Why You Should Start A Blog

There is no mistaking the amount of joy my blogger friends and I get from blogging. Right now there are over 2 million blog posts published every day.  That’s a lot of people producing blog content consistently.  So this must be an activity that people are enjoying across the globe for many reasons.

I love blogging and since my blogging journey started I have grown to enjoy the process of blogging.  Even when writers block kicks in, it has become a great way for me to go and seek inspiration from every day musings, watching TV programmes, reading a book, engaging in conversation or extracting some inspiration from current affairs.

Whatever inspires me to write my thoughts on my blog (my digital journal that I share with the world) is all life experiences written from my own perspective.  Many bloggers start blogging as a way to find their voice and confidence online by sharing their message on a regular basis to inspire and support others with the knowledge, skills or experience they have learnt and developed over time.

Blogging is as popular and satisfying today as it has ever been since it’s rise in popularity in 2009.  If you follow any bloggers, you will see that they are happy and willing to share their stories to help their readers in some way or another.

Nowadays, it is so easy to set up a blog. There are many templates to choose from for WordPress or Squarespace blogs.  I personally have blogs on both platforms which I learnt to use and love over time.  However, they both have their advantages and disadvantages, but like most things in life you have to try it and see for yourself.  What might work for someone else, may not work for you.  It is a matter of personal preference.   Blogging has really come a long way, I started my first blog many years ago on Typepad! It was so fiddly that I decided to switch to Blogger, which was just as tricky.  I could not get my head either but continued with my Blogger blog for about a year before finally switching to WordPress, where I built a few of my blogs myself after spending a lot of money on designs and being deeply disappointed by website designers promises.

Starting a blog these days is so easy, you can have your blog set up in less than 15 minutes if you use Bluehost which the hosting company I use.  You can get your blog domain, hosting package and WordPress theme all set up with 1 click install, completed in just a few minutes.  It is literally that quick and simple.  Alternatively if you want to go with a free option there is WordPress.org or Blogger.

If you have been thinking about starting a blog and not sure whether you should do it, then take a look at the list below that I have gathered from my clients, other bloggers and my own reasons.  I hope you will feel inspired to start a blog today!

1. Online Support Group

There are many support groups that have an online presence to be found easily by people who need their support.   When my daughter was young she experienced really bad eczema and I found so much advice and support from the National Eczema Society website and other bloggers.

Setting up a blog to support an online community around a cause where people have a shared experience is such a lifeline to people. Without it they perhaps would not know where to turn and will feel isolated with their problem.

Recently on the news there was a young girl that had a stroke and found that there was no support groups online where she lived to support herself or other young people who had experienced strokes, so she set one up with an online blog.

If you feel passionate and strongly enough about something, which is much needed in your community then starting a blog may be the answer to help people receive the support they need.

2. Learn A New Skill

Blogging teaches you the basic technical skills you need to have an online presence. There are many different aspects to building a blog whether it is learning to create your own style using a template, learning to write and produce content to be a better blogger or learning how to add widgets and plugins to enhance the design of your blog and the usability for your visitors.

When you learn a new skill you feel really accomplished that you have done it.  This is the same as learning how to blog.  You will be so pleased with yourself that you will be excited to share your online home with all your friends and family so that they can visit and help you share the word.  I still get a rush when I hit the publish button!

Once learnt, these skills will always be with you and who knows you may even be able to help others with the skills and knowledge you have as a blogger!

3. Express Your Creativity

Writing a blog is so much fun as well as being a creative outlet. Your blog posts are a way for you to express yourself in your writing as well as your visuals. There are so many tools that you can use to enhance the images that you use on your blog.

Whether the images are your own or ones that you download from stock image libraries. You can edit them in many ways using apps directly from your phone or by using online software e.g. PicMonkey or Canva. Adding pictures and quotes to your blog posts really help to tell your story and is a really cool way to let your creativity flow.

If you are an artist, writer, photographer or other creative type, think of all of the people that you can share your work with on your blog to inspire, motivate or brighten someone’s day.

4. Digital Journaling

A blog is a form of digital journaling. If you have ever written a diary or regularly write in a journal to release all of your thoughts, feelings, fears, happy or sad memories, then this is similar to writing a blog. The only difference is that it is shared with the world wide web.

For many people blogging is a release of sorts. Mostly an expression of creative talents, written skills or just the ability to connect with people based on shared life experiences.

Blogging has helped many people shift out of depression, mental health and stress by enabling them to write about their feelings and releasing it into the ether.

Being connected online, via blogs by sharing daily or weekly challenges and successes with others is a great way that bloggers are able to gift themselves a form of happiness therapy. Put it this way, I have never met an unhappy blogger. Blogging has become a creative endeavour to be enjoyed as a fully expressed activity of sharing whatever the blogger cares deeply about, whether that is fashion, art, saving the planet or bringing together a community group.

Most seasoned bloggers post regularly between 1-4 times a week whilst others have no specific schedule, but when they do post on their blog their audience are keen to receive the nuggets of inspiration, motivation and wisdom they share.

