Many people have discovered the joys of blogging, thanks to the Internet and modern gadgets. Sharing a piece of yourself (or your thoughts) to others is a simple and straightforward way to express yourself online. After creating the content and optimizing it for better reach, you will be able to share it with hundreds, thousands, and possibly millions of readers.

According to Statista, the United States had 27.4 million bloggers in 2014 and is expected to reach more than 32 million in 2020. Blogging has many benefits to readers and viewers, such as:

• Free knowledge, tips, and advice
• Understand varying opinions and insights
• Discover something new – it can be a hobby, recipe, or a new place to visit
• Gain insight from the blogger’s experiences

What used to be considered as a glorified online journal, blogging, is now one of the most popular means of sharing information with others.

Blogging: Sharing a Piece of Yourself to the World

Have you ever wanted to share pieces of valuable information with others? The great thing about blogging is that there are numerous platforms available to all kinds of content. You can create a website or utilize paid or free-to-use blogging platforms. With adequate knowledge of content optimization and promoting via social media, your blog can reach millions of netizens. Here’s how blogging can help you share a piece of yourself to the world:

1 – Personal Stories

Personal stories and first-hand experiences are popular blog content, especially if you have a good number of followers. Owning a blog allows you to share these stories with your readers. Whether it is your pregnancy journey or a trip abroad, blogging will enable you to share funny anecdotes as well as helpful and relevant information. People love reading stories that match their interests. Regularly updating your blog with your adventures and anecdotes is a great way to keep readers curious and excited to follow you.

One way to keep your content more appealing is by creating video blogs that you can embed on your website. Some people prefer to watch videos instead of reading published posts. Vlogs are becoming increasingly popular nowadays, so you should not miss the chance to share your stories with followers using this medium. Using copyright free music that suits your story is an excellent way to infuse energy in your vlog. Some background music will also make your blog posts more entertaining and enjoyable.

2- Build Your Brand

Business-minded individuals can utilize their personal blogs to build awareness of their brand. A blog is especially helpful when you want to create awareness towards a new product or service. Startup entrepreneurs with limited budgets can also take advantage of valuable blog content to help generate followers and potential customers.

If you decided to start a business on selling a certain product, a blog would help you showcase it. However, make sure that the content on your blog is solely focused on your product and brand. The right blog content will help you create brand awareness, establish yourself as an industry expert, and grow your business.

3 – Promote Advocacies

Blogs are not just for heartwarming stories and brand-building; it can also be used to promote awareness on various issues in society. You can utilize an advocacy blog to raise awareness on environmental protection, mental health, animal abuse, and more.

Many people blog about their opinion about what’s going on in the world. If you have a good number of followers, why not use your blog to educate and inspire other people to make a difference in the world?

4 – To Teach Others

Do you consider yourself an expert cook? Are there writing techniques that you want to share with your readers? Perhaps you want to share your DIY tips and tricks. People are always looking for answers to their questions or ways to resolve their problems and blogs are an excellent platform for them to learn everything that they need to know.

Blog posts may also come in the format of guides or how-tos. Do you have a foolproof way of making mac and cheese? Or maybe you consider yourself an expert in toilet training your pets at home? People enjoy reading step-by-step guides to create something or resolve a problem. Also, sharing your expertise is sharing a part of yourself – and your readers will be grateful to you for doing so. When combined with royalty free videos that can be used in a wide variety of ways, blogs can become even more effective in educating your audience.

5 – Share Your Passion

A blog is a powerful online platform to showcase your skills and talents. Recognizing and using your unique gifts is one thing, but sharing it through a blog will inspire others to discover their skills and talents as well.

Conclusion

Different people have different reasons why they blog. Some want to generate income through blogging, while others do it just for fun. But what’s great about blogging is that you can use the same platform to share your knowledge while showcasing your God-given talents and skills. There are no hard and fast rules on what you should share on your blog – but it is best if you will blog about something you are genuinely interested in.

Also, remember that what you write and publish will impact other people’s lives without you even knowing it. It is, therefore, crucial to managing your content responsibly. After all, what you share to the world through your writing – your stories, brand, skills, knowledge, and passions, are all a part of you.

Photo Credits

Photos are Adobe Stock

Guest Author Bio
Maureen Chima

Maureen Chima is an aspiring digital artist who works by providing artistic works using digital technology such as computer art and multimedia art. Most of Maureen’s clients are businesses that would like to improve their current marketing campaigns by incorporating digital art.

Aside from providing professional services, Maureen also loves to write articles about digital art during her spare time.

In my opinion, making and receiving comments on blog posts should be treated in a similar way to how you would act with someone face to face. Whether you are committed to a spiritual path, or you simply wish to be an ethical person online, it’s important to consider the possible impact of any comments you leave online.

