Six reasons why you should start a blog

It seems like everyone has a blog these days. Your neighbor, your sister, your kids – they’re all blogging about what they ate for lunch, or their upcoming move to Michigan, or their joy/sadness about the Super Bowl.
Perhaps you’ve toyed with the idea of starting a blog, but you’re not quite sure it’s worth your time. Could you really earn money in such a crowded space? Would anyone want to read your blog?
Well, the answer – unequivocally – is “yes.” If you have something to say and a desire to share it with other people, there’s no easier, more effective, or more enjoyable way to do it than by starting a blog.
Here are six big reasons why you should start a blog today.
1. You’ll Find Your Tribe
When you love something very much — travel, pets, food, you name it— you naturally want to tell everyone about it. You want to share your excitement and your fun adventures and successes.

But your immediate friends and family may not share your enthusiasm for those passions. They may not care (as much) about Spanish paella recipes, Portuguese tutorials or stories about the best hotels in Crete.
When you start a blog, you’ll be able to connect with likeminded people who have the same hobbies and interests as you. Your online network of friends will be filled with people who are thrilled to follow you.
You can finally talk about your hobby to your heart’s content — and other people will love your stories.
2. You’ll Meet New People

Blogging allows you to connect with a wide variety of ages and backgrounds from all over the world. You’ll learn from each other, share great finds, and be exposed to ideas you never might have been exposed to before. Your circle of friends suddenly becomes much, much larger.
When you’re traveling to a new area, you can write a blog post that says “I’ll be in Los Angeles this weekend — does anyone have restaurant recommendations?” If you’re feeling bold, you could even suggest that you and the area’s readers meet for happy hour at a local wine bar. You have a community of “colleagues” (other bloggers) and readers around the world whom you can meet in person – and many of them become lifelong friends.
3. You’ll Become a Better Writer
You don’t have to be a brilliant writer to start a blog. Contributing regularly to a blog can actually make you a better writer. The more you write, the more you’ll discover your own unique voice and learn interesting ways of presenting ideas.

Sticking to a regular publishing schedule helps you learn to get past writer’s block and create whether you “feel like it” or not. When you know that your readers expect you to publish every Monday and Thursday, you’ll get over your excuses and start typing.
4. You’ll See the World Anew
The world looks different when you’re always on the lookout for something new to write about.

You find yourself noticing and thinking about things you might otherwise have looked over, such as the washing machines in France or the traffic lights in Miami Beach. You remember – and start chronicling — little vignettes from your daily life. You start taking notes whenever someone makes an insightful or provoking remark that you think your readers will enjoy.
Your curiosity about the world begins to multiply. Every new encounter is a possible blog post topic. In a culture where it’s easy to get distracted and caught up in iPhone/iPad/iWhatever screens, blogging helps you remain tuned in to the world around you.
5. It’s Economical
There are lots of businesses that require huge levels of upfront capital. (Yes, I said “businesses” – we’ll get to that in a minute.)

A few of my friends own small businesses that require huge capital expenditures. Depending on their industry, they purchase commercial-grade freezers, delivery trucks and forklifts… or they’ll spend thousands on fancy suits, nice watches and impressive “drive for success” cars. They rent a warehouse with a loading dock or a high-rise office where they can meet clients. These businesses require massive amounts of cash to keep the daily operations running and/or to impress clients and fit in amongst colleagues.
Blogging doesn’t require these types of expenses. You can blog in your pajamas from home – no suit and tie, high heels or fancy watch required. (You can choose to enjoy these if you want, but you don’t need it.)
Blogging is one of the lowest-risk businesses you could possibly start, from a monetary perspective. The “technical stuff” (like your domain and hosting) costs less than $100 annually. I can’t think of any business with a cheaper cost-of-entry.
6. You Can Earn a Living
Sure, your sister who blogs about her puppy isn’t making money, but that’s probably because she’s not trying to make money from her blog. Chances are she hasn’t taken the time to learn the ropes of income-generating blogs.
Successful bloggers, myself included, earn solid six-figure incomes. I first saw my income top $10,000 per month in the fall of 2012, and it’s remained strong ever since. It ebbs and flows, of course, like any entrepreneur’s income would. But I’ve been running a six-figure business for more than two years.
As bloggers, we earn this from our pajamas (I’m literally wearing p.j.’s while I type this), create our own hours (it’s 10 p.m. — I focus better at night) and work from anywhere on the planet (I just returned from three weeks in Las Vegas).
Best of all, we earn a living doing what we love: writing and inspiring others.
So if you’re not sure if blogging is worth your time, let me step in and answer, without hesitation, it is.
Blogging has changed the course of my life. I know it can do the same for you.
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[Editor’s Note: Learn more about opportunities to profit from your travels (and even from your own home) in our free online newsletter The Right Way to Travel.  Sign up today here and we’ll send you a report, Get Paid to Travel as a Travel Writer, completely FREE.]