10 Fantastic Reasons To Start A Blog Right Now
I’m giving you 10 good reasons to start a blog, and also a few reasons not too. This is the first in answering questions I’ve gotten about blogging.
Too blog or not to blog? Should you start a blog? I’m starting a series on answering some questions that I’ve been asked frequently so that I’ve got a resource to refer my friends too! I hope this helps and of course feel free to reach out with any questions and I’ll do my best to answer them!
What is a Blog?
Let’s start with the basics here. What even is a blog?
A blog is a website and it’s generally run by an individual (you) or a small team of people. It’s generally focused on one topic and share’s posts (articles) photo’s and videos about whatever niche (topic) they are focused on.
A blog can generally be a lot more personal than what we might consider a typical website. You’ve got a lot more room to be creative and share with your audience.
It can definitely be a rewarding process and I’m certainly enjoying the journey!
How I got Started Blogging
Let me start by saying that I haven’t blogged as long as so many people on the internet but I have had some success in making money with my blog(s).
By no means would I consider myself an expert but I do have some experience and since you’ve asked, I’ll share.
My first attempt at blogging was this very one that you see. I started and stopped and started and stopped because I wanted to share all the projects that we were doing around our house, but I wasn’t sure exactly how I could do that.
This is exactly what you don’t want to do when you start a blog. You definitely want to start with a plan and a topic. It’s called a niche and that’s a big word in blogging these days.
My first attempts were some Keto recipes, some DIY and a lot of ramblings that have since been removed. Now I focus on home decor and some DIY.
The Next Blog (and the next)
When my mom and I opened a retail store in 2012 we didn’t know much about social media. We had Facebook accounts but didn’t become active on Instagram until later and didn’t launch a website until much later in the retail journey.
Along with the website came social media and some blog posts to give you something more exciting to see than just items for sale. We had stories about what was popular in fashion, what trends we were seeing in home decor and great gift ideas for different holiday’s.
Pinterest was a great driver of traffic to our shop’s online presence and we also sold quite a few items through Instagram messages.
I chalk all that up to a learning experience.
For our next blog(s)
The shop was so much fun until it became so much work.
We made the hard decision to close it at the beginning of 2020. In hindsight it was probably fortunate since no one realized how much the world would change that year!
My daughter’s and I saw the potential to really make money on a blog and decided to start a craft blog. True to what we expected, the traffic took off and it started making money pretty quickly.
We’ve found several ways to monetize that blog (more on that in the future) and we have found that it seems to be okay if we leave it alone for a short amount of time and then work hard on it for a short amount of time.
So far that’s the style that’s working best for me/us and keeps it enjoyable and not stressful.
We have another blog on the back burner that we may or may not get to work on in 2023.
Should You Start A Blog?
A blog is a great way to share your story and your experience! I would never discourage anyone from starting a blog but I do have a few tips on helping you make that decision.
If you’ve got a big social media following then you definitely need a blog to reach even more people and have a bigger presence.
A blog can provide a platform to help you find collaborations, meet lots of new people and make money.
You definitely want to be clear on what you plan to blog about and you’ll want to have some consistent time set aside to work on your blog.
It’s not necessary to blog everyday but you’ll need to plan for at least once a week and in the beginning it helps to get more words onto your blog so that it will get noticed quicker.
Now that there are so many blogs and people competing for attention online it can be a little harder to find your audience.
That can also be a good thing, it makes your voice unique and easier to find your true fans amidst all the voices.
Reasons to Start a Blog
There are plenty of good reasons to start a blog and everyone who has one can give you an opinion on why you should start one and they’re probably right.
These are my opinions.
- Blogging is fun!
- You can share your story (essentially what blogging is)
- You’ll grow as a person and will be continually learning
- You’ll meet lots of interesting people
- Your writing will improve (some of my earlier stuff is a bit embarassing)
- You can become an authority with your knowledge
- You get to create Your own schedule
- You can work from home (which used to be a novel idea but it’s pretty common now)
- It’s pretty inexpensive to start
- You can make good money (a living) at it
Reasons Not to Start a Blog
There are not as many reasons to “not” start a blog as there are to starting one, but there are definitely a few. Again, ask 10 people and you’ll get 10 answers.
Here are a few things I’ve found out in my blogging career.
- It can be lonely – you’ll meet lots of people but necessarily in person
- If writing bores you (it’s a lot of writing – blog posts, descriptions for Pinterest and social media captions). You want to be passionate about your topic.
- If you think you’ll get rich quick (tough to do in most things)
- It can be time consuming (especially in the beginning) because you’re learning a lot of new things
- You get to create your own schedule (yep, it’s good and bad, especially if you’re a procrastinator)
How to Get Started with a Blog
Well now that’s going to be the next post so you’ll have to stay tuned for it!
I’ll share the nuts and bolts of what you actually need to get started but you definitely want to be thinking of your niche (your main topic) and go ahead and start thinking about a name. You can use your own or you can come up with something clever, that’s entirely up to you!
Here are a few popular niches to consider:
- Beauty, Lifestyle and Fashion
- Entrepreneurship
- Family and Parenting (or pregnancy)
- Crafts, DIY and Decor
- Food
- Automotive
- Travel
There are more but these are the broader topics and I’ll try to share how to figure out your niche in the future.
How to Make Money with a Blog
Yep, we’ll cover that one as well. I know that can be front and foremost in so many peoples minds. Have not doubt that there’s money to be made and you can definitely make a living with a blog.
Most people start a blog on the side and continue their full time work until they are secure enough to move full time into blogging and I’ll definitely share some tips for you.
More Questions About Becoming a Blogger?
Should I start a blog in 2023?
Absolutely. There’s no better time to get started than right this minute!
What should I blog about?
You definitely want to choose a topic that you’re passionate about because you’re going to spend a lot of time writing about it, sharing about it and talking about it.
There are certainly topics that make more money than others so you’ll want to consider whether other people are interested in the same topic and if you can provide a new voice in the area.
If you choose a big topic you’ll compete with bigger sites to gain authority.
If you choose a smaller topic you’ll need to spend time finding your audience and getting their attention.
Why is blogging popular?
Who doesn’t want the freedom to work on their own schedule? Especially since you’re working on a project that you’re passionate about?
Blogging give you a space to share your story, your expertise and meet people that share the same passion as you.
It opens up opportunities to be your own boss and grow your own business. There are lots of ways to earn money with a blog.
It doesn’t take a college degree to start a blog. You can start wherever you’re at in life and apply it to teaching others about your niche.
You’ve got no boss (except yourself), no employees unless you want them and you can scale it up.
What’s not too love?
Stay tuned for the next in this series and if you’ve got questions then send them my way and I’ll do my best to answer them for you!
Be sure to follow me on Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest for more inspiration!
