The Art of Tech Blogging with Ivan Velichko from Iximiuz Labs |🎙️#47
Our guest for this episode of DevOps Accents has taken tech blogging to a whole new level. You may know him as Iximiuz or Ivan Velichko. With our own passion for rigorous analysis and a desire to share experiences (it's what mkdev is all about, duh), we couldn't help but invite Ivan to discuss how tech blogging was born, how insightful content is created and consumed by tens of thousands of subscribers, and how a hobby becomes a career. We also discuss his Iximiuz Labs, an indie online platform for learning Linux, containers, and Kubernetes that offers interactive online playgrounds, hands-on tutorials, and fun DevOps challenges.
In this episode:
- Teaching and learning through blogging;
- How topics for a tech blog are chosen;
- Understanding your audience;
- Monetizing a tech blog;
- How Ivan's famous diagrams are created;
- What makes Iximius Labs a comprehensive learning platform.
You can listen to episode 47 of DevOps Accents on Spotify, or right now:
Teaching and Learning Through Blogging
Ivan Velichko’s journey in blogging highlights the power of writing as a tool for learning. A seasoned software engineer with experience from front-end to back-end, Velichko’s approach to blogging is not just about sharing knowledge, but about deepening his own understanding. When digging into new topics like containers, Kubernetes, or cloud technologies, he writes not only to share but also to reflect on his own learning process. This method can be highly effective—when you write to teach, you force yourself to clarify concepts, discover gaps in your knowledge, and build a structured narrative around complex topics.
Kirill, one of the podcast hosts, also echoes this sentiment, mentioning how writing and summarizing technical content helps crystallize thoughts. Both Velichko and Kirill agree that the process of teaching through writing is inherently beneficial. You can't realize how much you don't know until you try to explain a concept to others. This practice encourages deeper research, ultimately making you more knowledgeable and skilled.
The only pressure which I feel and it's only increasing is the pressure of being correct. Because when it was just a beginner's blog, I could write something which wouldn't be technically correct. Someone would reach out and suggest some edits. I would change it and probably even create another blog post saying, hey, I was mistaken, let's take a look at why that's a popular misconception or something like that. But once I transitioned from this personal blog thing to more like, nah, I wouldn't call it Taylor's food, but it's just different positioning, right? Ximius Labs is not ximius .com. Ximius .com is kind of a blog. Ximius Lab is a learning platform, and there are these tutorials and courses. And you cannot be wrong in your tutorial because then, in a way, it's even misleading then. So this is the pressure I feel. — Ivan Velichko
How to Choose Topics for a Tech Blog
For many content creators, selecting a topic is a difficult hurdle. Pablo, another host, mentions that choosing what to write or speak about can be problematic, especially because what interests you may not align with what the audience wants. Velichko’s approach is to write about what genuinely excites him. His early blogs were driven by his personal learning journey—whatever topic he was diving into became a potential post. This approach often led to deeper, more thorough content since his interest naturally guided more extensive research.
However, Velichko points out that finding an audience for your content isn't straightforward. It's not always about following trends or focusing on viral topics. For his blog, initial traction came from social platforms like Reddit and Hacker News, but not every post is guaranteed to catch fire. For example, one of his detailed tutorials on container networking remained largely unnoticed until it was rediscovered and shared, causing a sudden spike in traffic.
Over time, as his audience grew, Velichko shifted to a more structured approach. Instead of random, ad hoc tutorials, he started thinking about learning paths and series that could guide readers through a particular topic. He mentions how writing and structuring content with a clear learning path in mind became more important than just posting about what caught his interest.
I cannot tell that, you know, people who are more hype-oriented and doing all this news kind of content are doing the wrong thing. Well, people also need this kind of content. It's also important sometimes just, you know, to relax. Sometimes you actually learn about something, I mean, not maybe in a technological way, but just about the general mood in the industry. This is also an important area to cover. It’s just not my thing, I'm more of a deep dive kind of person. — Ivan Velichko
Understanding Your Audience
Creating tech content often means targeting a niche audience, and your topic selection should reflect that. Velichko emphasizes the importance of writing content for your specific audience, rather than aiming for mass appeal. For example, his tutorials on containers, Kubernetes, and DevOps target a segment of developers and engineers who are willing to dive deep into complex systems. Similarly, Kirill mentions that it's not always about hitting a wide audience but rather reaching the right people—those who are specifically interested in your area of expertise.
