Many people do not see the value in blogging. “I have a Facebook and Twitter, why do I need to blog? I’m not a business.” This is a common philosophy and we hear it a lot. In this post we will talk about some of the reasons why a personal blog can be a powerful tool you can leverage and why you should start blogging today!
Why Should I Blog?
1. Confidence – Take On The World
It can be difficult and for some people even a little bit scary at first to put your thoughts and opinions into words and then share them with the whole world. You can start small and simple until you feel more comfortable, like dip your toes into the pool before diving in. By taking little steps you start to build confidence, not only in your blogging, but in yourself. It doesn’t really matter what your are blogging about, just the act of blogging of putting your work out for others to see and comment on will increase your confidence level. When you feel more confident you could experience all kinds of benefits in different facets of your life. Maybe you will finally find the courage to ask out that special someone at the coffee shop and you two hit it off. Did I really just say blogging can get you a date? You betcha!
2. Proof – Display Knowledge & Experience
In addition to confidence you are creating a portfolio of your knowledge and experience. You are cataloging your knowledge and experiences in a way that others can see. I have done some pretty amazing things in my life, bungy jumping in New Zealand, skydiving in Santa Barbara, studying abroad in France, but you would never know this from just meeting me, how could you? If you and I interact briefly I would never know the amazing things you have experienced either. But if you slipped your blog into the conversation I’d more than likely check it out later that day when I had time. Now I can scan your catalog of knowledge and experience and learn from what you have to offer. Your perceived value has increased in my eyes and now you have become a resource. Which leads us to the next thing a blog can do for an individual.
3. Achieve a Goal – Get A Job or Promotion
What if your goal is to get a better paying or a job you enjoy more. A blog can be a great substitute for “job experience”. On a resume job experience is supposed to represent some form of knowledge. A blog can actually be more valuable than a job title on a resume, here’s how. If I’m reading a resume and someone lists that they were a production assistant for such and such productions I am supposed to assume that they picked up some knowledge, had some accomplishments and are ready to move up the production ladder. But what if their mentors or supervisors were not good teachers, what if the applicant has the same knowledge as when they started. I won’t know until it’s too late. On the other hand someone could have no professional experience but they have a blog, and on that blog they have documented all of their accomplishments; video projects and the behind the scenes work they have done. I have visible evidence of their knowledge, accomplishments and can actually judge it. I’m more likely to hire the person whose knowledge and experience is well documented on blog over the supposed “experienced” person. The same can apply even within a company for a promotion. It happens all the time in corporate America where the supervisor has very limited interaction with their co-workers. When a promotion opportunity opens up, who do they give it to? What if you have been blogging about your field and have a vast catalog of posts displaying your knowledge. Advantage? Absolutely.
4. Supplemental Income – Gas Money
Confidence, displaying your knowledge, a better job in the future, that’s all great but what if you want to be rewarded for your blogging with something more tangible, something directly from blogging, like money. Sure we can do that, I work with people who literally generate a couple thousand a month just from blogging. What could you do with a couple thousand extra dollars a month? Bungy jump in New Zealand, that’s what. 😉 Now before you get too excited and think you are going to get rich off of blogging let’s take in some reality first. It takes a fair amount of work and time to generate significant money from blogging and a lot more goes into it than just simply writing posts. We help people with that everyday, but with quality content, strategy and enough time invested you could easily supplement your gas bill every month. Supposedly the average American spends $151 (more in you live in CA) on fuel each month. Wouldn’t it be nice to cut that in half or even eliminate it all together?
5. Unknown Opportunities – More Eyeballs, More Opportunities
This is perhaps the most exciting of all, unknown opportunities. With you blog traffic steadily increasing and your expertise building in your field who knows what opportunities someone may present you with. Speaking engagements, invitation to join a non-profit board of directors, expensive products sent to you to review, all of these are real world examples from people I know, all from blogging. I find it terribly exciting to sit and ponder about what my actions now can lead to in the future.
These are five great reasons for an individual with no previous experience in blogging to start blogging today. Are you going to do it? What’s holding you back? Share with us in the comments any other reasons you can think of that people should start blogging.
