The blogging community is staggering.
In strength, in numbers, in thought, in word and in deed.
I’m continually amazed by the tremendous people I meet each day online. Behind each blog I seem to find an even better person. Each of you dedicates time to creating powerful orations of your experiences in life. Your knowledge. You whole souls and feelings. From this I’ve learned that I am just one – of a superb group of individuals.
I feel, at times, that my involvement with each of you is serendipitous. Often it seems too good to be true.
My Question…Why Do You Blog?
Recently – I felt like there was a question burning inside of me that needed answering by the blogging community.
Why do you blog?
From food bloggers to money making geniuses – there’s an answer to this question from each blogger. Each has a story; genuine and unique to his/her own “space” on the internet.
This series of blog posts will be an easy way to dive into the minds of many bloggers. Over fifty of you have already emailed me your responses – and for this I thank you.
Here are their stories.
The Answers
Brian Ellis of Anocial
Well, I started blogging a couple of years ago not really knowing what I was doing. It was a feel good insight retrospective kinda blog called GUI Life. It was fun but there really wasn’t anything to set it apart from anyone else’s blog. I had a site that did well for a while that I ran with a couple of friends. It was justusleeg.com. It did very well but had no business model and died out after a while.
I now have Anocial. It is for my business, social media consulting, but I also incorporate personal and fun posts, along with my views on social media. It is a business blogging model that I am trying out, and seems to be working well. We are in a time where people want a certain amount of transparency. Putting the personal stuff in with my business stuff is an attempt to put a real human behind the professional business avatar.
Angela Artemis of Powered By Intuition
I’m blogging to develop a platform for my books, products and seminars. I also have a message that I’m intent upon sharing with the world regarding why we all need to reconnect to our intuition at this time.
My blog also serves as the engine that drives clients to me looking for intuitive readings and coaching and mentoring. I consider my blog to be critical to my the growth of my business.
Patricia Millman of Lavender Uses
I initially began blogging because I wanted to set up a home-based business. As I enjoy writing I thought this would combine what I enjoy with the dream of having my own business. So my blog is a platform for my fledgling lavender business. And the plus is that being part of a blogging community I also get to network.
From networking I have met some amazing people and they in turn encourage and cheer me on with this blog. I also blog to inform my readers of all aspects of the lovely lavenders many uses. This in turn means that people can make informed choices when choosing products.
Tyler Tervooren of Advanced Riskology
I blog because I literally cannot think of anything better to do. It took me a long time to discover that writing was a great outlet for me, and now that I have, I can’t think of a better way for me to get my message out. There are all kinds of things I could do, but none that bring me alive as much as this.
Of course, the ultimate goal is to spread my message of calculated risk taking, and if I find a better way to spread that message in the future, I’d abandon blogging to fully embrace it. What I mean to say is that I’m married to the message much more than I am to the medium of blogging.
Ryan Critchett of Imarketinghacked
I blog because I’m trying to change something I think can be better. I’m really fascinated by social media, the internet and how it makes people change the way they think about business. Even though us bloggers know it’s about engagement, millions of companies are still blast marketing on Facebook fan pages, with thousands of likes, and absolutely no engagement.
I’m also really about connecting with people first, and then if you have something cool to sell, letting them naturally come to you to check it out. Manufacturing needs and then trying to coerce people into buying stuff is dying pretty fast, and that’s no secret.
So I blog to help spread the message that new marketing is here, it’s happening right now and to really get ahead and secure your spot in the next couple of years, both as a blogger and a business person, you’re going to have to step your game up, evolve with time, really genuinely be about people and be something people are excited to talk about.
Yomar Lopez of Yogizilla
Blogging represents a proverbial crossroads where ideas meet activity. I use my blogs as a way to raise awareness, prime markets, and share valuable content…But I am also selfish with it.
My blogs build up personal brands, allowing me to gradually build loyal supporters, natural leads (for sales and collaboration), and credibility.
I find that I blog “from the gut”, which is not an opportunity many other communication mediums afford you. It’s more about the message, the stories, and the conversations thereof. With my blogging efforts, I get to network with people I may not have met otherwise.
