Should I start a blog?
With all of the chatter in the online world about blogging, marketing, and ‘ínfluencing’, you might be asking yourself if starting a blog is a good idea.
Everyone else seems to have a blog! And a lot of people are making big money and making big moves in the online space – why can’t you do the same?
Well, you definitely CAN, if you want to!
But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you SHOULD.
Let’s get real about the best and worst reasons to start blogging. By the end of this brief article, you’ll have a solid answer to that important question you’ve been asking yourself: is starting a blog the right move for me?
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GOOD REASONS TO START A BLOG
There are definitely pros and cons to blogging, and we’ll get into that a bit more at the end of this article. But aside from the pros and cons of being an active blogger, what are some good reasons to start a blog?
1. TO SHARE INSIGHTS WITH YOUR AUDIENCE
If you have a lot of experience or insights on a certain topic, it might be worth starting a blog!
After all, we share our thoughts, experiences, and insights with people all the time. Wouldn’t it be kind of awesome to have a central hub of knowledge where you can direct people to your insights and they can learn from you freely, in their own time and space?
That’s the beauty of the blog: sharing free insights with the world, while also building a platform that you can eventually monetize.
2. TO BUILD TRUST WITH POTENTIAL CLIENTS
Whether you have a brick-and-mortar business or an online business, blogging is a great way to build up trust with potential clients.
Similar to our last point, you are sharing free insights with people online, and if they can benefit from those insights, they just might choose to move forward in direct business with you.
To anyone that thinks ‘blogging is dead’, let me tell ya… it is NOT.
In fact, my business coach – who teaches people how to build million/billion dollar businesses – just decided to start a BLOG for his business.
The reason?
He specifically stated that the reason for starting a blog was to help potential students and clients get started with their business goals.
He’s building trust. And this is a great reason to start a blog!
Y’all! I’ve been preaching the value of blogging for nearly a decade, and the billionaires are catching on 🤣🤣🤣
3. TO MAKE MONEY OR BUILD WEALTH
Let’s get real here: we all have bills to pay and lives to lead. Many people have student debt, children to feed, or expensive dreams they want to live out.
Money is a necessary tool in life. And there is money to be made out there.
You’ve probably seen those articles and ads that promise to teach you how to make millions blogging. That might even be the reason you are considering starting a blog.
Well, let me tell ya: it is possible, but it’s not easy.
If you have the motivation, discipline, and strategic knowledge that is required to build a successful blog, then there is nothing wrong with starting a blog for the sole purpose of earning income from it.
Just don’t expect millions overnight…that just isn’t realistic.
RELATED GUIDE: How to Make $1,000 a Month from Your Blog
Side note: you can also make money growing blogs and selling them – it’s called blog FLIPPING and it is becoming ever more popular.
The options are endless.
4. TO IMPROVE YOUR SKILLS
Believe it or not, blogging is going to teach you soooo many incredible and useful skills.
Being a successful blogger involves wearing quite a few hats, especially during the early days when most folks don’t have the funds to outsource some of their work tasks. And all of these skills that you learn along the way will help you in so many areas of life.
You’re going to learn all sorts of things about:
- Writing
- Editing
- Marketing
- SEO
- Psychology
- Graphic design
- Photography
- Networking
- Tech tools
And more!
Although you don’t necessarily need to master every one of these skills, you absolutely will learn the basics for most of these things as you grow your blog.
In fact, when you need some extra cash, you might even choose to do some freelance work with one of these skill sets that you pick up along the way.
Question: start a blog, yes or no?
Answer: If you want to improve your business and marketing skills, you should definitely start a blog.
5. TO BUILD A MEMORABLE BRAND
Having a blog connected to your online business is a great way to build your brand and brand awareness.
I personally started with an itty-bitty personal blog. It grew slowly but surely. Then I got into social media, email marketing, selling products, and building an awesome community on Facebook.
I have a brand that many people have come to recognize, and it all started with launching that little blog.
The world of content marketing is like a machine with many moving parts, but a memorable blog can help build up your brand awareness better than many other marketing tools!
Question: Should I start a blog?
Answer: If you want to build a brand, yes!
6. TO OWN A LITTLE PIECE OF ONLINE ‘LAND’
Your blog belongs to you. If you set up your blog the right way (following this free guide), then you will have complete ownership of your very own website.
