20 reasons why you should start a blog in 2024
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Are you considering starting a blog in 2024? Do you want to earn great money? Be your own boss? Establish your expertise? Open the doors of opportunity? Here are 20 reasons why you should start a blog in 2024…
I think pretty much every year, someone somewhere writes that ‘blogging is dead’ – and yet year after year that proves to be the complete opposite of the truth.
Blogging is most definitely still alive and kicking – and will be throughout 2024 and beyond!
In fact, blogging just keeps getting better and better. It’s no longer a simple online diary, but rather your ticket to a fulfilling career, incredible opportunities and huge amounts of self-development and personal growth.
Personally, I can hand on heart say blogging has transformed my life – it’s given me a career I love, a job I can do flexibly around my children, increased confidence, a plethora of new skills, the opportunity to make a difference in the world and a whole bunch of new friends. Plus, the huge amounts of happiness that come from having all those things.
If you are contemplating starting a blog in 2024, then I really encourage you to stop thinking about it and start doing it. It will almost certainly be one of the best decisions of your life.
Here are 20 reasons why you should start a blog in 2024…
1. Earns you good money
You can absolutely earn good money from blogging. Bloggers monetize their blogs in a multitude of different ways – typically a combination of advertising, affiliate links, sponsored posts, products and services. Bloggers who work hard and focus on monetizing their blogs often earn much more money from blogging than they could ever hope to earn in traditional jobs. (Case in point: I now earn more per month from my blogging business than I did PER YEAR in my last ‘regular’ job, as a teacher!)
READ MORE >>> How long does it take to make money blogging in 2024?
READ MORE >>> How to start a profitable blog in 2024
READ MORE >>> How to turn your blog into a profitable business in 2024
2. Positions you as the expert
A blog is a great way to show off your expertise on a subject and establish your authority. If you write a good blog in a tight niche, you will quickly become well known in that niche and become a go-to authority on that subject.
3. Opens the doors of opportunity
Becoming known as an expert and an authority in your niche can open all sorts of doors for you – for example: media opportunities, brand partnerships, sponsored posts, book deals, money-can’t-buy this type experiences and more.
4. Develops your expertise
The beautiful thing about blogging is that you don’t have to start off being an expert – many very popular blogs were started by people who did not have any expertise, but went on to develop their expertise in the course of their blogging journey. For example, weight loss bloggers who started their blogs to document the steps they were taking to lose weight and who now use their blogs to teach others how to lose weight. Or finance bloggers who started their blogs to share how they were trying to pay off their mortgage early and now teach others how to manage their finances.
5. Gives you a creative outlet
It’s a bit of a cliché, I’ll grant you – but it still holds true. Blogging gives you a creative outlet to share your thoughts, ideas and passions. It’s rather like having your own magazine, where you are both the writer and the editor. You get to decide what goes into your online magazine AND you get to write all the articles too. Your creativity and personality are not curbed by a boss or an editor – you have the creative freedom to write what you like.
6. Improves your writing skills
Writing a blog post or two each week has an amazing effect on your writing skills. It’s like with all skills – the more you do it the better you get at it. When go back now and look at some of the blog posts I wrote back when I started in 2015, I cringe – yet at the time I thought they were great! This rather stark comparison makes it very clear to me just how much I’ve grown as a writer.
READ MORE >>> How to write the perfect blog post
7. Allows you to be your own boss
Blogging allows you to be your own boss, work the hours you want to work and call the shots. You can make all the decisions about what you will write, how you will grow your blog, how much time per week you’ll dedicate to your blog and how you will monetize your blog. You have no boss or editor breathing down your neck and the freedom to work the way you want to work.
8. Teaches you to be self-motivated
Of course, the downside to not having a boss is that you have to be self-motivated in order to succeed. But I can tell you there’s nothing quite so motivating as knowing that the hard work you put in will have a direct result on your bank balance! Blogging teaches you valuable life lessons in self-motivation, goal setting, planning and managing your time well.
READ MORE >>> How to stop wasting time and actually get stuff done!
READ MORE >>> How to get more done in less time on your blog
READ MORE >>> Goal setting for bloggers in 2024
9. Increases your confidence
Blogging will undoubtedly increase your confidence. I remember back when I started blogging how nervous I was to put my words ‘out there’ – it was a super scary prospect. But little by little blogging has increased my confidence to the point where, not only am I confident writing and sharing my knowledge, ideas and opinions on my own blog, but I am confident enough to charge for my knowledge via courses and events, and even stand up in front of a roomful of people to share my ideas at a conference. And, of course, there is nothing quite as confidence boosting as being able to say you built your own highly profitable business from scratch!
