Blogging is basically the new resume. Your potential employer and clients will Google your name. And if they see that you have a blog, rest assured that they will browse through it. Now, your blog should contain what you want others to see you as: as a writer, web designer, marketer, or whatever you are.
This helps boost credibility and the blog itself may serve as a work portfolio with all your knowledge put into it. Besides that, you can also earn on the side. If you need more convincing on why you should start a blog (or continue on with your current one), here I give you 10 reasons why you should still blog in 2015.
Recommended Reading: 50 Reasons Why Your Blog Isn’t Making (Enough) Money
1. It’s A Resume In Action
If you are looking to create the perfect resume, especially if you are in web design and development as well as writing and graphic design, blogging about your focus is basically a resume in action. It tells people that you know what you are doing. Employers and clients might as well skip the interview part.
Take for example web designers who regularly publish tutorials about how to build websites on their own blogs. That, in itself, is a testament that they know what they are doing.
Suppose a man handed you their business card and it has their website, email address, phone number, and business address written on it. Which would you be most likely to use first? Are you going to email the guy or call him, or send him a letter?
If you don’t already have one, start a blog and include your blog address on everything. Your resume, business card, letters, social media profiles, and maybe even place a sticker of it on the back of your car.
2. It Increases Your Credibility And Authority
Companies and individuals are going crazy about building up their brand. They want themselves to be presented to the public in a way that will make them a credible authority in their niche. Of course, that’s the goal, and blogging is the easiest method to accomplish it.
Read Also: Reputation Management: How It Affects Your Freelance Career
Put yourself in the place of potential clients or employers. Suppose you have ten resumes on your desk and only two of them have their own blogs. Wouldn’t you be curious about these two and read their blogs? And if you like what you see, wouldn’t you give them a higher score than the rest?
This is a useful trick that works most of the time. If you have a blog, people will trust you more. The same thing happens with businesses. Notice how people will trust a business more if it has its own website. The same goes for individuals.
3. It Makes Networking Easier
Blogging connects you with like-minded people and in this competitive world having the right people in your network is equivalent to good currency. This applies to the real world too. If you’re a writer who has a web designer friend, you can ask them to help you with your website for free or for a cheaper price. If you know an IT person you can say goodbye to your computer problems.
Read Also: Networking Guide For Bloggers
If you connect with people who know search engine optimization, blogging, freelancing, and the like, and if you develop good relationships with them, it’s as good as saying you have those skills yourself. And I mean it in a very positive way.
Safe to say, you can also use your personal network as a way to ask for help or feedback (and give yours too). Of course, you need to reciprocate. But you get the idea, right? And if you do it right…
4. It’s A Good Way To Find Clients
You can start a blog that answers common questions about your field, how-to articles, tips, and tutorials or a mix of everything. The thing is, you need to make it useful and be sure to add your personality to it. You need to make sure that everything you publish expresses how well you know your field.
It’s your time to show off. Big time. You are the artist and your blog is your canvas. And you are trying to sell yourself.
If you are a copywriter, be sure to publish tips on how to become a better copywriter. If you are a web designer, publish your best designs. And so on, you get the point.
If your goal is to attract clients through your blog, be sure to design your blog in a way that will scream “Hire me!”
I’ve been blogging actively for almost 4 years now and I can attribute at least 60 successful freelance works that were led to me by my blog, whether it’s web design and development or copywriting. All of these happened while I was employed full-time.
5. It Can Be A Source Of Extra Income (Or Only Income)
You can monetize your blog if it becomes popular. You can make anywhere from a dollar to several thousands of dollars a month depending on how well you market your blog. You can earn by selling your product, someone else’s product (and earn commission), or by placing advertisements on your blog.
Read Also: 20+ Monetization Tools For Your Blog
If you are wondering how blogs make money, it’s mainly through advertisements and affiliate commissions.
One of my blogs earn somewhere from to 0 monthly, mostly through affiliate commissions. And it’s a good way to earn passive income.
6. It Makes You A Better Communicator
One of the most useful skills to have in this day and age is writing. If you are a good writer, no matter what the field, you instantly become a good communicator and that’s exactly what upper management level jobs require. If your goal is to ascend the corporate ladder, make sure to work on your writing skills. And blogging is the perfect place to start. What makes a good writer is that they write daily.
But if you are not fond of entering the corporate scene and would rather work as a freelancer, being a good writer will definitely do wonders. If you can write the best cover letter, proposal letter, resume, and any kind of text that would entice employers to pick you then you are basically securing your future.
Think about it. If you are looking for a web designer and two people emailed you regarding the project, which one will you pick, the one who writes better or the one who just rambled on endlessly?
7. It Turns You Into A Teacher
With great power comes great responsibility. This also applies to the skills you have. By default, you have a responsibility to help educate people, especially if they are clueless on how to be like you.
Besides, what are you going to use your skills for aside from work? It would be wasteful to just keep them to yourself, especially in today’s age where information flows freely from across the World Wide Web.
Think of it this way, I’m certain that you didn’t learn everything you know right now from school or from books you bought. Most of the practical skills you have you probably learned from free tutorials online. So why not give back?
8. It Forces You To Learn New Things
Blogging is not just about writing and waiting for pageviews. Blogging, in itself, is an art that is comprised of several parts. If you want to make your blog popular (and it should be your goal), you’ll need to learn how to do many things like marketing, SEO, keyword research, basic web and graphic design, and the like.
I daresay if you know Internet marketing and SEO on top of your other skills, you’ll be an invaluable asset to anyone, especially in the online world. If you know how to make things go viral as well as what kind of tools to use in order to have a smooth-faring website, you’ll be an unstoppable entity (like the Batman of the Internet). Simply because you have multiple skills to offer your client.
If you start your own blog and put some serious effort into it, it’s definitely a possibility.
9. It Helps You Strengthen Your Mind
Aside from solidifying your skills through blogging, you get to strengthen your mind as well by delving deeper into different topics.
Just think about the last article you’ve read. What are your thoughts on it? Did you agree or disagree with it? How will you improve on it? The process in itself turns your mind into a more well-rounded inquisitive mind. And the world needs more of that.
Another thing you should keep in mind about blogging is that it’s a process of self-discovery. You can only write your opinions and what you know.
Blogging is also a great way to organize your thoughts. By writing regularly for an audience, you are forcing yourself to form coherent sentences and your mind remembers this process, which you can then incorporate throughout your life.
10. It’s Easy
Blogging is easy and it yields great results. All you need to do is set up a blog and start writing your thoughts about your interests (that are relevant to your work, since you want your blog to be your resume, right?).
Write, improve and learn from other. In the process of doing so, you’ll inadvertently improve not only your work, but also your entire self.
Conclusion
Running your own blog can be time-consuming, but it can also be fun, especially if sharing your knowledge makes you happy. The great thing about blogging is that if you do it right it will pay off big time.
And there are a lot of guides out there that will teach you exactly how to blog. Regardless of your profession and speciality, I highly suggest that you put your expertise online for the world to see.
Show yourself off online.
10 Reasons To Keep Blogging In 2015
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