If you’re curious about starting your own blog, you’ve come to the right place.
Maybe you’ve already dipped your toe in the water, or perhaps you witnessed a friend experience mega-success on her own blogging side business. And now you’re wondering: can blogging really lead to the profitability and freedom that so many people claim?
I only need one word to answer that question: YES!
Just don’t confuse blogging for one of the many get-rich-quick schemes floating around online. Blogging requires diligence, strategy, perseverance, and time.
But with the right blogging formula and a bit of determination, you can enjoy these 12 incredible benefits of blogging.
Establish Authority in Your Niche
Any blog can become more than a collection of stand-alone posts. If you provide services or products to others, a well-crafted blog will expand your authority within your niche.
Think about your own web browsing habits. Are you more like to make purchases from a company with little proof of their expertise? Or a company showcasing a comprehensive collection of relevant, informative blogs?
Nearly all readers, including your readers, will recognize your product or service as legitimate when they view your blog. This creates the authority you need to position yourself as an industry leader and gain priceless recognition by major companies.
Brittany at Pretty Handy Girl, for example, became a trusted expert in the DIY niche by publishing valuable, accurate, in-depth information she knew her readers wanted.
Choose Your Working Environment
How often do you hear bloggers bragging about working from home in their pajamas? It’s a cliche, but it also happens to be true.
Since blogging is a virtual endeavor, working as a blogger grants you the flexibility to work anywhere with a WiFi connection. Consider this list of the places I’ve recently spent time working on my blog:
- On an airplane while traveling to visit family
- In a coworking space
- At a Panera (hello, free coffee refills)
- Outside on my deck
In today’s world, a WiFi connection is never far away. Blogging allows you to break free from your 9 to 5 cubicle and start working on your own terms.
Boost Your Web Traffic
Web users need a compelling reason to visit your website. By consistently adding high-quality content to your blog, you can draw steady traffic to your site.
After all, the more engaging content your site has to offer, the more likely visitors are to stick around for a while. This plays a vital but complex role in search engine optimization (SEO), which weighs factors like domain authority, traffic, quality and quantity of social media activity, and domain level keyword usage to determine your site’s ranking on Google.
We can delve into the finer points of SEO another time. For now, all you need to know is this: more website visitors → more brand recognition → increased user engagement → stronger online authority → higher search engine rankings → major profits for you.
Take my jewelry blog, for example. I launched LearningJewelry.com in March of 2019. By May of 2020, LJ.com had grown to 92,000 sessions with $19,000 in revenue!
Below is a screenshot of my Google Analytics account which tracks how many visits I get to my blog!
Refine Your Writing Skills
You don’t have to be the next Stephen King or Jane Austen to write a successful blog.
I was just a lowly accountant when I launched my first blogs, one of which I recently sold for more than $1,200,000!
Though I might have been a master-number-cruncher, nobody would call me a professional writer. But I knew my way around a keyboard well enough to create relevant, valuable content. Over time, blogging helped me refine my writing skills and use new techniques to engage my readers.
That’s exactly what blogging can do for you as well. As you fine-tune your writing tactics, your traffic and rankings will grow accordingly.
Work On Your Own Schedule
In addition to working anywhere you want, blogging also allows you to work on your own schedule. There’s no boss hovering over your shoulder, hawking your PTO, or scheduling painfully boring 4PM meetings.
As a blogger, you create the structure of your workday.
If you’re blogging as a second or third job, you have the freedom to fit it into your schedule as much or as little as your other priorities allow. If blogging is your sole profession, your entire schedule can be molded to your preferences.
Influence Your Audience (For the Better!)
Our digital universe has created an unprecedented opportunity for thousands (and thousands, and thousands) of people to see a post or video from your blog. This concept of “going viral” is relatively new and infinitely powerful.
Thanks to Google, social media, YouTube, and other platforms, you have the opportunity to make a difference in your niche… and in the real world! Your thoughts and actions can influence so many people with very little effort on your part.
Sell a Product or Service
You already know that blogging will drive traffic to your site and establish your online authority. Together, those two accomplishments lead to more sales!
You are your best advocate, so use your blog to showcase your products and services, reminding readers why you’re the best choice.
- Link internally to your products
- Demonstrate the legitimacy of your product with strong blog content
- More traffic = more sales
The artofmanliness.com masters this concept. Brett founded the Art of Manliness in 2008 and watched in awe as it quickly became the leading men’s interest blogs on the web. He strategically uses his platform to sell a range of related products, with a dash of comedy thrown in for good measure.
Become an Expert In Your Field
Consider everything we’ve talked about so far:
- Establishing authority in your niche
- Boosting your web traffic
- Refining your writing skills
- Influencing your audience
- Selling your products and services
What does all of that add up to?
Answer: your position as an expert in your field!
One or two half-hearted blogs a month won’t accomplish this benefit. It requires daily commitment to your mission using the right blogging strategy.
As you expand the content you create, you’ll solidify your standing as a trusted, well-respected, go-to source in your niche.
Expand Your Network
Though much of your blogging work occurs behind a computer screen, blogging has the potential to become highly interactive and enriching.
In fact, the blogging community is always growing and evolving. Your blog gives you a platform to develop a professional network with valuable connections.
For example, you might establish a guest blogging relationship with a popular blogger across the country (or across the world) to boost each other’s web traffic. Or you might connect with a long-lost colleague who wants to support your brand.
The bottom line? Your blog opens doors that would never have existed in your past 9-to-5, dollars-for-hours life.
Create a Strong Online Portfolio
Hey, you never know where the future will take you. Your blog also serves an instant online portfolio to share with others in your professional network.
Take Gina Homolka over at skinnytaste.com. She started a healthy recipe blog back in 2008 to share “slimmed down” versions of her favorite recipes. Now, more than ten years later, she has 17+ million unique visitors a month. Her strong online presence led to the publication of four best-selling cookbooks with over one million copies sold in the U.S.
All of Gina’s success began with a humble online blog that grew beyond her wildest dreams.
Grow a Successful Business
Your blog isn’t just a “blog”. It’s a quick and low-cost way to launch a successful business.
Whether you want to profit simply from advertising revenue and affiliate links on your blog, leverage your blog to draw traffic to your e-commerce store, or anything in between, your blog is the key to success.
Just look at Larry for inspiration. Larry spent his career as a home inspector. He knew absolutely nothing about blogging, but he wanted to use his decades-worth of knowledge to help others and earn passive income.
Larry used my Blogging for Business Bootcamp course to jumpstart his progress and build a blog in the home niche. Now, just a few years later, he’s raking in more than $10,000 per month- more than triple what he ever could have made as a home inspector.
Now that’s what I call success.
What’s Next?
You have brilliant ideas. You have passion. And you have the determination to blend them into a blog that pads your bank account.
With just a bit of time and effort (and virtually no money), you can experience the incredible benefits of blogging for yourself.
So what are you waiting for? If you haven’t already, start a blog today. Join my 30 Day Get Started Blogging course to build a successful blog with the best tips, techniques, and inspiration in the industry.