Rodel and his Argonaut

Name: Rodel Cuaton

Url Address: www.argonautquest.wordpress.com

Twitter: argonautquest

 FB :  argonautquest

Fan Page: The Argonaut, argomautquestmultiply.com

Philosophy in life:  You become what you believe!

Tell us something random about yourself.

A professional Chemical Engineer who landed a job in sales, old-time chess player, amateur photographer, self proclaimed athlete, trying hard mountaineer and a certified tour-lover.

ABOUT YOUR BLOG

1. How, When and Why did you get into blogging industry?

I have been blogging since 2008 through the old networking site, friendster and then to mulitply and eventually  moved to wordpress in April 2009.  I was into running, mountaineering and started loving photography back then and I have decided to document all the things that I love to do to inspire people to do the same.

2. How you came up with the name for it?

Argonaut is a character in Roman and Greek Mythology.  Back in my schooldays, I love reading those kinds of literature and when I created my blog I thought of something related to it.  In my list were Hercules (No I’m not that strong), then Mercury (Nah, it’s already taken by a planet) until I made up Argonaut.  Have you seen or have read Jason and the Argonauts? They were the crew in the ship called Argo; hence the name.  I consider them people with courage to journey beyond expectation, so that’s actually what I want people to see in my blog.

3. Do you blog for a job full time? What else do you do aside from blogging?

Blogging for me is just one of my hobbies.  I write when I’m inspired and when I feel like it.  I am a Chemical Engineer by profession; a few of my interests are running, swimming and photography.

4. Did you choose to start blogging directly about your chosen niche or because you just saw a good way to make money from blogging?

I haven’t really thought of making money in my blog yet.  As I have previously mentioned, I created my blog because I want to document most of the things that I do; I want my blog to be able to leave a legacy to my friends, and to my family, like joining an Ultramarathon or a Triathlon, going to a place where some people might have not gone before.  Things like that.

5. How much time do you spend on work related to your blog(s) each week?

When I was starting, I was blogging every week or twice a week.  I just don’t want to write everyday because I don’t want my readers to be eventually bored on it.  I blog twice a month now and when I’m just too busy, at least a month you should be able to see one.

6. What do you find to be your biggest struggle as a blogger?

One of the biggest struggles that I have in blogging is how to express my feelings.  I don’t want lengthy posts for I feel that it might be too uninteresting if I do it that way.  I sometimes struggle in proofreading my own work; there are times that some of my friends are sending me mails telling me that I have a some typo error or my subject-verb agreement seems unfit for the sentence (I guess I need to go back on my English 101!).  I really appreciate those people who correct me.  Hopefully there is not much typos in my blog.

7. How does blogging help you, in terms of life and career?

Blogging helped me to push more, to beat my old self.  Whenever I look back on my old posts,  I am pretty much amazed on how far I have gone and on how much improvements I have made.  It’s like me saying WOW on all of these.   It also helped me to become more optimistic in all my endeavors.

 8. How did you get to where you are now with your blog(s)? To what do you attribute your success? And what is the next goal you hope to achieve?

Well, I can’t really say that my blog is now a successful blog.  Glad to know that it has 35K hits ever since I started though, but I think what attributes to my success is also learning other people’s blogs.  When you read theirs’ and learned that you have the same passion, they will also check out yours. Let’s say, one of my recent trips or one of my experiences about certain things. Believe me, it’s really interesting when both of you had the same experience.

9. Where do you see your blog(s) and yourself in 5 years?

I see my blog five years from now to be a book!  Maybe I can compile the most interesting stuffs I had, will still have and finally create a book out of it.  I’ve been planning on that ever since.

10. One of the hardest things for beginner bloggers is getting traffic. What tips can you give bloggers to drive traffic to a new blog?

If you are really into money making, I must say that you should really know how to market your blog properly; create a facebook page.  Do not ask people you don’t know much to make them like it.  It might annoy them and will never really bother to click it and they will think you are too desperate to increase the number of your visitors.  Get at least one sponsor and maybe have a mini-game where they can get valuable prizes. Don’t just do games that will make people look invaluable when they participate.

11. What advice would you give to new bloggers wanting to start blogging and help them start out on a path to success?

In my opinion, blogging is like selecting a course in a university.  Ask yourself, what do you want?  What will I write?  Will it be something that I can maintain and talk about more?  You don’t want to end-up losing your interest in your own blog and eventually never updating it.

12. Describe your blog in 10 words.

All about running, multi-sport, travelling, photography and believing you can.

A multi-award-winning blogger and advocate for OFWs and investment literacy; recipient of the Mass Media Advocacy Award, Philippine Expat Blog Award, and Most Outstanding Balikbayan Award. Her first book, The Global Filipino Bloggers OFW Edition, was launched at the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait. A certified Registered Financial Planner of the Philippines specializing in the Stock Market. A recognized author of the National Book Development Board of the Philippines. Co-founder of Teachers Specialist Organization in Kuwait (TSOK) and Filipino Bloggers in Kuwait (FBK). An international member of writing and poetry. Published more than 10 books.  Read more: About DiaryNiGracia

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