[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_style=”outline” style=”round”]Why start a blog in 2021?! A lot of people think that blogging is a ship that has sailed. This post gets into reasons why it actually makes complete sense to start a blog right here and now.[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Start a Blog?!
We all see the ads to “start a blog!“and the claims to “make money now by starting a blog!“around online, and well, 6 years ago, everyone had a blog.
Especially a mom-blog, right?!
They were as common as geckos are in Hawaii, absolutely everywhere.
But they have dried up. Perhaps it was just because the kids were growing up and life was just getting a hell of a lot busier.
A lot of people stopped blogging. Most everyone I knew who blogged has stopped.
So, WHY start a blog now?
Why start a blog at this point in time? What would be the point? Blogging often costs money and definitely takes time. Why do that in this here and now; hasn’t that ship sailed already?
Well, I think that blogging, like anything else, is relevant for certain people, and certainly not for everyone.
Blogging is a great fit for people who:
- have something to say
- have something to sell
- want to grow, creatively
- have something to teach
- want to make money in a non-traditional way
- enjoy building community
Let’s talk about each of these in a little more detail, and why they makes sense in terms of blogging in 2018.
-
You Have Something to Say
Some people are burning up inside with everything they need to must express.
Be it their vision of the world, their thoughts on the current social and economic realities in Sierra Leone, or what it’s like to go through the IEP process, they have this drive to communicate what is in their heart and mind.
They want to reach others, advocate. They want to push forward new thought constructs and have conversations about thing that matter to them.
A blog, being a platform, is the perfect place to craft out those pieces that must be expressed.
2. You Have Something to Sell
Blogs can also be stores.
You can integrate shops into your blog and sell directly to people.
Anything can be sold from a blog, really. You can sell your crafts, photography, ceramics; you could connect your blog to your e-bay or etsy stores and write about what you make – and include the direct links to actually sell it.
3. You Want to Grow, Creatively
Blogging is a never-ending learning experience and personally, that’s part of the reason why (after over 10 years) I still blog. I love the learning; it keeps me hooked.
I love being able to explore the limits of what a site can do, how to expand what I see in my mind’s eye. The learning is ongoing in every avenue – digital tool use, graphics, marketing, social media – and it keeps it from getting stale.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
4. You Have Something to Teach
If you are a teacher and would like to make income online, blogging is a great way to do it.
You can set up courses through plugins that you can integrate with your WordPress site. You can create password (and pay) protected areas on your blog whereby you can teach and actually earn money through it.
But maybe you don’t care about making dollars through it – you just love teaching and love connecting with people. Blogging is a great way to do it, as it’s a completely flexible tool.
You can integrate forums, chat areas, you can set up tutoring/mentoring spaces on your blog, or just create content that teaches people something in and of itself (kind of like what I’m doing in this post!).
5. You Want to Make Money
I hesitate to say this because I am so sick of reading blogging income reports like, “I made $100,000 last month blogging!” This might be true, but it takes time, SEO know-how, affiliate links and/or ads to make that kind of money.
You don’t just start writing on blogspot and BOOM, you make money!
No way, far from that. It’s unquestionably an investment in time, energy and your own money until you’ve gone through your learning curves and understand how to harness digital tools to actually make an income through your blog.
But it’s also true that you can make money blogging, and it’s worth it to do it.
Blogging income is often passive. It takes time to set it all up and it takes time to get it rolling – but once it’s rolling, it’s virtually unstoppable. It will continue to generate money for you through the affiliate links, through ads and traffic that you bring with your well-crafted and SEO-friendly posts.
If you build your blog into a solid business, you can also sell it, so everything that you do on your blog you can consider an investment.
6. You Enjoy Building Community
Blogging builds relationships.
Some of the people I like best in the world, I met through my blog.
What you put out there through your blog will attract like-minded people and community is the natural next step.
You can nurture that community and promote it if that’s something that you are attracted to.
_______________
Blogging is a Platform
In summary, a blog is a platform.
Now, you can have a platform with or without a blog, but a blog in and of itself helps to build a platform. Does that makes sense?
It’s kind of hard to have a blog and not have a platform.
Think about the definition of “platform“:
A blog is literally a place and opportunity for public discussion; it’s a digital surface upon which you can do anything. You can sell, teach, create, talk, expound, hang out, make friends, you name it, you can do it there.
RIGHT NOW is actually a better time than ever to start a blog.
There are a myriad of options out there for starting any kind of blog. You can choose free or self-hosted wordpress, you can choose from a huge variety of plugins to employ the tools you want to create the kind of blog or site that you desire.
You can also choose from a wide variety of paid hosts, like MangoMatter
As a person with a disability, it’s definitely a means of empowerment, as your blog can help you generate income, advocate, reach others, create community.
If any of this speaks to you, go for it! [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1525796628205{border-radius: 5px !important;}”]
Meriah Nichols is a counselor. Solo mom to 3 (one with Down syndrome, one on the spectrum). Deaf, and neurodiverse herself, she’s a gardening nerd who loves cats, Star Trek, and takes her coffee hot and black.
As i think blogs will never dead, if anyone have a quality of content in their blog with good approach then definitely will get better response…