In the last post on ProBlogger Kevin talked about starting a blog based upon one of your hobbies as a great way to start blogging.
As I mentioned in the introduction to that post – Kevin had really described much of my own motivations for starting my photography blog (and that of many many other successful blogs). While I did see an opportunity for profit in that blog when I started it – my main motivation for kicking it off was to share what I was learning about photography and to see if I could draw others with a similar interest together to learn from one another.
For me I always wanted to see if I could make some money from that blog – but early on it wasn’t the biggest motivation. Over the years as the blog has grown and become more profitable I suspect my motivations have changed a little – I’m still interested in the topic – but it’s certainly more of a focus to make it profitable.
Of course starting a blog on a topic you’re interested in or passionate about is not the only way – many successful bloggers have started blogs with other motivations – including to make money, to grow their profile, to drive traffic to their business etc…. (or some combination of motivations).
Why Did You Start Blogging?
Yesterdays post has got me thinking – why DO people start blogs? Has the motivation changed from a few years back when blogs first began to get popular (when I started 7 years ago most people seemed to be doing it purely for fun and to make connections)?
I’d be interested to hear about your initial motivations to starting a blog? Did you start on a topic you were interested in? Did you start with the idea of making money? Was there some other motivation/s? Also – have your motivations changed since starting your blog?
Interested to hear your thoughts!
I started blogging (originally) to share my life and everyday thoughts with my friends and to have a memory of what life was like. (I was 12, lol).
I started my recent blog because, well, nobody else seemed to be providing me with the information that I wanted. “Blogging” is often talked about, but what about “writing” or character development? I only found two blogs on writing, so I decided to make one myself and build it up…
I still have a personal blog to appease my moments of random thoughts and rants, but I love my new “professional” blog too. :)
I began my blog to share my QuickBooks knowledge with others giving me the opportunity to teach others which is my favorite part of my job.
My blog is still in the “infant” stages but I am enjoying it!
I began my blog to share my QuickBooks knowledge with others giving me the opportunity to teach which is my favorite part of my job.
I started blogging for two reasons:
1. I had a backlog of ideas that I wanted to see implemented that I was never going to implement. So I wanted to get them out there so that other people could do them.
2. I had myu own products that the press refused to tell their readers about. They always had an excuse. I decided to go around them and go straight to the users and tell them myself. It worked. :-)
Today I blog for many reasons, but you asked why I started. This is why.
Hey…love your post. I pretty much started just as something to do. I have alot of opinions on alot of things and I just want to see different responces to my thoughts…my personal blog is fairly new…only a few weeks old and Im still trying to get the hang of it and trying to keep finding fresh topics to speak about.
I eventually want another blog that showcases my fictional writing but i wanted to try with a personal blog first. Either way I love this outlet and I hope I will get my voice out there and get a following.
started blogging last year because I love writing. I wanted to share ideas with other moms and encourage them…I had a website in mind. then I found out about blogging and wordpress and I was so excited I could do all this for free! I love it!.thanks.
I started blogging to promote our brick-and-mortar business online and generate more leads. After jumping into this world, it is now too addictive to give up! :)
Blogging initially served as cathartic for me. I had just lost my father and was out of sorts. I learned later that money could be made, but I’ve never really worked at it. I call my blog Peace of Mind Now in an attempt to help people get in touch w/what is missing in their lives.
I always wanted my own radio station or something, because I have so much that I love to talk about, and blogging seemed like the 21st century solution to that! Seriously, my university students asked me to start a blog because there are few mentors in the advocacy/organizing fields for social workers, so they wanted to continue our conversations about social issues and macro practice strategies. I’m learning as I go and beginning to reach audiences beyond my own students, and it has cut down on my yelling at the radio news!
I started blogging when I changed the main focus of my web site from fixed content to ever changing content. I found it was the best way in order to help keep people up to date on important technical issues.
I now regularly post on 2 blogs – my personal blog and my technical blog. The personal blog is more a Lifestream blog for me.
