Hey friend! So you want to start your own blog, huh? Or maybe you already have a blog but are a little ‘eh’ about the whole thing. You’ve come to the right place! Today we’ll be discussing aaall the pros to having a blog (okay, maybe not aaall of them but, you know, three important ones.)
If you’re interested in blogging or have ever seriously considered it, you’ve probably read plenty of posts like “10 Ways to Make Money Blogging” or “How to Start a Blog in 10 Minutes or Less” so you should be pretty familiar with the ‘how’ and maybe some of the perks of blogging, but allow me if you will to illustrate some of the other, less talked about ways that blogging could in fact be one of the best ideas ever.
Dear Diary
While many people use their platform as an online portfolio for their business, many bloggers out there are personal bloggers who share stories of their daily life. It acts as an online diary of sorts, and how fun will it be (for all bloggers alike) to look back at their early entries and see how far they’ve come? Whether you want to have a personal blog, a lifestyle blog, a business blog or any blog, you’ll have something to look back on to see how far you’ve come!
Self-Exploration
I wrote a post a while back on why you might not want to pick a niche as a brand new blogger and I really still believe that you don’t have to have one specific niche or topic when you’re just starting out. Especially if you’re still trying to find yourself, it’s perfectly fine to blog about whatever the hell you want.
I promise, along the way you’ll find a topic or two that you’re really really passionate about and you’ll let the others phase out. I don’t think I would’ve found my blog’s sweet spot if I hadn’t allowed myself that creative freedom at the very beginning. I still don’t blog about one super-specific thing, but now all of my posts are a blend of all of my passions and interests and serve a clear purpose.
Begin by writing whatever you want, whatever you like, whatever you feel. Maybe just write a shitake ton of drafts at first. The more you write and the more you pull from your genuine interests, the easier it’ll get to see a pattern!
Maybe you write 30 drafts before you publish a single post, but maybe you notice that 15 of those posts are all about decorating and interior design and you realize you could write for days about it without getting sick of it! Maybe you realize that another 10 of those posts have to do with crafting, if you put that together your niche will reveal itself to you! You can have an interior decorating blog where you talk about design and decor and show people super awesome and unique crafts for their home!
Blogging gives you the perfect platform to explore all of your interests and unveil things you may not have known you were good at! I didn’t know I was pretty good at Adobe Illustrator (to my surprise, toot toot!), and I don’t know that I would’ve ever gotten to try it without first having made this blog.
Accountability + Consistency
This. If you struggle with accountability, try blogging. Being consistent is hard, but it gets easier when you write about things you believe in and you truly love to talk about.
Knowing that even only one person is expecting you to post something on a monthly, weekly or daily basis makes you think on your feet and really kicks your butt into gear.
One suggestion, though: Don’t commit to blogging daily if you know you won’t be able to deliver on that promise. Start with what you know you can deliver on. Are you thinking you can post every once every other week, go with that! There’s no right or wrong here (though I’ve read posts claiming otherwise). If you can post once every other week, make those posts as badass and amazing as possible. Once you get the hang of it you can start posting more frequently.
Content is king (though I’ve read so many posts claiming otherwise, my thoughts? You can market and promote your daily content like a boss, but if you’re writing awful, useless, fluff content daily, eventually people will know you as such and you won’t be taken seriously. So yes, quality content is still king and always will be. I could go on, but I already did in this post.)
This is also the time when your true passions will start to show themselves. Why? Well, it’s hard to write consistently about topics that you’re not really passionate about. This doesn’t mean you have to stop writing about everything else, it just means that you’ve found the one thing (or two) that you could metaphorically put a ring on and write about forever.
So, tell me, have you ever wanted to start your own blog? What’s stopping you?
And if you’ve already started a blog or have been blogging for a while, how has it helped your life?
Let’s keep the conversation going in the comments!
Loyally,
Hi, Jiff!
Thank you for such an inspiring post. Seriously, cant figure out why there is no other grateful comments below the page, but to my your words sound very much empowering!
As for me, I`ve wanted to start my blog evry now and then, as I have smth (by this I mean truly LOTS 😉 to tell the world or just to sort out structurally in my head, however every single time I sat down at my pc saying “okey, now its time, I wont put aside this anymore” I faced many different stumbling blocks which consume me so that finally I drop my lame tries to start the one.
So I`ll highly appreciate your support in the way of sharing experience as to how you did start blogging from very early steps (which domain to choose, how to buy and choosing colour schemes). I`d be glad if you could send me just some words to my email, in case I want to reply you personally!)
Anyway, thnx a lot for your blog and post! Will be keep reading it in future.
Plus one more FAN of yours! Cheers! xoxo
Thanks a lot. Your post was really helpful. Incidentally, our blogs have the same title