Blogging 101: Benefits of Blogging

Whether you’re new to blogging or you’ve been blogging for years, every so often you may question what you actually get out of blogging. It takes a lot of time and effort to consistently blog, and a lot of people pay out their own money too. So it’s always good to remind yourself on how blogging is helping you in the long run. 

The purpose of blogging for you personally was covered in my why you want to blog post, but there’s so many additional benefits you’re probably gaining. From basic improvements to your writing, to transferable skills which could help you when job hunting – blogging has multiple benefits to your life. 

Improve Skills

One of the key benefits is that blogging includes so many different skills, and if you’re running a blog you’re most likely improving them on a day to day basis. You’re writing posts, taking photos, designing your site, optimising for SEO, promoting on social media and much more. So as you post more you will be slowly working on your writing skill, and most likely it will become easier and easier to finish writing your posts. Not only that, you can write to SEO optimise your posts, meaning that not only are you writing you will be writing for a purpose which is even harder to learn. 

Most bloggers take their own photos and work to create a unified look across their imagery. This can take a lot of effort, and if you’re using a DSLR on manual then you’re training yourself to take better photos everytime you pick it up. Photography is a practice makes perfect kind of game. 

In recent years Social Media has become a whole job title for many. So learning these skills through blogging may or may not help you in your day job – but it will help you understand what’s going on if you come close to it. Self-promotion is also a hard skill to learn, especially for my fellow British bloggers who are mostly modest and self-depreciating in humour. 

Soft Skills are Important Too

Have you ever been to one of those career counselling meetings where they talk about how you have soft skills even when you don’t have specific skills for a job? Well blogging helps with these transferable soft skills too! Blogging for self-improvement is something than many people say is why they started. 

Time management is the obvious one, especially if you’re blogging around school or around work. Life can get hectic, but if you’re consistently finding time to do all the things you want to do then that’s a great skill to have! On top of this, you’re giving yourself responsibility for a large long-term project, which can be sold in whilst in interviews. 

Blogging also helps you with creative thinking. Many bloggers start blogging because they love writing or taking photos, and continuing to blog means having to sometimes step outside of your box and be more imaginative. 

On top of all this – blogging contains a wide network of people in multiple industries and subjects, and learning to communicate with more people and start networking are also great soft skills. Whether it’s through emails, comments, or social media – you’re always developing how you communicate online and networking with a wide range of people from different countries and backgrounds. 

Connect with People

As I said before, you’re always networking with people when you’re blogging because of how blogs and social media are set up. This means that you have an added benefit of making friends and connecting with people. 

Finding like-minded people online can help you form friendships groups which improve your social life. For example, I’m part of a UK group of book bloggers. But, there’s also a chance to reach out and find people outside of your country, and gain insights you normally wouldn’t from those around you in real life. 

Create Personal Brand

Creating a space on the internet means putting yourself out there in some way. Whether it’s under your name or a pseudonym, you’re building an image of yourself as a personal brand. Creating your own personal brand can help you also discover more of yourself and what you want to be. Self-discovery can be long but it can make you feel so much better. 

Personal branding can also help you in job interviews or in different spaces on the internet as it gives you some credibility in the subject you discuss. If you’re using your blog to write about beauty products, and then you answer a question on Twitter about a product – it’s more likely people will take your knowledge as authentic. 

Build Industry or Subject Knowledge

Alongside a personal brand, you can also build your knowledge in the industry or subject you blog about. For example, I know a lot more about the publishing industry than I did 3 years. This is because when I’m writing content, and I’m talking to more people I’m developing the information I have already. 

This can be vital if you’re blogging in the same niche that you want to go into for work. I’ve seen many bloggers move into the fashion and beauty industry because of their writing, and it’s not unheard of for this to happen. 

Express Self and Share Passions

I think one of the best benefits for me is that I get to express myself and share my passions with people who also care. Not many of my in real life friends read a lot, and many aren’t interested in beauty products – so this is my space where I get to talk all about them and reach others who want to talk about them too! 

Not being able to talk about what you love can have negative side effects on your mood and mental health. So it’s a huge benefit to your daily life even if you don’t really put much time into the blogging aspect. Many people I know spend more time talking to others on social media and commenting on blog posts than creating their own content. Which has the same benefits!

Make Additional Income

This one isn’t for everyone, but if you’ve set up your blog and become established enough you can start to have an income from your content. Whether you’re using affiliate links, sponsored posts or just ads on your page – there’s multiple income streams to benefit your life.