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usines I've benefited personally, professionally, and financially from blogging. Writing has actually become one of my favorite hobbies. I recommend blogging to almost everyone I meet. Here are the some of the biggest reasons why I think YOU should should start blogging immediately.

1. Attract an Audience

Blogging enables you to reach the billions of people that use the Internet. Blogging can help you promote yourself or your business. Blogging works as a method for attracting an audience because it provides something of value to them before asking for anything in return.

What would you rather click on, a page titled "How to Promote Your Blog", or a page titled "Buy My Consulting Services"? By creating a blog that is of value, you can attract an audience and eventually convert them to customers, partners, friends, or otherwise.

2. Establish Authority

Having a blog and writing about important topics that are relevant to your audience establishes yourself as an authority in the space. It enhances your professional image. A blog is to professionals in the 2000s what a business card was in the 1990s. Blogs are the new business cards.

3. Build Rapport and Engagement

Blogging can convert traffic into leads and leads into customers. Blogging can "warm up" your cold calls and traffic from other sources. If someone receives your cold call, they may be more receptive if they've read your blog and received value from it.

4. Create Opportunities

Blogging can lead to other business/traffic generating opportunities. For example, speaking engagements or press. I've had people contact me to speak at conferences who found me through my blog. Blogging enables anyone with something interesting or valuable to say to be identified as an expert.

5. Organize Your Thoughts and Learn

Blogging forces you to teach yourself what you don't know and to articulate what you do know. When you begin writing a blog post, you are forced to organize your thoughts. If there are any gaps in the topic that you are writing about, you will have to learn about it. Writing out and articulating your thoughts is a great way to internalize something you've learned or experienced. Writing helps you become more familiar with the topic you're writing about.

6. Tell Your Story

Blogging enables you to be your own media company. You can tell your story the way you want to tell it without being dependent on journalists. When you are writing about a topic of your own interest, you can decide how to portray a story, what information to include, and what information to exclude. Blogging allows you to ensure that all information included in the blog is factual.

7. Meet New People

The audience you attract through blogging doesn't have to just be your "audience." They can become your friends, colleagues, partners, or lovers. I've had many people reach out to me directly after reading my blog. Some of those people have become friends or good business contacts.

8. Stand Out

According to "the 1 percent rule," only 1 percent of Internet users actively create new content, while the other 99 percent of the participants simply view it. By blogging, you separate yourself from the 99 percent of people that don't blog. Standing out is essential in an increasingly competitive economy.

9. Validate Expertise

Blogs are the new resumes. Blogging about a topic you would like to be viewed as an expert in, can illustrate to readers, employers, and your network, that you are are skilled and knowledgeable.

10. Make Money

If you have a blog with a lot of readers, there may be opportunities to monetize. In today's economy, being diversified and having additional sources of income can be tremendously beneficial. If you are working a job that doesn't pay as much as you'd like, or if you would simply like to earn more money (who doesn't?), blogging can make for a great side income.

Income generated from blogging can also be "passive," meaning it can be automated and is not directly correlated to the amount of time you put in to it.

15 Reasons I Think You Should Blog

WRITTEN by aRINZEB JAMES OKONKWO  · 290 COMMENTS

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” —William Wordsworth

Over the course of my life, I’ve embraced a number of different hobbies: baseball cards, video games, tennis, art, just to name a few. But none of them have changed my life or brought me as much satisfaction as blogging. In almost too many ways to count, it has changed me and the way I live my life.

In fact, so much so, it has become a hobby I regularly recommend to others. I started blogging as a personal tool to journal the changes we were making as we began minimizing our possessions. But somewhere along the line, it became less about me writing the story and more about the story changing me.

And while there are many articles written about why you should blog to grow your business or become an expert or make a whole bunch of money—the best recommendations are still found in the personal realization that blogging changes you, the writer.

15 Thoughts on How Blogging Impacts Life

1. You’ll become a better writer. At its core, writing is communication. It is about recording thoughts on paper and compelling others to agree with them. To that end, writing (just like every other form of communication that has ever existed) improves with practice. Blogging will not force you to become a better writer, it’ll just happen as you do it. And becoming a better writer holds important benefits for the rest of your life—whether you are creating a book, a presentation, a résumé, or an anniversary card for your spouse.