10. Develops your tech skills
Back when I started my blog in 2015 I had ZERO tech skills – well OK, I could send an email, write a Word document and buy stuff from the internet, but that was about the limit! Contrary to popular belief you really don’t need to be a ‘techie’ to start a blog. Sure – there is a tech side to blogging, but it’s easy to learn the basics and little by little you pick up the rest… and there are always other bloggers out there who will help you out if you get stuck!
11. The amazing blogging community
One of the HUGE advantages of starting a blog is the AMAZING blogging community. While technically, ‘other bloggers’ are your competition, in reality they are your colleagues, your friends, your support network and your cheerleaders. Got a problem with your blog? The blogging community will help you out. Having a bad day? The blogging community will cheer you up. Hit a blogging milestone that only other bloggers truly ‘get’? The blogging community will celebrate with you. Insomnia at 2am? There’s always some other blogger up at that time to chat to.
Join my Productive Blogging Community Facebook group to see what I mean!
12. Search engines love blog content
If you already have a business, product or service that you want to reach a wider audience, then blogging is a must. Search engines love websites which deliver regular high-quality blog content and will reward you for it with higher search engine rankings on the topics you blog about.
READ MORE >>> A beginner’s guide to Search Engine Optimisation
13. Attracts an audience
Whether you have a business, a charity or a cause you feel passionate about, you need an audience. By writing regular high-quality blog content and growing your search engine traffic and authority you will begin to attract the right people to your website – people who are interested in what you have to say, people who might be interested in buying your products or services, supporting your charity or joining you in your cause. A blog gives you a forum to share your ideas, market your business and establish your credibility.
14. Make a difference with your blog
A blog can also give you an opportunity to truly make a difference. Whether that’s encouraging more people to be environmentally friendly, helping people lose weight or get out of debt, helping people learn a new skill or simply connect with like-minded people, blogging can be a tremendous force for good.
I am constantly bowled over by the emails I get from my readers who’ve taken time out of their day to tell me what a difference I’ve made to their life – whether that’s readers of my food blog telling me that I’ve helped them get out of a midweek meals rut and given them new-found confidence in the kitchen, or readers of Productive Blogging and my course students telling me that, thanks to my blogging advice, they’ve been able leave a job they hated, retire their other half or do things they could never previously afford. It makes it all worthwhile when you realise what a difference your blog is making to other people’s lives.
15. Could lead to a book deal
If your dream is to write a book, then blogging can be the first step on the ladder towards landing that publishing deal. I personally know many bloggers who landed their first book deal thanks to their blogs. Blogs help you get book deals in a number of ways – they demonstrate your expertise on the subject, they showcase your writing skills and they demonstrate in a very numerical way to potential publishers and agents that there is an audience for your book idea. Even better, you have a built-in platform for marketing your book once it’s been published!
READ MORE >>> How to go from blog to book deal
16. Could lead to media opportunities
Or perhaps your dream is to write for magazines or newspapers, or be on the radio or TV. Again blogging can be a great route into that. Blogging demonstrates your authority on a subject and if that subject becomes topical in the media, you can seize the opportunity to fulfil your media dreams – I know plenty of bloggers who regularly appear on TV / get interviewed on the radio / write for the print media on the strength of their blogs.
READ MORE >>> How to get freelance writing work as a blogger
17. Teaches you new things
As a blogger you are a jack of all trades – you are the writer, the editor, the photographer, the designer, the publicist, the marketing department, the finance department, the sales team and the tech support all rolled into one. This can seem daunting when you are starting out, but actually it’s great fun as it gives you huge scope to learn new skills.
I have learned and developed so many new skills as a blogger – for example, I’ve learned photography, food styling, SEO and basic accounting. I’ve learned how to build a website from scratch, how to promote my blog on social media, how to create and launch a digital product, how to put on a blogging conference and much, much more!
18. Allows you to say ‘no’ to what you don’t want to do
In a traditional job, you pretty much have to do what you’re told to do. That includes doing aspects of your job you don’t particularly enjoy. And it often means doing things you don’t consider to be in your job description! With blogging you get to pick and choose what you do, which opportunities you say yes to and which you turn down, which brands you work with and which you don’t, which blogging activities you do yourself and which you outsource or simply ignore. It’s totally up to you and you can tailor make your blogging timetable to suit your personality, skills and preferences.
