I’ve been tagged by Brian Gardner to write about the 5 reasons I blog. I have 4 different blogs that all have different purposes, so my reasons for blogging may be slightly different depending on whether I’m talking about my personal blog, monetized blogs or this “professional” blog. Here are the reasons I blog on this site and taking a new twist, I’ll also add a short list of things that are not reasons I blog.
1. To connect: I changed this site to a blog a couple of months ago because I knew that it would be a good business move. Blogging allows me to connect with potential clients in a way that a static site never could. What I didn’t anticipate was the resulting interaction with other designers and bloggers and how much I would enjoy and benefit from it.
2. To help: Though when I read the blogs of those more experienced than me, I feel relatively ignorant, the truth is that there are always people who are just behind me on the learning curve, who are searching for the same solutions I wwas searching for a week or a month ago. When I learn something really interesting, or come across a great tip that just makes life easier, I want to share it with someone. A blog is the perfect place.
3. To earn: I have already seen the positive impact that connecting with potential clients and networking with other design professionals through this blog has on my business.
4. To create: I need a creative outlet. I just want to make things pretty, and making pretty things for the screen is what I enjoy the most.
5. To learn: In working with tools to make my blog more effective, I learn how to better assist others. I have also learned a great deal from the interaction around my posts such as those about my (rather slow moving) progress towards launching my first WordPress theme, for example.
The following are not reasons I blog:
1. To write: I have never really cared for writing. I took all almost honors classes in high school because I enjoyed the challenge, but I took just regular old English so I would have to write as little as possible. Blogging has really improved my writing in general though. I enjoy producing a well-written post that communicates well and is helpful, but I don’t enjoy the writing process itself.
2. To get more traffic: I like to see traffic grow, and I hope it will, but it’s not a motivator for me on this blog. I hope that as I continue to grow and learn, that the traffic will grow as well, and I’m certainly very appreciative of anyone who takes the time to visit me here.
So, here’s the spot in the post where I would normally tag other lucky bloggers to continue this meme, but unfortunately just about everyone I know has already been tagged!