The Personal Benefits of Blogging

Blogging is certainly popular, but are there real benefits? Let's look at some of the personal benefits you can get from being a blogger.

Connection

Use your blog to create a more personal connection with your clients, colleagues and general Internet users. Because a blog is informal and chatty, it tends to create a more intimate connection with your users than your Web site does. Regular readers to your blog discover what you're doing, what you're reading, what you're thinking, and what you think about what's going on in your world.

Community

There are now more than 50 million blogs, so you become part of a powerful on-line community. The culture of blogging encourages you to link to other like-minded bloggers, who in turn link back to you; so you can develop a strong community within your area of expertise.

Power

There's an old saying, "Never pick a fight with somebody who buys ink by the barrel". But that is becoming less true. Anybody can publish a blog, so it's easier to make your voice heard. In fact, some blogs are now more widely read than some mainstream media, so you have your own voice without having to invest in expensive technology.

Simplicity

Blogs are easy to publish and maintain, so you don't have to worry about HTML, uploading files, or managing a Web server. Although a blog is a Web site, it has a standard layout (i.e. Short articles, listed in reverse chronological order). This makes it less flexible than a Web site, but also easier to create.

Independence

Following on from that point, the technology behind blogging is also simple. Blogging tools don't require any special technical knowledge, so you can do it all yourself without relying on "propellor heads".

Peace of mind

In this e-book, I'm going to show you how to use Blogger.com, a free blogging service owned by one of the world's largest companies (Google). So you can be sure the software base is reliable, well-supported and relatively free of technical hassles.

Loyalty

It takes time to build a loyal readership for your blog. However, when you do, these readers become strong followers and enthusiastic advocates for you. If they are bloggers themselves, they will often link to your blog, and vice versa.

Competition

Despite the popularity of blogging, few businesses are doing it well - so you'll have a clear competitive edge over others in your industry.

Status

All businesses have e-mail, and many of them have Web sites, but few have blogs. So the mere presence of a blog creates instant credibility with some of your clients. Of course, this doesn't mean you just pay it lip service - in fact, this will work against you with your Internet-savvy clients. But if you do it well, it does give you a certain position in their mind.

Curiosity

If you're the sort of person who likes experimenting with their marketing efforts, you'll find blogs to your liking. You have a lot of flexibility in your blog - both in its content and its layout - so you can experiment to your heart's content to make it work for you.

Contribution

Many experts would like to extend their ideas, thoughts and messages beyond just their clients - even for no fee. This is their contribution and legacy. Because blogging makes it easy to share ideas, so you can spread your message far and wide.

Saving

Finally, Google's blog service Blogger.com is free - so you get all these benefits and it won't cost you a cent! Blogger.com is not the only service available (far from it!), but it's an excellent starting point.

Key words: Internet Marketing, Web 2.0, blogging

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Gihan Perera is the author of "Get Active: Web Sites for Speakers, Trainers, Coaches and Consultants" and "Fast, Flat and Free: What You Need to Know to Stay Ahead in a Connected World". Visit http://GihanPerera.com and get your complimentary copies now.

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