Unlike social media, that can break or be taken away from you without a word of notice, your blog is yours. If you take good care of it and protect it, then no one can take it away from you.
And you can do WHATEVER you want with it!
Do you want to build awareness? Fight for a cause? Make money? Leave a solid business for your children to take over one day?
It’s all possible if you take that step to start a blog – even if it just starts as an inexpensive little hobby that you do for fun.
Question: Do you want to own a little piece of land in the online world?
If the answer is yes, then it’s time to start your blog.
7. TO MEET PEOPLE AND BUILD COMMUNITY
The online world is an interesting place. The content marketing space, specifically, is like its own little community of like-minded folks who ‘get it’.
We get what it’s like to work hard at something that most people won’t understand, to sit in front of the computer for wayyyy too many hours without taking a break, to juggle a job and life and kids with this wild new blogging venture.
Trust me, someone in this space GETS YOU and will support you through the ups and downs.
There are people in every niche, corner, and crevice of the online world – who are going through exactly what you are going through.
You can jump into existing communities and events to meet new people, or you can start building up your own.
Be on the lookout for:
- Conferences
- Retreats
- Local meetups
- Free events
- Workshops
- Virtual parties
And more.
It can be a really fun and integrated world, even when it’s virtual.
Question: do you want to meet like-minded people or build community around your favorite topics?
If the answer is yes, it might be time to start a blog and join the world of content marketing.
8. TO IMPROVE YOUR WRITING SKILLS
There’s no way around it: blogging requires writing skills.
We don’t always start out with these skills in our tool box, but the more we practice writing, the better we get.
If you want to improve your writing skills, that’s a good reason to start a blog.
9. TO LAND MORE SPONSORED WORK
Being a ‘social media influencer’ is all the rage right now. You can potentially setup an Instagram account, build up a good little following of engaged people, and then start making money by recommending products and services.
It’s a great way to diversify your income, if that’s something that interests you.
But a lot of people are leaving big money on the table by ignoring the VALUE of sponsored blog posts.
Blog articles get more organic traffic, more targeted clicks, and have a much longer ‘shelf life’ than any Instagram post.
Yes, social media is extremely popular and brings in a lot of eyes, likes, and clicks, no doubt!
But the people that want to ‘learn more’ beyond the viral video promoting a product, are going to purchase from a trusted website before buying from a social media site.
RELATED GUIDE: How to Make Money Working with Brands on Sponsored Posts
10. TO BE YOUR OWN BOSS
If you’re ready to build a flexible online biz and become your own boss, blogging might be a good fit for you.
When you build a successful blog, you run the show 100%. You are the chief executive officer, the boss-man, the person who makes or breaks the business.
This is a blessing (and also a big responsibility)!
Being your own boss isn’t necessarily a good fit for everyone. But if you want to give it a shot, then blogging is a good place to start.
11. TO INCREASE POTENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES
Sometimes you’ll hear people talk about how blogging changed their life.
This won’t be the case for everyone, and I’m not about to make such a bold claim.
But, there is something really great about facing your fears, stepping out of your comfort zone, and embracing new things!
There are travel bloggers that have traveled around the world for free. Bloggers that quit their day jobs and became millionaires (again this does not happen overnight, but it can happen overtime).
Mom bloggers that have built businesses allowing them to work from home and raise their kids. And other bloggers of all kinds that have had incredible experiences and opened up amazing doors, just from taking that leap and jumping into the world of blogging and marketing.
Personally, I have:
- Made some amazing life-long friends
- Held my family up through traumatic emergencies and medical debt
- Worked with incredible marketing brands I used to dream of
- Pulled myself out of poverty and low-income housing
- Contributed to some amazing causes
- Helped build and operate massively successful organizations – all because I said YES and chose to start my own blogging business.
Even if you find that blogging isn’t your ‘dream job’, the potential business opportunities expand once you build a name for yourself in online marketing.
WHO SHOULD START A BLOG?
With those points in mind, who SHOULD start a blog this year?
1. People that WANT to blog.
My personal belief is that anyone who wants to start a blog should do it, it’s inexpensive to start, even if it’s just a hobby.