19. Incredible personal growth
I find it difficult to put into words the huge journey of self-development and personal growth you go on as a blogger. It’s far more than learning new skills and the confidence you gain from launching and growing a successful business. It fundamentally changes who you are as a person. It teaches you to be more patient, be more resilient, take risks, seize opportunities, say no to the wrong things and chase after the right things, spend money shrewdly, plan carefully, set goals, be resourceful, manage your time well, learn quickly and much more besides. I can say without a shadow of doubt that I am a better person because of blogging.
20. It’s fun!
And last, but by no means least, you should start a blog because blogging is fun! Blogging is a total whirlwind: there are good days and bad days, but the good days FAR outweigh the bad ones… and there aren’t many jobs that actually pay you to chat to your friends in the middle of the day (AKA ‘important social media’)!
Are you ready to start your blogging journey?
Then I’m here to help! Join my #ProfitableBlog2024 CHALLENGE and get step by step plans for your first 7 weeks of blogging – and beyond!
- 9 essential things to do before you start your blog
- How to start a profitable blog in 2024
- What is a blog and how does it work? Blogging explained!
- 61 things I wish had known before I started blogging
- How do bloggers make money in 2024?
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I just started blogging about 2 months ago and I’ve never been happier. At this stage of growth, I just want to have more readers. How long did it take you to grow to 100 visitors per day?
Thank you!
Oh I am so happy to hear you are enjoying blogging so much! Well, with my first blog (easypeasyfoodie.com), I didn’t really know what I was doing, so it took me about 6 months. With my second blog (this one), I know a lot more about search engine optimisation (SEO) and promotion, so I actually got 400+ visits on my first day! If getting more readers is what you are most concerned with, I recommend focusing your efforts on SEO, as well as promoting your blog as widely as you can. If you are new to SEO I recommend reading this post >>> https://www.productiveblogging.com/beginners-guide-seo/ and then doing my SEO audit >>> https://www.productiveblogging.com/diy-seo-audit/ Eb 🙂
Really enjoyed reading your post. I just started my blog a few weeks ago so this made me feel good about my decision to get it going!
Yay! Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging – you’ve definitely made a good decision 😀
I started blogging in 2019 and it wasn’t that good and I gave up. But in March of 2020 I started a fresh new blog and started over again and came in with a new mindset and wow my blog has taken off. I love bringing value to the world with my expertise in the world of Special Education and helping people with disabilities. These are some great tips and thank you.
Good to hear you are back blogging again. So happy you found my tips helpful! Eb 🙂
Thank you for writing this. just a couple of months into blogging and I would safely say that the personal growth this has to offer is my favorite reason to start a blog. I can see a lot of positive changes in myself that i did not see coming. And let’s not forget that it’s a skill that will always come in handy if you ever need to make some extra money!
I’m so happy to hear that! Good luck with your new blog 😀
Really enjoyed reading your post. I just started my blog a few weeks ago so this made me feel good about my decision to get it going!
Aw, yay – that’s so good to hear! Eb 🙂
Thank you for the insights. I started a blog six months back, its not a easy journey, i wish know something i have learned in this post but its never to late. i will make the adjustments and keep pushing.
Thank you for sharing
I’m glad you found it helpful!
Hello, I’m contemplating starting a blog and your post popped up on Google when I was doing a relatable search. Very valuable advice. How would you promote a blog that you started just now? Instagram? Facebook? YouTube? All of them? I’d love to hear your opinion on that!
In all honesty, how you promote your blog will depend on your end goals. But my recommendation would be to spend the majority of your time on SEO and email marketing. In my experience those are the two ways that will yield the best, most reliable and most long lasting results. As a blogger your goals are completely at odds with what the social media platforms (Instagram / Facebook / TikTok / YouTube etc.) are trying to do… you want people to leave social media and come to your blog… but that’s the exact opposite of what the social media platforms want their users to do… they want to keep their users on their platform so that they can make more money advertising to them. And that’s what their algorithms are designed to do… so you are always fighting an uphill battle if you try to get traffic from social media… Added to that, it spreads you too thin and you end up doing lots of things badly… It’s always best to do a few things well! Hope that helps. Eb 🙂
Your blog is a source of inspiration for aspiring writers like myself.
Aw, thanks – that’s great to hear 😀