The Need for Coffee turns one
Photo Credit: Kim Co Daluz
What lead me to start The Need for Coffee was an idea planted in my head by Lameen Abdul Malik, who has been writing about coffee on From Coffee With Love for more than a decade. I didn’t give it much thought and jumped on it straight away. I have done my fair share of content writing for work but there’s a different feeling when you are writing about something you are passionate about.
When I started this blog a year back, I had this sense of impostor syndrome set in. I thought too hard about why anyone would read anything I post, let alone support this new venture I set myself out on.
Although I’m not perfect, and there’s more room for improvement. I’m most happy when people take the time to read the blog and give their views about it. I take them personally and fuel my desire to get better at it. People often ask if I plan to monetize the blog in any way, and to their surprise I tell them I have no such plans to make money off of it.
I often wondered if this new found passion for drinking specialty coffee would fizz away like a candle, like other passion projects we set our eyes on. But, I guess it was the intricacy of this industry that I found interesting, it quickly evolved into a deep rooted belief that resonated with the way I lived my life. Some of those reverberating around justice, truth, transparency, equality, empathy, and lastly, humanity.
I always found writing fascinating. When you read a book, and as you comprehend the words, the mind forms a mental image. I don’t know about you, but to me, it’s no less than bewildering. My itch to write increased ten-fold after subscribing to Standart, and I often told myself that I’ll one day write like those talented writers featured in the magazine.
It just got easier from there, because now I knew what I wanted to write about, especially when it’s about a beverage you consume everyday. It gets more interesting when you visit the spaces that serve specialty coffee, and striking up a genuine conversation with people behind the bean, whether they are brewing, roasting, trading, or growing it.
Writing is like therapy to me. It puts me at ease and pushes negative thoughts out the window. I would also like to add that the best way to know yourself is through writing. Be it writing about your day in a journal or blogging about something you like.
Here are some of the pointers that I have learnt and picked up along the way:
Pick a niche topic to start blogging.
Pick a topic you enjoy talking about. You don’t have to be an expert, but you certainly have to expand your expertise with time.
A good test is to pay attention about what you are talking about with your family, peers and friends the most. Next is write to all those topics down and other ideas from the top off your head, and choose topics that resonate with you the most.
You can also use Google Trends to check if those topics are generating enough interests and how many people are searching for it over time. This will help you plan long term.
Make an effort to write everyday.
Jordan Peterson said it best, “If you want to learn how to think, you should learn how to write.”
Personally, I try to write at least 250 words everyday. Writing has not only increased my everyday usage of vocabulary, to some extent it has helped with articulation.
Writing has made me reflect more.
To stretch on the same point above, writing forces you to think. I started by journaling albeit not everyday. Because let’s face it, some days are monotonous and you have nothing to write about. On other days, you will write when something exceptional takes place. Make it a practice to record your experiences, thoughts and feelings.
Some benefits of journaling is writing down goals, tracking and achieving them, reduce stress and anxiety, and strengthen memory. Dream, food, fitness, gratitude and day are different types of journals that you can keep.
Understand people better.
What I started understanding myself better, it improved my capacity to better understand the people around me. You learn how to put yourself in other’s shoes, empathize and relive their experience. The more people I spoke to, the more I was intrigued with their journey. This is when I started The Coffee Story.
I started sitting down with coffee personalities and interview them, showcasing their journey and focusing on their struggles. Every individual’s journey was unique and I felt a responsibility that their message had to be shared. You never know who you will end up inspiring.
Open your doors to opportunities.
As I kept writing, without thinking of an end goal for the blog, opportunities started presenting themselves in the form of collaborations and invitations. But, one that stood out the most was writing for FLTR Magazine.
When Andy approached me to write for him, I was hesitant. Only because I didn’t want to disappoint him. Can I deliver? Will he be happy? What if he changes his mind? Will his subscribers even read? These were the thoughts that constantly plagued my mind.
Naturally when I met him, he was more confident in my ability than I was. I stopped thinking, and wrote for him like I did for myself. Few people ever manage to leave an impression on me like that. Fast forward to today, I’ve written a few articles which you can check out below:
How two Emirati startup founders are revolutionizing specialty coffee
The future of Specialty Coffee in the UAE: Dragoslav Džudović
Touching upon a 1000 followers on my Instagram profile a few days ago was in some way a milestone, although to some it might not seem a lot. To be honest, I didn’t expect to even write over 70 blog posts, and receive thousands of views every month. For that, I’m truly grateful and appreciate each and every one of you out there who take the time to read what I post.
