Why start a blog in 2021
9 reasons to start blogging
Starting a blog can look like a daunting thing to do. You feel lost and don’t know where to start. There are a million things to learn, a lot of things to do, and after some research into it, you are still not sure why go to all that trouble.
Why spend the time writing? Why commit to this long-term endeavor? Why put yourself out there for everyone to criticize? What is there to gain from all the hassle?
I have struggled with all these questions myself and it took me a while before actually identifying all these reasons and committing myself to this multi-year endeavor! Because you must commit to blogging at least for a length of time if you want to give yourself the highest chance for success. Just like with anything else, really.
Here are my top benefits of starting a blog in 2021.
1. Blogging will help you organize your thoughts
Writing for any audience will force you to improve your argumentation skills, structure your thinking, organize your thoughts into coherent sentences. Your paragraphs will get all lined up into a consistent blog post.
You will read about how to write a post, what types of articles you could write, and then you’ll practice a lot. And with practice, over time, you will improve your writing skills, you’ll learn new article structures, how to improve your arguments, how to pick an audience to write to and remain focused on it, how to not repeat yourself, how to organize your content into a fluid, persuasive piece of writing.
Every time you will think a little deeper, reflect a bit longer, rise a little higher.
2. Blogging will develop your vocabulary and grammar more quickly than anything else
As you will practice writing you will notice how limited your working vocabulary is, how much you tend to repeat yourself. This will force you to go back to the dictionary to find synonyms and hence grow your vocabulary. You will also work on improving your sentence structure and overall knowledge of grammar.
3. It will force you to do the necessary research on your topic of choice — and become an authority on that topic
If you do it right, blogging can, in time, make you into an online authority in your field. Simply pick your subject of choice and start writing! Having a blog will force you to be accountable to others — your readers — for forming logical, well-thought-out, and well-researched opinions.
Sometimes we have random ideas, but they are not supported by research. They are only the product of our uninformed and unorganized thinking.
When you communicate to others, the act of describing your take on the subject will require you to present solid evidence in support of your arguments –forcing you to do that much-dreaded research! Over time, if you stick to your guns, you will become an authority in your chosen field.
4. It will force you to take a stand, to form an opinion
If you are well informed on a topic, but you have not yet decided which is your take on the subject, writing about it will definitely force you to take a stand — after all you cannot write and advise your readers to go both ways — you have to take a stand!
5. It can help you heal your psychological wounds!
Some people use blogging as a way to help themselves heal from different kinds of trauma and wounds. They share their experiences to get their pain off their chest.
Other people use it as a means to help others who may be facing similar situations — see those who have suffered through particular physical diseases or emotional wounds and feel inspired to support others.
Others still find in writing a blog and putting their ideas out there a means to close a chapter of their lives, using the blog as an outlet and social proof that they have completely overcome their issues.
6. It can help you make friends!
Obviously, make sure you don’t just post your home address for the world to see, since you don’t know what lunatics lurk out there, watching your every online move! But yes, having a blog can help you connect with people interested in the same topics as you, build masterminds, create communities to share hobbies and passions — overall, a blog can help you make new friends!
7. It can support you in writing a book!
Did you know that some authors have taken their blogposts, curated them, and made them into best-selling books? And it makes total sense since you have already done a lot of thinking, research, and structuring around your topic of interest. Now you only need to add what is missing, change the format/writing style, and voila!
8. It will make you learn a whole lot!
As you first look into creating a blog, you will learn about the various technical options as well as all the things anyone targeting to getting a blog off the ground must know to some extent (such as picking a domain name, hosting a website, doing SEO and keyword research, marketing, sales, building a newsletter and a lot more!).
In addition, in doing your research on your topic of interest you will run across a myriad of topics and terms you’ve never heard of before! And since you will have a practical outlet, which is your blog, you will be much more likely to research those newly found terms and learn how to apply them. Having a blog forces you to learn and apply, making any information you learn much more likely to stick!
9. It can make you money
If you think of a blog as the part of a website where articles are published, then obviously that blog has the potential to make money for the business, as it will contain articles with information and recommendations related to the products the business/website is selling. If I had saved a penny for every article that included as the #1 software recommendation the software/app produced by the company on whose website I was reading the article, I’d now be a millionaire! This way of recommending your own products in your blog posts is so transparent, it is hilarious and sad at the same time!
Now, if you are just considering starting your blog for the fun of it, making money with it is a long shot — but it can be done! Mind you, this cannot be just any type of blog, where you write about anything that happens to cross your mind. It has to be something other people are interested in reading and buying. There must be real, tangible value for your readers, both in the blog posts and in any products you might be selling. And you have to think of it as a business! If you do this, for sure having your own blog can make you money! In this case you might have a business with a website rather than just a blog!
These are my top 9 reasons for starting a blog in 2021!
Can you think of any others? Write them below!