2. You’ll become a better thinker. Because the process of writing includes recording thoughts on paper, the blogging process encourages you to stop and think deeper. You will delve deeper into the matters of your life and the worldview that shapes them. Unfortunately, at this point, many will choose not to blog (or write at all) based on the faulty reasoning that they “have nothing to say.” But to that line of thinking I always respond the same way, maybe you just haven’t discovered yet what you have to say.

3. You’ll live a more intentional life. Once you start writing about your life and the thoughts that shape it, you’ll begin thinking more intentionally about who you are, who you are becoming, and whether you like what you see or not. And that just may be reason enough to get started.

4. You’ll develop an eye for meaningful things. By necessity, blogging requires a filter. It’s simply not possible to write about every event, every thought, and every happening in your life. Instead, blogging is a never-ending process of choosing to articulate the most meaningful events and the most important thoughts. This process of choice helps you develop an eye for meaningful things. And remember that sometimes the most meaningful things appear in the most mundane—but you’ll see what I mean once you get started.

5. It’ll lead to healthier life habits. Blogging requires time, devotion, commitment, and discipline. And just to be clear, those are all good things to embrace – they will help you get the most out of your days and life. Since beginning to blog, I have become an early riser, a runner, and can now properly identify my favorite drink at Starbuck’s (Caramel Macchiato). And even if those three habits don’t personally appeal to you, blogging will provide opportunity for new life habits to emerge in yours.

6. You’ll meet new people. Whether it be through comments, e-mails, or social media, you may be surprised at how quickly you meet people on-line. And by meet people, I mean legitimately form relationships that seek to serve one another. The blogging community is friendly, encouraging, and genuinely cheering for you to succeed—the only thing missing is you.

7. You’ll make some money. You don’t need to make money to enjoy blogging. In fact, sometimes making money from your blog can actually start to distract you from the joy that you found in the first place. That being said, whether you make $20/year or $20,000/year, it’s still pretty nice to have a hobby that actually pays you back.

8. You’ll inspire others. Blogging not only changes your life, it also changes the life of the reader. And because blogs are free for the audience and open to the public, on many levels, it is an act of giving. It is a selfless act of service to invest your time, energy, and worldview into a piece of writing and then offer it free to anybody who wants to read it. Others will find inspiration in your writing… and that’s a wonderful feeling.

9. You’ll become more well-rounded in your mindset. After all, blogging is an exercise in give-and-take. One of the greatest differences between blogging and traditional publishing is the opportunity for readers to offer input. As the blog’s writer, you introduce a topic that you feel is significant and meaningful. You take time to lay out a subject in the minds of your readers and offer your thoughts on the topic. Then, the readers get to respond. And often times, their responses in the comment section challenge us to take a new, fresh look at the very topic we thought was so important in the first place.

10. It’s free. Your blog can begin today without spending a single penny now (or ever). I use WordPress and highly recommend it. With an initial investment of $0, why not give it a shot? Or for just a few dollars/month, you can use your very own domain name. I use and recommendBluehost.

11. You’ll become more comfortable being known. Blogging introduces yourself to the world. It causes you to articulate the life you live and the worldview behind the decisions that you make. Whether you have 1 reader or 10,000, the blogging process opens up your life to those on the outside. It is a good exercise in human-existence to be known by others. Over time, you’ll reveal more and more of yourself to the outside world… and you’ll be excited to find a world that relates to you and enjoys hearing your story.

12. It’ll serve as a personal journal. Blogging serves many of the same roles as a personal journey. It trains us to be observant and gives weight to the personal growth that we are experiencing. It trains our minds to track life and articulate the changes we are experiencing. Your blog becomes a digital record of your life that is saved “in the cloud.” As a result, it can never be lost, stolen, or destroyed in a fire.

13. You’ll become more confident. Blogging will help you discover more confidence in your life. You will quickly realize that you do live an important life with a unique view and have something to offer others.

14. You’ll find a platform to recommend. We all love to recommend something we have found enjoyable or beneficial—whether it be a nice restaurant, a good book, or a new outlook on life. The fullness of joy is not experienced until we have shared that joy with others. A blog provides an opportunity to do that very thing. It provides a platform to share the joy we have experienced and recommend good things we have discovered to others.