What excites me even more is that blogging helps me bullet-proof my ideas, challenging my beliefs and direction constantly. If I find that I am on the wrong path, I can make necessary course corrections. Blogs allow us to balance selfish needs with the selfless pursuit of helping others.
Mitch Mitchell of I’m Just Sharing
I blog because I have things to say. I initially wanted to write for just my business blog but I’ve always written about my life and my tales and my opinions in other places so blogging seemed to be the perfect extension of that expression.
It’s even better because now I don’t have to keep everything to myself, just some things. And it’s nice to know that I’m not always alone in my beliefs; wonderful feeling indeed.
Daniel Wood of Looking To Business
I blog to help build my reputation, to learn and to build contacts. Thanks to my blog I have gotten to know some amazing people, I have learned a lot and I have build a whole business around it. Personal Development and success is a wide subject and I have just had time to scratch the surface.
JD Meier of Sources Of Insight
I blog to empower people with skills.
I learned long ago that content can be used to share and scale profound knowledge and deep expertise.
I have more than 10 years of deliberate practice in the art of prescriptive guidance. Now I use that ability to give people skills to pay the bills and lead a better life.
Paul Wolfe of One Spoon At A Time
One Spoon At A Time is an online business – and I blog to build an audience for that business. I’ve got a string of eBooks and Workships that I will start publishing later in the year – and since Day 1 I’ve been blogging to build a potential audience for those products.
Additional benefits are that I’ve met and created relationships with some awesome people – and also the process of blogging is also a learning process. Sometimes I put ideas out there, and the comments I get on those posts help me refine those ideas. So blogging helps fuel and refine the product creation process.
Terry Conti of The Terry Conti Blog
I believe to blog is to build relationships by giving and receiving good useful knowledge. Building relationships is so important if you want to get anywhere online and establish a good presence. Give and you shall receive.
Success doesn’t come easy. Many are misled into thinking it does. We all need to help each other by sharing useful knowledge. The knowledge of the many is far better than the knowledge of the one. Learning and meeting new people is priceless!
As time passes getting involved in useful knowledge sharing will allow getting many commentators to your own blog. I love sharing good content that helps others. I love when people tell me they got something useful out of my blog post. It makes my day!
I visit and comment on other people’s blogs, as a result it builds commentators on my blog, forms great relationships and we all learn something. The people I’ve met through blogging are awesome! Blogging done the right way is awesome! This is why I blog!
Sally Neill of SallyNeill.com
I don’t blog to make money – that’s just an added bonus. I don’t blog for search engines – but they still come. I blog to share my online journey with other people. When I originally started blogging, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing, in fact I am ashamed to say I used private labels rights articles that were hastily rewritten.
But once I began coaching with my mentor Alex Jeffreys I realized that my blog should be my story, my journey, my journal. I then began to detail everything I done online whilst trying to become a full time Internet Marketer. I blogged about facing fears, mistakes I had made and the successes I encountered. I built up a good and loyal following, filled with people all geared towards helping me (as I do them) whom I nicknamed my “cool crowd” I now consider my cool crowd to be my friends, they have followed my journey from being nothing to something. They have helped me every step of the way with their feedback and generosity in sharing my posts and links when they could.
So why do I blog? Firstly, I blog for myself – so I have undeniable proof of my growth online. Secondly, I blog to share value for others so that they themselves can push forward with their own online business and achieve the levels of success they desire.
Brand Holland of Hollandz
I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I knew I had more to offer the world and time was ticking. I simply wanted to change my life. So instead of bitching about it, I became proactive.
Originally it started out as a way to vent my frustrations and pose the question, if humans are a superior race; the most advanced and intellectual beings out there, why am I on my hands and knees everyday cleaning up cat poop all over my house instead of the designated area?
Now, my blog is a way for me to create something through writing and most of all to connect with people.
I still have to clean up cat poop though.
Benny Hsu of Get Busy Living
I blog to have a platform for self expression. To say what I’ve always wanted to say but in a way that inspires others. I enjoy having my words mean something to someone.
Also, I blog to meet like-minded people who are doing great things in their lives. If I didn’t have my blog, I would not have been able to meet so many cool people so far.
Aaron Socci of Upgrade On Life
I blog for an array of reasons. For one, it’s a great way to keep myself accountable on my daily journey towards bettering who I am and the way I live. It’s also a great way to connect with people who share similar struggles and life goals. I’m a writer at heart, and blogging is a great way to fulfill that passion and help people in the process.
