Somebody asked me the other day if I’d ever considered starting my own YouTube channel. It does of course (or at least once upon a time did of course) seem like the next natural step for anyone with a blog and/or any sort of presence on social media. Actually… I have. I planned to start my own YouTube channel once upon a time shortly after graduating and my first video was going to be a “get to know me tag”. I even filmed some vlog footage during a holiday to Portugal with Levi and that vlog was going to be my second video. After those two videos… I wasn’t quite sure where I’d turn for #3. I just couldn’t figure out how I was going to make my channel unique to the hundreds of others doing a ‘juicy Q&A’, an excessive haul, or some type of prank. Eventually, after a lot of stalling, I decided against it. I really only wanted to take on YouTube because I felt like I had to – what kind of social media-ish person was I if I didn’t have a YouTube channel?! But the truth is that, it just isn’t really my thing. I’m a writer at heart, I share with my words, this is really what I enjoy doing and what I’ve always enjoyed doing – so why not focus on what I’m good at?
Now… you. You over there. If you’re a blog reader and not a blog writer, or if you’ve even just lost a lot of motivation for your blog… here are a few quick and dirty reasons to start (or re-start) your blog right now.
10. Because you know you want to
You’d be surprised at how often I hear from people who want to start their own blogs but haven’t yet because of time, fear, or just not really know where to start. But amongst all of those three – the most powerful factor is probably the fear (they just don’t want to admit that) – will it be successful? Will you feel comfortable sharing it with your friends and family? I am a big believer in that there is no time like the present, so rather than letting this fear engulf you… just start.
9. It’s an easy means to express yourself
One reason I love to blog is that I find it extremely therapeutic. It really is your own individual platform which means you have the final say over what goes onto it. Often it can be a very simple and easy means to express yourself be it through sharing a funny story, or more serious learning experience with advice for your viewers, or maybe you just want to voice your opinion on Kardashian vs. Jordyn 2019 – it’s totally in your own ball park.
8. Personal branding
The internet is such a powerful little tool these days, and having a blog is one means of seriously and easily crafting a personal brand for yourself because you can be known for whatever you want to be known for!
7. The upside exceeds the downside
The downside risks are minimal. Perhaps it’s feeling embarrassed, perhaps it’s that you really could end up saying the wrong thing one day and then it’s out there on the internet forever. But – the upside risks are a lot more fruitful. Some people have managed to build multi million $ empires off of their own little space on the web after “blowing up” – who’s to say that can’t be you too?
6. Meeting a whole new community
Levi often asks me when I’m scrolling on Instagram – “who is that? And how do you know them?” And a lot of the time I come out and say that actually… I don’t know them, we just follow each other. More often than not, an event will roll about and you’ll eventually meet these people who’s photos you’ve been double tapping, heart-eying and “YAS”ing over on Instagram for months. Sometimes they could even become a good friend of yours – all thanks to the joys of the internet!
5. It gives you an edge in the job application process
My blog has actually pushed me further in a few interview processes in the past. I remember once I was hired to a 12-week internship roll for the fact that they liked that I designed and coded my own blog. Even in my current job, I once took on the role of the “graduate blogger”, and I definitely don’t think it was a coincidence that I was asked to do this. It makes you different, and when you’re feeding through a sea of CVs where everyone did a 1 week spring internship and is now on the committee of their economics society – sometimes this is all you need to push you ahead.
4. It gives you a voice
I am not the most controversial blogger and I tend to write most often about my own experiences (which, of course, are harder to debate against). That said, I do feel often like through my blog I am able to amplify my voice. Even if it’s just me talking about how I didn’t enjoy secondary school, or why I got fired from my first job, or why all my valentine’s days used to suck, I feel like it’s such a convenient way to get whatever is swirling around in my head out there.
3. You can help others
One of the main reasons I blog (and I’ve said this often), is that I like to use it a way to motivate people who may find themselves in (sometimes sticky) situations that I’ve been in in the past. For example when I wrote all about how I struggled with confidence growing up and followed this up with how I eventually found my voice. I know things like this (such as my fitness posts) are really helpful to some people and I know I would have appreciated a platform like that to read when I was younger and going through these things.
2. You can hone in a few key skills
Being able to put together a few paragraphs in a coherent and easy to read way is a skill that comes in handy in a lot of jobs – my full time roll actually involves a whole lot more writing (usually about the market and/or recommendations for our clients) than I ever would have imagined, but because I’ve spent so much time writing up these pieces, I found it something that was very easy to get the hang of and something that I can do very quickly and efficiently.
1. It gives you something to work towards
Last but not at all least – blogging can give you some sort of purpose. It is a hobby after all, and when you’re pouring your energy into something you enjoy (vs. for e.g. spending all your spare time on YouTube and Netflix (not that there’s anything particularly “wrong” with this)), I feel like the self development factor definitely amplifies. If you’ve ever been particularly demotivated, lost, or just very “meh”, your own platform such as a blog might be just what you need to inject some renewed life into yourself and work towards new goals.
Blogging is something that has, without a doubt, hugely impacted my life (for the better), and actually something that I feel brings me some sense of individuality. It’s like when somebody asks me what exactly makes my blog “different”, well – nobody can share in the exact same experiences as me as they are of course unique to me. You have very little to lose and a lot more to gain – so if you’ve been uh-ming and ah-ing over launching your own blog/platform, I hope my suggestions were all you needed to really tip yourself over that edge! 😉
I love your outfit! You’re killing it as always. I think the main reasons for starting my own blogging journey was as a means to express myself and thoughts out of my head and onto paper – in that way, I do agree that writing can be quite therapeutic! I love how you also acknowledge the personal branding and career advantages that come with writing a blog – I’m glad to hear that it’s helped you out in the job process and given you an extra edge over a sea of candidates.
– enyiie