Merdeka! Today is the day where Malaya gained its Independence from the British. So many years ago and a few years after that, Sabah & Sarawak joined in the fun, forming Malaysia. Anyway, I was born many years after that in 1972 and then, coincidentally in August of 2006 I started this blog, not so seriously at first but more of a 'Hey, I can write stuff like this too!'. And so I did, and today, I am pleased to report to you that we have climbed into the Top 100 Auto Blogs Every Car Enthusiast Must Read | Automobile & Car Blogs on Feedspot.com.
Two things that surprised me about this new piece of news. Motoring Malaysia was first placed on this list of 200 Top Auto Blogs (you can see the Top 200 badge to the right of this blog if you open via a desktop browser) in March 2018. Now, the surprise was that we moved up the list! We are now into the TOP 100 of that said list at number #93. I am very pleased with this outcome.
The second surprise was that Feedspot.com actually keeps track and updates this ranking. So my supposed hard work has paid off in someone's eyes. I have to thank Feedspot for this as it is indeed a surprise and I was actually pleasantly surprised to be included on the list as I never submitted the blog officially to be judged. So back in March 2018 I was truly surprised at the honour. So Feedspot does update their listing to reflect on a website's performance.
So on that note...we are now still only the second Malaysian based Automotive website to be featured on Feedspot. The first is of course, Malaysia's best web based portal on most things automotive - Paultan.org. You cannot go wrong reading stuff from them as they do thorough and proper coverage in terms of news or what has been recently launched. Even motoring journalists end up looking through stuff on Paultan to settle an argument on the specification of a car that's recently launched. So it is indeed quite an honour to be the second Malaysian website to be on a list.
So what has Motoring Malaysia achieved since Independence? No, just joking, we aren't as old as that obviously. Well, here is a brief rundown on what I have achieved with Motoring Malaysia.
But first, Do bear in mind that this is essentially an experiment on whether I can do it like most British Motoring Journalists - This statement is the drive for me to make Motoring Malaysia what it is today. I grew up reading British motoring journos like LJK Setright, Steve Cropley, John Barker, James May and of course, Jeremy Clarkson.
It was all about good writing for me. It was not only about reviewing a car, but painting either a romantic picture, or sordid picture about it. An example would be an opinion about how sublime a car like the Porsche 911 is to drive, or how a Nissan could have a name like a venereal disease or like a Hokkien swear word. It was just humorous and also for good reading at the same time. It was also an opinion on a car, truck or bus of sorts. So that brands would hopefully never, ever make that same sorry excuse of a car again. or make more of something incredibly good again.
So yes, Motoring Malaysia started on that footing. And thankfully, it still is. I get to write about what I want, or how I feel the vehicle makes me feel. It is that connection that I have with that vehicle or the lack of such with others. I would also like to thank the car brands that have supported me and my quest for somewhat unbiased automotive writing. Of course, there will be some biasness in my writing to what I favour. This is because I may like apples to oranges. It's as simple as that.
To date, I have, on my own grown Motoring Malaysia to be more than just one blog outlet on the great internet. It has pages on:
YouTube - Motoring Malaysia - 1,200+ subs to date
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/motoringmalaysia/ -1,200+ subs to date
Twitter - https://twitter.com/motoring_MY - Not many due to lack of pushing stuff there.
The YouTube channel is pretty unique, I seriously started pushing again after getting demonetised by YouTube (i.e YouTube wasn't allowing me to make money from advertisements) in April 2018 due to lack of subscribers. But in December 2018, I've decided to go back and create more quality videos and since Early July, the Motoring Malaysia YouTube channel has hit over 1,000 subs and have gotten back its status. I gained about 600 subscribers to date and we are now at 1,200 subs and climbing. The past 28 days the videos there have gotten 26,400 views with 62,400 minutes of viewing time. Not too shabby for a new channel.
In terms of this blog, we have an average of 12,000 to 14,000 unique visitors to the website. We also get an average page view rate of between 50,000 to 70,000 page views per month. To date, over 3.4 million page views.
So from all of that, I have managed to garner some acolades...praise and maybe some brickbats...I don't know...not everyone likes what you are doing. But in terms of praise or recognition:
Best Auto Blog at the 2014 Malaysia Social Media Awards (Something which Paultan also won)
Best Auto Blog - Top 200 Feedspot.Com in March 2018. - We are now in the TOP 100!!!! #93
85 Best Auto Blogs to Follow 2018 - Parts Catalog - The best thing about this is that they are an American based company and don't even export to Malaysia!!!! Motoring Malaysia is the only Malaysian blog on that list!
Of course, don't ask me why or how this has happened. I have not paid anyone anything nor have I boosted any of Motoring Malaysia's blog, channel or any other account. As I said, this is somewhat like a test for me to see how far I can go being as true to myself as I can. So far, it has been successful yes?
Success is usually down to some hard work, a lot of smart work and also a dose of sheer luck involved. This is my recipe on how to make it in terms of getting some recognition in what you do. Passion is good and I think the embrace of change is also necessary.
Pic:Aaron Lee
I am 47 years young, and I had decided to expand Motoring Malaysia into the world of video making. It was basically adding more to my plate but it was also what I wanted to do. In 2017 when I started doing videos I told myself that I wanted to do videos of a certain quality, a certain standard. I actually looked up the best vloggers of YouTube. Guys like Casey Neistat, Kai Wong and other tech reviewers who weren't doing automotive vids but were those that upped the ante in terms of one man production. It was a balance which I needed to learn and it seems to have paid off as I basically learnt video editing, videography, getting the correct equipment and other stuff needed for run and gun videography.
I do think that YouTube is the future of this blog and the future of how automotive reviews will go. While written stuff will also be searched out, there is a super fast growing market where the audience does not like reading. It may be sad, but this, is the future. I remember either reading, viewing or listing to a talk on the fact that video consumption will eventually be 70% of the total internet's consumption of bandwidth. This is the future and an old fart like me is getting the hang of it.
It is about re-inventing yourself for the future. With this, there may be some semblance of success.
So there you have it. A brief history and an update on how Motoring Malaysia is doing. Thank you for the support folks! Truly appreciate it!!!!
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