If you’ve thought about starting a blog but haven’t committed yet, this post is for you. There are so many benefits of blogging, but here are my faves!
If I had a nickel for every time someone said, “That’s so cool that you have a blog! I could never do what you do,” I’d have many nickels. It’s honestly kind of shocking how quick people are to doubt their own abilities. I think many people mistakenly believe that bloggers (or writers in general) came out of the womb already well versed in rhetoric with a mind like the Oxford English Dictionary. And that in turn makes them say self-deprecating things like, “I could never do that.” It makes me so sad when people put themselves down like that because you CAN start a blog if you want to. How do you think blogs get started in the first place? If other bloggers are anything like me, they woke up one day and just decided that today was the day to start the blog they’d been thinking about for a while.
Yep, you read that right. I didn’t have a clear plan of action when I published my first blog post. In fact, when I first started my blog I thought of calling it “Tall Girl Small Kitchen” because I wanted to share the recipes I’d created in my dorm kitchen (that phase of my blogging journey lasted for about a week, by the way). I didn’t think my blog would be particularly successful, but I wanted a place where I could write whatever I felt like writing, and if someone else read my blog posts that’d be really cool!
If you’re at a similar point in your soon-to-be blogging career and aren’t quite sure whether or not starting a blog is a good use of your time, let me be the first to say that it absolutely IS a good idea to start the blog you’ve been dying to create. Blogging will benefit you in so many ways, whether or not you ever make any money off of it. Here are the top reasons you should start that blog TODAY.
You get to share your passions
The number one reason to start a blog is that it gives you an open platform to share your passions with others. Most new bloggers mistakenly believe that their opinions don’t matter, but that couldn’t be further from the truth! When I started Tall Girl Big World, I’m pretty sure my only readers were my parents (thanks, Mom and Dad!) and my college roommate. I felt a little silly writing articles that would only be read by a handful of friends and family members, but I kept writing because I felt compelled to share my travels. And you know what? The articles I wrote my first year of blogging totally mattered! I may not have been raking in the page views, but those few people who read my posts genuinely cared about what I had to say and took my recommendations to heart — and that made me SO happy!
After a few instances of friends and family members telling me they’d taken my recommendation on eating at such and such a restaurant in whatever city they’d just visited, it finally clicked in my brain that this is why I’m blogging. I’m not blogging to make money or be an influencer, I’m blogging because sharing what I’m passionate about (travel) and encouraging others to see more of the world is important to me. You’ll be surprised at how happy you feel when you’re working on a really good post you’re excited to share with your readers. That excitement is infectious, and readers will sense your passion and be more inclined to trust your opinions and advice. In turn, you’ll feed off their positive feedback and the cycle will continue.
You’ll develop new skills
In addition to all the things you’ll have to teach yourself throughout the course of your blogging journey, you’ll also develop a slew of new skills you likely didn’t anticipate learning. Your writing skills will definitely improve, but so will your people skills, photography skills, editing skills, copywriting skills, marketing skills, and more! There are so many moving parts to creating a single blog post — writing it is only a piece of the larger puzzle.
It wasn’t until I started freelancing that I realized how many skills I’d developed just through blogging. I feel like we put so much stock on getting a higher education that we often overlook the importance of learning on the job and figuring things out along the way. In a way, blogging feels like you’re starting a new job every single day (minus the first day jitters, thankfully). Because there are always new things to learn, you’re continually honing your skills and learning new ones. Before you publish your first blog post, make a list of the skills you have now and jot down a handful you want to develop over the next year. If you put your mind to it, you can definitely do it!
You’ll become more self-sufficient
Try as you might, no amount of research will fully prepare you for running your own blog. You can look up social media strategies, SEO tips, and more before ever writing your first post, but there will still be dozens of things you’ll have to learn throughout your blogging journey. I’ve been blogging for over four years now, and I’m still learning new things every day! Case in point: I didn’t know what a content calendar was until last year, and since making one for myself I’ve managed to consistently produce two posts per week this year. I’d never have gotten my act together had I not taken an e-course on blogging and learned what a content calendar is!
Now, I’m not telling you all this to scare you off. No one is an expert at blogging from the start, but that’s the beauty of having a blog in the first place. Yes, it’s a little intimidating when you hit “publish” for the first time, but as you start writing more and more posts you’ll find the joy in being a perpetual student. You’ll slowly learn what the best blogging resources are, and your ability to seek out answers and learn new information will make you more self-sufficient in all aspects of your life. Which in turn will make you a smarter worker and your blog will flourish because of it.
You’ll become more confident
The last few points I’ve made all boil down to the same thing: blogging makes you more confident. Once you realize that you can do this, the winner’s mentality you have about blogging will seep into, well, everything else you do. Because here’s the thing: once you write a blog post, you have to share it with the world to get people to read what you’ve written. You’ll probably feel like a poser at first, but as you become more serious about your blog you’ll develop a thicker skin and will gain the confidence to tell people what it’s all about and why they should check it out.
As your blogging confidence builds, your content will improve dramatically. You’ll be more comfortable editing your photos in different ways and writing about topics that previously were out of your comfort zone. Hitting “publish” will no longer be nerve wracking, but exciting. I feel like I’ve hit my blogging stride this year, and it feels so good to be free of the doubts that used to plague me every time I told someone I had a blog!
You’ll have a written record of past experiences
On a more sentimental note, having a blog is a great way to record bits of your everyday life. Whether you want to blog about food, travel, wellness, or something else entirely, your personal life will seep into your writing, and I think that’s a beautiful thing. I’m not the same person I was when I started Tall Girl Big World, and I get kind of emotional sometimes when I scroll through my older posts.
My older posts offer tiny glimpses into my past, and it makes me smile every time I stumble across an anecdote about a friend from college, and I’m so proud when I read back through my initial struggles when I first moved from Indiana to NYC. I wouldn’t be able to remember all these minute details about my life had I not shared it on my blog. So if for no other reason, start a blog for yourself and see where it takes you. Because even if your blog doesn’t “take off” or become successful (in whatever way you define success), you’ll at least have those memories to look back on.
Need some inspiration? Blogs I’m loving right now:
Obviously, there are so many things you could blog about. If you’re looking for great blogs to follow, here are a few of my all-time favorites that have provided continual inspiration for me over the years. (Note: these aren’t all travel blogs. I love to write about travel, but I read blogs on a variety of topics!).
- The Londoner (fashion / travel / lifestyle)
- The Young Adventuress (travel)
- The Anna Edit (beauty / fashion / lifestyle)
- Twins That Travel (travel)
- A Couple Cooks (food)
- Om & the City (wellness)
- Helene in Between (lifestyle / travel)
Tell me: If you were to start a blog tomorrow, what would you write about first?
More posts you’ll love:
- 10 Ways I Stay Productive While Working From Home
- 15 Common Solo Travel Mistakes to Avoid
- 10 Easy Ways I Save Money While Traveling
- 11 Invaluable Lessons I’ve Learned After 1 Year of Freelancing
- Thinking About Traveling by Yourself? All the Reasons You Should Do It
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