How to create a successful Telegram channel. Tips from the authors of Ramziddin — Dasturlash haqida and "Pragmatic Realist"

Ramziddin Mahmudov, frontend engineer, author of the Telegram channel Ramziddin — About Programming

Umed Rahimov, product manager, author of the Telegram channel "Pragmatic Realist",

About themselves

Ramziddin. I am a frontend engineer, working remotely for a company involved in development in America. In my free time, I run a blog on Instagram and Telegram. I enjoy my work and happily write posts.

Umed. I work as a product manager on a real estate platform for Kazakhstan. I have been running a blog for three years. I often study the startup market, new products, and projects, and share information about them on my channel.

Ramziddin. I started with TikTok. I noticed that there was not enough engaging content on the market, like MrBeast's. I decided to create something similar, diving into programming and complex topics, using animations and interesting images.

There is a lack of technical content in Uzbek Instagram, whereas Telegram has many channels dedicated to programming languages such as Java and Go. Western content inspires me, and I saw an opportunity to fill this niche, providing value and building my personal brand.

Umed. I am not a developer, although I tried to become one. I am from Dushanbe, where I started my startup, similar to HeadHunter, which I am currently selling. It was important for me to create a group of people who know and trust my product, so I started my channel in 2021.

Initially, it was a startup diary where I shared the successes of my project. The audience is small but high-quality—startups and investors from Central Asia. I shared my own and others' projects, which led to the creation of the project.

Recently, we assembled a team and started recording podcasts on YouTube about startups in Uzbekistan.

About the development of the Telegram channel

Ramziddin. I follow engineers in the West and am interested in modern technologies. I use YouTube and Twitter to learn about the latest news and trends, even if they appeared just five minutes ago. If something catches my attention, I share it in text format on my Telegram channel or publish stories.

If I want to tell something to a wide audience, I develop the idea, create a script, and turn it into an Instagram Reel.

Umed. The Central Asian startup market, especially in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, is developing rapidly. I have an interesting audience; people share content themselves, and I often participate in discussions about new projects. I gather information, study and analyze it, and interact with the community where startup insights are shared.

I often receive interesting news from Startup Choyxona and other sources, process them, and make posts on Telegram. My visual posts are not very good because I am not strong in Instagram. However, the text format comes naturally to me.

Ramziddin. Short and concise content is always attractive. My Telegram channel contains a lot of such content. In our time, it is useful to give people exactly what they need, without unnecessary fluff.

Umed. Telegram is about the text format; it resembles Twitter. People on Telegram try to eliminate unnecessary information, and I fully support this idea. When composing a post, I try to remove all the fluff, which helps attract an additional audience.

For example, over the past few months, my audience has grown by 20-25% due to reposts. Users who are interested in new projects and partners start sharing content. It is important to include your links in posts so that subscribers know where the information comes from.

Also, remember not to publish too frequently. Users on Telegram are lazy and rarely return to old posts. Therefore, content should be high-quality, and the number of publications should be reasonable to avoid ending up in the archive and losing the audience.

Ramziddin. I had various ideas about attracting new subscribers to the channel, but the organic method works best. Videos where I explain code perform well. The last 10 videos on Instagram are screencasts where I write code. They perform well. I also added a call to action: "Go to the link to my Telegram channel to get the code or a five-step checklist."

This method works well when I promise something useful that viewers can use, for example, to play with code or ask questions in the group. I even created a separate link in the channel to track how many people joined. As a result, a good call to action on another platform, like Instagram, with a promise of additional value is an excellent way to attract subscribers.

Umed. My content looks different. It grows organically, especially due to reposts, YouTube, collaboration with local startups, and collaborations. I have a section in the channel where any startup can publish their pitch and attract investors. Sometimes such posts get up to 50–60 reposts, which significantly increases the number of subscribers and activity in the channel.

In addition, I do company breakdowns, which also attracts attention. I have partners and insiders who send me information about startups that are just starting. We report on them first in the channel, which is interesting to the market and reaches a large audience.