This focus on understanding and addressing the needs of your audience is key to sustaining engagement. Kirill suggests that even if a piece of content doesn’t explode in popularity, the right audience will find it and appreciate its value.
I ended up creating this second type of content, or third one, if we count courses which just are structured tutorials. It's called DevOps Challenges. And the difference between a challenge and a tutorial is that the first one, the tutorial format, it gives you a lot of theory sprinkled with some practical commands that you can try out. But the challenge is the other way around. It gives you a problem to solve. It's much shorter to read and to understand, but then it's an open -ended problem. It's usually defined well enough to be automatically verifiable. For instance, I may have a Kubernetes port running with a failing container, and it would be in a crash loop, constantly trying to restart. And the problem would be, could you go and figure out what's wrong with this port and fix it? And there is a background demon in this playground that constantly checks the correctness of the solution. And again, I'm not forcing you to apply any concrete solution. — Ivan Velichko
Monetizing a Tech Blog
For Velichko, monetization was never the initial goal—it was about sharing knowledge and structuring his learning process. But as his blog grew, so did the demands of maintaining and producing high-quality content. By 2022, after years of investing time and energy into the blog, he sought ways to monetize the platform without compromising its value. Instead of putting individual blog posts behind a paywall, which could hinder organic traffic and discovery, Velichko developed Iximiuz Labs.
Iximiuz Labs is designed as a more comprehensive learning platform that offers structured content like tutorials, challenges, and learning paths. This structured approach not only provides clear value for users willing to pay for a deeper learning experience but also helps Velichko sustain the time and effort required to produce quality content.
Around 2022, I started thinking, hey, how can I monetize it? And putting my regular blog post behind the paywall just didn't sound right. First of all, I think a lot of content should be free. Courses is more interesting. It's something people expect to pay for. Paying for just a blog post doesn't sound right. It's not what people are doing, but also it would harm the distribution because when the post is behind a paywall, no one sees it. And only some fraction of paying users will see it. — Ivan Velichko
Creating Visual Aids for Technical Topics
One of the defining features of Velichko’s content is the use of detailed diagrams and visual aids. These visuals help break down complex technical concepts, making them easier for readers to grasp. However, Velichko emphasizes that creating these diagrams is no easy task—it takes time, iteration, and attention to detail. The key is not only to present information clearly but also to balance and structure the visuals so that they're both appealing and informative.
Velichko mentions that it often involves multiple iterations—starting with a rough draft that gets refined for clarity, accuracy, and aesthetics. Even simple choices, like the color scheme, can enhance the educational value of the visual aid. For instance, using bright colors to highlight important parts of a process or using red and green to denote problems and solutions respectively can make the content more engaging and intuitive.
Key Takeaways for Aspiring Tech Bloggers
Write to Learn: Blogging helps reinforce your own learning. When you teach others, you deepen your own understanding.
Select Topics Authentically: Focus on what excites you. Your passion for a topic will guide more in-depth research and make your content more compelling.
Understand Your Audience: Tailor your content to a specific audience rather than aiming for broad appeal. Deep, niche content can build a loyal following.
Monetize Strategically: If you want to monetize, consider creating structured learning paths or courses that offer more value than ad hoc posts.
Invest in Visuals: Quality visuals enhance understanding and engagement. Be prepared to iterate and refine your diagrams or graphics for clarity and impact.
By sticking to these principles, bloggers and content creators can create impactful, educational content that resonates with their audience and, potentially, turns into a sustainable venture.
Everyone's path is unique. Don't try to copy anyone else. Just find your way, find your style. And finally, at the beginning, it might be by copying others. Until you know, until you learn your own voice, it's totally fine to go and try. Hey, maybe I'm a super cool diagram creator. Go and try doing diagrams. Maybe I'm a cool blogger. Go try blog blogs. Maybe I'm super cool in a way like covering news in the tech world. Go try that. Try different things, see what works and just be prolific. — Ivan Velichko
Show Notes:
- Ivan’s personal tech blog with all the must read articles on cloud tech;
- Iximiuz Labs, an interactive educational platform with courses, challenges and playgrounds on Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Networking, and Security;
- Our guest, Ivan Velichko on X and Linkedin.
Podcast editing: Mila Jones, milajonesproduction@gmail.com