My writing process starts with drafting the structure of my post by hand, this is actually the draft of this post.

Why I spend my Sundays writing my blog and you should too.

I do appreciate that you are reading my post, and although it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, you are not the reason why I’m sitting in an office on a Sunday working on my blog.

Truth be told, I write my blog for me.

Writing this weekly post really helps me during the rest of my week. This makes it more than worth the time I spend on it.

I’m not only the writer but also the reader.

I write everything with my future-self in mind. With my blog has I want to inspire, motivate and pass one knowledge. Guess what, the one person I’m really want to inspire and motivate the most, is me.
There is a huge difference between knowing and doing. By now all smokers know that smoking is slowly killing them, still they keep doing it. Even though I already know what is in my posts, writing it down works as a great catalyst to also DO IT.

It helps me to become better at translating ideas into something actionable, you can also share with others.

Like everybody I like to think I have great ideas all the time. As long they are in the safety of your head, all those ideas are amazing and perfect. Kudos for you, smartest girl/guy on earth! One problem though, if you want to execute them, they need to come out to be confronted with the harsh reality of the world, so you can mold them into an actionable plan.
This is a painful process where you need to translate all those abstract concepts and feelings into something which other people can also understand. Doing this every week doesn’t makes this less painful, but it does come easier after a while.

Every post is a tool in my belt.

Writing a blog post is like carving a sculpture, you chipping away pieces until only the essence is left. So whenever you have conversation or discussion leading to a subject you wrote about before you are well prepared. It is like you already rehearsed before, you know all the key elements and subtle nuances this topic has to offer. The only thing left to do is impress them.

It‘s a big instruction manual to learn to understand and deal with me.

I’m pretty introvert so not a big fan of small talk or having the same conversations all over again. I have posts that are really personal and explaining my mind set. For example those of me on dating or having Crohn’s disease. Now I can send just send over a link and don’t have to tell those stories again, easy win.

I also had some people telling me their perception of me changed after reading my blog. I might not be so douchey after all!

What about using a blog for personal branding, and to position yourself?

I totally believe that a blog really could be key in your personal branding, but if you create a blog with only this in mind, you set yourself up to fail.

A blog is a long con, if you expect to win or even make a break even on the short and mid term, you’ll end up sad and disappointed.

I’m doing this already for a while now and from an ROI perspective it’s not the best use of my time. Although my readership is growing steadily it’s not that this is generating an extra revenue stream, nor do I expect it ever to be one.

However, my blog is a big part of my online presence, so if when I meet people for the first time or they get referred to me, they will have a good first impression.

When you do it for the views and recommendations you will automatically water down your content.

After taking a closer look at which blogs are popular it is easy to predict which type of post will get traction. When your goal is to hit big numbers, you could consider altering your content in a way you get more views. Which means you will end up writing short, 2 minute posts, on fluffy topics with clickbait titles. This is not a good thing, take a look at all newspapers/blogs with an advertising driven business model. Their content is straight-up garbage.

Some of the post I personal believe are my best have the least views and recommendations. My only measure for success though is if I managed to make myself proud and stay true to myself, aslong as I keep doing this I believe that I will win in the end.

You don’t have to take my word for it, watch Snoop Dogg getting real.

My takeaways :

1. Differentiate by staying true to yourself, as there is only one you.
2. Start a blog today because it will make you smarter and happier!
3. Do what makes you happy today, as this is the only way to keep yourself motivated in the long run.

Thanks so much for reading! If you enjoyed it, would mean the world to me if you shared it with someone. :)