Although it’s harder to see and feel, what we say online can have just as much impact – positive or negative – as anything said in person. And because of the lack of non-verbal cues, it’s probably even more important to choose our words carefully while interacting with others online.

What I have witnessed online is that commenting on blog posts brings out the best and worst in us. When people are at their best, you can see ripple effects that spread across the world. A well-timed supportive comment can mean all the difference to someone who is struggling and feeling isolated. A clear declaration of the truth in the middle of an embattled debate can shift the entire conversation. And sometimes, something someone says “goes viral,” spreading from blog to blog, across Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites, and positively impacting the views of hundreds and thousands of people.

And unfortunately, the same thing goes for comments on the worst end of the spectrum. A single personalized attack on a writer can shift an entire discussion in that direction. Lies can and do spread online, sometimes at an alarmingly fast rate. And the internet is littered with the wreckage of angry, hate-fueled arguments that sometimes have spread into the flesh and blood world with terrible consequences.

One of the challenges I have found is working to find the balance between honesty, compassion, and kindness. Sometimes, I’m responding to a piece of writing where I really don’t care for the view being expressed. Occasionally, it might even be to someone I’m not terribly fond of. And sometimes, I’m just not in the best mood. All of this can make for troubled waters when it comes to making comments online.

So, here are a few questions to consider before making a comment:

1. Are you just venting? Sometimes, I find myself wanting to tee off on some poorly written article or obnoxious political opinion piece, but quickly realize I have nothing of value to say.

2. Do you actually understand what’s being said? It’s amazing how often people seem to misread things online and then make comments based on their misreading. Which leads to number three…

3. Have you slowed down enough to digest what you’ve read? The speed of the internet and our lives in general these days lends itself nicely to rapid-fire comments that are, at best, superficial.

4. Are you just wanting to see yourself in writing? This one is tricky, but I do think that sometimes people just leave comments to be seen. The content may be meaningless or it might even have some relevance, but the true impulse of the person commenting is simply to be part of the commenting crowd.

What are your thoughts about making comments online? Have you had any experiences that made you change how you make comments on the internet?

Photo Credit

Photographer unknown

As a blogger who aims for integrity, and views blogging as part of his spiritual practice, I have found myself drawn to the discussion around the blog “A Gay Girl in Damascus.” Obviously, things have gotten pretty awful over in Syria, and there’s no way to know if it will take a turn for the better anytime soon. “A Gay Girl in Damascus” became an overnight sensation, gaining a large following, as well as positive coverage in the mainstream,”Western” media. In fact, when the blogger was reported kidnapped a few weeks ago, thousands of GLBTQ folks and their allies hit Twitter, Facebook, and other social media outlets, creating petitions and writing impassioned pleas in hopes that it might lead to the woman’s safe return.

As the protests and Syrian government crackdown advanced, the blog seemingly offered a window, from the point of view of someone whose very existence is considered immoral by many in her society. There was only one problem. Last week, the Washington Post revealed that the blog was a fake, and that it’s author was a 40-year-old white male from Virginia.

Tom MacMaster admitted his blog "A Gay Girl in Damascus" was a hoax.

The man, Thomas MacMaster, wrote an apology on his blog which included the following: “While the narrative voice may have been fictional, the facts on this blog are true and not mısleading as to the situation on the ground,” he wrote. “I do not believe that I have harmed anyone — I feel that I have created an important voice for issues that I feel strongly about.”

When I first heard this, I thought, yeah, right buddy. Then I thought, but maybe he did open a space for dialogue on some of the issues brought up in the blog. And then I started reading some other reactions to the whole thing, as well as seeing more of what the guy has said about his blog, and all I have left now is a sick feeling in my stomach.

Consider this, from an article on the webjournal Colorlines:

Yesterday Salamishah Tillet, the anti-rape activist, Africana Studies professor and a friend whom I can say I’ve seen in person, texted me about how the MacMaster and Graber hoaxes remind her of the 1838 James Williams Slave Narrative most likely penned by a white abolitionist. “Like in the controversial and fake 1838 ‘Narrative of James Williams,’ these [modern] white men posing as oppressed people makes it even harder for people to take ‘real’ concerns, demands and freedom writing seriously,” she wrote. (Seriously, she texts this way!) “Now, actual Arab lesbian bloggers will have to go to greater lengths to prove that they are in fact Arab and lesbian, and they’ll have to prove why their radical to liberal politics should be taken seriously. Aaargh.”

Or this, from the magazine Just Out:

Nothing about the progression MacMaster describes in his apology letter seems accidental. While misrepresenting himself in online discussion forums may have begun as a relatively benign experiment, no one forced MacMaster to contribute columns to Lez Get Real as Arraf, to create a blog to support the false identity or to accept interview requests with major media outlets like CNN and The Guardian.