Steve Roy of Ending The Grind
There are several main reasons I blog. The first is that it’s a platform that will help me reach my ultimate goal of being able to work from home and spend much more time with my 2 young daughters.
The second is that it allows me to share my passion for writing and helping people get out of their grind. I know what living with a miserable job can to to one’s overall happiness and I am trying to spread my message with as many people as I can. Life does not need to be lived this way!
Matthew Karsten of The Expert Vagabond
My blog is a form of expression. It’s an outlet for creativity. Yes – it gives family, friends, and complete strangers the ability to know what crazy adventures I’m throwing myself into around the planet, but that isn’t it’s sole purpose. I enjoy the planning that goes into creating each post, the time that goes into producing each photo. It’s a ton of work, more than most people could guess. But it gives me the ability to create something unique and entertaining completely on my own, without the constraints I might have if I was working creatively for someone else. Ego plays a small part too, of course. The main topic is me after all.
If others are inspired to break out and explore their world or learn something new from my blog, those are just added benefits.
Julia Tarquinio of JuliaTarquinio.com
When I first started blogging I thought it just meant I would write, maybe get some comments and then that would be it. Then I met someone who schooled me hardcore on what I could do with it all.
I am blogging because I love to write, but now, I have found that I love connecting with people and starting great conversations about life and what not. I also hope to one promote a book through my blog and be able to write for a living.
Davina Brewer of 3Hats Communications
Fame, untold riches, free iPads, trips to Hawaii and hot dates. Kidding obviously.
1. Expand my social profile
2. Professional development
3. Networking and community
Being in PR, I see social as a natural extension of what I do. I wanted to expand my website, have a better showcase for my writing, what I do, my approach to marketing communications for small business. My blog sorta is my social media white paper, WYSIWYG: what you see is what you get. I blog so that I can share helpful, practical information that’s of value – and do it in a fun and interesting way. Blogging has also helped expand my network and development, learn and grow as a professional.. making me better able to do my job, help my clients.
Arturas of YNR Insider
Basically what YNR Insider does it connect small-end business owners and entrepreneur’s to venture capitalists and investors alike, while blogging on the side.
We host a full blog updated many times a day, with information and success stories, tips, and memoirs about others entrepreneurs and successful start-up corporations. We are providing the step (B) between coming up with a great idea (A), and finding someone to invest in it (C).
Dave Ursillo of DaveUrsillo.com
Blogging provides me with rich opportunities and incredible freedom.
As a blogger I feel blessed with the chance to share inspiring messages with others, while being able to converse with and learning from an incredible readership from around the globe. Blogging has blessed me with a special gateway to the world.
Marianne Worley of Marketing Matters
For me, blogging is about self-expression. My blog gives me the freedom to put my thoughts into words. It’s extremely rewarding, even when I write about something just for fun.
I have 5 specific blogging objectives: 1) Connect with people; 2) Learn new things; 3) Share what I know; 4) Sharpen my writing skills; and 5) Create a “living” and growing writing sample. I do my best to keep these top of mind as I write each post.
Holly Jahangiri of It’s All a Matter of Perspective
It keeps me writing regularly. It helps me to feel connected. It saves going out and seeking advice. Readers are very generous with that. I love getting emails from people who read what I write. Good, bad, doesn’t matter – it’s a conversation starter. It saves having to answer the same questions twenty times. It lets me answer in as much depth as I want to, without monopolizing friends’ time. “How was your day?”
Maybe some of what I write will mean something to my children or grandchildren, some day. Who knows, when writing down their thoughts and events of their day, how that will fit into a larger historical context? Who knows when something they write will touch a reader just when they need it most? Not me, but I like to think maybe what I write will serve that purpose in the future.
Aaron Klein of AaronKlein.com
I blog to express my point of view and promote my ideas…to develop concepts through discussion with commenters…and to document important resources and thoughts for myself.
