When we started writing, we did it as a hobby. I wanted to impress the friend who asked me to create the blog. Personally, I had no idea about blogging but I started anyway. I created a group on WhatsApp where I shared some of my posts. I knew I had the capability of putting words together but looking back some 12 months ago, I did not know we were going to evolve so quickly. For the record, I am not a motivational speaker. Truth is, sometimes I need motivation more than anyone. It takes me longer to get things done and it is a part of me but when we started taking the blog and writing more seriously, it changed our lives in many ways. I am not famous or a millionaire yet, I have not received any nominations but the truth about all this is that, there is a sense of satisfaction that comes to you when you accomplish something worthwhile. Satisfaction, to me, has not been monetary value or possessions but the fact that people are being touched by your work. Take this from me, if you want to know how good you are, start something on your own. You don't need to always have capital to start but just start it and put your passion and back into it. I never wanted to share this story but I guess "Desperate times call for desperate measures". I used to share my pieces frequently with my colleagues at work. One day, my supervisor called me and said I had to put a stop to sharing my work because my colleagues read my stories more than they did his mails. I was astonished but I had to obey. I couldn't possibly tell my colleagues the main reason for hoarding my work from them but eventually, they got so puffed up and almost lynched me. So I started sending the work to them individually. The recipients kept growing and almost everyday, I got a new mail from a new colleague asking me to add them up to the mailing list. I wondered what made them so intrigued and one of them told me, "The suspense is too much so I can't wait to see what will happen next". I learn a lot from them when they sit to chat (unknown to them). The moral here is, sometimes, you don't need to find clients, just do your best and your clients would find you.
When I started the blog, I used to write thinking my readership base was going to be in just my home country but I had the shock of my life when during our early days, I looked at our page view locations and I found 10 people reading from Indonesia. I was so delighted. My pieces really did mean something even to people living beyond the shores of my country. From then on, I fine-tuned my pieces to make sense to people from all nations. Here too, the point is, we need to be versatile in our dealings. Our blog now has readers from over 20 countries and that is a huge achievement. I come from a country where we do the same thing over and over again but expect different results but "Variety is the spice of life", so dare to mix it up.
Growing up as a young boy, there used to be a gathering of older men in front of a bar every night and I wondered why they always came to sit to drink. I was told they were networking (whatever that meant to me). Out of their nightly drinking, they established a gym and all the men in my neighbourhood go there and the best part is, the drinkers are the ones making money because every new member of the gym had to register and pay monthly bills. Fast forward to my time, when I started the blog, I wondered how my story was going to circulate. I networked with a few people and it was really worthwhile. Out of the network, I got my pieces posted on modern Ghana, a news website, international posts and shares on various sites. Networking is good. Finally, good old determination was an enemy I had to convert into a friend. Sometimes, I had to improvise and write in a noisy commercial car, I had to try to figure out ways of getting new posts, I had to figure out how to design stuff (I still suck at designing). When the pressure seeps in giving up is so easy but just try to hold on. We are all still learning. All my readers have been amazing. This year, we at RAT aim to do something more intriguing and interesting. We aim to share stories of others to motivate and encourage ourselves. Destiny awaits!!! We are all RAT. We also aim to create a network to intellectually assist each other in attaining greatness. RAT IS ONE. MY NAME IS EDWIN OKO LAMPTEY AND HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO YOU ALL. THE DAYS AHEAD LOOK PROMISING. LIKE OUR FACEBOOK PAGE:
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