McMaster, who admitted he “enjoyed ‘puppeting’ this woman who never was,” even went so far as to establish involved online relationships with Sandra Baragria, a Canadian woman sometimes identified as Arraf’s girlfriend, and Israeli blogger Elizabeth Tsurkov.

The whole thing reeks, absolutely reeks of privilege. White privilege. Male privilege. Class privilege. And straight privilege.

Beyond that, however, it is incidents like this that make it even more difficult for a blogger who might have something vitally important to say to be taken seriously. For all the inroads bloggers have made in recent years, blogging is still commonly considered to be solely the stuff of vanity writers and nerdy hobbyists.

My own experiences have turned me from a curious dabbler into a spiritually-motivated blogger. Readers and fellow bloggers have reminded me in various ways of the value that patience, fact checking, and compassion have in creating material that supports the kind of world I wish to live in. Even though this blog is a fairly small pea in the huge pod of the blogosphere, I feel a compelling responsibility as a Zen practitioner, yogi, and writer to offer a blog with integrity, to avoid misrepresenting who I am, and to respond to comments with respect and honesty, even if the same hasn’t been given to me. It’s not always easy, and sometimes I flop a bit, but that’s all part of the process as I see it.

Perhaps MacMaster’s blog can be used as a tool for speaking up about the value of blogging with integrity, and as a demonstration of what can happen when integrity is tossed aside.

Why do so many of us blog?

According to Wikipedia, as of February 2011, there are 156 million blogs in existence.

Many millions of those blogs have only a handful of readers, I suspect. Unless you’re already a celebrity, when you start a blog you will send the link to a few friends and family and watch your Google Analytics tell you that three, five, or maybe 10 people visited your site last week. Then zero the week after that.

It’s also obvious, from even the quickest scan of blogs, that many of them are terribly written, terribly designed and in other ways just off-putting. I am particularly thrown off by the sites that are shoddy sales pitches for “social media advising” and “dynamic communications” but can’t get the use of “there” and “their” figured out, or don’t realize that “it’s” is a contraction for “it is.”

So blogs are easy targets.

But before you go into a rant about our narcissist society where everyone wants a blog, consider replacing one word in my opening question. Change “blog” (an uncomfortable verb at the best of times) with “communicate.” Now re-ask the question: why do so many of us communicate?

The obvious answer: we are humans. Social animals. We chatter. We interact.

Yes, there’s narcissism involved in saying “watch me, read what I ate for breakfast.” But we all do that. We go to the office and tell a story about how our kid dumped breakfast all over the kitchen floor, how that made us late getting her to day care, how we missed the 7:40 express.

That little scenario, of course, hints at a genre of blog that for strange reasons draws more derision than others: the mommy blog. Thousands (millions?) of moms out there have found blogs to be their perfect way of connecting with the world — including other moms. For some reason this bothers others who, I suppose, think that a woman should either drop the “mommy” tag and go to battle in corporate boardrooms or just stay home and stay offline.

The criticisms are clearly sexist. Here’s a recent retort that I came across from one of my Twitter followers.

If nothing else, blogs show people who are engaged with their world. That is a good thing.

Ultimately, blogs are a reflection of people. Inconsistent. Some lovely and likable. Many less so. Often maddening. And, yes, often a waste of time.

So? I don’t know about you — I try to pick and choose the people I interact with. Same with blogs. No sense wishing that they would all go away for two reasons — it ain’t gonna happen, and you probably wouldn’t like it if it really did happen.

Image Credit

“Blog board” Mashable.com

Rebel Brown – Rebel Brown.com
My Own Personal Gravity

“My upcoming book, Defy Gravity, focuses on finding and ditching Business Gravity, aka the status quo beliefs and corporate legends that prevent us from growing. We also have Personal Gravity — those beliefs and behaviors that limit us in our personal lives …” [read the whole article here]

About Rebel Brown

Rebel Brown consistently challenges the status quo to deliver optimum solutions and high velocity growth for her clients. Armed with experience from over 100 global clients,Rebel is uniquely qualified to help businesses reach for high velocity growth. Her book, Defy Gravity is already getting critical acclaim ahead of its September release. 

