I remember when I first started blogging. The first 90 days were a blur. I was creating a lot of content and hoping that someone, somewhere, would like connect with what I wrote.
What I didn’t realize was that before you press the publish button on your first blog post, there’s some homework you need to do first. In fact, I think it’s the first think you need to establish before you start blogging.
You need to figure out “why” are you blogging.
The “Why” of Blogging
Okay, so why do we need to establish “why” your blogging? Can’t you just write a few blog posts and figure it out along the way?
Well yes, you can. However, that will only get so far. Eventually like most beginning bloggers you’ll start to question your abilities when you don’t see web traffic you want, or no one shares your content on Facebook. You see, the “why” is the driving force that you’ll need to come to back on days when you don’t feel like blogging, or you’re not sure if your cut out for it.
If you know your “why”, blogging becomes easier because you know the purpose of your blog. This purpose then helps you shape your content to fit your audience. Once you give your audience the content that it wants, you begin to build trust. So ultimately, knowing your “why” will lead to building trust with your audience.
How to Find Your Why
Okay so now let’s talk about to find your “why”. More than likely your why falls into one of three categories:
Monetary – You want to make some money at blogging or at least benefit financially from it. This could be promoting your services so you can gain new customers, selling a product, selling ads on your site, or participating in affiliate marketing.
Intellectual – You may want to blog as a mental exercise. Blogging is a great way to test your ideas and get feedback from the public. This is especially useful if you’re writing a book and you want to get early feedback.
Emotional – You love the feeling of sharing and giving back. You want to help people out by learning from your experiences and sharing what you’ve learned.
Now your “why” might not just one of those things, but a combination of the three. For example, you have a passion for helping people learn about the gluten free cooking (emotional), so by blogging about gluten free cooking you are seen as an authority which could lead to you publishing a book (monetary).
If you don’t feel like your “why” falls into one of these categories (emotional, intellectual or monetary), then here’s another way to find your why.
Three Questions You Can to Ask When Trying to Find Your Why
- What blogs or websites are you currently reading? Look at the blogs you’re currently reading. What about them do you like? What part of you identifies with the their content?
- What was your first inclination when you signed up for this blogging course? What did your gut say? More than likely you had a little voice inside your head saying… “You should do this because… ”. Finish that sentence.
- Are there some needs that are not currently being met by your current life situation? Creative? Intellectual? Blogging is a great way to help you “scratch that itch” that you’ve always wanted to try.
Once you go through these three questions you’ll begin to have a better understanding of your “why”. This “why” will help you maintain your focus and keep you motivated.