Why Do You Blog?
Posted on August 6, 2007 | By Enkay | Leave a Comment | 3,549 Views
Why do you blog? This is a question that if you can’t answer or can’t answer well enough, then you may have to rethink your reason for blogging. You have to know your motive for blogging otherwise there won’t be any motivation to keep you going. Its sort of like trying to accomplish something in life, if you don’t have a goal then you will have very little motivation to try and accomplish that task. Some people ask me, “So, you do this for fun or is there a reason behind it?”. Considering that I am inspired by JohnChow I have a few reasons for blogging: To Make Money Online, To Share and Spread Knowledge and Networking.
Making Money Online Can be a little more difficult than you think. I have been working on my blog since May 15th and Google Adsense and Kontera weren’t activated till about the 25th of that month. As for ReviewMe and Text Link Ads, those didn’t go into effect until last month. Keeping that in mind, my blog has made over $300 so far and I would consider that decent. You have to realize that you need to contribute a lot of time to your blog. During the first month you have to get accustomed to taking care of your blog, in the sense that you need to set it up, get out all the kinks and start spreading the word. If you disregard it, it won’t grow and you won’t make any money at all.
It takes time for you to start seeing a larger flow of money from your blog. Okay, so how did the happy cows at JohnCow make all this possible in a short amount of time? Well, the Cows just had everything going in their favor. They gained a lot of buzz by advertising their site for sale, then they had contests, adwords campaigns and lastly, their ordeal regarding a lawsuit. Also, you have to offer something different on your blog and the fact that they were the funnier version of JohnChow really helped them make around $1000 their first month! Compared to JohnChow, this is 3 times what he made in his first month. Looking at the blogs around you, you will notice that there are thousands of blogs out there to make money and it all boils down to what you have to offer. If you aren’t unique then you’re just one of the many invisible blogs out there.
To Share & Spread Knowledge is probably one of the most effective ways to gain readership. Like I said earlier, if you don’t have anything to offer your readers, then you are pretty much blogging for no reason. Content is King as many have said before and if you know how to utilize your content as your strength then you have it made. You have to know that people like information that is :
1. Easy To Understand - information can be given out in any form but until it isn’t easy to understand, your readers won’t gain much out of it. This isn’t time for you to show how advanced your language skills are, but a time for when you can use simplicity to share tips and hints with a lot of people that can help them in the long run.
2. Applicable To Them - being targeted towards your niche is one thing but you have to know who your readers are. Knowing them and catering to their needs will help in bringing them back for more. Your content has to be applicable to them because if your readers want to hear about blogging and you are talking about the different types of fish you can buy, then you will loose traffic for that day. I too have the occasional offbeat post but they are usually small snippets or interesting articles that may tickle your fancy and before posting anything aside from my main topics, I always think whether or not this will interest my readers or not. Being considerate towards what will interest your readers and what won’t will help you gain their readership.
3. Easy To Implement - providing information that can be easy to implement will encourage them to put your tips and hints into effect. Think about it, if you have the choice to pick from two things, one which is easy to use and the other which is complicated, which one will you pick? Naturally, if something is easy to implement then you will will be more inclined to trying it out. Sometimes, I have tips on how you can make your blog better and I always re-read my posts and evaluate how difficult or easy it can be to implement my tips. For example, the plug-ins that I usually mention are also tried and tested by me to make sure that they won’t be a hassle to implement. So making sure that your hints are easy to implement is also a key to success.
Networking - is something that comes about as a result of blogging. As you blog, you will end up networking with other bloggers and your readers and that will help you build a stronger base for your blog. You can interact with other bloggers and ask them for advice and share tips with each other and you can interact with your readers and find out what they want from your blog. This will help you build a stronger blog and help keep your visitors coming back. Networking with other bloggers is also helpful in spreading the word. If you have seen those famous link chains, then you wonder, “How Can I Be On That Chain?” and the answer lies in networking. If you know the blogger starting the chain then you have a better chance of being on the original list in the link chain. I have talked extensively about the importance of networking and so I will link to those articles in hopes of better enlightening you about networking. Here are my most popular ones called, Top Blog Essentials and How Linking With Other Bloggers Can Help.