About interacting with the audience

Ramziddin. Recently, I have enjoyed communicating on Telegram at a closer level, joking, and exchanging stickers. I feel that here I am less formal. When I publish on Instagram, the algorithm first shows my content to subscribers and then to strangers. On Telegram, people have likely come from Instagram and are already familiar with my content.

I write short messages, do not edit photos, and record videos in one take. I like this informal communication. Interaction with subscribers takes place in the comments, where they ask questions and share their opinions. I conduct live streams on YouTube, where the most loyal viewers from Telegram come.

I try not to complicate communication and speak to the audience in the same language. For example, I sent a design from Figma and asked for the subscribers' opinions. By feeling out my audience, I can create good interaction.

Umed. The audience in my Telegram channel actively interacts with the content. If people subscribe to me, it means they are interested in reading or discussing something. I do not always allow myself to be casual in communication and sometimes feel constrained. When I share projects or startups, specialists join the discussion, and we analyze why a particular approach was chosen, how much money was raised, and what marketing strategies were used.

There are also live streams, and my audience can write to me directly with any questions. Often, guys ask for advice on startups, finding money, or assembling a team.

About the country's IT industry

Ramziddin. I think that in the future, more people will create content and express their opinions. With the development of artificial intelligence, many will likely open their own Telegram channels, which pleases me. This will allow us to see different thoughts and ideas, as well as help in forming teams and meeting people who are doing something useful.

I am confident that the number of startups will increase, and many of them will start sharing their processes on Telegram. The earlier a developer opens their channel, the better—it will help not only in building a personal brand but also in learning to express their thoughts better, which is especially important in IT. Opening a channel and boldly expressing your ideas is worth it.

Umed. Development in Tajikistan is slow, but there are still positive changes. The emergence of artificial intelligence has opened up huge opportunities in new sectors where people previously did not work. We are seeing a growth in startups related to IT, automation, and the digitalization of professions.

The state understands the importance of the IT sector. For example, IT Park Uzbekistan earned $1 billion in five years, which is considered a good indicator for the country. Recently, amendments were made to the laws on the creative economy, which open up new opportunities for talented people. Tax incentives have also been created for teams engaged in developing IT products.

Large companies are beginning to enter the region, bringing their experience and seeing that the market is developing. For example, Uzum has been actively developing in Uzbekistan over the last two years, and people have come to understand that online shopping is not as dangerous as it seemed before. This also contributes to building trust in services.

We see teams being created based on interesting ideas, which in turn affects the IT market and the country's economy. In the next five years, Central Asia is expected to see active development, leading to significant changes.

Recommendations

Ramziddin. Opening a Telegram channel can be a great reason to share your experience working on your project, whether it is a startup or something else.

I often wonder what to write about, but I can simply talk about what I am working on. Half of the content on Twitter is related to what others are doing. For example, there is an entrepreneur who earns $200,000-$300,000 a month and shares his experience on Twitter. It is inspiring: he has gathered a large audience, written a book, and met influential people.

The lives of bloggers change because they share their experiences. Therefore, if you do not know where to start, write about what you are doing and why. This will attract people with similar mindsets. I believe that there are already like-minded people in my channel, and there will be more.

Umed. Everyone has their pros and cons, and not everyone manages to position themselves well. Many are afraid of publicity, especially when running a blog, and haters can strongly influence perception. Perfectionists do not always find it easy to accept criticism, so I do not recommend opening a Telegram channel at the beginning of their journey. It is important to first work on yourself and overcome perfectionism.

When creating a channel, you need to understand why you need it. If the goal is a personal brand, sales, or education, it is important to decide on your intentions in advance. Do not run a channel for several months and then abandon it, as this can lead to the formation of an unsuitable audience.

Success requires an individual approach; copying someone else's steps does not guarantee similar results. Examples of successful personalities, such as Elon Musk, show that a personal brand can significantly influence the popularity of a product. Therefore, first evaluate the pros and cons, define your goals, and then move forward.