Why I blog

Today’s prompt for Vlogmas is ‘Why I Podcast’, but as I don’t podcast I’m changing it to ‘Why I blog’.

Unlike the past few days, I haven’t had any problems thinking of my answer for this prompt.

There are lots of reasons why I blog. Where do I even begin!? I’m going to tackle each reason individually…

 

 

To document my life and preserve my memories

The main reason I blog and the reason this all started was as a way to document my life. I’ve always been a journal writer. I love the cathartic process of writing out my thoughts.

Writing helps me figure things out as I release a jumble of thoughts onto the page and rearrange my words until they make sense.

The other thing I love about keeping a journal is reading it back. There are so many tiny moments in life that would be so easy to forget but recording these moments, whether it’s through words, photos or videos, helps me remember even the tiniest and seemingly inconsequential moments in your short but precious life.

 

To help others

I started blogging primarily to record my memories, but an accidental by-product was an informative blog post that could help someone else replicate what I’d done.

I remember the first email I had from someone who’d taken one of my recommendations. A guy had stayed in the most incredible treehouse in Thailand after I’d mentioned it in a blog post. He was over the moon with the place and was so happy he’d stumbled across my blog because that experience had made his holiday.

I think that was the moment blogging changed for me. This was when blogging became about more than just me and it became about informing others and potentially helping them book incredible holidays.

 

To earn money

And then blogging changed again for me when I started making money from it. I’m not going to gloss over this part because earning a living through my blog is a big part of what keeps me motivated. If I didn’t earn money through my blog then I’d definitely still do it, but I’m sure I wouldn’t do it as frequently and I’d probably disappear for a few months without hearing a word from me.

I earn a very healthy income through my blog and I’m super proud to have turned my hobby into a business that supports my family.

If you want to know more about earning money through a blog, check out my e-course, The Blogger Course, and my sign up to my blogging newsletters where I send out blogging tips and my monthly income report.

 

To challenge myself

I’m typing this while sat on a plane on my way to Saudi Arabia.

Little bit of a smug side note here but I’m actually lying on a plane as I’m in business class with BA which is A-mazing and I’ve spent the last two hours sipping champagne and munching my way through the delicious menu.

Anyway, back to my point. I’m on my way to Saudi Arabia. Would I be flying to Saudi Arabia if I didn’t blog? Hell no. Would I have done half the cool things I’ve done over the past 10 years if I didn’t blog? Nope, not a chance.

Many of the cool opportunities I get are due to my blog, but the reason I take these unique opportunities is so I have something different and unique to write about for the blog.

If I sat at home all day every day then I wouldn’t have an awful lot to write about, so I push myself to do interesting things in order to have some interesting stories to share! And yes, sometimes that means visiting countries that I wouldn’t ordinarily visit.

 

To learn new skills

Another by-product of blogging is the endless list of skills you pick-up.

When I first started blogging I had a lot of stories to tell and a lot of enthusiasm for sharing those stories with the world, but I didn’t have any skills to actually blog. I wasn’t very good at writing (despite having an English degree!) I couldn’t take a decent photo, I wasn’t on social media, I didn’t know what SEO was, I didn’t know how to code, I couldn’t make a video, I didn’t know anything about online marketing, I was useless at networking events, I didn’t know how to pitch, I didn’t know how to write a report, I didn’t know how to track my statistics in order to learn and grow and improve. I knew nothing!

But since starting a blog I’ve learned all these skills and so many more and I’m sure I’ll continue to learn new things as the years go on.

 

 

To feel part of something bigger than myself

The community around a blog is my favourite thing about blogging. Chatting to people all over the world and making friends with like-minded people is what this is all about.