In a new twist on an old theme, Robert Hruzek has tagged me and asked me to share 5 reasons why I blog.
One of my favorite questions as a kid was, “Why?” And this new meme applies that question in an interesting approach to the simple idea of sharing some things about yourself that others may not know.
As a proponent of business blogging, the question of why blog is particularly interesting to me. And I hope it is something y’all will find interesting too. So thanks, Robert for the tag!
Self Expression
I’ve got a lot of words in me. I can’t help it. That’s just the way I’m wired. My wife would tell people that if they ever got a letter or email from me they’d know it because it would be a manuscript of epic proportions.
I didn’t write often, but when I did I tended to spill a whole bunch of words onto the page.
I’ve always had a vague idea that I’d like to be a writer one day and blogging is a way for me to direct that creativity in wordiness in a potentially useful way.
Self Discipline
I tend to resist discipline. That’s one of the reasons I chose to go into the military for the early portion of my career. I needed a little help in that department.
The nature of blogging forces me to be disciplined about writing.
I figured I’d never become a writer unless I started writing and initially blogging was simply a tool to help me learn the discipline of writing every day. My first personal blogs were just that. An exercise in discipline.
Of course then I caught the bug and now I’m a complete addict. Go figure.
Self Improvement
If you dig deep enough into the archives here at SuccessCREEations you will find that business blogging was far from my mind when I started blogging here. Initially it was what I called an open source self improvement project.
As I progressed along, writing about the things I was doing and the self improvement principles I learned, a strange thing happened. They actually worked.
I discovered something about myself. Namely that two of my passions were business and blogging and like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, they were two great tastes that taste great together.
So I decided to change direction here rather than start yet another blog and began writing about business blogging and how business owners can fuel growth through blogging. My consulting work there has developed from that over time.
I guess some of that self help stuff works!
Self Employment
I’ve always had an entrepreneurial streak. But I’ve never quite found something that fit me well enough to shuck off my conventional job. With blogging I’ve seen a convergence with several of my different skills and passions.
Well if I’m going to be telling businesses about using blogging to fuel their business growth, then I better eat my own dog food, so to speak.
Blogging better jolly well be the centerpiece of my business marketing strategy. If it wasn’t I’d be a charlatan of the highest order.
Fortunately in this case I’m a true believer. Besides, it really does work. So my marketing budget is simply the cost of a domain name and some hosting. Oh, and a little time to write each day.
Self Promotion
Do you get the feeling that my blogging is all about me?
Well in a way it is.
After all I am the one doing all the writing here. (Oh, and I am just a touch vain too!)
I finally just got my own iPod last month. (I think Gorgeous got tired of me stealing hers all the time.) I’m just now beginning to discover the wonder of podcasts.
One of my favorites so far is Heidi Miller‘s Diary of a Shameless Self Promoter. (Thanks Becky for suggesting that one to me!)
Anyway Heidi doesn’t come at it from the perspective that we should just ignore our shame and get on with being obnoxious about promoting ourselves. When she says “shameless self promotion” she means that we should each understand the value we each bring to the table, be comfortable in our own skins as it were, and be able to share about ourselves in a way that we won’t be ashamed of.
I think that’s brilliant.
And blogging fits my core values, and my business model an therefore is one of the primary ways I can accomplish that.
Passing It On
This time, in the spirit of all things meme, like a kid on the playground I’ll pass it on. So here are five folks that I’m tagging because I’d love to hear share 5 reasons why you blog: Liz Strauss, Christine Kane, Mike Sansone, Phil Gerbyshak, and of course Starbucker.
Let’s all be watching our feed readers for the answers!
Enjoy!
