Why Do You Blog?

If you're not a blogger yet, and you are thinking about starting a blog, before you jump into the blogosphere and start delivering your best content to the public, consider this very important question:

Why do you want to blog?

Does the social side of blogging appeal to you?
Do you enjoy discussing about certain topics and perhaps, debate on those things?
Is it because you have heard people are making money from blogging?

There are as many answers to the question as there are people, but if you don't ask yourself this question, you will find yourself abandoning your blog after a month, because you don't "feel like it" anymore..

Know Thyself

Answer me these questions three:

What Are You Passionate About?
What Are You Good At?
What Do You Enjoy Learning More About?

In your answers to these questions three, lies the seed of the blog for thee.

What Motivates You?

Warning: Slightly academic content ahead!

Before you think what motivates your blogging, think about why are you online..

We as people are driven by our needs. We do things because we think we can get something that we need out of it.

Are you using the Internet to learn, driven by your cognitive needs, needs related to strengthening information, knowledge, and understanding? For Internet users (which you are, as you are reading this text right now), this is possibly the most important motivation, we look for (and share) information. Or are you looking for aesthetic information, trying to fulfill your affective needs, needs related to strengthening aesthetic, pleasurable, and emotional experience. The Internet use is overall evaluated as a pleasurable experience for users can actively seek for aesthetic information. Or maybe your looking to increase your credibility, confidence, stability, and status; Personal integrative needs, a combination of the cognitive and affective needs mentioned above.

Maybe your in here to fulfill the social integrative needs related to strengthening contact with family, friends, and the world - making the role of the Internet as interpersonal communication channel important to you. Or do you want to escape the reality and your usual social roles, relieve stress and tension release needs. or last but not least, Medium appeal: needs emerged as the distinguishing motivations uses can obtain only from Internet activity?

Reference: this motivation section is strongly based on study made and written by Li, D. , 2007-05-24 "Why Do You Blog: A Uses-and-Gratifications Inquiry Into Bloggersâ€™ Motivations". Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, TBA, San Francisco, CA Online. 2009-05-24 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p171490_index.html

In the study, the respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which the listed blogging reasons could be applied to them.

A seven-point Likert scale was used to rate the endorsements, with "1" indicating strongly disagree and "7" strongly agree with those reasons.

Meaning that there many reasons or motivational factors why a person blogs, kind of a matrix of reasons..

I Blog..

because I can access it wherever I am
because I can publish at any time
because I like writing
because it helps pass the time
because it is easy to update
to document my life
to feel like I am part of a community
to keep a record of what I learn
to keep in touch with my family/friends
to keep track of what I am doing
to meet new people
to practice my writing
to present information on my interests
to provide information
to refine my thinking
to share information useful to other people
to show my personality
to tell others about myself
when I have nothing better to do

Your motivation might or might not fit in these frames and find your motivational key from this..

But sometimes it's nice to reflect, stop and wonder why I'm doing this, as motivation keeps you going and your blog alive.

What Do You Want to Achieve with Your Blog?

Do you want to..

Blog for fun,
Brand yourself as an expert, or even
Establish yourself as a leader, a guru in your field?
Brand and promote your business, products and services,
Build a community and a social network of people with similar interests, or

Something else? Money?

Don't get obsessed about making money,
Profits will come when you do things right.
Thinking only about the money is the quickest way to the blog graveyard.

Have you taken the 100 Bloggers Survey yet?

Help me to finish the study by taking this free, voluntary survey: Take the 100 Bloggers Survey Now.

If you have thought about the above and came up with an answer that keeps you going, you will do great. The combination of passion, love for the topic you write about and getting the rewards you're looking for (whether it'd be authority, money, friends, etc.) from blogging, will keep you, and your blog, going for a long time. Whatever your reason, you're on the right path, because blogging is a whole lot of fun. For me, writing about things I am into and sharing my knowledge and information with others is priceless.

If you're not a blogger yet, perhaps soon you will be and you'll be engaged in the blogosphere and people start coming to your blog, leaving blog comments and showing interest in what you write about..

That is a great feeling.