Meet the whiz kids behind Singapore's TechXav technology blog

Part-time jobs are a big part of student life. A spot of gardening, delivering papers, working in a pubs, stacking supermarket shelves, can all help provide a bit of extra beer/food money. But you don't often hear about students turning to the blogosphere to line their pockets. So when we heard about two 16-year old students in Singapore doing just that we had to hunt them down to pick their brains. 

We caught up with Xavier Lur, the founder and main editor of TechXav, one of the top technology blogs around, and his blogging partner Zhou Tong just as they celebrate the end of their first year as professional bloggers, during which they racked up an impressive 500,000-odd visitors. 

Xavier Lur: TechXav is a technology blog focused on opinions and ideas about the Internet, social media and technology companies. It started as I was reading a couple of success stories from local bloggers, which motivated me to start blogging at kidtechguru.blogspot.com in June 2008. As it became more popular, I moved it to a self-hosted platform using the TechXav.com domain to make it more professional.

We originally began writing technology news but the time difference between Singapore and United States has seen us change to more original posts which give our own ideas, predictions and thoughts on technology. Every element of the site is produced by teenagers from the web hosting, to customizing the site theme, developing our own URL shortener (xav.tc), marketing via Twitter and Facebook, and, of course, the writing.

CNNGo: TechXav received has received an impressive 500,000 hits in its first year. How do you combine developing the blog site with all your studies?

Lur: Juggling both professional blogging and studies is a tough task, especially when both of us are studying in the top class where competition is fierce. We have major exams at the end of the year so need to manage our time really well.
Zhou Tong: I'm currently on a scholarship in Singapore, so studying is crucial for my future. I always try to study efficiently so I can get good results, it isn’t just about working hard.

CNNGo: What are your plans for the future, both for TechXav and yourselves?

Zhou: For myself, besides working for TechXav and studying, I keep my eyes on the whole worldwide Internet market and develop web applications. Due to time constraints, I don't yet have the capacity to make a product though I’m planning to run an SaaS (Software as a Service) project to start selling web services after my O-Level exams. A place at a top junior college or university is my dream though I would rather study business than IT as I believe it will give a deeper understanding of the market. For my career, I would like be an entrepreneur of a private small or medium enterprise to maximize my opportunities.
Lur: For TechXav, we hope to be on par with some of the top technology blogs within the next two years and will use the blog’s revenue to help support our future education ands needs. I aspire to be either a psychologist or a financial investor with professional blogging as a hobby or a part-time job. Like Zhou, I also have a great interest in business-related courses at university.

CNNGo: Many countries in Asia are seeing remarkable growth in social networking use. How do you feel about social media in Southeast Asia?

Lur: Yes, I agree that an increasing number of Southeast Asians are hooking up to social networking sites such as Facebook and Friendster. I don't see many using MySpace, Bebo and Hi5 anymore. According to Alexa, Facebook is the most popular website in Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia, which suggests social networking usage in these Southeast Asian countries is escalating. There are also regularly trending topics on Twitter related to events in Indonesia and Malaysia, which also shows Twitter is popular in these countries too.

CNNGo: What are your favorite gadgets?

Lur: I love Apple products -- the iMac and iPod Touch are my favorites.
Zhou: I'm an Apple fan too. I own a MacBook, an iPod Touch, although my mobile phone is the HTC Hero.

CNNGo: What hobbies do you have away from blogging and studying?

Lur: I love playing and watching soccer, especially the English Premier League, and fast cars.
Zhou: I sing, enjoy non-fiction books and a little photography.

CNNGo: What advice would you give to newbie bloggers?

Lur: Blogging is something that requires patience, motivation and effort. Don’t give up too easily as it takes a while before you see success.

To follow the TechXav boys' work head down to www.techxav.com, follow them on Twitter (@techxav) or become a fan of their Facebook page.