Why Do People Blog? What Motivates You to Blog?

Before you try to become a Semi-Pro Blogger, it is important to determine first and foremost, what motivates you to blog?

There are probably as many reasons as there are people who are actually blogging, but most of the reasons for why people blog can be summed up into the following categories.

1. Blogging for a Passion

Many of the top bloggers in the world did not start out to try to earn money from blogging. But they became very good at what they blog about and were able to build a loyal following after a period of time. Bloggers who are passionate about their favourite subjects often write in a sincere manner to share their knowledge. They could be writing about computers, fashion, politics, food, etc. or they could be writing about their personal lives. They feel the need to show-off their passion and knowledge to the world. Very often, these bloggers are also able to write well though not necessarily grammatically-correct. They are able to engage their readers with their sincerity, in-depth knowledge, humor or pure sarcasm. Some realised that they could start to monetize their blogs, i.e. to earn money from blogging, and would go ahead to do so. But they remain dedicated to their own ideals of sharing information in their own way.

2. Blogging for a Cause

Thomas Friedman explained in his book The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century that the digital revolution in our “flat” and “connected” world has made it possible to almost anything instantaneously with billions of other people across the planet. There are scores of people and organisations who are currently making use of this wonderful opportunity to setup blogs so as to connect with people around the globe in a way that was not previously possible. This has allowed them to promote their causes and connect with like-minded people easily. Take the example of the recent tragic Haiti earthquake, some estimates put the amount collected electronically via online blogs and websites to be in the range of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

3. Blogging for Fun

Blogging is fast becoming the “in” thing to do among the Internet-savvy youngsters. Many of these people blog for “fun” because their friends are doing it, they are bored, or simply because they want to experiment with blogging. Many times, there are half-hearted attempts to monetize their online diary but this is seldom their focus. These people are usually more inclined to rant about their daily life and post tons of random photos of themselves, their friends, their dogs or their lunch.

4. Blogging for Corporate or Brand Exposure

Quite a few companies are jumping on the blogging bandwagon. These companies usually embark on such endeavours as a result of the top-down push from the top executives who were eager to tap on Web 2.0 after attending some conferences. Or it could be due to the bottom-up push from the younger, net-savvy employees who truly believe in the power of social networking for corporate gains. The types of blogs can range from “personal” blogs of top executives sharing about their companies, to micro-sites masquerading as blogs to promote a new product. Even newspapers are catching on with a few companies renaming their regular columns as blogs.

5. Blogging for Money

Greed motivates many people in all aspects of our life, ditto for blogging. There are top bloggers who succumb to the money and would become less ethical by secretly embellishing sponsored reviews as part of their blog posts. There are also new bloggers, both young and old, who just started out are blogging because of all the fairy tales they hear about how easy it is to become a millionaire through blogging. Ultimately, many of these people just want to make a quick buck from this Internet tool. Alas few bloggers would actually succeed and many would be left disappointed because they are not equipped with the right knowledge to achieve success.

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So tell me, by voting and dropping me a comment, what motivates you to blog? Spend some time to think about this. It is important to determine your motivation upfront as blogging can be laborious. And if you are planning to blog for cash, it is good to make this clear for yourself so that you will not be discouraged or distracted during those days when you feel blue and want to give up. Once you determined your motivation, than you are ready for the next step, to start blogging.

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3. How Much Do Semi-Pro Bloggers Make from Blogging?
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Tags: Blogging, Make Money Online, Money, Motivation