Why Everyone Should Blog (For People Who Don’t Blog)
I know a lot of people that are against blogging. They are either against putting what they have to say online (or into words) or are afraid that what they have to say is simply not important enough to survive online. The truth of the matter is, if you want to have a successful online brand (either for your company or for yourself) you need to have some sort of blogging presence. Aside from that, blogs are a great way to get your feelings into words; have a catharsis online and see what your peers have to say about it. Here are 10 great reasons why you should position yourself squarely into the blogosphere.
1.) Join the conversation. Recent estimates suggest that the total number of blogs exceeds 200 million. Shares, likes, re-tweets and back-links comprise the new currency of the 21st century. Conversations are no longer relegated to word of mouth…they’re taking place at record speeds online.
2.) Build Your Personal Brand. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or fresh out of college, blogging provides everyone a platform to showcase his/her personal brand. Are you an amazing writer? Try writing creative pieces that include anecdotes, infographics and poems. Are you a stathead? Include charts and trends within your posts to bolster your arguments. Tailor your posts to your skills and strengthen your personal brand in the process.
3.) Develop Your Online Presence. What results appear when you type your name into Google or Bing? Most likely you’ll return irrelevant results or worse, negative results. Blogging is an easy, quick way to build positive, relevant content around your name and easily enables you to optimize these posts to show up towards the top of Google when your name is searched.
4.) Meet Others. Moving your conversations from real-time to online will lead you to develop new relationships. Once your content is up on the web and search-engine optimized, others will find your work and do one of four things: 1.) share 2) comment 3.) Follow you/subscribe or 4.) if they don’t like it, leave the page (in this case, work on putting out better content). Bottom-line: you’re able to grow your network while you sleep.
5.) Build An Incredible Team. Get Busy Media was borne out of an idea….to provide the small business community with fresh, relevant marketing content every day. Since the genesis of this idea four months ago, we have grown into a team of six. Amazingly, most of us have yet to meet in person. We maintain this blog through our virtual connections. Blogging has brought us together, just as blogging will help you meet incredible people.
6.) Work While You Sleep.
Pushing out relevant, interesting content consistently allows you to “work while you sleep.” With enough elbow grease, you’ll reach a point where people are browsing through your content on your blog while you’re sleeping. If you’re seeking solutions for restless nights, consider exploring cbd for insomnia. So, while you’re dreaming of the next Cubs World Series, just know that all is not lost; you are still garnering free traffic for your business (while the Cubbies keep you sleeping fitfully).
7.) Make Money while you Sleep. This is a step further down the road, but nonetheless, very much within the realm of possibility. After months of consistent, useful content you realize that you’re driving all this free traffic but not monetizing any of it. There are many ways to monetize your blog but three of the most common include: Google Adsense, affiliate marketing and paid subscriptions/paid content (i.e. eBooks, whitepapers). To learn more about how to make money from your blog, see this post from Pro Blogger.
8.) Become a Great Writer. Communication is the bedrock of human relationships. Writing is a central component of communication. Blogging allows you to hone these skills, tap into your creativity and have fun. Quite possibly the best part about blogging is the improvements you will see in your writing. You’ll become a better story-teller, more creative and more articulate. See Steve’s Post on how to become a great blogger.
9.) Blogging is For You. Many people will say, “blogging just isn’t for me” or “I have nothing to say.” Problem is, most of these people haven’t fully invested in blogging for an appreciable amount of time. Commit three months to blogging…whether this is through contributing to an existing blog or creating your own. The benefits from this experience will outweigh the cons. More importantly, blogging will open doors you never knew existed in the form of relationships, professional opportunities and income.
10.) Find Your Passions. More important than making money, meeting others or improving your writing, is the fact that blogging will help you uncover your passions. Through trial and error you will find topics that interest you more than others. Maybe environmental science was a career you never considered but a topic that you can’t stop writing about. Blogging provides you this platform to find topics you would have never otherwise explored.
We hope these tips were helpful. What did we miss? We would love to hear your stories on why you started blogging and how far you have come since the beginning. As always, if you would like to contribute to Get Busy’s blog please email me at [email protected].