When I was in high school, as much as I loved blogging and spent a ton of my free time doing it, I was always irrationally worried that someone might find my blog. Not because I wasn’t proud of it, or because I thought it was embarrassing. Rather, I was self conscious that people would think I was weird for putting my life out there on the internet.
But times have changed since then, and blogging is becoming increasingly normal, and often even respected. (But even when it wasn’t – if people thought you were weird for blogging, they were just mean. Don’t listen to the haters!) Now, I’m way more confident about telling people that I write a blog (I mean, two) and I’m happy to tell other people they should start blogging as well!
Sure, there will always be people who might think you’re strange for putting your life online, but these few unsupportive people are far outweighed by all the awesome benefits of blogging. Even though there are probably way more than this, I made a list of the top five reasons why this is the year you should totally start blogging – including all the awesome benefits that come from it.
It can be great for your resume
You might not have considered this before, but putting your blog on your resume can actually be a pretty clever move. Once you start to think about all the skills and work that go into your blog, you realize that it’s actually a really marketable asset. Social media marketing, and knowledge of relevant online tools can be super useful for anyone working in media or communications. And no matter what field you’re in, having a blog shows strong initiative to create something for yourself without any outside motivation, as well as amazing communication skills. After I put “Founder and Site Curator,” on my resume, I got way more job interviews than I had ever had in my life. 10/10 would recommend.
It’s the perfect way to store and collect your memories
Photo albums and journals are way last century, to be totally honest. Blogging can be an amazing way to collect stories about your life and share them with others. Especially if you have friends or family who live further away, it’s a wonderful way for them to keep in touch with your life. It allows you to have your own space online to share your thoughts and memories, that isn’t as public as your Facebook timeline. (You can just share the link of your blog to the people you want to see it)
You have a voice worth hearing
I firmly believe that everyone has a story to tell, and an opinion that’s worth hearing. In more traditional forms of media, the people who got to share their ideas were an elite few, and their opportunity was usually influenced by their gender, race, and social standing. But with new forms of media like online blogging, anyone can share their ideas with the world. When it comes to internet exposure, everyone starts at the same place. Blogging provides a leveling platform with which you can share your thoughts with the world.
It makes you a better communicator
Similar to my previous point about your resume, blogging gives you so many new transferrable skills for any industry. In particular, it will improve your writing and communication skills.
It can help build other skills like design and photography
In addition to writing and communication skills, there is so much to learn about design and technology in the blogging world. You can improve your WordPress proficiency, knowledge about social media marketing, graphic design and more. Not only can you learn all of this by working away at it and doing it yourself, but there are so many bloggers in the community willing to teach you about it as well! For example, my recently released free email e-course teaches bloggers all about how to take stunning photography with minimal equipment – no DSLR required! I recommend checking it out if you’re thinking about starting a blog and need some beginner blog photography tips.
Like I said before, I could totally go on about this all day. Blogging is such an amazing hobby with so many benefits not only to you personally, but also potentially to your career. So, I encourage you to truly consider making 2016 the year that you finally start blogging. I know that you’ll be great at it!
See also: How to Start a Lifestyle Blog (Complete Beginner’s Guide!)
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I really love this post! At first I was embarrassed to tell people that I had a blog. I was afraid of what they would say but I am glad that I continue to post on it.
http://plethora-of-nonsense.blogspot.com
Oh, I love this post! I agree with all things mentioned here. I was embarrassed to say that I have a blog, or to promote it. I still am, a bit. I have so much work to do in that field, but this was inspiring 🙂
YES to all of this post. I still get shy and self conscious about people finding my blog and judging it, but at the end of the day, who cares? There are always going to be people to judge and hate, but it shouldn’t stop us from doing what we love.
Alyse (J.X.L.) | Lumière & Lens