The 20 Biggest Benefits of Blogging

20 years ago, blogs didn’t exist. Today, there are
over 150 million of them.
Still, I get a lot of puzzled looks when I tell people
that having a blog is the single most important
thing a business, cause, or person can do to
advance online. Even though ‘blogging’ has hit it
big, most people don’t get what makes blogging
so powerful, helpful, and beneficial.
To put an end to that, I’ve compile a list of the
20 biggest benefits of having a blog below. If
you’re among the uninitiated, prepare to be
enlightened. If you’ve already started a blog of
your own (as I assume many of you Income Diary
readers do) then you can consider this an
affirmation of why you do what you — and a good
place to direct people who still think that a blog
is just a pointless public diary.
The 20 Biggest Benefits of Blogging
#1 Get a Better Job
According to MediaBistro , nine in ten companies
mine online profiles before making a new hire.
Employers want to hire people who have a strong
online influence:
“
“Determining influence is so critical to
brands because this is what drives word of
mouth validation – typically the most
powerful and cost-effective marketing
method available.”
Mark Schaefer, from an interview on Inc.com
Put simply, employers prefer to hire people with a
positive online influence and blogging is the
single best way to achieve that.
#2 Start a New Business
Sometimes a blog starts out as a hobby only to
become a full-time business.
That’s what happened to Pat Flynn, who created
a blog called Green Exam Academy simply to
share his thoughts and insights on architecture.
When Flynn was laid off from his job, he decided
to take his blog a little bit more seriously and
about one year later the blog had become a $
100,000 per year business.
That type of growth isn’t typical. But Flynn’s
story is a great example of how a simple blog can
be the foundation for a thriving business if you’re
willing to commit to it.
#3 Get More Clients to Your Existing Business
Static websites don’t attract many new clients or
customers. But a regularly updated blog can
produce a constant stream of good leads from all
around the world.
When you publish in-depth blog posts that help
potential clients/customers solve their problems,
they come to trust you and respect you as an
expert in the field. If they want more help than a
blog post can offer, then they’re likely to be
interested in hiring your business.
I know that this is Neil Patel’s primary revenue
model for Quicksprout and I’ve also used it to
good effect for my video business.
#4 Become a Better Writer
The only way to become a better writer is to
write – pages and pages, day after day.
Of course, that’s exactly what an active blogger
spends his or her time doing. The more you blog,
the more you write – and the better writer you
become.
#5 Become a Published Author
The publishing business isn’t what it used to be
and publishers are less likely than ever before to
take a chance on an unknown author.
They would much rather give a contract to an
author with a built-in audience of readers – and
that’s where having a blog comes in. So keeping
a blog isn’t just a good way to become a better
writer, it may be your fastest path to becoming a
published writer.
#6 Get Immediate Feedback
An author has to wait months between finishing
his/her book and reading the reviews, but
bloggers get to read their readers’ comments the
same day they click ‘publish’.
This makes blogging a great way to get feedback
on an idea that you want to develop further.
Having an outside perspective and a little bit of
constructive criticism is invaluable.
#7 Learn More About a Group of People
Bloggers spend most of their time sharing their
ideas and insights with their readers. But if you
listen, you’ll find that your readers share a lot
with you too.
I learn a lot about the readers on Income Diary
from your comments, your tweets, and your posts
on the forums. That information helps me to
know what type of posts to write and I know that
it also helps Michael determine what products to
develop that will help his readers the most.
Knowing about your audience is invaluable (this
is why companies spend so much time and
money testing out their products in focus groups).
As a blogger, achieving this type of insight is a
natural byproduct of your day-to-day routine.
#8 Gain Influence
What’s the best way to change the world? You
could become a politican, activist, or volunteer.
Or you could become a blogger. A successful
blogger gains a wide audience of people who
trust and respect them.
#9 Establish Yourself as an Expert in Your Field
Anybody can start a blog on any subject they like.
So you don’t get a lot of respect just for saying,
“I have a website about that.”
But over time, as you write more posts and share
more of your expertise, you’re website will change
from ‘just another blog’ into a powerful
demonstration of your knowledge in a field. When
somebody visits your site and sees the insights
you’ve shared on a subject, along with the
community of people who respect and seek that
insight, it will be clear that you’re genuinely an
expert in the field.
Being an expert is a good thing. You may get
consideration for careers, awards, or consulting
opportunities.
#10 Build a Network
“
“The richest people in the world build
networks.
Everyone else looks for work.”
– Robert Kiyosaki
Starting a blog is a guaranteed way to expand
your network.
