Google the word ‘blogging’ and today there are over 60 million results [2017 update 138 m] – so, what does that tell you? Well, probably not a lot more than you already know – blogging is out there and there’s a vast amount of stuff being written about it. Note my use of the word ‘stuff’; I’ll come back to it later. Now, assuming you are reading this because you are interested, and not just because you have stumbled across the page by accident, you might want to know WHY you should blog and what it’s all about. Well, this is a short ‘post’ (blog-speak for article) so all I’m going to do is share a few reasons to begin blogging – at least give it a go …
Before we start, in case, in case you didn’t know, BLOG is short for WEB LOG = diary/journal
1. Everybody’s talking about it, so you’ll be in the zeitgeist
2. It’s easy – you’re reading this you already have the skills to get started
3. You can be a blogger with absolutely no training or qualifications whatsoever
4. Being ‘real’ and using everyday language is OK (see ‘stuff) because it’s your writing
5. Connecting with others is easy with a blog – people can comment and interact with you
6. It’s really neat way to market/sell/promote your ideas, services, products etc
7. You MIGHT be able to make a bit of money directly from your blog
8. Creativity can take many forms – writing, video, photos, podcasts all have their place in blogs
9. Blogs can be any length and done anytime – your choice
10. People may actually read what you write – and how good is that?!
If you want to start blogging a couple of sites to try for free are WordPress (my favourite) and Blogger. There are loads of easy tutorials out there and plenty of help to be had – just ask or search on-line. Social media is a great medium to help get you some readers – Face Book, Twitter, LinkedIn etc – they all have tools to support blogs.
So, whether you want to start blogging to promote your business, share your hobby or interest with like-minded others or simply try something new, give it go – it’s fun!
I run seminars, workshops and give 1-1 coaching on blogging and social media. Read about The Quirky Traveller Training here and do get in touch if you’d like some help getting started …
One more thing … within 5 years it’s thought that virtually every business will have some form of blog so the sooner you give it a try, the quicker you can join in.
I started blogging early last year as a complete beginner and I’ve been amazed at the amount of interest there has been in my blog, and the number of Twitter followers I’ve accumulated. Writing is like a bug, once you start you can’t stop. I’m now delving into the wonderful world of self-publishing. For anyone considering blogging, I can’t recommend Twitter highly enough. Without Twitter I’d be blogging to myself.
You’re right Vicky – Twitter is excellent for letting people know about new posts and combined with Face Book is probably the best way without spending every minute on the computer! Good luck with the self-publishing – be interested to hear how it goes 🙂
Blogging has given me the Opportunity to bring my writing to the public domain. I have managed to adjust my ‘work life balance’; around it a little. Earning money is difficult, but I have brought in some income, though this has not yet translated to profit.
Best of all I just love blogging and, yes, people do like reading blogs. What may appear ordinary to you, will not be to your readers.
All of this was ‘kick started’ by one of Zoe’s wonderful courses – so highly recommended. Thank you Zoe
The website for our Holiday rental in France was just ‘sitting there’ doing nothing and attracting very little ‘traffic’.
I had the website converted to a WordPress site in early 2012, as I had read about the benefits of Blogging.
I didn’t start my own blog on the site until April, but even though I don’t really use twitter or Facebook to ‘advertise’ the website or my blog, I have found, by just writing a blog post every week or two, that the number of visitors to my website has quadrupled.
On top of that and without even trying, some of my posts have been appearing on page 1 of Google !
Proof indeed Zoe that ‘Blogging works’
That’s excellent to hear Martin and I do hope that in future it will also bring you new guests to stay in your property. Blogging is such a great way to create an audience and to share the passion of what we love to do.