Spill It: Why Do YOU Blog?
One of the cool aspects of blogging is its broad application potential. You can blog for journalistic purposes, breaking stories and commenting on current affairs. You can blog for money, smattering the web landscape with ads and affiliate links in hopes of getting rich by tomorrow. You can blog for personal reasons, to show off those adorable pics of your puppies. You might blog on behalf of a corporation, to raise awareness of an issue, or simply to have a voice online.
Today we’re asking you why YOU blog, primarily because it’s been about a year since we’ve done so. And believe us, it’s all about you today. Tell us where you blog, why you blog, and where you think your blog will be in ten years… or something like that.
Spill it…
In addition to serving as Editor of Fuel Your Blogging, Brandon is also a Pastor at Saddleback Church and Online Community Coordinator for Pastors.com. He’s also a web designer, blogger, and church communications consultant. Catch him on his own blog or on Twitter.
I started blogging because I wanted to write message illustrations and it has become so much more than that. I do it now because it gives me a creative outlet and it allows me to encourage people.
Ten years from now…I don’t know…I hope it leads to getting published so I can encourage even more…
Amazing how it always begins with something simple, then the interactions cause it to blossom.
I agree. I never expected anyone to ever read or like it for that matter.
I started blogging because I wanted to share ideas, but it has grown into an opportunity to connect with some really great people, including the editor of this site.
10 years down the road I hope it will continue to be an avenue through which I can meet more great people, and who knows what else!
Excellent thought! It is like leaving a legacy for those who follow in our steps.
Although I don’t blog OFTEN, I do blog for a spot to occasionally write. I try to keep it a mix of personal and professional. I had a flurry of activity this summer with an interview series.
My personal site/blog is located at http://michaelbox.net and I am considering setting up a blogging site on another domain I have that will be more an outlet for me to just let loose any humor/satire/etc stuff I want to write and not worry so much about professional image. Ideally I think I want that blog to make you wonder exactly how serious I am with what I say. Stuff for me to work out. :D
I have no idea what blogging will be like 10 years from now.
Michael, when you launch your second blog, it’s all downhill from there, like a bobsled careening out of control! Watch out, but keep it up!
I started blogging because OurChurch.Com provides web design, hosting, and SEO services, and I didn’t want to just provide the tools but also help people to understand why and how to use those tools effectively. I also wanted to create something of an idea lab, where I could throw out a raw idea and others could help to shape it by expanding on it, pushing back on it, contributing their own personal experience to it.
10 years from now… wow that’s like an eternity in Internet years… I’d like to see the blog continuing to serve those purposes but with more of a community focus. More regularly contributing authors, more regular commenters, more group blogging projects.
Paul, you’re doing quite well – keep it up and community will gather around the content.
I blog because I’m awesome….j/k For me, blogging suppose to be personal and it is to help others. It’s not all about me, rather it’s all about my reader and how they can benefit from my blog, even when I was telling my personal story. The side income from it is a great PLUS too.
Most definitely, Steven!
When I first started blogging it was because I saw it as something I needed to do as an artist to promote my work. However, as time went on it evolved into more of a collection of things that inspired me and my blog brand began to separate itself from my personal branding. Articles became more fun to write and I noticed that both my readership and friendships increased both online and off.
Now I blog for multiple sites, Fuel included, because I hope to turn it into a new full-time career, but more importantly because I love what I’m writing about. It’s that passion of loving what I do that drives me to write more and write better.
Rondal – awesome! That’s the cool side of the story of blogging!
Self expression. It’s one thing to keep a journal. It’s another thing to let someone read your journal. And it’s another thing still to post it up for all to see. It makes me stronger, and more purposeful in my creation as I attempt not only to define myself through my musings, but to communicate my intentions clearly and precisely (or as willfully coy as I so choose) to others. Let’s face it. If we only played with ourselves, the world would be a horribly boring, rotten place. ;->
Absolutely agreed! I think of blogging as a self-improving discipline.
For about 4 years I had a mommy-blog. I ended up having several articles picked up by local newspapers, and was a regular contributor to one local paper, with articles talking about parenting.
Today, I work for a company and in the process of creating links, I write articles and submit them to various article sites. At first, it seemed a little like I was a writing hack. But then, I found some awesome sites where authors are encouraged and get feedback. I am a featured writer on a couple different places. I started putting my articles on a blog where I felt I could write about people as beautifully as I knew how. If some of those articles translate to blog entries for my company – awesome. If not – I am developing my writing and complimenting people for a living and I could not be happier!
I love how it’s developed into so much more for you – awesome!
Just wanted to vent. I also own various forums and cannot be too “vocal” on them. My blog is the place I share my knowledge and can also rant with not problems :)
Blogging can equal venting, for sure. Keep it up!
I started blogging for our business on Sail22.com and then it became a way to share my photography as well. It’s definitely more of a technical blog.
This year, we started AlwaysHappyLife.com as more of a creative blog and a way to give back. Definitely a different style and way of thinking…but I love that I can share different aspects of life, talk about things that are important to me and encourage others to pursue the world outside of their couch and TV. It’s growing…slowly…but it’s a work in progress.
I started blogging to share my creativity to the world ;)
Excellent!
Thanks for asking! I enjoy your content so much, yet have not commented until now.
I blog because I love to share stories about my work as a Life Cycle Celebrant and Home Funeral Guide at my practice Sweetgrass Ceremonies in Tucson, Arizona. Posting feels like a big adventure for me! I am curious who might end up reading my words as I push the publish button and send posts into cyberspace. In 10 years (really?!), I hope to have many followers with whom I share and learn. Mostly, I want to help readers see creative and life-affirming ways to acknowledge milestones like birth, love and death.
Kristine, very cool reason! Keep it up!
I started blogging because I wanted to journal and share my journey on learning how to run. Having my blog public seemed to keep me accountable for my actions, whether anyone was actually reading it or not.
I decided to blog in my personal site because I would like to share and convey what I experience with the significant things I do in my life. Sharing ideas and sentiments about certain things that I find useful to others too. :)
Me and a few friends started our blog about 3months ago. Needless to say we are pretty new to the blogging world. We started it all just to share the things that we laughed about on ou Skype chat group every day. Since then we have learned that coming up with something you feel you can actually post is harder than it seems.
We started of as 5 eager bloggers in our group. 3 months down the line it’s mostly me and one other friend that does the majority of the blogging. I do it because I like sharing my point of view and knowing that I make people laugh.
Ten years down the line I hope to still be enjoying it as much as I do now and have even a bigger following than I could ever imagen.