Originally I started http://mlmoutsidethebox.com/ to help people thinking of going into any type of Multi-Level Marketing program. I had been burned by a few programs myself and I was tired of the “everyone can join and become a millionaire!” attitude. Now, however, I talk about anything and everything. My motivations were never really on making money blogging, but I quickly picked up on the opportunity.
I started my blog so I could keep writing about literature. I really had no goals or motivations (i.e. making money – that came later), I saw it more as a hobby that would keep my immersed in the literary world.
As a platform to share my midday escapades – a way for me to escape the daily grind of my boring job. I jumped right in with a giveaway and now I’m hooked on giveaways myself!
I started my blog in early July when my job of 10 years ended. I’ve always worked for love and gotten paid for it, something professional bloggers have perfected. I’m truly lovin’ it and thanks to all the good training available I bet I’ll be getting paid for it within a year. Thanks for your constant sage advice.
I started my blog because I finally feel like I have something to say that others may want to hear (and will hopefully benefit from as well). I believe that one person trying to make positive choices will encourage others to do the same. My blog allows me to “think out loud” and hopefully get others thinking too…
I started blogging (photoblog) about 3 months ago , just as something else to do while I looked for work. Been posting relatively regularly and am now on my 54th post . I’ve found that my reasons for continuing to blog have changed and am quite enjoying the entire experience. My posts have been rather random in nature and now I find that I am looking for a bit more direction and structure as to where to take it. don’t know where yet but hopefully I’ll figure it out soon.
Peace
I started two blogs for 2 different reasons.
1st http://mysocialmediaproject.blogspot.com simply because I wanted to share with the world what I learned, as I learned it, about social media.
2nd http://inspiredlifesite.blogspot.com because I had things I wanted to say to women who are at a cross road in their life like I am. It has been truly a liberating experience. Like David I enjoy thinking out loud.
I teach guitar and I’m always noticing students of other guitar teachers who decide they don’t have the motivation and patience for playing. I always found myself having long conversations with my students about it and not one of them yet has fallen off the inspiration train.
So I decided to share these conversations to the world through my blog and see how many more people I can save from falling away from being musically great.
Cheers!
– G. E. Marrs
I started blogging because I enjoy being on the computer and sharing my life experiences with others. It’s also my way of creating my own journal as I would never write a real one, my blog is my journal.
My main goal is to make money through different niche websites that are in low competition areas.
I originally started to blog as a means to help fill a void in interesting FX trading stuff from a retail trader perspective. The monetization aspect of the blog only occurred to me to try once I read about how other bloggers monetized their blogs and I was encouraged by a friend of mine (a SEO / blog consultant) to give it a shot. I’m learning as I go and though trading is my primary focus I’m pretty happy so far with my blog’s progress in the short period of time that I’ve been running it.
I’m a textile artist . . . I started blogging about 6 months ago . . .
Originally, my idea was to chronicle the creation of my quilts on my blog . . . over time, I started discussing my unique way of designing 2-dimensional patterns, and a book idea was born . . .
My website has been updated, I’m growing a mailing list of quilters eager for my book (and giving away the heart of the book as a “freebie”), and a Yahoo! group has started, centered around me and my design system
To be honest I started blogging because I thought I might be able to make some extra cash. You might say it was purely for the money :).
The funny thing is I’ve found it to be a lot of fun. I learn new things about a topic I love every day and I’m fascinated by the process. I guess its sort of backwards from what you would normally expect.
I started blogging almost three years ago. The initial motivation for starting a new blog was to maintain a online personal diary. But later on my perspectives changed and i moved on to writing poetry to things which i liked. Though I blogged rarely, after i began reading your blog I think its time to change. Organize myself and start posting enjoy great readership at first and maybe later turn into a full time blogger. :)
http://www.simzaolly.blogspot.com/
I’m a consumer journalist, so I began blogging because I love sharing buying tips and information with people. I also wanted to make some money, if I could figure out how to do that.