Grab a domain name here, grab some website hosting here, install WordPress through your hosting account, and BOOM! You’re ready to roll!
2. People that have free time and want to try something new.
There is a time investment involved in this process. You are building an online business from scratch, after all.
I built my blog while I was working full-time, and although it is doable, it isn’t easy!
So take your current schedule and other obligations into account. Can you adjust things to lower the pressure in your life and make a little more time for your new venture?
3. People that have strong self-discipline.
Not everyone has the discipline that is required to build up a successful blog. It takes work, strategic effort, and investment.
You won’t always have the MOTIVATION to get up and work on your blog, so you need to have the DISCIPLINE that is required to move closer to your goals, whether you’re ‘feeling it’ today or not.
Can you say no to that weekend party to work on a blog post? Can you pause the Netflix binging to get a little closer to your goals? It’s important to look at yourself in the mirror, be honest about where you’re at, and be willing to make the needed adjustments to succeed.
4. People that are willing to invest in themselves.
You aren’t going to hear me saying ‘max out all your credit cards and invest in your blog’!
That’s not my style.
The truth is: building a blog is one of the cheapest possible ways to start an online business, BUT it does come with some investments as you grow.
You’ll need a website, you might need some education or strategic direction, and some other investments here and there.
Building a successful blog is NOT free, and you will need to make a few necessary investments along the way.
While a lot of information can be found for free online, the most successful and experienced leaders in the industry have paid programs to help you catapult your blog to the next level – they aren’t giving away the ‘deeper’ stuff for free, and we can’t expect them to.
Digging around for free stuff will also have its risks, including potentially finding shallow or incorrect information that can set you back on your journey.
But again, there is nothing wrong with FREE stuff!
Just make sure you are screening your resources carefully and investing in tools that will help you to reach your goals.
5. People with A LOT of grit and patience!
This one is THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE.
There will be frustrations. There will be setbacks. And there absolutely will be technical glitches that make you want to rip your hair out.
If you don’t have the budget to pay someone to ‘fix your problems’, these things will be an even bigger part of your journey.
Grit is passion and perseverance as you work toward your long-term goals.
It’s pushing through the hard days because you see the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s putting your head down and doing the work, even when it’s hard, frustrating, or lonely.
And it’s loving what you do sooooo much that nothing and no one is going to stop you from your important work.
If that sounds like YOU, then yes, you have a good reason to start a blog… and you should get started sooner than later!
You’ll notice that we never talk about being exceptionally talented, being a skilled writer, having a drop-dead gorgeous smile, being an extrovert, or having a lot of friends and followers in order to be successful.
Those things might help in certain aspects of business or marketing, but NONE of these things are required to start and grow a successful blog.
Grit and patience, babe! That is what you need!
WHO SHOULD NOT START A BLOG?
Alrighty: we know about all the best reasons to start blogging, and we know what kind of person should start a blog (if they want to).
Who should avoid this route?
Quite a few people actually.
People that need to be told what to do.
You gotta be a self-starter if you want to build a successful blog.
No one is going to hold your hand and make you do the things you need to do.
I mean, a great coach WILL hold your hand and show you the way, but you’ll still need to take action and put in the work – no one can do it for you.
If you need an authority figure to give you instructions in order to be productive, then blogging probably isn’t for you.
People that cannot sit or type for long periods of time.
Sitting, typing, scrolling, and clicking a mouse all come with the blogging territory.
Don’t get me wrong, a standing desk will change your life if you’re a blogger! But even still, we do sit a lot. We do scroll a lot. And we are sitting in front of devices a lot.
Once you have the funds to outsource some of your work, the sitting and staring could potentially decrease, but this is still a reality that most new bloggers will need to face.
If you’re someone that strictly limits screen time, then starting a blog is probably not the best option for you.
People that lack patience and adaptability.
Again with patience! I know I sound like a broken record.
But patience is so important if you want to blog. Not only does it take a bit of time to build up traffic and income… the online world is always changing.
You need to be patient with yourself, with others, and with the ever-changing rules and regulations that will come up in your career.
If you’re impatient, easily stressed out by change, or hate technology and screen time, then it’s probably best to find another occupation.
Otherwise, give blogging a go!
You just might fall in love with it.
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