First of all, valuable and interesting blog posts
attract readers who will then comment on your
site and send you personal messages through
your contact page. Many of your readers will be
asking for help, but others will be looking to help
you.
A blog is also a good platform for reaching out to
others. Many of the first posts on Income Diary
were interviews with experts in the ‘make money
online’ community. With every interview, Michael
gained a personal relationship with an influential
person.
#11 Learn In-Demand Skills
Easy-to-use blogging platforms like WordPress
have made it so that a person doesn’t need to
have a grasp of computer programming in order
to start a blog.
But through the process of blogging, most people
learn some HTML and CSS simply because it’s
easier to make minor improvements to your site
by yourself than it is to hire somebody each time.
That’s good news because fluency in web design,
HTML, and CSS are highly valued skills in this
day and age.
The same can be said for a whole slew of other
blog-related skills, such as graphic design, search
engine optimization, content marketing, and social
media marketing.
#12 Improve Your SEO
Ultimately, search engines want to deliver results
that are helpful to their users. When you write a
series of in-depth, valuable articles around a
topic, Google takes notice.
Each high-quality blog post that you publish is
another opportunity to get traffic from search.
#13 Collect Emails
There’s a lot of talk about social media today,
but email is still the most reliable way to
communicate online. People check their email
regularly and they’re used to receiving important
updates.
Getting somebody to give you their primary email
isn’t easy, but once you have it you have a direct
connection with that person. You’ll then be able
to get their attention whenever you find
something that you think will benefit them or if
there’s something important regarding your
business or blog that you want to inform them
about.
#14 Stay Knowledgeable in Your Field
If you’re looking for an incentive to keep up to
date on all of the latest information on a certain
subject, starting a blog is a great start. Your
weekly quest to put up new content will lead you
to always be searching for new information and
sharing it with your readers.
#15 Sell a Product
A blog can make for a great virtual store. Michael
has made a small fortune selling Pop-Up
Domination on Income Diary and other bloggers
have found success selling everything from e-
books to membership sites.
#16 Talk to Your Idols
I first became an entrepreneur back in 2010 when
I helped Nicholas Tart compile a book of
interviews with 25 of the world’s top young
entrepreneurs .
One of the entrepreneurs we wanted to interview
was Joe Penna, AKA Mystery Guitar Man . Like
me, he was a musician and producer of creative
online videos. Getting to sit down and talk with
him was an inspiring experience that I’ll always
remember.
If we hadn’t had a blog, I truly doubt we would
have had the online credibility for Joe to take the
time and sit down and talk with me.
#17 Express Yourself
This one’s pretty simple: a blog is an expressive
medium that can contain words, images, and
sounds. Whether your blog is formal business
affair or a personal “what-I-ate-for-breakfast-
this-morning” diary, blogging is powerful form of
self-expression.
#18 Help Others
Every good blog helps its readers. Income Diary
does this by offering free information about how
to make money online. Other blogs help people
lose weight, raise their kids, and come to terms
with life-threatening disease. Yet others mobilize
groups of people to take action and raise money
for important causes.
The power of a blog to educate, inspire, and bring
like-minded people together makes blogging a
great way to help people.
#19 Build Trust Online
Trust is a rare and valuable commodity online.
You can’t buy trust. It has to be earned by
demonstrating your commitment to your readers,
time and time again.
As it turns out, that’s exactly what good bloggers
do by regularly posting valuable, honest articles
on their blogs. The more people whose trust
you’ve earned, the easier it will be to accomplish
your goals online.
#20 Take Control of Your Online Identity
Whether you’re a person or business, there’s
probably lots of information about you online.
When somebody searches for you online, you
want to make sure that they get an accurate and
complete picture of who you are and what you’re
all about.
Starting a blog that covers all the bases is a
great way to control your online identity and
make sure that the top result on Google makes a
the right first impression.
The Last Word:
After listing the 20 biggest benefits of starting
and maintaining a blog, I still feel like I’ve left a
lot unsaid. A blog can be more than just a way of
advancing your online presence; it can be a way
of advancing your life… a platform you create that
can propel you forward in the direction of your
choice.
One place your blog may take you this year Yanik
Silver’s Underground Seminar in Washington DC.
In case you missed it, Income Diary will be giving
away scholarships to the event to ten deserving
young entrepreneurs.
If you can think of a big benefit to blogging that
I’ve missed, please share it in the comment
section below. Otherwise, please share this post
through your social networks so that people will
stop giving me those confused looks when I talk
about the huge importance of blogging.