Why Should I Start a Blog?

Why You Should Start A Blog

Do you have a blog? If you don’t, chances are you have probably heard of them, or even seen a few. So, what is so great about having a blog? There are probably hundreds of reasons why millions of people are blogging and loving it. Here, you’ll only read about a few but probably the most compelling reasons that get people to start a blog. The hundreds of great reasons to blog come to you as you blog!

1. It's the easiest way to keep in touch with friends and family (especially the "technically challenged" ones)

The ease of keeping in touch with friends and family who may live across the country or globe is certainly the most exciting reason to start a blog. It allows you to feel like you're a part of their daily life in a way that would otherwise not be possible. Blogging is way easier and faster than emailing pictures, videos, and stories too. Not so sure? You may still think that it’s easier to send a few pictures with captions in an email but that’s probably because you still haven’t learned how easy and fast creating and maintaining a personal blog can be. Really! Uploading pictures, video, captions and stories to your blog takes just as long as uploading it in an email. But, the easy part is once it’s uploaded, you’re done. You can skip the task of first, deciding who would enjoy seeing and hearing about your latest family outing or the recent incident of your two-year-old pouring a bag of flour all over your kitchen, and second, typing in your friends and family email addresses because once you post, it’s on your website for everyone to see. Your readers just have to type in your blog address and they can instantly see what a little part of your world looks like.

There’s even a comment section where your readers are welcome to leave comments, letting you know what they think of your latest entry. This feature helps everyone involved to feel even more connected, knowing that for example, your sister got to see what the boys looked like after running through the mud puddles on the actual day it happened! Or, during renovating that bathroom, your daughter was able to see the actual work in progress with each new post and voice her opinion on tile and paint choices. Blogging allows bloggers to really ‘know’ or at least catch a glimpse of what daily life is like in distant loved ones lives. Or at least they won’t be too surprised at how much little Joshy has grown since last Christmas if they have occasionally seen an updated picture or two on the family blog. It really is the easiest and fastest way to share media with friends and family. All involved enjoy the ease and speed of a really great way to stay in touch with each other. And when we say easy, we really mean easy. You don't need to be a computer wiz to start and maintain a blog.

2. Re-live the past any time you want

Another great reason is that once you’ve uploaded your life onto your blog, it is there to stay. It’s permanently (unless you choose to delete it) on the World Wide Web, with no fear of fire, flood, or crashing of hard drive to destroy it. Someday you may want to look back and remember what life was like during graduate school, living in that tiny apartment, when the kids were really little. Or maybe you’d like to relive last Christmas when all the kids and grandkids made your home a full house. Blogging is another form of keeping a diary or journal.

3. You control who can read your blog

Now, maybe the thought of anyone with internet access being able to see your daily life makes you feel a little uncomfortable. You’re not the only one who feels that way and that is why there is an option that allows you to control who views your blog. Maybe you don’t want anyone to be able to look at your blog but you. That’s an option. Your blog can be completely private or completely public, with varying degrees in between. If you choose to go private, you can rest easy knowing that no one is viewing your life if you don’t want them too. But, if you like the idea of letting anyone anywhere catch a glimpse of what the local fair looked like over the weekend, that is, of course, in your control. You can also keep track of who is visiting your blog with tools like a Recent Visitors Widget from TheBlogFrog or a Live Traffic Feed from FeedJit. These tools allow you to see who is viewing your blog and from what location on the globe. This is kind of fun. If you enjoy being public, you may see different cities from all over the world. Again, it’s all under your control if you want it to be.

4. Make a little extra money

Another reason a lot of people start blogging is to make a little extra money. This can be done by displaying ads on your blog. You can actually add a feature that displays ads that are relevant to your posts (journal entries). For instance, if you posted about baseball there might be ads for Major League Baseball. Or if you posted about painting there might be ads for art supplies. You earn a little money every time one of your readers clicks on any of these advertisements.

5. Express your creativity

Keeping a blog is the best way to keep in touch while at the same time you are essentially creating a family journal. There is no easier way to share photos and videos with friends and family. Plus, you can make it private if you want to and rest easy knowing that no one is looking at your life unless you’ve invited them to. In the meantime, you may be earning a little cash if you choose to advertise on your blog. Can it get any better? Actually, yes it can. Having a blog also allows you to get creative with different backgrounds, colors, and fonts. You also have the option of adding music play lists, personal movie reviews, personal bookshelves, surveys, picture slideshows, favorite quotes, and the possibilities go on and on. These options allow you to create something that in a sense represents you and your life and help your readers get a sense of what it might actually be like if, in fact, they were to be a part of your day. And if this sounds hard, don't worry. Our tutorials will explain exactly how to do these things.

6. We'll help you start your first blog

So, again, do you have a blog? If not, what are you waiting for? Read the next tutorial and we'll introduce you to some blog basics and blog vocabulary. Then we'll walk you through setting up your first blog, every step of the way!