Blogging first started as a way for people to share their personal experiences, feelings, and innermost thoughts with a greater audience, similar to an online journal. But in the past decade, blogging has evolved towards much more professional goals, becoming an unbreakable part of the online media, almost indistinguishable from other channels.
Today, there are over 6.7 million bloggers in the World posting on blogging platforms, and 12 million who blog via social media. 77% of Internet users read blogs, spending at least one quarter of their online time on blogs and social media. People are starting a blog for all sorts of reasons, and here are the most common:
To share their true passion.
Sir Ken Robinson defines ‘the Element’ as “the point at which natural talent meets personal passion”. It is the place where what you love and what you are good at come together.
Not everyone has the privilege of discovering their true passions and talents early in their lives, but those that do are certainly the luckiest. As Paul A. Samuelson, an economist and Nobel Prize winner once said: “Never underestimate the vital importance of finding early in life the work that for you is play. This turns possible underachievers into happy warriors.”
Have you found your element yet?
People that are passionate about something want to share that with the rest of the World, especially if they are also talented. Blogging is their channel; – it gives them that connection with other people who speak their language and share the same interests. No matter what you are passionate about, whether it is photography, design, yoga, or marketing, blogging is an excellent way to share that passion and talent.
To discover their identities.
Some people feel a personal need to be heard. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If your blog is about something you love and enjoy doing research and learn more about, you most certainly have lots of knowledge, ideas and experience to share that other people would find valuable in their own lives, personally and/or professionally.
The more people that can connect with your stories, the greater the potential popularity of your blog can be. So it turns out, it’s good that others can hear (read) your voice.
Just be sure to always be responsible and think of all the consequences of your statements, because what goes on the Internet stays on the Internet, for good.
To share knowledge and educate others.
If you love sharing what you know and teaching other people who have interest in your area of expertise, starting a blog can be the perfect platform for you. You’ll not only teach others, but yourself as well, as you’ll always be on the run for more new knowledge that you can transfer to your readers.
As you learn more and become better at what you blog about, you can start creating and selling your own informational products, naturally leading your blogging to monetization.
Blogging inspires our creativity.
I’ll have to quote Sir Ken Robinson again… “It is not how intelligent you are, but how you are intelligent“. Perhaps you could say the same for “It’s not how creative you are, but how you are creative”? Check out the video below.
Blogging is a great channel for people to explore their creativity. You can write about just about anything you want, about your new-found creativity, about the creative aspects of your “noncreative” work, you can learn new things, talk about your passion and connect with new people who share your interests.
Blogging for business.
Maybe you’re starting a blog to discover your passion, share your knowledge and talents, or to explore your creativity, but in time you might find ways to also make this profitable and turn it into a business. It’s the perfect scenario – to do what you love and make a living out of it.
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
― Confucius
There are many ways that blogging can be good for business, and here’s some of the main reasons:
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To increase exposure
Websites with blogs have greater online exposure, hence more traffic that they can convert into leads and customers of their business. Blogs have regular new content that Google comes to index, which helps increase websites’ visibility in search results. You can also guest blog on other publications in your industry to reach out to a larger readership and give relevant audience a chance to discover your business.
To rank higher in search results
By ranking blog posts for different keywords, commercial that help attract buyers, and non-commercial that attract people who look for information, you can target separate sets of your audience. Both are good and can lead to new business opportunities.
For more information on search engine ranking and optimization, see: A Guide to the Basics of SEO: 10 Tips to Optimize Your Website for Search
To build authority and a personal brand
If you love writing or speaking in front of a live audience, blogging can help you first build authority. Pretty soon, your blog readers will start to recognize you as a valuable source of information in your niche, a source that they can trust and learn from, and that kind of recognition will later lead to interviews, podcasts, and invitations to speak at events or book contracts.
Also see: 11 Ideas For Online Business to Stand Out From the Crowd
To create content for social media
Blog content gives businesses a non-sales way to promote their products and services. Social users don’t like ads and promotional material in their feeds, but blog posts are seen as helpful and they are much more likely to share them with friends and professional connections.
This helps further increase the exposure of your business and in front of a new audience. Don’t forget to include a good call to action at the end of each post to help convert this traffic into sales.
Also check out: How is Social Media Good for Your Website Traffic?
Why do you blog? Is it to share your talents and passion, to discover how you are creative, to earn a living? Or maybe something completely different? Please share your thoughts in the comments!
