6 Epic Reasons to Start Your Own Blog

I’ve been blogging in one form or another since around 2007, and in that ten years I’ve launched dozens of different blogs. However I never seem to get bored with the process of blogging; it’s just too darn addictive!

If you’d like to learn how to start your own blog on a budget then please read my detailed step-by-step tutorial.

If you’re currently considering the option of starting your own blog, allow me to reveal the top reasons why you should push ahead and get started today…

The Blogging Community

Bloggers are different to your “Average Joe”. The most successful bloggers do so as a way to communicate with others. They’re naturally sociable and generous with their time. In other words, they’re a great bunch!

When you start your own blog you, by default, become part of this blogging community. All of a sudden you’re meeting people from all around the world, each of whom has similar interests to you.

For example, when I launched this blog I suddenly got to know all sorts of great people. People I stay in contact with and regularly email. A few I’ve even met in person.

If you’ve got a passion – whether that’s for fly fishing, dog breeding or interior design – then starting a blog is a surefire way to make loads more like-minded friends.

Free Advice From Your Peers

Its not just the general support and community that benefits you when you start blogging; you also gain the attention of all sorts of people who have “been there, done that”.

My own experience is that this same community that you become part of can be a rich source of help and advice.

For example, some years I started (and still own) a wildlife blog; simply because its a passion of mine. But if I want to identify a bug, or know when a certain plant is going to be in flower, you can be certain I’ve met exactly the right people to help answer those questions.

What could possibly be better than to be able to “pick the brains” of people more knowledgeable and experienced than you, but without it costing you a bean?

Free Gifts!

Blogging is hard work; that’s no secret. But stick with it long enough and eventually you’ll build up a large network of regular readers. And that community is worth a lot to companies hoping to raise their profile.

Once you establish yourself in the marketplace its perfectly normal to be approached by companies looking to give you free stuff in exchange for a mention on your blog. For example, I know bloggers who have received free hotel stays, flights, tickets to shows and more.

Personally, one of my blogs is about technology. I write mainly about software and almost every week I get at least one email from a company looking to give me a free copy of their latest program to try out.

For this reason, starting a blog based on one of your passions can be a powerful way to save money; in time you’ll likely find that companies start giving you freebies which can significantly offset the costs of your hobby.

Residual Income Opportunities

This, to me, is one of the biggest benefits – especially from a personal finance perspective. You see those adverts appearing on the blogs you read? Those ads are earning the blogger money.

Even better, once you’ve established your blog those visitors keep on coming – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That means most bloggers really do earn money in their sleep.

Here’s a true story to illustrate the point. A few years ago I visited Cuba for two weeks of sunshine and cocktails. We chose our resort specifically because it had Internet access and I could keep an eye on my blogs while away. As it turned out, when we arrived the Internet was down – and stayed down until the very last day of our vacation.

When I finally checked in, after 2 weeks of lying in the sun, I discovered I’d actually made more money than the vacation had cost; I actually came back with more money than I went with thanks to the power of residual income!

Now let me be honest. This residual income takes time and effort to build up. I don’t want to sell you on “easy riches”. But it is very real if you work hard enough at your blog. Who wouldn’t want to earn money in their sleep?

Click here to find out exactly how I start a blog on a budget.

One-Off Sales Income

What happens when your blog starts to produce more income than you need each month; what do you do with the remainder? If you’re like an increasing number of people, what you do is use that money to buy someone else’s blog. In doing so, your residual income goes up even further.

You might not know it, but there is a thriving marketplace in buying and selling websites; and your little blog could be worth 20 times your monthly revenue. In other words, your little blog generating just $500 a month could be worth $10,000 if you sold it.

When you start your own blog you’re therefore building a valuable asset that you can sell in the future. If you harbor dreams of buying a homestead, having your own boat or some other expensive goal in the future, every day you work on your blog you’ll be increasing the odds of that big payday when you sell it.

Improved Job Opportunities

I work full-time in digital marketing; in essence I help businesses to promote their websites online. One of the ways we do this is by producing great quality content for their website which draws in extra visitors from the search engines. Just recently we’ve expanded, and needed another person who could write blog posts and manage social media.

And do you have any idea how difficult it was to find someone? We had dozens of resumes sent in, but each person failed to make the grade.

What’s worse, its not just digital marketing where such skills are in short supply; all sorts of companies are waking up to the importance of producing content and promoting themselves on social media; but nobody knows how to do it!

Trust me when I say that when you have your own successful blog, all sorts of opportunities open up. I speak from personal experience; as in the last 2 years I’ve gone from managing a grocery store (which I hated) to heading up my own marketing team (which I love). And that’s all thanks to my experience of blogging.

Now I’ll be honest; I’m pretty biased when it comes to blogging. I’ve seen the very real impact that its had on my life. Hopefully, by now, you too can see why this is, and you’re just a little more motivated to get started yourself.

As the saying goes – do something today that your future self will thank you for. Take action today, and you’ll wonder why it ever took you so long…