Whenever I complain about not having enough time to do everything I think I need to do – family responsibilities, writing and publishing books, writing articles and submitting them to magazines, marketing, maintaining my website, and blogging – my husband, the accountant, asks:
“What has the potential to make the most money?”
“Well, my books.”
“Then do that.”
He has a hard time understanding why I put so much time and effort into something that appears to yield so little profit. Sometimes I wonder the same myself, yet I keep blogging. Here’s six reasons why:
1. It’s a Good Discipline & Keeps Me Writing
Even when I don’t feel like writing, knowing I have a blog post to complete forces me to write which improves my writing.
2. It Helps Me Clarify My Target Audience
As I write each week and check responses, I get a better idea who my target audience is and what interests them.
3. It Can be a Source of Income
If you know what you are doing, you can make money through ads. I’ve yet to do this. I currently use WordPress.com for my website so I’m not able to put ads on my website, but I’ve heard some people do. Maybe some day I’ll grow up to a WordPress.org website and try this.
4. It Can be a Source of Other Income
During Lent I posted a weekly series on Lenten Pitfalls. This series was easily turned into an article that I can now send to magazines. I also posted a Bible Study which I intend to publish eventually. And, in the future, I plan to take my weekly posts on the Psalms and turn this into a book of reflections. All potential sources of income. No writing is wasted.
5. It Gives You Something for Your Facebook Page, Twitter, Linked In & Other Social Media Sites
Speaking of not wasting any writing, I now post a link to my most recent blog post on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus, thereby extending the reach of my original blog post and keeping active on those sites without having to come up with new material.
6. It Helps Build Your Platform
And then there’s that all important platform that agents and publishers insist you have before they will look at your writing. I have yet to develop a large platform, but at least I’m making the effort. That counts.
What about you? Do you blog, and if so, why? Can you add more benefits to my list? I would love to hear from you.
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* This post was originally published in April 2016.
Very useful information. . .Thanks!
Thanks Nancy! Yes, blogging helps you find your voice, as you did. :)
Great post, Patricia. Here's my response to your question ("What about you? Do you blog, and if so, why? Can you add more benefits to my list?"):
I am a memoir writer. I found that out by blogging. I also found my voice by blogging. And the best of all, I started writing my first book as a result of blogging. At the time I was an innkeeper, and had been for nearly 15 years. When I started blogging I wrote about my inn. Eventually, I began turning those posts into stories on writers sites. The feedback was strong enough to make me begin combining them into larger and larger works until I finally ended up with a 250 page memoir, which is now being published.
Yes, there are many benefits to blogging; I urge all writers to do it. Thanks so much for reminding me.
Thank you, Kristin! Much appreciated! :)
Great list, Patricia! I'll be featuring it in an upcoming newsletter. Thanks so much for sharing!