In the end, I hope you have gained something from this post and I would love to hear your feedback. Remember, that if you have any questions, dont be afraid to email me and if you liked the post consider subscribing to my RSS feed. In the end, I have to wonder, Do you know why you blog?
Pownce Invite Update - I didn’t have a lot of people comment and if you still want a Pownce invite, comment below and let me know and i’ll send you one! Thanks!
If you enjoyed this post, Add to Technorati Favorites or
Subscribe to My Feed
[...] you want to write for your niche, but are influenced by your traffic reports. It’s so easy to redirect your blog’s focus a bit because of traffic. It may feel great to write about off-niche topics that get you Dugg, that [...]
[...] Why Do You Blog? They gained a lot of buzz by advertising their site for sale, then they had contests, adwords campaigns and lastly, their ordeal regarding a lawsuit. Also, you have to offer something different on your blog and the fact that they were … [...]
Great post! This is something every blogger should think about before starting their blog.
I started out with a clear intent to share knowledge in Online Opportunity. I keep meaning to start another blog with the intent of making money, but I’m not sure I could manage two!
Thanks Jay! I think your blog does a really good job talking about opportunities online and your case studies, as I have said before, are really in-depth and insightful. I have seen your blog take on the form of helping people find an online opportunity and act as a resource for making money online and you take on both roles very well!
i do it to GET RICH QUICK! LOL
hahahahahahha
great post! i think you can have an idea of what you want it to be, but it can also morph along the way. my blog has gone through a few slight changes, but i’m trying to gear it more toward being a good ppc resource. ppc is still a small enough niche to where if i can make great connections now my blog may stand the chance of becoming somewhat of a hub in the near future….hopefully!
haha! getting rich quick would be nice but it takes a little more than that!
I agree with the fact that you can have an idea of your reason for blogging and as time goes on, that reasoning will get stronger or change. I think you have a strong knowledge in PPC and I didn’t know about PPC until I read it on your blog so I am sure that you will be leading the way in a PPC targeted blog.
hahaha that was what i was going to choose to react to as long as your honest with yourself and your goals you will see them through! good post! thanks for the feedburner help! i am not sure if you read the post or not, but thanks again!
lol.. I think it is good to be honest because that will help you work harder towards your goal. Like I said, I do it for a few reasons as mentioned above and making money online is one of them!
Sharing and spreading knowledge is the biggy. From my experience, the blogs that can share knowledge and actually share good knowledge with the readers, those are the ones that gain readership the fastest.
I checked out your blog before and I have to say, great design you have there! I agree that sharing knowledge and sharing it in a way that is easy for everyone to grasp is highly important!
Love the site,I started my movie blog about a month ago.I’m really working hard at it.I have been trying to post each and everyday.You are right,you have to work at it (like a part time job).The key is to visit other webbloggers and leave feedback. I have been fortunate enough to have received a link chain.So if anyone wants to see the link chain check me out!!
http://steven-movieworld.blogspot.com/
Hey Steven! I checked out your blog and it seems good! You just need to start networking to help bring attention towards it and I wish you good luck in that. I have a link exchange of my own so if you want to take part in it and get a little exposure then go ahead!
I blog for the fun of it and knowing that it’s building an online presence for myself. It’s exciting to write a post everyday knowing that people are there to read it.
I have a similar take on it, mainly its quite fun to just blog and every day I think, “lets see, what can i talk about today” and its just entertaining to me!
Why do I blog? Because I plan to join the league of the A-List bloggers, make serious money while sipping a corona by the beach.
Ok, just kidding. Actually I don’t drink Corona’s, a long island or strawberry daq is more my speed. I will be in Cancun on the white sandy beaches, taking a short break before I come back and start hustlin’ again! And of course I will give back to the community and help those who are less fortunate and those who seriously want to help themselves. That’s why I blog.
Actually, I do want to join the league of A-list bloggers but I don’t know so much about the corona on a beach..lol. I like your reasoning though!
Looking at the money I’ve made so far, I would say that it’s been a creative outlet., and, it’s kept me out of trouble with the law. (for now!)
Usually if you cut the law in on the venture, they will watch your back and leave you alone!
Its always good to have a way to show creativity and blogging certainly helps with that!