24 Reasons To Start A Blog
Blogging is one of the most popular tools for engagement for both brands and individuals. Many people don’t realise they do a type of blogging most days; Facebook, Twitter or Google Plus, as these are all micro blogging sites.
Below I will outline some key reasons as to why you should get your blogging machine fired up.
1) IT’S FREE AND READILY AVAILABLE
The best things in life come free to us, and blogging is one of them. You can set up through WordPress, Tumblr or Blogger and have a free blog for you to do with as you please, but you also have the option to buy a domain and hosting so it looks more polished. Usually this costs anywhere between £1 a month and £20 a month, depending on who you go with. Blogs can be accessed around the world as long as they have the necessary internet connection, your audience has no limit.
2) EASE OF USE
No doubt that ease of use is one thing that terrifies many when it comes to blogging as many believe that you need to do some programming and be very technical-minded, but that is far from the case. WordPress comes with many free themes that can be customized very easily, or come with guides. The user friendly interface is easy enough to work out, all you really need to do is focus on what you would like to post.
4) IT CAN EARN YOU MONEY/PRODUCTS
Earning money from a blog isn’t always that easy, and some blogs will just never make money. If you are writing a gardening blog then you may get asked to do some gardening for someone, however that’s making money from your gardening and not your blog.
For instance, fashion and beauty bloggers are often sent free samples or even given money to promote a product, and this amount can go into the thousands. This goes to show that a little bit of elbow (or finger) grease and you can be on your way to earning.
4) IT BOOSTS CREATIVITY AND HELPS WITH YOUR WRITING
Creating content is now a multi-million dollar industry worldwide so not only does blogging help your writing (those little red wriggly lines do get picked up by your brain even if you ignore them!) it can also boost creativity. This is because you always need to think up new content, and write it out.
5) IT’S LIKE INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM
Have you ever wanted to be your own journalist? Well now is your chance! Having your own blog is where you can write your inner thoughts, whether they are personal on industry specific and report on them.
6) LET OUT THOSE CLOGGED THOUGHTS
One of the main reasons I love blogging is because I can get the information I have accrued in my brain out on paper. It can help me make sense of my thoughts and when my head is a little less full I can come up with my best ideas.
7) LEARN NEW THINGS
If there’s a subject that I don’t understand but it is relevant to my blog, I will research it and by the time I’ve written the blog it’s already ingrained into my brain. To stay on top of your game you have to know and understand a lot of things in your industry, and blogging helps you do just that!
8) ENCOURAGING ENGAGEMENT
A blog enables your audience to interact with you through the comments as they can now put a voice to the brand (or person). Comments are an amazing conversation environment and great for you to hear your audience’s thoughts and opinions. As well as giving you insights into you audience, a blog with engagements also helps with your rank on search engines.
9) IT IS PROMOTIONAL FOR YOUR PRODUCTS OR SERVICES
Although I am always telling people not to sell themselves and take a more natural approach, there is a time and a place for promotional posts on your blog. When keeping them sparse, a promotional post can boost conversions on your website. Blog Marketing is a buzzword I expect to see cropping up in 2016.
10) IT BOOSTS PRODUCTIVITY
Although you may feel like you are spending a long time writing and researching a blog, it can make a much better use of your spare time. Instead of flicking through Facebook looking at funny pictures of cats, write a blog!
11) ESTABLISH THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
By sharing your knowledge and expertise with the world you are demonstrating that you know the subject in hand. Creating unique and engaging content for your audience shows that not only can you talk the talk, you can walk the walk.
12) HUMANIZING YOUR BRAND
I’m a firm believer that there should be a face behind every brand, or at least a voice. By writing a blog you are adding a human feel to the website and that can make your prospects feel more at ease. Nobody wants to think they are dealing with a machine, so get blogging.
13) IT’S SHOWS YOU OFF AS A CREATOR
Many people consume content, but not as many create it. As a blogger you are setting yourself apart from the competition and lighting up beacons to let your prospects know where to find you.
14) CONTENT IS KING
I have said this multiple times, that’s because it is. By writing a regular blog, you will have a steady stream of content ready to put on social media or send it email blasts instead of using other peoples. Content can be shared a year later and still be relevant, providing it’s not time sensitive.
15) IT’S LIKE YOUR ONLINE ADDRESS
Yes I know we have email addresses and they aren’t like a blog at all, however having your own domain that is linked to your work can help people find you and learn more about you. A blog communicates what knowledge you have that can benefit others.
16) LEARN TO BE A WEB DEV!
I said earlier how easy it is to use WordPress, even customizing it, but there is plenty of opportunities for you to play around with your blog and learn basic web development skills like SEO, JS, PHP, CSS, HTML. It’s a fantastic place for you to practise any skills you may have hiding within you, or even to teach yourself stuff.
17) BUILDS YOUR CONFIDENCE
When you post out your musings for the world to see, it is a scary feeling at first. Sometimes you can feel like you’re not good enough and that nobody wants to read your posts, but let me tell you something, it will change! When you see the traffic, the retweets, the shares and any comments on your post praising you instantly any negative feelings will go. Yes there will always be someone who doesn’t like your content but chances are unless you’ve made a huge mistake, they probably won’t call you out on it.
18) IT CONNECTS YOU TO YOUR PROSPECTS
A blog can come with a variety of plugins that make it easy for social sharing or for bookmarking. This connects your blog to audiences across multiple platforms and thus enables your blog to be seen by a larger amount of people.
19) THERE’S MANY CHALLENGES YOU CAN DO
There are some blogging challenges out there that enable you to release your competitive side. Sarke Media’s 30 Day Blogging Challenge is my favourite as there is a support group and the support emails keep coming even after 30 days. It’s a great way for those who want to get started in blogging, everybody wants to complete a challenge.
20) BLOGGER TO BLOGGER SUPPORT
One think I found amazing when I started blogging is the support networks across social media for blogging. There are a multitude of groups that help each other out and I’ve often had multiple prompts for writing from these groups. Even the conversations often had in the groups could make a blog!
21) IT MAKES YOU FEEL GOOD
As above, I said it does build your confidence, but inside it can also make you feel warm and mushy… Well it does me anyway. Each time somebody comments on your blog you are often told what a great article etc which then makes you feel awesome about yourself. Each retweet or share, I get a little burst of happiness that someone likes what I write. It’s the same for those who have been blogging years too! The feeling never wears off fully (unless you’re getting 3,000 shares on most posts, but then I assume you’re not reading this post)
22) IT IS LIKE AN ONLINE CV
If you have your blog on your personal website, it can work as an online CV. Potential employers will look through your blog as they can then work out what sort of person you are and see what knowledge you have.
23) STEERS YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
During the day you can often get lots of thoughts in your head but have you ever found they don’t make sense? Well when you start blogging you can put them all down on paper and once you have enough you can have enough content or ideas for quite a few blog posts.
24) TEACHING PEOPLE
It’s an awesome moment when somebody sends you an email and says “thank you, your blog has taught me a lot” and that’s what blogging does! Your blog will teach other people about your life, about your business or about cheese if that’s what you want.
So there you have it, a whole 24 reasons as to why you should be blogging. It’s a useful tool not only for a business but also as a great addition to a personal website.
This blog first appeared on Fruitbowl Media