15. It’s quite a rush with every positive comment. There’s a certain little rush that accompanies the immediate positive feedback that you receive every time a reader posts a comment, shares your writing on Facebook, or tweets it out to their Twitter followers. While walking the fine line between finding encouragement in that feedback and obsessing over it may take some time to get used to, it’s far better to find that line than to never seek it out in the first place.

Remember, you don’t need to blog as a means to get rich or as a means to gather a huge following. You don’t even need to blog as a means to change the Internet… the change that a blog will cause in your life is reason enough.

It dosn't matter what you do, owning a blog is cool and you should not be left out!

Blogging may seem like something for jobless nerds to some people, but I assure you it’s a fun experience that is very rewarding in many ways than one.

Here are a bunch of reasons why blogging might be just the thing that you should spend your time on.

1. You can help people: The most important reason to start a blog, for me at least, is that you get a very real opportunity to help people. So many people complain that their job isn’t really adding any value to the world and it’s not changing anything. Well, blogging can be a huge help to your readers – even if it’s just solving a simple problem.
2. It’s really easy and free (to start): To start a blog, you really do not need experience and it requires very minimal hassle free setup time. A WordPress or Blogger blog for example should not take more than an hour to set up. You can tweak and add widgets as you master blogging.
3. You can make money:  Making money from blogging is hard work but it can be done. There have been massive success stories of guys making millions from blogging. Ask Linda Ikeji and she will smile. With a long term and professional approach you can be like Linda.
4. It’s a big challenge: Blogging is an exciting challenge that teaches you new things. There is this satisfying feeling you get when your blog grows and gets more attention – awesome! Deciding what to blog about and setting out to achieve it is a challenge that is more fun than tiring.
5. You’ll make new friends and meet like minds: The truth is that blogging links you to people with like interest from all over the world. Through my blogging, I’ve met several other people, blog owners and readers from different continents...and some even in geographical proximity who I would now call my friends.
6. You’ll develop valuable new skills: Fact is that when you start a blog you automatically start learning about servers, social media, content development, community building, etc. And what a lot of people don’t realize is that these skills are extremely valuable at the moment. My current job is actually a fruit of my blogging activities, not my degree. Indeed, there are many companies looking for folks with practical knowledge when it comes to their own social media and online activities. Simply put – they are lost and need help!
7. Blogging can rub off and grow your other business:  A well managed blog can be used as sales drive or bring traffic to another website – and businesses like retail stores, doctors, restaurants, etc. Small businesses with blogs sometimes use it to attract many new customers because a blog is nothing but an online avenue for you to connect to potential customers, no matter what you do
8.  It will help you succeed on social networks: Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook can help to bring your blog to notice but it also goes the other way round. I for one do very well on Twitter and Facebook because I created a brand with a network of blogs and all my articles on all the blogs get shared around – growing my social networking profiles. So you should consider adding a useful and unique blog into the mix.

   9. It can help your existing website sales: A blog can dramatically transform the success of your online product that is struggling to get traction. Basically the essence is that a blog can drive massive amounts of targeted traffic to an existing website as well as helping you launch new products and services.

   10. It can reduce stress: I have long realized that blogging helps me to blunt the edge off stress and disturbing emotions. Sure, blogging gets more stressful as it grows bigger the process is ever relaxing and rewarding. Along with meditation, exercise and diet, writing can be a very therapeutic activity.

   11. You can get help for personal problems: There are tons of people out there with small problems that bloggers have helped solve, just as they have also found help. Just putting out an article about a challenge you face can connect you with those with a solution. So also, you can help people’s personal problems by just reaching out in a blog post.

   12. You can contribute to changing the world: Yes, a blog can change the world? There are stories all the time about how a small cause gets media attention and goes global all because of a little old blog. I have had success with a private initiative that brought over 15,000 people together from all over the world – all from my laptop and modem. You can give a voice to a cause, say the fight against corruption and gradually effect change – and reach a global audience.

   13. A blog can transform a brand: Owning a functional blog can really help you evolve and change your brand for the better and set you apart from the competition. You can use content marketing and a really personal approach to get the word out there about your services.