is where I like to spend my time on, and should spend my time on, to provide the greatest value to my audience.

In turn, I needed to simplify all the things I had to do to get the online presence and operations working seamlessly with minimal effort. This meant that my platform would have to address the following.

I needed a website builder and a blog. I needed the tools for creating digital courses. I needed the ability to offer digital products and some physical products. I also needed the ability to offer coaching, talks, and webinars. I needed integrated email marketing. I needed integrated community features. Affiliate marketing would also be a big plus. Integrated media storage is mandatory.

Podia aims to be an all-in-one platform for creators like me. I tested it and found that it was not a perfect fit (no platform out there has been a perfect fit for my needs), but had many things that it did well, with a design oriented towards simplicity, and functionality that didn't try to do everything that another tool might.

I had to compromise on the lack of blogging for instance. I have written well over 150 blog posts associated with healing (on a custom blog platform at IHReiki, and on my standalone Wordpress blog - The Sharer) and Awakening, Non-duality and Self-Realization (on my own standalone WordPress-based blog - The Nootherness Blog). I wanted to blog from day-one on my main website, but ended up compromising on it.

But I got a competent, easy to use, no-code website creator with unlimited pages in the process. The website builder integration with free online media sources like Unsplash is very convenient. I got a powerful online course creator and a simple tool to create digital products. The integrated email marketing is a huge plus. These have definitely made my work process simple and ongoing operational effort low. The superb support from Podia is definitely a big differentiator.

Blogging is here on Podia

To Podia's credit, they have been enhancing the platform steadily.

Just a few days ago, I was thrilled to receive an invitation to beta test the new Podia Blogging facility.

My first experience has been promising.

The initial blog setup was simple.

I created my first blog post (The Power of Silence) quite easily. Most of the things I've expected as a blogger are here. Writing rich text posts with formatting are simple with the recently revamped text editor that is at the heart of writing blog posts on Podia. Adding images within the post was simple once I found out the magical key that unlocked it - type '/' on a new line, and it pops down a menu from which you can choose what media to embed, including select content from hundreds of sites. Powerful!

You can also specify the title, description, and image that is used by search engines when they present your blog post in search results (necessary for SEO - search engine optimization).

All in all, a decent experience with my first blog post on my Podia-powered site: The Power of Silence.

You can check out my blog: Being You Blog.

What's missing with Podia Blogging so far?

I'm used to adding tags to my posts (with other blogging tools). This is invaluable to self-organize blog posts by tags (to find and present related posts), and tease the visitor / reader with more related content from my blog of potential interest to them. 

Another feature, which is there in Podia Plogging, but not working quite right yet, is how social media tools create a preview of your post when you add a link to the blog post in your social media posts. This is probably a simple bug that may be fixed by the time you read it.

A blog search tool is standard in most blogging platforms. That is necessary when you have dozens, if not hundreds of posts on your blog, for users to find content on your blog.

Other features:

• A series of social media sharing widgets, like/dislike, and typical functionality attached to a blog post to share your post on social media

• With tagging supported, use tags to present a related posts section

• Ability to duplicate a post 

• RSS feed url

Podia is continually updating the platform slowly and steadily. While I'd prefer a faster pace of innovation myself, I do value that my site has been down only one time since I've been on Podia, and that there's a definite beauty in the simplicity and user friendliness of most of the features which materialize on Podia. If you're not a techie like me, you'll probably find Podia's pacing on introducing new tools and features to be just right for you.

"But wait, why should I blog in the first place?"

If you've not blogged before, you may wonder why you have to consider blogging as part of your strategy for connecting with your audience.

Much has been written on the benefits of blogging in general. But is blogging valuable for a creator / entrepreneur like you and me?

Here are ten reasons why you should care about blogging if you're a creator:

1. Audience Building and Engagement: Blogs provide a platform for creators to share your thoughts, insights, and stories, helping to build a community of followers who are interested in your content and offerings. Regular updates can keep the audience engaged and encourage interactions through comments and shares.

2. Personal Branding: Blogging allows creators to showcase their expertise and interests in a particular niche, helping to establish their personal brand. This can be particularly beneficial for you if you are looking to position yourself as a thought leader in your field.

3. SEO Benefits: Regularly publishing high-quality content on a blog can significantly improve a website's search engine optimization (SEO), making it easier for people to find the creator's content through search engines. This can lead to increased visibility and traffic.

4. Monetization Opportunities: A successful blog can be monetized in various ways, such as through advertising, sponsored posts, affiliate marketing, and selling digital products or services. This can provide a steady income stream for creators.

5. Creative Outlet: Blogging serves as a creative outlet for writers, artists, photographers, and other creatives to express themselves and share their work with a broader audience.

6. Networking Opportunities: Blogs can open up opportunities for networking with other bloggers, businesses, and professionals in the same or related fields. This can lead to collaborations, guest blogging opportunities, and other partnerships.

7. Portfolio Building: In creative fields, a blog can serve as a portfolio to showcase your work, projects, and achievements to potential clients or employers. If, like me, you blog on multiple platforms and write on multiple social media outlets, you want a consolidated writing portfolio, I'd recommend Authory - You can see my writing portfolio and collections of my articles at: Sundar's Articles.

8. Skill Development: The process of managing a blog involves a range of skills, including writing, editing, web design, SEO, and social media marketing. This can be an excellent way for you to develop and refine these skills.

9. Feedback and Learning: Blogging allows creators to receive feedback from their audience, providing valuable insights that can help improve their content and offerings. It also encourages continuous learning and adaptation to new trends and technologies.

10. Control Over Content: Unlike social media platforms where algorithms can greatly influence visibility, a blog gives you complete control over your content, how it's presented, and how it's distributed.

In summary, blogging can be a powerful tool for creators to expand their reach, build their brand, engage with their audience, and open up new opportunities for growth and monetization.

With so many benefits, can you afford not to have blogging as part of your strategy?

Going forward...

I plan to use Podia's blogging to offer relevant content to my audience, and help them connect to the offerings that may be valuable for them.

Keeping a regular blog posting routine going is vital, but also challenging - not very different than keeping a regular exercise or meditation routine.

How to keep a regular blogging routine going? Well! That's definitely a great question and demands a great, thoughtful blog post. 

Drop a comment below if this post was useful! This is not what I typically write about. I write about self-care, healing, self-transformation, meditation, inner peace, silence, Self-Realization, and Enlightenment. However I'm happy to share my skills or experience or recommendations openly. Would you like to know something specific about blogging or any other related tech stuff, please ask in the comment section below or reach out to me via the chat function on the site.

It's time now to blog on Podia. Hope you begin, and enjoy your journey!