To Write a Blog or Not to Write a Blog: Only You Can Answer That Question

“To Write a Blog, or Not to Write a Blog: Only You Can Answer That Question”

There are some things to consider, before starting a blog. I recently did my own research on this subject because a friend of mine suggested I start one, after having read an article I had written about my experiences being a mom with a daughter, who has Asperger’s. She felt that other parents could benefit from my insights and that it would be a good way to reach out to other parents with similar experiences. Those were definitely some good reasons, I felt, for starting a blog, but before jumping into this endeavor, I wanted to learn what others said about creating and maintaining a blog, the positives and the negatives.

Interestingly enough, the more I seemed to read, the more I became disenchanted with the idea, at first. Information I found on the internet, talked about what a huge time commitment and discipline was involved, how important it is to promote your blog and be consistent with the times you write, read up on other blogs, et cetera. All of the information seemed pretty overwhelming and like a lot of work. Not only that, but there is somewhat of a time factor involved in creating and designing a blog account, if you intend to make it marketable. So, I had resolved that after reading what some of the experts wrote that I did not want to set myself up for failure and create one. Plus, I had discovered from my research that there were already over 10,000 blogs about Asperger’s anyway. I wouldn’t have a niche, so why on earth would anyone want to read my blog? What good would it serve?

So, I started reading about guest blogging and thinking that may be a better route to go. To be a guest blogger, you just have to find a blog that you like with the subject matter that you are interested in writing about, contact the blog host, and see if they would be interested in posting your article. As much work as blogs en tail, as far as what my readings were telling me, that seemed like the way to go; and what blogger wouldn’t be relieved that someone is offering to help them out, give them a break from their day-to-day writing, and submit an article? Whew! I could actually be doing some poor sap a favor by submitting an article to them. It could be an entirely win-win situation. So, I kept that idea in mind.

Then, something happened. I had to stay home from work because my son was sick. I really had nothing better to do than to make sure my son’s needs were met and learn more about this blogging endeavor, which has been occupying my mind lately. So, I had decided, “That does it! I’m creating a blog! I have to see what it’s all about for myself and disregard all this negative stuff I’ve been reading.” I started out with wordpress.com but found myself frustrated with that. When I tried to crop my picture for my account, the site wasn’t being very cooperative. Then, my computer would time out, when I would try to save or publish my post. I’m guessing that had to do with my not paying the $17 fee. Who knows, but I decided I would try blogger and see what that was all about.

I was very pleased with blogger and that is where my blog is, by the way, http://kriheff.blogspot.com/. It is very user friendly, has several templates to choose from, and just worked well for me. Some of what I read about blogger was that it did have limited options to choose from, but sometimes, I find that having umpteen options can be overwhelming. So, I created my blog, chose a pleasant template, added nice pictures, and published it. Now, I have a blog, and I found that creating one was rather rewarding. I like to write anyway and am always taking pictures and sharing them with friends. It makes for a nice creative outlet, and with the stories I will put on it, who knows? Maybe I might decide to consolidate them and write a book someday. You just never know.

What I had decided as far as coming up with a blog is that I was not going to overly concern myself about how many readers I have, how frequent I post, or reading others’ blogs. I had decided that I would do this mostly for me. It would serve as a creative outlet and serve as an extension of the self.

As far as how often you post, set your own limits.

If you grow an audience, then fantastic, but if not, that’s ok too. It all depends on what your purpose is. I had read that you can write a blog to show your expertise in a subject, to promote a business/product, to network, keep up with friends and family, to create an online journal, to add to your résumé of accomplishments, etc. Whatever your reasons, make them your reasons and heed what the experts say about time commitment and all that, but don’t be afraid to try either. At the very worst, you are going to gain experience in setting up a blog and seeing what that process is all about. Of course, if your post might embarrass you for some reason, you can always delete it.

I must admit that I have guest blogged before too. My entries are on this website, so I have had some help on the tumblr blog site. Andy Welfle helped me maneuver that site, showed me how to create hyperlinks, add pictures, tags, etc. So, I had some prior blogging experiences, before setting out on my own. That makes a huge difference in how successful your blog is going to be. I highly recommend viewing others’ blogs too to get ideas of what works and doesn’t work, what’s marketable, etc., and never be afraid to ask questions and to look for helpful tools/tricks of the trade on the internet or through your public library’s database.

With all this being said, I just wanted to add that blogging can be a good way to market yourself, and there are a lot of other good reasons to blog. It’s one of those things that you just don’t know if it will work for you, unless you try.