When she’s not busy powering up corporate growth, Rebel enjoys her pursuits as an avid horsewoman, expert skier and outdoorswoman who tends an orchid greenhouse, hikes coastal mountains and kayaks the Pacific Ocean. [read more]

Scott McKain – McKainViewpoint.com
A Very Fine Line

“What are the positive qualities most important in a best friend…or in a leader you would be totally excited about working with?” Thirty seconds…go .. [read the whole article here]

About ScottMcKain

Scott McKain has proven that the concepts he presents actually work in the real world! He is the co-founder of the Value Added Institute, (a “think tank” exploring the role of customer experiences in creating enhanced clie

nt loyalty and revenue for visionary organizations), and the author of three #1 business bestsellers, including his latest: “Collapse of Distinction; Stand Out & Move Up While Your Competition Fails” — as well as “ALL Business is Show Business” and “What Customers REALLY Want.” [read more]

Bob Burg – BobBurg.com
Tact – The Language of Strength

“Is there ever a need to verbally correct or critique? Well…actually, yes. The bigger question: is it possible to do so in such a way that not only will the person accept your correction, but truly embrace and utilize it?” [read the whole article here]

About Bob Burg

Bob Burg shares information on topics vital to the success of today’s business person … His critically acclaimed book, Endless Referrals: Network Your Everyday Contacts Into Sales has sold over 200,000 copies and continues to be used as a training manual for top sales organizations throughout the world. His national bestseller, The Go-Giver has been heralded as a new business classic. It’s been translated into 18 languages and is his fourth book to top the 100,000 copies sold mark .. [read more]

The first BlogHer I attended was in 2006 in San Jose. I’m not sure of the exact number of attendees, but it was less than 500 and a vastly different experience to the now infamous conference it has morphed into.

That summer in California we felt a real sense of community: by the end of that weekend we had all met each other either briefly or forged lifelong friendships. The seminars were great and welcoming and created an environment of generosity of spirit. There were only a few vendors, the swag bag was full of useful items and it was exciting to get free stuff.

Sponsored blogging and advertising on personal websites either didn’t exist or was at it’s very humble beginnings. The BlogHer ad network had only one small group and was opening up for the first time to a few more hand picked personal sites.

Five years later at the Hilton New York I felt lost in a sea of new faces and people swarming to get to PR People, Expo Halls and private sponsored parties. I can count on two hands the faces that I have seen at all five conferences (well maybe two feet too).

There were two groups at the conference: those there to work on their personal brand and those there to see friends, have fun and learn a thing or two. The first group — the people there to promote (or exploit) their personal brand — had nearly taken over the conference. Women on a mission to make money on making themselves heard. To write as many product reviews as possible, get on all the best PR lists and invited to the best parties with the best swag.

Personally, I say do what makes you happy. Do what you need to do to create an income in these trying economic times, to bring money in whatever form into your home. But I can’t help but feel like some of the passion — or dare I say the “art” — of blogging has been lost.

The charm of blogging for me is to find that site that has intensely good writing, speaks to you — makes you feel less alone. With the proliferation of money (or product) in exchange for words on personal web sites the real gems often get overlooked unless they have a longstanding loyal audience.

Less and less women get into social media to connect and tell their stories. As a result the so called blogosphere gets clogged up with hundreds of new sites daily, and wading through becomes too exhausting to even attempt. Instead, we keep reading the same blogs we have always read and those little gems are getting lost in the shuffle.

Photo Credits

Photos of BlogHer Conference by alexdecarvalho @ Flickr.com. Creative Commons. Some Rights Reserved.

What difference did it make if someone cracked an egg open at the big end or the little end if the goal was simply to get to the shell’s contents? How could the Big-Endians and Little-Endians possibly have it so wrong?

Like Jonathan Swift’s character, Gulliver in Gulliver’s Travels, I too am perplexed. Isn’t it the goal of every writer to have his/her material read? Like the Lilliputians, some people have lost sight of that goal, and have fixed their focus on the method rather than the end.

These modern day Big-Endians refuse to recognize the validity of online publications, with some maintaining you aren’t really published unless you’re published in print.

Really!

Technological advances can be tough for some people to accept. Imagine how the scribes of yesteryear felt when their vocation went into a tailspin with the advent of the printing press.

The “publication” industry of their day had been their personal domain, but the ink dried in their idle quills as reams of print spewed out, compliments of mechanization. But while the printing press dramatically increased the volume of published works, it did little in terms of distribution.

Enter the Internet.

Writers today enjoy the ability of having their works presented, instantly, to millions of households across the globe, as the World Wide Web continues to shrink our planet and repackage it into tight groups sharing common interests. This powerful tool presents possibilities which are only as limited as the imagination of those who wield it.

As the technologically savvy seek new ways to connect with their world, books, magazines and newspapers are downloaded daily onto iPhones, iPods, Kindles and Blackberries, and with Apple’s new iPad entering the market, this trend will undoubtedly increase. Technology only moves in one direction.

Meanwhile, back in Lilliput, the battle continues.

Photo Credit

“Gulliver’s Travels” DownloadFreePhotos.com Public Domain

“iPad” Apple Computer Inc.