10 Day Social Media Challenge: Day 9: Why You Should Invest the Time to Write a Blog

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.

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You have something important to say… no matter what the medium is.

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!

Social

10 comments

  1. Kristy says:

    Not so sure about those who offer setting up a self-hosted blog in 15 minutes, but love your typewriter image Haydee! Really great points about focusing on one thing (so hard with lots of passions, but important too), keeping blogs on purpose and getting a message out to the world. Thanks for sharing some interesting resources too.

  2. Melissa says:

    I love Pat Flynn’s book too! I found it was a great reminder how one story can be so powerful – like your tip to pick one thing. Pick one thing and dissect it, rip it apart, get into every nook and cranny, there’s magic in there! PS: Great work on the Challenge!

    • Haydee says:

      Thank you Melissa. Yes, Pat is great. I love your site as well… I can tell you’re an awesome life coach! 🙂 Much success to you.

  3. I agree, blogging takes consistent effort and it’s all about starting and finishing every single day.

    When I tell people I blog they often take it with a grain of salt because there’s just SO many blogs out there. But the big thing to consider is – of all the blogs out there right now how many will still be here in five years time? Those who are persistent and keep up the faith in themselves, they will be the ones still here! By the way, congratulations on the work that you do on your site. 🙂

    • Haydee says:

      You are so right, Michaela… it is about consistency both in the forefront, and in the background… always thinking, innovating and finding ways to make our projects better and more meaningful. And yes, even though there are many blogs…. many of these are simply REGISTERED, but not updated, or active. And yes, only those who keep on keeping on will be there in five years… and as you said this is all about faith, action, consistency and passion. 🙂

  4. Tom says:

    Great insights. Starting the blog (as in the technical skills to create one from scratch) is easy. What’s hard is building it, day in and day out, into something that does what you intend it to do.

    Great resources included in this post…looking forward to scoping them out (bookmarked!)

    -Tom

    • Haydee says:

      Thank you, Tom. I love what you do, by the way! You are a great inspiration since you help others be brave and conquer what they set out to do in the world. There really is no time to waste … and we do need to go after what we want to do. I love how you help others feel confident in the creativity and project that they have inside and encourage them to do it united with others and not in isolation. I look forward to learning and hearing more from you as well. 🙂

  5. Martin Labud says:

    I love your insights from Danny Iny about the Halo effect and the process of snowballing into multiple topics. I never thought of it that way but I can totally see how it works. I am the same way when it comes to blogger I admire- I really get into one aspect of the blog or topic, and then I can trust them as a source for a wider variety of topics. It totally makes sense to me now- because I have multiple interest but this is a great strategy for beginning the journey even with a wide array of topics that may or may not be related to each-other. And what you say about “getting yourself out there”- love the Natalie Sisson quote- yes, this is a day and age when thousands of people are doing it so it’s important to get over self-doubt and even pride and publish your article. Thanks for a great article. Keep up the good work!

    • Haydee says:

      Thank you for your great feedback, Martin! 🙂 You know, what you mention about pride and self-doubt when it comes to convincing yourself to publishing an article… is only the beginning. We actually have the obligation, almost, to share what we need to share with the world, be it our art, our music, our writing, etc. otherwise, we are depriving the world. Seeing it from that angle, doing what we have to do, is not as scary. Plus, if it makes us happy, those around us will be happier, and isn’t that a wonderful win-win-win? 🙂

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