Every now and then you read a gloom and doom post about blogging like "Is blogging dead?" or "Where are all the bloggers?" Blogging is far from dead. Some people who were blogging five days a week four years ago may have slowed down or quit because they got burned out, and there's no question that there are more bloggers than ever before, making it more difficult to get your message heard, but blogging is thriving like never before. Whether you're a writer, doctor, interior designer or homemaker, there are many great reasons to blog. Here are just a few:
1. To Express Your Ideas
Sometimes a Tweet or a Facebook post isn't enough to say everything you want to say about last week's school shooting, the upcoming election, the latest parenting trend, or the World Cup. Blogging is a great way to share your thoughts with others—whether they are friends and family or strangers.
2. To Make Friends
When people are going through difficult times, sometimes they find it's easier to talk to strangers than to friends. Many people use blogging as a way to connect with others when they are feeling down.
3. To Build an Audience
Authors use blogging to build readerships for their books. They start long before their books are published by writing posts, sharing them, and commenting on other blogs. Musicians do the same with YouTube videos, then post them to their Facebook pages and blogs.
4. To Sell a Product
Whether you're selling your dog-walking services or a new cat toy you invented, blogging is a great way to improve the SEO (search engine optimization) of your website. By blogging regularly, you'll attract more customers to your site and increase the sales of your products and services.
5. To Practice Writing
In The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron suggests writing three "morning pages" every day before you sit down to work on your novel. Many people begin personal blogs in order to write their morning pages. Others write (and sometimes publish) scenes and chapters on their blogs in order to practice writing and get feedback from others.
6. To Feel Better
Writing is cathartic. It's a form of therapy. By venting about your frustrations with your spouse, your job, your medical bills, you can shrug some of those burdens off your shoulders and get on with your life. You can make your blog private, or anonymous, or share it with your friends. It's up to you.
7. To Inform
Blogging is a great way to share photos and stories with your friends and family about what's going on in your life. Maybe you're traveling around the world. Maybe you just had a baby. Maybe you want to document your grandfather's life. Blogging allows you to gather all that information in one place and make those posts public or private depending on your preference.
8. To Share Information
Share your favorite recipes. If you're a photographer, post a photo you took and explain what equipment and settings you used to get that amazing shot. List your 10 favorite places to go camping. Make DIY YouTube videos and post them to your blog. The possibilities are endless.
9. To Learn From Others
Not only will you learn from the comments people leave on your blog, if you're a good blogger, you'll read and comment on other blogs, too. And you'll learn a lot from those other blogs. You'll learn facts, you'll discover new ideas, and you'll come to better understand other people's perspectives.
10. To Have Fun
Blogging is fun! It's fun to write, to read, to connect with others, and to discover more about yourself by sharing your ideas. You don't have to post on a schedule. You don't have to build a huge audience. You can blog for yourself, because you enjoy it, because it's fun.
What about you? Why do you blog?
About number 5: I've always heard that when you write a blog, it's considered published. Many publishers--at least of literary magazines--won't consider a piece that has been published on a blog. Is this true? Has anyone had something written on their blogs accepted for publication?
Thanks for sharing The Write Spot with us, Marlene! And I'm glad this list was inspiring.
I loved reading this list. I blog to share writing information and primarily, The Write Spot Blog, is a place where people can use the prompts to jumpstart their writing, post their freewrites and receive comments. It's becoming a fun and lively writing community. So, I guess it's numbers 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10! :-) http:/ / thewritespot.us/ marlenecullenblog/
Vivienne, you have your own online dating site?! That's impressive! Thanks for sharing your link.
Stephen, that's great that you use blogging as a way to improve your writing. I think it helps me whittle large amounts of information down to bullet points, which is useful in all nonfiction writing.
Lesley, and I bet if the more humor that comes through on your blog, the more readers will want to buy your books, too!
Meghan, what a great article. I started blogging in 2006, which was a gateway to my on-line dating site. I Blog because I love sharing information and exchanging ideas with others. For more information to to http:/ / www.oneworldsinglesblog.net
Thank you for sharing. :)
Ditto what Diehl says but often I find myself learning more about writing by blogging. How to structure sentences, grammar and punctuation check, etc. I have a rotation, of sorts, but always look for something new to post.
I blog for all the reasons you stated, but sometimes I forget that one of the best reasons to blog is just for fun. Since I write humorous cozy mysteries, I need to remind myself that having fun on my blog means my readers can have fun too. Thanks for the reminder.