If you like the idea of writing on a digital platform, but would prefer a private kind of digital journaling then check out My Therapy Journal website which is a great resource for journaling online without sharing yourself publicly online. This website provides a special private place for you to journal your thoughts freely, safely and securely. It has been set up for people who want to journal digitally as a form of therapy to help combat stress, depression and anxiety.  I think it is a really good idea and the community aspect looks very supportive.

If you prefer a quick on-the-go kind of journaling, where you can share certain elements online via twitter etc. if you want to, then maybe try out the Day One app which can be downloaded for use on any apple device.

Whatever style of digital journaling you prefer, the aim of keeping these memories and thoughts in a designated space provides you with your own creative sanctuary where you can be totally self-expressed to post whatever you like however you like.

If you are ready to share those moments with the world, then starting a blog could be the way forward for you to share your ideas, offer support and release your stress whilst improving your well-being.

5. Making A Difference

If you have a story, life experience or some way of solving a problem that most people struggle with, then blogging your way to make a difference to others could be a great way for you to share your story and offer support at the same time.

When I was going through my burn out, I went in search for online support to help me to find out how I can deal with all of the different feelings I was experiencing.

I found so many resourceful women’s support networks online and bloggers who were sharing their life experiences into how they managed to overcome their struggles.

Remember this: “what is personal, is universal”. My coach used to say this, which means that if you are experiencing something, it is most likely that other people are experiencing it too.

So if this feels like your reason to start a blog, then go for it and know that you will be a helpful resource to helping others.

6. Review of Products or Services

There are loads of review blogs out there and you may know of a few yourself. Some bloggers are commissioned to review beauty items, tech tools, travel destinations and many other items and experiences.

I have been involved in some beauty campaigns and book reviews and totally enjoyed it.   Aside from enjoying the freebies, you do get to help your blog get quality traffic from writing a review of an item that others might be considering buying and trying.

Your reviews need to be well rounded with pros/cons and positioned to be of use to a new consumer who maybe considering purchasing the item. It is important that you add your personal preference and that you provide an honest truthful review in order for you to continue getting future opportunities and keep your readers satisfied with your perspective.

7. Hobby Blogging

If you have a hobby that you are passionate about and want to connect with other enthusiastic hobbyist, then creating a blog is definitely going to help you connect with other people interested in the same hobby as you.

Along with creating a blog for your passion hobby you can start to organise meetups and use your blog as a way of drawing other like-minded people into your community.

This is how I got started on meetup.com with my group of ladies. It started with the blog then the followers encouraged me to organise a meet up so that we could all come together to discuss our start-up businesses which is what we all have in common and todate I have organised 60 meetups.

8. Blogging for Business

This is one of my favourite reasons to start a blog as this is how I got started with my ladies networking group business.

Businesses that Blog regularly receive 97% more links to their blogs (source HubSpot)

There is no mistaking that content is still king in 2016.  If you are in any kind of business, you need to have a blog that shows your credibility for the subject that your business relates to.  Nowadays, it is rare to see a website without a blog category. It has become an essential way to market your services and expertise online and let’s not forget about the wonderful organic traffic that your blog posts will bring to your sites direct from Google searches.

If you are writing regularly to your blog and sharing your posts via social media platforms, then you will naturally reach more people which means attracting more clients.  You cannot knock up a quick website and expect that the millions of people online will find you.

It takes a lot of content sharing of your work and tasters (your blog posts) in order to demonstrate your knowledge and skill set using social media so that your target audience knows exactly where to find you.

Blogging for business is a great way for you to also get known in your industry as a thought leader or expert in your niche. There are a whole host of ways to ensure that your blog is attracting the right audiences so that you can attract your ideal clients and make money directly from your blog, whether that is coaching offline, selling your online courses or selling products. You need to decide how you want to structure your business blogging efforts at the outset to make it worth your while, if making money is your ultimate goal for creating a blog presence online.

When creating a blog for profit there is no overnight success solution. Blogging for profit requires time, dedication and commitment to blog consistent valuable content, so that people will learn to know, like and trust you.  Eventually, once you have built up a relationship with your audience, they may decide to pay for your expertise, product or service that you provide. In order to get this all working smoothly, there are a few key systems and structures that you will need to put in place to ensure that your blog is optimized for money making success.

So, if you feel ready to set up a blog for your business go right ahead and start blogging to reach and educate your audience.   The basic principles of blogging still applies, you provide content in the form of blog posts as online support to help people solve their problems and then present the solutions that your business can help them with by making an offer that they want to buy.

To enjoy blogging success, you will need to adopt these 4 basic principles to start seeing results: 

1. Publish your blog content at least 1 – 4 times a week

2. Build your confidence and create different types of blog posts e.g. short, long, mostly images, text heavy

3. Share on your preferred social networks.  Tip:- share where your people hang out and get the best organic traffic

4. Add images for visual impact as this will get shared more on social media

So here are my 8 reasons to start a blog today.  I am sure there are many other reasons why people start a blog, these are just the ones that I have encountered myself through working with my clients and my own experience.

If you have any other reasons that you would like to add, please share in the comments below, I am sure our community would love to hear your thoughts.

Until next time, Happy blogging!