In the world of the modern day internet dweller, there is always a "To-Do" list a mile long so, why should you bother to create a blog? Great question, I'm glad you asked. Maybe you shouldn't.
Maybe you don't need to create a blog, maybe you do.
You see, it really depends on you. Your focus, your over all view of your business, your niche, your level of consistency, your personality, your willingness to interact with others, these factors will determine whether or not you should create a blog.
The vast, vast majority of blogs are simple, "Hey here's a way to update grandma on our trip to China to adopt a child" type blogs that pop up and are abandoned soon after. then you have the multitude of blogs that are parked for cash, waiting for you to mis-type a word in the url, and praying you click a link so they can get a nickel. If that's what you're after, sure, whatever. If you're adopting a child, create a blog for free over at wordpress or blogspot. If you're a domain parker, I don't care what you do, your websites piss me off.
I'm mainly talking to those who have some sort of business in mind that they want to either promote via a "Branded" blog or as a "Public Figure" blog. I have friends that brew beer on the weekends and use their blog to geek out on whatever home-brewers geek out on. I also have friends that pull down 7 figure incomes with their blogs. This is probably you, I mean who doesn't want to create a blog post and hit submit and bells and whistles start going off and money pours into your bank account, right?
So, it's pretty simple. If you want to make some money or be a player in your industry, create a blog. Why?
Reason #1
Search Engines Love Blogs. People love GOOD blogs, full of content and not crap. Make sure your content is good. It doesn't even have to be pretty. Some of my favorites look awful.When you get in a habit of posting several times a week, get good at SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Actually you can do that in the first couple of months when things are slow…
Reason #2
It gives you your own platform. I know, I know, everyone is on Facebook and has a fan page and all. Great, do that too. Post your blog posts over there and drive traffic to your blog. Now they are your captive audience and won't get distracted by an IM.
Reason #3
You can do whatever you want. Who's gonna stop you? It's the ultimate place to be yourself. It's like your living room only, you don't have to make pleasant conversation until they leave. You don't even have to be there, or worry about them stealing stuff… You wanna write a open letter to Bacon? Have at it.
Reason #4
Promotion – It's so easy when you have one central place to send people to see all the cool stuff you teach / eat / steal / like / hate / drink / sell / hoard, recommend / need help with / etc… It's pretty easy. You have a home page, you make different pages according to different categories of information, you know it works right? I mean, if you don't, just look up there at the top of this page. It's cool, some people need visual aids.
Reason #5
Learn a Skill. Face it, if you had a blog, you'd be doing something productive (maybe). If it weren't for trying to figure out widgets and plugins, you'd probably be playing a video game or surfing Youtube or getting a job or something, right? This way, you get to learn a new skill that just might be your ticket. When I said that I know people that make millions with their blog, I wasn't joking.
Listen, if you're like me, you're probably someone that likes to try new stuff, explore a little, and is a tad narcissistic but will deny it. If I'm right, you have no other choice than to create a blog, get to writing, make a bunch of money and teach other people to do the same.
You want to get started right now? I have a whole set of WordPress tutorials that you can watch for no charge. If you want to start making money online, I'll sell you the rights dirt cheap and you can start making a few bucks. If not, just watch them and learn all you really need to know about how to create a blog and much more.