The writing part takes time as does the photography, but those are things that journalists are trained to do.
The marketing, however, is another matter. I have a lot to learn. That’s why the Problogger is so helpful.
Rita blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide http://boomersurvive-thriveguide.typepad.com
Over the years, I’ve had a habit of sharing my (sometimes quirky) writing with friends or small groups of friends.
I received from positive feedback on one piece of writing from a friend who told me that he runs a successful blog. Until that point in time, it had never occurred to me that a blog would be a good way to share with a wider audience and get immediate feedback.
Money was very much a secondary thought (which is really good, considering the CTR of my site :)
Initially I started blogging because I saw my friend’s personal blog in September 2008. His blogging about daily activity and his research in Japan.
I created my personal blog in wordpress.com. I posted everything that I liked. Of course, I didn’t Darren Rowse, Yaro Starak, John Chow, etc at the moment.
Six months later, I found a book about make money from blog (local author) at a local book store. I passionate to make money blogging. Unfortunately, I couldn’t monetize this blog (TOS WP prohibited).
Finally, I created new self-hosted blog 3 months ago (in Indonesian Language). I will monetize this blog next year because my traffic is little now.
Best regards from Indonesia.
Blogging is a new phenomena to our business and we want to use it tp promote our website as a source of information (rather than instruction) both for our existing clients and for those looking for professional financial planning advice.
As newcomers to the art of blogging (only made our first post this morning), we are looking to absorb as much as possible as quickly as possible – with a view to supporting the work we are undertaking on the website.
Love this site and will refer friends to it.
I originally started blogging to try and earn a 2nd income, but then quickly started up my poetry blog as a way to share my art with readers who would appreciate it.
Though I earn a little bit by blogging, it equates to much less than minimum wage. I do it because I enjoy writing and sharing my views and thoughts with readers, for my technology products I enjoy putting my own spin as an IT Security Engineer and technology enthusiast on the products I review and talk about.
I started with two ideas in mind. i wanted to improve my writing skills by writing about something I enjoy–movies. I also thought I might be able to earn a little extra income.
I am enjoying my blogging experience and learning a lot. But I am still waiting for the income.
For years I had started blogging and quit after 2-10 posts.
It was only when I found a subject that would never dry out and I could always find a way to write about, the blogging really stuck with me. And then I quickly professionalized the blog around that subject: reviewing intellectual podcasts.
So, basically, I started blogging for a very vague want of writing, but it only became persistent blogging, when I found one subject I was passionate about.
I started blogging years ago on my personal blog as a means to simply let my friends and family know what was going on in my life… and of course to keep record of my day to day happenings. In May of this year however I finally started a new blog on disease prevention and longevity with the sole intention of connecting to my wife’s field (she’s in medical school) and as away to diversify our income. I’m about to hit four months of blogging professionally (albeit not for major income yet, but one day).
I like the duality of my professional blog as it is something that is focused enough to have a following from subscribers yet broad enough to focus on search traffic and make some money. My wife has even started plugging new topics for posts for me so it’s nice that it helps bring us together.
That is a great question to every blogger, we really should think about this seriously.
Well, I must say that I was blogging for money at the beginning. If you didn’t want to make money online, I think that I wouldn’t be a blogger now.
But when I really got started, I found that blogging is really an art, it is not so simple just writing and posting. You need to focus on your niche if you want to be a successful or a good blogger, it is very challenging, but I really fell in love with it, it makes my life better :).
some people I know use blogs to chronicle their life’s lessons to share the world–misfortunes and all. these blogs started as a personal growth tool but are lucky to come across as interesting for other people and earned quite a following too. well i guess it all boils down to how good the blog owner is. :)
i like your post here, actually i added you already in my list so that i will be updated here. well, i started my blogging career co’z i want to earn some money but unfortunately i don’t know how to do it like yours. can you help me?
I started blogging for 2 reasons. Writing about my safari past and to create presence on the internet. Now I am starting to make my fist money with the blog. Cool!
