If you’re one of the millions of people thinking about starting a blog this year, well you’ve come to the right place!

People start blogs for so many different reasons (and often continue them for others entirely!). We each get a little something different out of blogging, on top of the benefits that are communal to us all. Our motivations and rewards are often more than the sum of our blog parts on paper – it can lead to so many brilliant new opportunities, friends, and fulfilment.

Open your mind to the possibilities, and think about where you want to go that blogging can help take you. Let’s not get to the end of 2017 and wish you’d finally taken the plunge. Don’t be Regretful McRegretson come December 31!

Why You Should Start a Blog in the New Year

If you’re on the fence about whether you should start a blog at all, or wondering if this is the year for you: you should. It is.

To make connections

You’ll make friends you could never even have imagined. Real friends, who can help you and inspire you and support you in not just blogging but other aspects of your life.

Not only friends, but people who are interested in the same things you are, people that can broaden your knowledge and your horizons. People who are interesting, people who add insight in your life.

You may even meet your next employer, your next romantic interest, or the right person that will pop up at just the right time to help you with a project or goal.

To Read: Tips for building Community

To share your hobby

Philatelists, unite! Got a key collection you just can’t wait to share? A love of vintage enamelware? An enviable stack of vinyl? This is your place to really let loose, show us what you’ve got and hook up with people who will love your hobby as much as you do.

To inspire others

Blogging can be such a two-way street with you and your readers, but ultimately they come to you for a reason. What kind of change are you hoping to effect in your fellow humans? Are you passionate about sustainability? Exercise? Humanitarianism? Motherhood solidarity? Whatever you’re into and want to help other people learn more about, now is your chance. There’s never been a better time (or a better reason) to blog!

To Read: How to Build a Blog that Has Lasting Impact Upon Its Readers

To document your life

This was such a drawcard from the early days of blogging – those of us with Diaryland or Livejournal accounts documenting our day-to-day, moving into Blogger or WordPress or Tumblr users sharing insights and keeping record of the things that make us tick.

Sure, you could keep a real journal or a diary but then you’d lose the connections you make with others. There’s something to be said for snippets of our days, including photos, tucked up on the www. for us to find at the click of a mouse whenever we want in the future.

Some of the best parts of blogging for me are the bits where I go back and re-read things I had forgotten, things about the early days of being a mum, the small incidents that I kept tucked away forever. What a great timeline of my life!

To Read: Having a Personal Blog: Is it Worth It?

To upskill

Y’all, blogging can be as simple or as complicated as you make it, but I can guarantee you: it doesn’t come without some kind of lesson!

You can learn the fine arts of basic code or spend time and energy learning more in-depth techniques for writing, photography, social media strategy, designing, html – the list is almost endless. You will learn something at the very least!

Blogging can help you be a better writer, a better marketer, or feel more confident on camera. You can learn video editing skills, podcast production, e-course creation… whatever you want to do, you can learn to be better, all on your blog.

To use it as a platform for good

Want to highlight ethical clothing manufacturers or shine a spotlight on those working tirelessly on behalf of refugees? Now’s your chance to share with your audience the things you wish got more attention in the media. You have a voice and now you’ll have a platform to ensure it reaches the right people.

To Read: Blogging for the Greater Good

To show your expertise

I find this happens quite a bit with blogs – people with skills and talents in a particular area start blogs and help spread that awareness to the people who are hungry for that information. Everyone from podiatrists to classical cellists have blogs about their specialist topic, and what fascinating reads they are too!

Honestly, there’s something out there for everyone, and there are people out there who want your particular viewpoint about your specialty. Don’t keep them waiting.

To build an audience

Want a book deal? Speaking gigs? Freelance writing jobs? This is your time to create your tribe. Anything you want to do, you can self-promote until that huge contract you’ve been waiting for lands in your lap. The battle is half won if you’ve got a ready-made audience just dying for your next big thing.

To Read: How to Build Your Blog’s Audience with Long Form Evergreen Content

To boost your business

This is particularly useful if you have an online business and the usual advertising options just do not work for you. Personalising your business and providing value for money with your blog posts alongside your products ensure you’re that retailer that goes the extra mile. How else are you expected to stand out in the oversaturated crowd?

To Read: 20 Tips for Better Business Blogging: How to Use Blogging to Generate Leads

To make money

Yes, it’s true – you can make money blogging. Whether you want to break even for hosting and publishing costs or you want a six-figure salary, there are ways of making that dream come true. It’s not easy work, but it’s rewarding, and can really return some return on investment (both time and money) when you put the hard yards in.

To Read: Make Money Blogging for Real: 3 Must-Know Factors and Can You REALLY Make Money Blogging? [7 Things I Know About Making Money from Blogging]

To sell your own products

You’ve written a fantastic ebook or have designed an amazing online course and now you need people to buy them – what better way than to build your own audience based on similar interests and then give them what they want? It’s never been easier to be the captain of your own creative ship and price and sell however you want to.

To Read: Create Products Week: 7 Days of Tips

To have a creative outlet

Always wanted to write a book? Love taking photos? Cinematography your thing but day-to-day you work a checkout? This is where you get to let your inner creative fly with no limits and everything to gain.

To be inspired

Every day I’m inspired by people online doing things. Humble things, grand things, it doesn’t matter – bloggers are blogging what they’re passionate about and it’s hard not to be inspired by that. I find fantastic recipes, life hacks, budget tips, health information, my next read, and just about anything I could possibly ever want to know (or didn’t know I needed to know, thanks classical cellist!) from people sharing it on their blogs.

To have an online hub

You may be getting traction on Instagram, or you’re a famous Facebooker, but as we know, we don’t own those platforms. Algorithms change almost before we’ve gotten used to the last change, and it can all be taken away from us at any minute. Having an online home you can direct people to is going to be the most useful thing you can do with your already popular platform.

To have fun

At the end of the day, we blog because we love it. Because it makes us happy to connect, share, inspire, and be inspired. Parts of it are work, parts of it are less-than-thrilling, but the good outweighs the bad. We’re in control of our own online destiny and we’re having a blast doing it. Come join us!