Why You Should Invest the Time to Write a Blog

Have you ever stopped to wonder that the majority of the things that we do in our lives are really not sustainable financially? In other words, many of us trade our time for our money… we are paid a predetermined amount either by the number of hours that we work or worse yet, regardless of the tireless hours that we work.

Blogging is a venue, a platform by which you can leverage your skills, services, knowledge and products. Translation: You can make money in your sleep, when you shower, when you have fun, when you eat, etc., once you have established yourself as a blogger.

In Day 9 of the 10 Day Social Media Challenge, Natalie Sisson asks:

• How will you build a blog with purpose that you can also profit from?

The simple answer to that question is that I have to continue taking enough pride in my work, in my mission and in my value so that others perceive my work helpful. Furthermore, I have to continue doing what Natalie so highly recommends and that is, to continue perfecting my blogging craft/art/science. Yep, it’s all three.

What’s Holding You Back from Writing a Blog?

For many of us, finding something purposeful to blog about that will solve a need or a problem for others can be challenging, but there are coaches like Natalie Sisson, and books on Amazon that can show you in much greater depth how to go about finding your niche. If you really want to get into the nitty-gritty of niches, and how to go about using the knowledge that you acquire from them to build a sustainable business, Pat Flynn, from the website www.smartpassiveincome.com, is your man. (Natalie Sisson, of course, is your lady. :)) Pat is such a respected expert at all of this that I can’t yet fully wrap my brain around all that he has to share. However, what I fully enjoyed about Pat was his book Let Go, which you can find on Amazon. To me, that book represents the modern-day inspirational story given the economy that we have been in for the last several years. It will be THE best $2.99 you’ve spent in a long time.

Aside from having knowledge of what you have to offer and being inspired, in order to start a blog, you need most importantly have faith in yourself.

Dany Iny, from Firepole Marketing says this:

“Focus on ONE topic that will be of interest to ONE group of people. Then, when you start gaining popularity, you can branch out to include related topics, by leveraging the halo effect.”

What he means by halo effect is that if you do a REALLY excellent job in providing value to your following, and you come off as an expert in your topic, people will believe that your knowledge is more vast than your specialty topic. In essence, what you can do, is leverage your authority so that it works in your favor, and snowballs, as you write about multiple subjects.

One of the most common fears that people have is “putting themselves out there.” Natalie has the perfect response to that (which ironically is #2 on her list of top 24 lessons she’s learned as a blogger:

Get Over Yourself. There’s over 200 million blogs out there, if you’re going to create one make it epic. But don’t get hung up on writing your first post because you’re worried about `exposing yourself’. They probably won’t find it anyway. So take the plunge and hit publish.

Is Having a Blog Difficult?

Amazingly, the answer is no. There are people who claim that you can have a WordPress website in 15 minutes, some have even brought that time down to 7 minutes. So judging by those standards, it’s not difficult.

However, as with everything in life, the difficult thing is not “starting” something, but rather being consistent. It’s like a marathon, anybody can start it, but not everybody will finish it. The point with blogging is starting and finishing, starting and finishing, every day so that your blog is a little bit better today than it was yesterday.

But if you’re committed to starting a blog and feeding it, then here is a useful link by Michael Hyatt called, Launch a Self-Hosted WordPress Blog in 20 Minutes or Less.

How Can you Write a Rave Blog?

One of the nice things about learning anything new is that the internet can help. Chris Brogan has a great list of 40 Ways to Deliver Killer Blog Content.

And it’s not that she is the host for this 10 Day Social Media Challenge, but Natalie’s website www.suitcaseentrepreneur.com has a treasure load of resources which I have barely begun to tap into. To start off, you might want to read her EXCELLENT compilation of what she has learned in Top 24 Blog Lessons Learned in Two Years. She has been a great inspiration which I found at exactly the right moment in my life. And perhaps it’s YOUR moment! Voice your gifts, the world is waiting to listen, make them easy to find you.

Identifying Your Blogging Strategy Now Versus Later

Before any great thing in life, it’s important that you put thought into the WHY you will be starting what you’re starting. Make sure you devote some time to this.

After thoroughly thinking this through to the furthest point that your imagination, research, intuition and drive allows you, answer this question and share your comments below:

• How will you build a blog with purpose that you can also profit from?

After you get a little head start on your blog, no matter how small, pay it forward and share your ‘how to start a blog’ teachings with others, including this resource. Happy Blogging!