“I really need to start a blog.”
Have you found yourself saying that lately?
Perhaps you’ve started a WordPress blog or two before but lost a bit of momentum on the whole idea.
Either way, starting a blog about something you love is something that many have done and found success in doing.
I can speak to this as truth as I’ve experienced it myself.
But even if you don’t think starting a blog is for you, the truth is that it can be one of the best things that you’ll ever do for yourself.
Even if it’s just a casual thing to start with, starting a blog has multiple benefits that you may not have even considered.
12 Reasons You Need to Start a Blog in 2017
1. You Can Use it to Make Extra Money Doing What You Love
Obviously, one of the main reasons many people start a blog is so that they can begin to make money from it.
Many do this casually and still manage to make some income from it while having fun.
The girls at Gold Dipped Chaos started a blog for fun and have managed to make some side income, getting invitations to collaborative parties with name brands like Kettle Chips and Google, and get a bunch of free stuff too.
All of which would have never happened if they had not started a blog.
2. You Can Make Full-Time Income from It
This is perhaps the biggest thing that draws people to start a blog.
Full-time income.
And in many cases, better than average full-time income.
There are plenty of cases to cite:
For instance, Jeremy Schoemaker of ShoeMoney.com once said that he made about $132K in a month — from AdSense.
He makes more than $100K per year from his website.
My friend Gina Horkey went from making a couple thousand dollars a month selling her services through her blog to nearly $20K this past November.
She’s on track for 6-figures.
And Mariah Coz of Femtrepreneur used her blog to make almost half a million dollars this past month from a course…
Yeah. I know!
It’s why I’ve affectionately named her the “Course Goddess.”
All of these people work for themselves doing what they love.
And all of them do this through a blog.
Without it, their current lifestyle just wouldn’t be possible.
3. You Can Be Your Own Boss
Escaping the nine to five grind and starting a business is one of those things that many dream of, but few actually make that jump to make it happen for themselves.
Many well-known bloggers start out in the same boat as everyone else.
But the ones who were able to make the jump from an employee to being their own boss got their start by doing the unthinkable:
They started a blog.
Crazy, right?
A perfect example of this is Melyssa from The Nectar Collective.
She started her blog in 2013 while living in Japan doing a job that made her very unhappy.
Within eight months of starting her blog and side gig, she was able to quit her job and turn her blog into her main stream of income, selling her services and courses.
She now makes $13-30K every month.
If you get to know Melyssa and read her story and posts, you’ll learn that being her own boss isn’t the easy going, la-di-da life that many think of.
There’s a lot of hard work that goes into running a successful blog, business, and being self-employed.
But as you can imagine, the reward of working for yourself and being your own boss is one of the most rewarding feelings of them all.
And starting a blog can give you that feeling.
4. Starting a Blog Can Establish Your Authority on a Certain Topic
Did you know that a blog can launch your career as a go-to person in a competitive market?
In fact, blogging can be one of the best, if not THE best, ways to do this.
For example:
Joanna Wiebe did this in CopyHackers, and she is now known as one of the best conversion copywriters in the world.
Rob and Lauren were photographers and started Photography Concentrate to teach others how to start a photography business and level up their skills.
Now they are a go-to resource for many photographers, in spite of starting a blog in a crowded market.
Starting a blog, creating valuable content, and really letting your voice shine through can help you stand out in the crowd while positioning you as an authoritative voice in your field.
5. A Blog Opens Doors to New (High-Paying) Career Opportunities
For some, working for themselves really doesn’t appeal to them.
But that doesn’t mean that should keep you from starting a blog.
In fact, starting a blog can actually open the door to the type of job you really want and that pays really, really well.
Since marketing has taken a shift to the online space…
Becoming a blogger that succeeds in creating shareable, interesting content means that you’ve molded yourself into becoming the employee that firms and startups want to hire.
Seriously.
Since I became a blogger and defined my niche, I’ve received multiple job offers.
I’ve been offered jobs to work with Amazon and eBay, hosting companies, and many other startups.
And I know for a fact that I would have never received those offers if I had never started blogging.
The online marketing world is growing and changing.
Blogging, and all that good blogging entails, is an art and viable resource that few know.
If you become one of those few, then you can pave the way to having the job of your dreams.
In the past ten years, there have been several jobs that have been invented out of need for the marketing world.
They are challenging, intriguing, and pay rather well.
Here are two examples.
Career 1: Content Marketing Manager
Businesses and startups — big and small — know that being able to create and execute a content plan is something they have to do.
It’s not something they can wait on.
Not in this digital age.
In the past decade, a new job has emerged to help businesses excel in the area of content marketing:
Enter the Content Marketing Manager.
SimplyHired.com reported that the average salary for a Content Marketing Manager is about $75,000.
However, depending on where you live, your annual salary can be six-figures.
The average salary for this job (or one similar to the title) for someone living in the Silicon Valley is between $102,000 and $153,000, according to Indeed.
That’s pretty decent income.
Since content marketing is so new, it’s hard for businesses to be able to gauge candidates to fit the bill.
But if you start a blog and learn tactics of how to grow an audience and an email list, while learning best practices of SEO and blogger outreach, your blog will be your resume.
If you do well at building your blog, then you’re one step ahead of everyone else.
Sound interesting enough to learn more?
Check out this post on CoSchedule:
11 Skills That Will Make You Successful in a Content Marketing Career
Career 2: Social Media Manager
Contrary to the title, social media management isn’t just social media management.
Far from it, in many cases.
Being able to blog is a HUGE factor as to whether or not you can get hired to do this job.
Hubspot put it rather nicely:
“Content is a key component in any marketing function, and social media is no exception… A good portion of a Social Media Community Manager’s role is creating and adapting content for each specific network.” Source
The average salary for a Social Media Manager is between $68,000 and $78,000, and it’s one of the positions that allows you to move up in a company.
