My Answer To The Often Asked “So, What Is The Point Of A Blog?” Question

So, what is the point of a blog?

Good question. Very good question. 

Running a blog is not a job that brings income. Well, not until it gets really big and has a large audience and getting to that point can take years. So, what is the point? 

The point is passion. A passion for creating. A passion for sharing. A passion for building connections. 

Chase your passions and money will come. Chase money and you may never find your passions. 

I know it sounds so simple, almost naive. But passion is the most honest answer I can give to anyone who asks why I have a blog and let me explain why. A blog is something like a startup business; I say this because startups are borne of one person’s passion to create something unique in the world and a never-ending drive to make it successful. But that success isn’t guaranteed on day one, or even year one. So you keep working on your idea — tweaking, testing and developing — until it becomes a success. It takes effort every single day (and night) and if you’re truly passionate about something, quitting is not an option. Ask any startup founder / business owner. 

I like to think of my blog as a business that I’m the CEO of. It’s an unconventional business to be running — one that doesn’t have an office, regular hours, employees, and, arguably a tangible product or service. But if you think about it, the content of my blog is the product and its readers are the customers. How do I know that my blog has “customers”? Data. Like any good business owner, I make strategic decisions based on data. But it takes time to collect this kind of actionable data. I launched my blog over a year ago and published content in topics and areas that made sense for my brand and voice but I didn’t have any idea how these posts would perform, if at all. Some of the posts have never seen the light of day (i.e. been clicked on) while others are appearing in Google’s top search results and drive readers to my blog every day. After a few months of experimenting and tweaking, I reviewed the data reports to see what content was performing well and what wasn’t and this allowed me to see how to improve my product for its customers. I also pay close attention to feedback and comments to see how my readers feel about my content — what they like and dislike. And I continue to do this every day. 

My blog is still in its infant status and income is minimal. So why do I keep going back to it and what motivates me to dedicate many hours to it? My customers — my readers. I have developed a relationship with them, just as they have started to trust my brand and product. It’s branding 101: never break your customers’ trust and deliver consistent quality and brand experiences. So I owe it to my loyal readers, my growing online community and my supporters to show up to work and I owe it to myself to follow my passion and build something I am truly proud of.