Starting a passion blog.
Since starting my blog, others have shown interest in creating their own. So why not?
It’s been an incredible experience for me, and it keeps getting better.
I initially dismissed the idea. Thinking: “I can’t write because I failed English at school.” I’m also introverted, so speaking up in a blog didn’t seem right.
I thought my IT background would help. But it didn’t as there is little technical work involved. But it did encourage me to get started. And now I love it.
Which got me thinking; how many less tech-savvy people are missing out on a great opportunity? So let’s look at six reasons to start a blog that may inspire a leap of faith.
1. It’s free.
Everyone likes free right? Well, we can set up a blog for free.
WordPress is the most mainstream platform, so to get started, go to WordPress.com and select: Start your website and follow the prompts.
There are benefits to the paid versions and alternatives to WordPress, but it’s always possible to change later.
If for example, we don’t want our site name to end in WordPress.com, we could upgrade to a paid version and have any site name available. But the free version will get us started. And it’s quick and easy.
2. It’s quick and easy to start.
We can create a blog in minutes — although they won’t look great initially.
WordPress also allows anyone to set up a blog, even the most computer illiterate. More detailed guides like How to start a blog are also available.
But the simplicity allows us to jump in and get straight into the fun stuff like; choosing themes, colours, or writing a post.
3. We can write about anything.
There are infinite possibilities for blogs. It could be a personal blog or about a hobby, maybe travel, or how to score drugs – OK, somethings may be unacceptable – but there are plenty of options.
If we love something, why not share that passion with the world? And best of all we don’t need to be a writer.
4. We don’t need to be a writer.
Writing long wordy content with perfect grammer isn’t a requirement. I just spelt grammar wrong in the previous sentence, does it matter? It’s understandable.
I do my best to avoid mistakes and spell checkers help, but I’m not perfect. Nonetheless, my grammar is getting better by writing.
We can also leverage multimedia to avoid words. For example, Stuck in Customs has minimal text but beautiful photos.
Or maybe you’re a writer who wants to write a million-word-post – all I can say is good luck – but the choice of how much we write is ours.
Or maybe we aren’t ready to share anything yet. That’s fine we can keep it a secret.
5. It can be a secret.
We can keep our site to ourselves, or maybe our closest friends or family.
We may want to create an “Epic Fishing Adventures” blog that our closest mates have access too. No problem. We can limit site access to anyone we want, and also allow others to contribute. But then again, some mates might be better off with just read access.
Or we can keep the site public, but share the site address with our mates. Nobody will find it without a link, as sites don’t come up on search engines like Google automatically.
Most bloggers work on Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) to display higher on Google. SEO is a world of its own, and there are plenty of blogs like Search Engine Land to help other bloggers get more visitors.
But sites don’t come up on search results without a lot of SEO work. And you can also set the noindex option to block search engines. Your secret is safe, but by blogging, we open up another world.
6. Blogging is a gateway to another world.
Blogging isn’t just about writing. It leads to much more. For example:
- Learning marketing skills to grow an audience.
- Developing sales skills to sell yourself, posts or products.
- Designing capturing images to illustrate a message.
- Increasing knowledge of blogging and your passion.
- And many, many more.
With so many potential benefits, if you have ever thought about starting a blog, I say go for it.
But why not tomorrow?
Well, tomorrow is always tomorrow, we only get today. So give it a go and start a journey, it may be one of the best things you ever do.