6. You’ll Become a Better Writer
Ah, the art of writing.
Although the invention of instant messaging and smartphones has its benefits, the one thing you can’t say it has helped is people’s ability to communicate properly.
BTW, LOL, ROFL and not ending a sentence with proper punctuation are just a few afflictions to grammar and communication that is seen on a daily basis.
Blogging, however, can be the saving grace of a society that has lost touch with the written word.
Though many believe that they can write, it takes time and practice to be able to take thoughts and put them into words that flow when read on paper or a screen.
Starting a blog puts your writing skills into practice.
You’ll find your tone.
You’ll get feedback from those who read your blog so that you can improve.
The practice will help you be able to type faster and get your thoughts onto the page faster.
7. It Can Make You Healthier (Seriously!)
Many think of writers as being reclusive hermit crabs and thus put writing in a slightly bad light.
However, science proves that writing has amazing health benefits.
The article on the topic states the following:
“No matter the quality of your prose, the act of writing itself leads to strong physical and mental health benefits, like long-term improvements in mood, stress levels and depressive symptoms.” ~ Source
The article and study in question is referencing the health benefits of writing for cancer patients. Other studies have shown that writing helps those with PTSD.
So the link between writing and your health is there in black and white — literally!
Integrating blogging and even creative writing is something you can add to your health routine.
8. Blogging Connects You with Amazing People
For the average person, their world is rather small.
Family, a close-knit group of friends, co-workers — and it’s all very local.
But being a blogger and building a successful blog connects you to amazing people all over the world that you would otherwise never meet or have an opportunity to work with.
And they can be some of the best connections and friendships you’ll ever make.
My work has allowed me to connect with CEOs, aspiring entrepreneurs, and other amazing people from just about every continent.
And I’m not the only one.
Many in the blogosphere know of Pat Flynn and Chris Ducker.
What few may know is that these two are best buds in real life. They met at a conference for a blogging expo and became friends instantly.
That relationship has been fruitful in more ways than one.
Getting out there and meeting new people is made much easier when you’re a blogger.
When you find a niche to write in you will be quick to find others who have the same passion and dedication to the topic.
This makes for fast friendships and connections that help your blog and life grow in ways that I can’t really express in words.
9. You Will Challenge Yourself and Grow as a Person
Starting a blog is easy.
It takes about seven minutes or less to set one up.
But building a business and a community out of a blog is hard and challenging work.
And it is so worth it.
When we hear the word “challenge” we tend to shy away from it.
We tend not to like doing hard things.
It makes life cumbersome.
But when we challenge ourselves and push to overcome the hurdles we set, we grow into better people.
US News had a great way of expressing this.
“The more you challenge yourself and succeed, the greater your confidence in your ability to do it again next time. Challenge doesn’t just help you grow your skills and knowledge, it helps you grow your belief that you can.” ~ Source
Confidence is a muscle that has to be exercised in order to grow.
By starting a blog and challenging yourself to make something out of it, you can grow into a person that you didn’t even know you could be.
10. You’ll Have the Chance to Work with Large Brand Names
Big brands only work other big brands, right?
Nope.
That would be (mostly) false my friend.
Big brands want to reach into concentrated markets because they tend to have the best Return on Investment (ROI).
In order to do this, they conduct influencer outreach.
This is when brands reach out to influential bloggers to work with them, in an effort to get their products in front of more buyers’ eyes.
As you build an online community and depending on the niche you find yourself in, there is a huge chance for working with brands.
Many pay for advertising spots on your page or will work with you in allowing you to cover events about them, as well as pay for posting to social media.
You don’t have to wait for these brands to come to you.
Once you have some traffic and followers, you can build a media kit, create a list of potential brands to work with, and then pitch them yourself.
Is it scary?
Sure, maybe a little.
But the worst they can say is no.
And if they say yes, you could find yourself adding a big company to your resume of people that you’ve worked with while making a bit of cash.
11. It Will Put You in a Forward Thinking Motion for Future Ideas
Starting a blog and growing it into an online space where people come and read your words is a big confidence builder.
But more than that, it puts your brain into the entrepreneurial mindset.
By that, I mean that you will find yourself looking at the world and seeing a plethora of doors for opportunities you would have never seen before.
Many start a blog, and then branch into freelance writing.
Or they turn social media into cash cows. Or, they launch courses and books that serve as passive income from years to come.
The list goes on and on.
The point is that starting a blog is only the beginning to amazing opportunities.
12. You Will Open Your Mind to a Whole New World
Your blog can be just a blog.
But if you dedicate time to learning how to turn a blog into a place where people come and read and share what you’ve created, then I promise you that your world will change.
After starting a blog in 2008, Pay Flynn turned his blog into a business and now nets over $100k every month.
Noah Kagan started a blog called OKDork, and after getting fired as employee number 30 with Facebook he went all in.
He now runs a multi-million dollar business that is responsible for AppSumo.com and software like BuzzSumo.
Kevin Muldoon started a blog and travels the world while writing and working from anywhere he wants.
I started a couple blogs from scratch where I sell my services and write about topics that I love.
I’ve been paid to eat food and take photos.
I’ve interviewed and worked with hundreds of people.
I work from home, do work I love, and I still get to be with my kids.
Blogging doesn’t have to be casual — it can be a business.
It can open your mind to a world you never knew existed.
A world where you rule your life and not the other way around.
These are just 12 reasons why starting a blog is one of the best things you can do for yourself.
It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
Don’t hold yourself back anymore.
Start your blog and kick 2017 off right. You too can set up a mindblowing blog by using one of our Premium WordPress themes.
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