For me, blogging is a very stimulating activity. I started blogs to keep my writings alive online, then I started playing with ideas on blogs and money followed. Now I earn a little and do every thing else for what I had started blogging.
Hi Darren,
I have been tracking your blog for quite sometime now and trust me i have derived all the inspiration from you. When I first came in contact with your blog i was totally blown when I saw the kind of loyal readers and the thoughts everyone shares on your blog. And of course the kind the money your blog makes;-)
I started my blog around 5 months back with the only intention of getting people involved in good conversation. My blog lacked the feel and look of a platform where people would be interested not until recently I came across this wonderful lady from Australia who helped me setup my blog properly and gave it a new and fresh look where I post the stuffs i know and get some good info feeds from great blogs out there.
Money, plain and simple is why I started blogging.
At the beginning i started blogging for earning.But after spending much time on this,i feel that it is the best way for improving knowledge.it is not so simple just writing and posting.You need to focus on your niche if you want to be a successful or a good blogger.It is really a great art.
There were two reasons. The first was to share my views on weight loss, fitness, health, and family. I hope to build community out of my blog. The second was to use the process as a de facto teaching tool for the internet, blogging platforms, etc.
To fully understand how it works. As they say ” seek first to understand then to be understood”. Then one question leads to another. First was how to register followed by , how did other blogger removed the nav bar, then started to research.
The more you ask questions, the more questions there will be. It never stops coming.
I started blogging because I was hired to, i grew interest in it and love to all share my views. I work an online marketing industry, so i have to understand how to market using a blog.
My reason at first was to earn a little, then as time goes by it becomes a business already hoping it’ll help my family minus that 8-4 day job.
I’m not actually a blogger, since i lurk around the area from a long time, but never start any real blog.
My first experience was in the Make Money Online Hype, It didn’t really went well, because all the standart probles, today i make some income , but not as nearly as a person who put some real effort would.
I guess its not only here but, many people start blogging and give up soon because they don’t find making money with blogs easy, many bloggers say that you shouldn’t start a blog to make money, my opinion is simple, its not the motivation that makes you fail, its how you porsue it.
We see several bloggers making money, the real deal is simple, they make money because the actually are involved in blogging, i don’t quite remember the name , but there a guy who said “i make money online by teaching people how to make money online”, that makes my point clear,if you have an objective and pursue it in a way you keep yourself motivated in all the process , you have a greater chance of suceding.
i started because i love writing. If people want to pay me for it, then that’s just a bonus. I hope some day i can get the kind of following Darren gets with this blog. It’s just phenomenal how word can spread so quickly on the internet about peoples’ blogs.
I started my blog because I saw a growing need for husbands to be better husbands. I have a passion for helping marriages, and so I decided to try and help marriages by trying to improve them from the husband’s standpoint. Though I’ve yet to be financially successful, the blog has hit a nerve for many men (and women), and I am thankful for that.
http://www.iamhusband.com
My first blog was purely for fun and a hobby. After a while I learned how I could make enough money off it to pay for expenses.
After a while I figured out I could earn a lot more than just pay the expenses. That was when I started actually moving towards a professional blogger status and building blogs that appeal to a wider audience. While I still blog to my passions I also produce blogs that are purely created for grabbing search engine rankings and to earn money. So I guess my focused changed a lot from when I first started.
I started to keep myself accountable while losing weight.
4 years, 3 blogs and a 2,500+ member Ning community later, I’m keeping the weight off and having the time of my life!
I’ve recently taken the leap into the world of freelance and want to blog my experiences to, hopefully, help others who decide to do the same! I’m also going to use it as a checklist/diary tool, so I blog what I’m going to do and then blog after I’ve done it. I’m far to new to it all to even think about making any money from it – for me it’s good to keep my writing skills up to scratch.
I started blogging after seeing you. I saw that it is possible to make money through Blogs.
So, you are my motivation, heads up to you!