Like most bloggers, I took a leap of faith when I started blogging and
followed the lead of some interesting people I knew who were already
doing it. Like most virgin bloggers, I thought of blogs as something
that people–primarily teenagers and journalists–did who had not much
better to do with their time. Boy, was I wrong.
(Kathleen's blog)
Now I am an avid and ardent blogger. I use my blog for many reasons,
not all of which will apply to you. But here's an explanation of why I
blog and why you might want to as well:
1. To enhance my reputation.
I am primarily a professional blogger. If you look at the categories I
have in my blog, they are very much related to my professional
interests. As I have written about things related to my work, I
have developed a readership of people who have found me through various
means like Technorati and Trackback. I have one category called
“Whimsical Musings,” which I use as a catch all for things outside of
my work.
2. To develop myself professionally.
By building my reputation, I am advancing my career. More and more,
both employers and recruiters and bloggers are using blogs in lieu of
resumes. When you read my blog, you learn a great deal more about me
than you would from my CV. Blogs are becoming the new passport to
employment.
3. To increase my Google ratings. To
my great amazement and delight, my blog is now coming up as number one
in Google (out of 2.5 million results) for the search term “weblogs AND
email.” This is worth a great deal to me because it is increasingly
becoming a means by which people find me. I wrote something interesting
about this topic and a number of people linked to me. Now my blog is
number one in Google and people are finding me through this channel.
4. To share with friends and family.
I have created a private area on my blog in order to post my wedding
photos. These are not things that I want to share with everybody. So I
have only granted permission to see them to a set of “trusted readers.”
If you aren't on that list, you won't even know that the photos are
there. I believe people are going to use their blogs more and more for
sharing personal information.
5. To make connections.
I have discovered a number of very interesting bloggers who share my
interest in elearning. I regularly read these blogs and cite the things
I am learning from them in my own blog. Through this reciprocal linking
I have built some interesting professional relationships–at least one
of which has resulted in a new customer for Ping. I look forward to my
friends at Wellesley taking up blogging so that I can more carefully
follow their lives.
6. Trusted filters. In
this world of way-too-much information, I use my blog as a way of
filtering information. In the blogs I follow, I track books, music,
restaurants, television. And I use these recommendations to make
choices for myself.
7. Store and display photos.
As of March, 2005, I am primarily using my personal blog to store and
display photos. Pingware has wonderful photo management
features–very intuitive and easy to use. So now I can share
photos with everyone in my circle.
So in my case, I get so much value from my blog that it is well worth the time I invest to keep it going.
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