Earl Baron of Wandering Earl
My goal is to share the reality of my world with other people who might find my decisions, my experiences, my struggles and my thoughts useful in creating their own unique path in life. More specifically, as a permanent nomad constantly traveling the world, I aim to eliminate misunderstandings and assumptions that many of us hold about other countries while also trying to prove that a life of travel is not some crazy fantasy but a very realistic lifestyle option instead. And the most effective way for me to share what I learn is through blogging.
Every time I receive an email from a reader, whether it is to ask me a question, seek advice, share a story or thank me for providing them with the inspiration they needed, I am honestly as happy as can be. I don’t care about earning money from my blog or how many readers I have. As long as there remains a possibility that my own experiences may be able to have a positive effect on the life of someone else, I shall continue blogging.
Andrew Caldwell of AndrewCaldwell.org
There are a few reasons why I blog, and in no particular order: when you write and interact within social media you meet a lot of fantastic like-minded people, it helps to know you’re not the only lunatic in the asylum. I took a sabbatical from blogging and missed the writing, sure I wrote the odd journal entry but blogging demands that you get better all the time.
Having a social media profile or sending the odd email without a blog, it’s like showing up at a fancy dress without a costume, sure you can read along but you’re not engaging & fully interacting. The blog is an extension of your opinions, thoughts & sense of humour. Something that your facebook page or 140 character twitter profile can’t deliver.
Over the past 2 years I’ve seen some great writers start a blog and earn full-time incomes from them or achieve some huge goals, travel the world, all sorts. Your blog can keep you accountable and become a self fulfilling prophecy of your goals and your journey.
David Risley of DavidRisley.com
Because I like to help people. Because the idea of working a 9-to-5 in a cubicle somewhere makes me want to stick a fork in my eye and twist. Because I have things to say.
Sean Platt of Ghostwriter Dad
I blog because it’s a great way to crystalize my thoughts, create quality content, and forge genuine connections with like minded writers. It’s also a great way to centralize my online identity with the theories, links and references I find most valuable (and thereby most helpful to my audience.)
Blogging helps me to develop a deeper connection with the technology that’s changing (and improving) my life day by day. Best of all, blogging is the best way I know of to improve my marketing skill set. Because I can observe how my audience responds to the content I create, I can constantly improve my strategies to mine the most from my efforts.
Carolyn Nicander Mohr of The Wonder of Tech
I blog for both selfish and unselfish reasons. Selfishly, I blog because my blog combines two of my passions, writing and personal technology. It’s fun! Unselfishly, I blog because I love to help others.
The greatest satisfaction I get from my blog is when I learn that someone was helped by something I wrote. I used to tell friends about new gadgets, apps, etc. and help them out with their tech. My blog has a farther reach so I can help more people discover the exciting world of personal technology.
I am blessed not to have to depend upon my blog to support me financially and I greatly admire those who have the courage to support themselves through their writing.
Stan Faryna of The unofficial blog of Stan Faryna
I’m so excited that Christian has asked this wonderful question and allowed me an opportunity to share my heart with you. Because, yesterday, I would have given a thoughtful and intelligent answer.
But, today, I share an answer that is overflowing from my heart – an answer that is no less thoughtful and intelligent.
I want you to always feel you are amazing.
And I will feel that I am amazing if I can help you always feel that you are amazing. I think Seal’s song, Amazing, says everything that needs to be said on the matter. I may not get it right. Or not soon enough. But now you know what I am working toward. And it is all about being amazing! You. Me. Us.
Caz of y Travel Blog
I started blogging as I felt like the lessons I learned about myself and life from 14 years of living and traveling around the world was being wasted.
I had this intense desire to share with others in the hopes of, not just providing the knowledge to do the same, but the inspiration.
The knowledge that I am making a difference to the lives of others provides me inspiration to continue blogging. I often receive emails or comments letting me know how someone has been inspired by one of my posts and has learned something that can help them move forward in the pursuit of their dreams.
I also continue to blog because it is my passion. I love getting up of a morning to do this, and I would totally do it for free. My blog allows me to create a place of positivity and encouragement. There is just not enough of this in the world for me to ever stop blogging.
Michael of Mind of Michael
I blog because I enjoy to blog. I blog because I like to make a residual income online (even when I sleep). I blog because I like sharing my knowledge I’ve learned with others.
I also blog because I like connecting with others in my niche. Blogging is fun and I enjoy blogging because of the above reasons!
