5 simple reasons why you should start blogging today
In addition to LetsSeeWhatWorks.com, I’ve started many other blogs with the aim to hit the heart of the market and make a profit. Even when the ideas are just coming and everything is far from perfect, I still only take a brief contemplation period and then I launch. Why?
It’s simple. It is now easier than ever to get started with something. For years, gurus floated through the blogosphere this idea that “content marketing” was the only way to succeed. Your product needs to be not only a good one, but a truly sustainable one in terms of visibility and largesse. And it doesn’t all come together by chance.
In the world of the internet there are about 179 million blogs. Perhaps only a handful of the online businesses can truly be deemed successful, but they all have one thing in common:
They all started somewhere.
Well-known German examples (where I´m living) that I’ve watched for years and would like to single out are: Sascha Pallenberg’s blog Mobilegeeks (launched in 2012, now 25,000 daily visitors), t3n.de (started in 2005 and today has more than 70,000 visits daily), Planetbackpack.de (launched in 2012, today about 4000 daily visitors), selbstaendig-in-netz.de (started about 2007, today over 5000 readers per day).
All of them, meaning the people behind it and founders, live today from their blogs.
Most companies fit in the category of “company with several employees and an editorial team” that help push the popularity forward. There are however, still some bloggers who get a good and stable profit, either through the sale of advertising space, as commercial recommender (affiliates), or by consultant fees, which are possible thanks to the blog’s brand.
Now you will think for sure: They’re all big. I don’t want to be so big. Do what you wish, but how big or expansive you become is completely in your hands. In addition, you can do something important with your blog…more important than some “for sale” banner space at the bottom.
Creating a blog costs (almost) nothing
Before I enumerate all the long-term benefits, I briefly want to look at the short-term. One need secure large investments nor must he or she have in-depth technical website-startup knowledge in order to start a blog. A blog doesn’t have to be perfectly executed at the beginning and the concept need not be fixed. A blog is an incubator for ideas and the exact place monthly and yearly goals can be formed. Every business must evolve, even a blog. The analogy to planting seeds I find quite appropriate here. You plant the seeds and then you have to pay attention. Is there enough water? Are the surroundings good for growth? What about the sunlight? Too much? Not enough? Depending on how well you care for the seeds during this process, the blog will grow fast or slow, straight or crooked, big or small.
Creating a blog is a breeze these days and requires virtually zero technical knowledge. But somewhere, starts every time.
But one step after another.
The top 5 reasons why you should create a blog
Argument 1: You do not need much, just the passion that you have already
When you have something to blog about, you don’t need much. You just need a concrete idea to begin with, something to get you going thematically. It could be a personal thing like cooking, art or literature, but it could also be a technical thing. Our top for LSWW is “Entrepreneurship” because it is my thing! So, the basic idea starts you out and, after the first blog post is written, the development begins.
For example, I started Happy Coffee because I wanted to be in the foreground of blogs discussing sustainability and fair trade…not to mention coffee’s role in all that. We aim to inform, persuade, and possibly provoke a change in the behavior of consumers in regard to sustainability.
Argument 2: A blog needs to ripen, like good wine
Aging is good, at least in the blogosphere. There are always statistics involved: the domain’s age, the time from post-to-post, the visitor clicks. Everything is important and everything is relevant when we are talking about achieving your audience and sustainability, as others have done. Because: most traffic comes through Google search results. In order to get the traffic, the following basic rules must be observed:
- Write good and relevant content (with heart, soul, and clarity!)
- Write regularly
- Note the SEO Basics
- Tell others about it (so you can get backlinks)
Those who do not take the initiative will never start in this growth process. So begin, get going, and ripen!
Argument 3: You can build your brand through your blog
A brand is not built overnight. It has be grow, necessitating both time and regular content.
Why is it important to establish a brand? Here’s an example using one of the most valuable brands in the world: Apple. Think about it — quality, simplicity, beauty, functionality. If someone asks me why I use Apple devices, then my answer is: because it just works.
What made Steve Jobs did with the Apple brand is of course on a completely different level. But the principle also works for a smaller brand. Anyone getting to know me for the first time knows immediately that I’m passionate about startups and entrepreneurship.
A good thing, because branding creates a trust bond between the brand and customers, business partners, investors, blog readers, and and and…
And then the value of the brand is really clear.
If you want to create a blog, you should be quite clear that every blog needs a great deal of personality. A blog lives by its contributors. These personalities are automatically added to the “Social Trademark” and then associated with their topic.
Your blog is your brand’s “skin.” Tattoo it with themes and posts that build up the brand you want.
Argument 4: Traffic = Money
There are a few basic laws on the internet and one of them is: the true currency in the Internet is traffic. If you have thousands of visitors every month first on your blog, then you can make money with this exposure.
There are many models for it: affiliate, advertising, products, … the possibilities are practically limitless. But your parents and grandparents were right:
Nothing comes from nothing.
Your roadmap for a successful online business with a successful blog looks like this:
- Create a blog with a fixed topic
- Generate traffic
- Monetize (make money)
- Scale (decide how big you want to be)
Argument 5: Creating a blog takes 15 minutes and costs around € 3.60 / month (or nothing, if you start on medium.com)
This is an argument that has become codified in recent years. It truly is simple and does not require technical knowledge. It does not always have to be created through the ever-popular WordPress, alternatives like Jimdo can also help you get going easily in 2 minutes. I’d like to show you a few possibilities on how to set up your blog:
Bluehost: Inexpensive providers with a simple 1-click WordPress installation
The Utah (USA)-based host provider Bluehost has been around since 2003. Here for around $5/month, you get great hosting for your blog. From the domain to the mail server, everything is included, well explained and easily understandable, even for beginners.
The support also helps via chat (I’ve even used it several times). Several of my blogs run on Bluehost (including LSWW) and I am completely satisfied. Especially handy is the one-click WordPress Installer. The latest version of WordPress is quickly and easily installed on your server, and you are immediately “blog ready.”
Jimdo — Drag’n Drop model, extremely easy handling
Also highly recommended for use by some pages is Jimdo. The Hamburg-based company has over 10 million users and has long since grown out of the startup stage. I know the team behind Jimdo personally and am always glad to visit them (not only because of Sam’s fantastic cuisine).
Anyone interested in a company with a great deal of heart, don’t miss working with Jimdo. By the way, here is an interview (german) from our Startup Tour of 2011.
Before I moved Happy Coffee to WordPress and BlueHost, I was at Jimdo (only because we blog so much more did I moved) An example of how Jimdo looks like? Have a look…you simply click on the text in the page and changed on the surface. In a simple way, one can really create any blog.
Truly, anyone can!
If you want to get started without your own domain, something like MYBLOG.jimdo.com, could also work (but it’s not recommended because it would be harder to grow the brand).
So rather invest € 60/year and have decent and desirable domain with support.
If you are still reading this article …
Then … first, thanks! But you have clearly understood the importance and relevance of a blog.
Take your chance and go to the drawing board. Creating a blog is really not rocket science. In 2 years you will smile and rejoice about this moment.
And if something is messed up: what can you lose? €60 and a little time. The reward is worth that small risk.
And now you: have you recently started a blog or have relevant experiences? Will you please leave your comments below this post to help this blog grow and help others, as well?
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Originally published at en.letsseewhatworks.com on July 31, 2014.
