If you’re a marketer in 2014, you should strongly consider having a blog of your own to call home.
If you already do, great (as long as you’re keeping it active). But if you’re not already blogging, you should seriously consider starting. It’s more important than you think, and in this article, I’ll share seven reasons why that is the case.
Blogging has been around for quite a while. The term “blogging” is actually a truncation of the expression “weblog,” and blogs were originally seen as a sort of online diary.
Of course, times have changed. These days, when we think of blogs, we think of content. As marketers, we understand the power of content marketing, and what better way to distribute content of your own than on your own blog?
If you’re still not convinced, here are seven very specific reasons why you–as a marketing professional–should have an active blog filled with compelling content. Let’s jump right in!
1. Blogging helps us stay up-to-date with industry news and trends
What better way to learn about what’s new in the marketing industry than to write about it? Sure, you can read other blogs about the latest changes to Facebook’s advertising guidelines or Google’s algorithm, but there’s one surefire way to learn even more about these topics. Commit to writing a blog post about them!
If you’re like me, that means you’ll have to do quite a bit of research for each post. Much more research than you would have done if you just read an article or two. Essentially, blogging will force you to put in the extra work to really get a handle on the topic, and this will help you just as much as it will help your readers.
[Tweet “Stay up-to-date with industry news and trends by #blogging.”]
2. Blogging helps us become better writers and speakers
Writing well is an essential skill for marketing professionals. It’s one of the things we do quite a bit of. Whether it’s an email to a client, a marketing plan, or an internal memo, marketers are always writing. Therefore, blogging will give you an opportunity to refine the craft of writing well.
Moreover, improving our written communication almost always improves our spoken communication as well. Yes, that’s right, blogging will make you a better public speaker.
When you write a blog post, you’re essentially presenting yourself and your ideas to a potentially large and varied audience. The way you craft each sentence matters. This might not seem like a big deal, but these same skills come in handy when you’re giving a presentation.
[Tweet “Want to become a better writer and speaker? Start a blog!”]
3. Blogging helps us find our specialty
Nobody can be great at everything. There are just way too many different aspects of marketing. And the things we do keep up with are continually changing.
Therefore, the smartest marketers specialize in something. Whether it’s SEO, conversion optimization, social media, account management, or one of dozens of other specialties, they try to be the best at that one particular niche.
Now, that doesn’t mean you can ignore everything else. You still need to stay on top of the industry as a whole and you also need to develop a well-rounded foundation of the principles of marketing. But when it comes to the focus of your blog, you should try to specialize rather than generalize. That’s how you’ll stand out from the crowd.
[Tweet “The smartest #marketers always find a niche. Specialize rather than generalize.”]
4. Blogging helps us build our personal brand
Personal branding is important no matter who we are or what we’re doing, but for marketers, it’s even more important. If you’re applying for a marketing job, you better believe that your potential employer is going to Google your name. Google is becoming the new resume of sorts.
Blogging helps us control what comes up on Google when someone types in our name. Of course, this doesn’t happen overnight, but with the right content and some persistence, you can eventually shape your personal brand just the way you like it.
Want to see what I mean? Google me and see if you can tell what I do just from the search results on the first page.
[Tweet “Blogging is a huge part of #PersonalBranding. Stand out from the crowd.”]
5. Blogging helps us build our networks
A great marketer is also a great networker. They know how to build networks, scale networks, and leverage networks, both personally and professionally.
As a blogger, you have the potential to reach a vast number of people (if your content is good enough and you keep at it). What you do with this exposure is up to you.
You can create a following on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or another social network, or try to convert your visitors into customers. Whatever you do, it all starts with blogging.
[Tweet “Want to build a bigger network? #Blogging can help you do just that.”]
6. Blogging allows us to learn new technology
When I first started blogging, I had no clue what I was doing. My first “real” blog was on WordPress, back when the platform was very new. I didn’t know how to set up a WordPress blog, but I figured it out. Then, once it was set up, I had to figure out how to add a theme and plugins and widgets. Ugh!
This allowed me to get familiar with coding, graphic design, and more. I started to understand how websites work, how information is stored in databases, how search engines crawl pages, and so much more.
I owe all of this to blogging. It allowed me the opportunity to figure stuff out. In fact, I’m still learning every single time I log into my blog to update something.
And sometimes I still break stuff, but that’s okay!
[Tweet “I love blogging because it allows be to continually learn about #technology.”]
7. Blogging (eventually) makes us money
Blogging is a little weird when it comes to actually making money. I’ve seen countless individuals get burned out from blogging because they went into it with the expectations of making a huge stream of residual income. In reality, most blogs will never make that kind of money.
But with great content and plenty of determination, blogging eventually pays off. It might not happen directly, but indirectly, you’ll almost always get some kind of financial reward for the effort you put into your blog.
For instance, maybe you’ll land your dream job or dream client because of your blog. Maybe you’ll repurpose your blog content into a book. Maybe your blog will inspire you to create an online course.
Whatever the result, it pays to be a blogger.
[Tweet “It pays to be a #blogger. Don’t give up!”]
Where’s your blog?
I hope this post has inspired you to either start a blog or keep blogging. I’d love to hear about your personal journey with blogging. Did you just begin? Are you still on the fence? Whatever the case may be, share your story in the comments section below or on Twitter.
And if you already have a blog, paste the URL so I can check it out and offer some feedback.
Thanks for reading and happy blogging!
