What is a blog and why do people create them? Why do people read them?
Blog is short for “weblog”. The term was first used in 1997 when Jorn Barger used it to describe the process of “logging” the web as he browsed. Now, in 2017, there are about 152,000,000 blogs on the web and 77% of Internet users read them. (www.impactbnd.com)
Blogs are created for business, marketing and for sales, a private writing outlet for fun, and for creative professionals to display their portfolios. I’m no Neil Patel, but I’ve learned a lot, and I’d like to give a wider audience perspective on blogs while learning some things myself. My series of blog posts will explore hard facts (and hard work) with fun stuff…and everything that comes along as I explore. I’ve been talking to all kinds of bloggers to find out what’s going on and why.
Lisa Braun writes the blog for OzWriter, her freelance writing business she took online a year ago. Coming from a varied background she says she was ‘already writing’ and created the blog because she wanted a “more public profile, to acquire more clients and to express my work….and a way to encourage myself to write.” Lisa had clients already but things really started to take off when she took the business online. She has other projects and uses the site as “a learning tool.”
Nicole Leedham is a copywriter who owns and writes the blog for Black Coffee Communications. From a wide background in media and communications Nicole became a freelance writer in 2011. She says “blogs are your best form of marketing.” Nicole says her posts often ‘just get things out of her head” but says her 2014 blog article about annual reporting “still generates leads” for her business.
Derek Jones is a professional in an industry unrelated to writing and writes for fun as The Dirty Talking Star Dancer on three of his own WordPress hosted sites. Two based on his travels and one based on his erotic writings. “Over the years I’ve written stuff…on paper…couldn’t tell you where it is now’, he says, adding that for him his blog is about “saying what I want to say, things I want to remember in years to come.” He does it because he “gets a kick out of it”, especially when someone compliments his writing.
Blogging is here to stay despite the growing threat of meaningless content marketing spam designed to fool search engines. People read stuff they connect with because it’s relaxing and it makes them smarter. As Neil Patel says, all good writers read. (www.neilpatel.com) Who hasn’t searched for a product or service online before making a purchase? Relevant content is easily searchable. Blogging platforms abound like Google, WordPress, and Wix.com, and hosting your own site is easier than ever and it doesn’t take long to get started. Stay tuned for more.
Click here for the next article in the series “Adelaide Writers and Their Blogs.”
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