Writer's Blog: A Newbie's Primer on Blogging (Part 3)

Blogging Advantages

Despite the disadvantages on being one with the global bloggers' pool, millions of netizens worldwide are doing it. The following are just some of the reasons people may have for becoming and remaining as a blogger.

Express yourself. Whether we admit to it or not, human beings have an inherent need to communicate. We will not last a day without expressing what is inside us - whether through voice, writing, or by simple body language. Blogging provides an effective alternative outlet to share what we know, what interests us, indeed even our very souls to the rest of the world. Do you have a cause? A blog can be your advocacy platform. Are you an artist? Your weblog is your own public gallery. Building a career? Document your career milestones through your blog and impress your next employer. Your blog is your own channel, your own time-slot on the World Wide Web. Go ahead and shine!

Widen your network. By blogging on your interests and concerns, you are bound to connect with others who share the same interests and concerns. Many have met project collaborators, business partners, friends and even people who end up becoming more than friends (wink, wink) through their respective blog networks. Do link-up with other blogs. Be generous with your comments to other's posts. Create posts about the cares of your circle and soon enough your audience and blog network will grow. Build you blog and they will come!

Earn additional revenue. You can monetize your blog in several ways but the most common is by providing advertising spots on your blog site. Some blog networks, for instance Blogger (ahem!) have integrated advertising programs, in this case Google AdSense, for those using their blog infrastructure. Without going into hard sell mode, it is advisable for beginning bloggers to seek ways to generate revenue with your blog site. After all, you will spend several hours to do your write-ups, not to mention the cost of the Internet connection you would use up when updating your blog. Many blogs die off simply because their would-be bloggers failed to maintain the unforeseen costs of running a blog. So, be creative in raising funds for your blog. For example, you can ask your local shops to donate some amount to your blog in exchange for featuring their latest product line. You figure out the ways, and then do the math. Later on, you would see that it actually pays to blog.

Develop your talents. Borrowing once more from the words of that old English bard - "All the world's a stage". A blog is a perfect way to showoff your talents to the rest of the cyber world. You can be sure that others will comment on your work and that will serve as feedback for you and basis for further improvement. Nowadays, with the multimedia facilities built-in with most blogging software you can broadcast yourself and your wares on the Internet whether as a writer, photographer, musician, designer, filmmaker or whatever else it is that you do.

Contribute to the online community. The blogging phenomenon has also contributed largely to the rise of "citizen journalism". The Web has become a new media "by-the-people" with each blog as the citizen-reporter's own online column. Most blogs do not attempt to provide objective reportage, while many that try to do so end up being perceived as completely amateurish and snubbed by mainstream mass media. At any rate, exceptional blogs have become sources for some primetime news reports and a few themselves have become seeds for further inquiry by investigative journalists. In the same manner, some news blogs provide secondary coverage for events and issues that otherwise would not see the light of day through major news channels. Your best-effort participation as a blogger can provide invaluable knowledge and insight for the rest of the community.

There is so much to say regarding the whys and wherefores of blogging than this particular blog entry can cover. In future posts the author will endeavor to delve into other aspects of blogging.

For now, we can wrap up this series and I hope that this piece will indeed serve as a simple primer to guide those looking into joining the great blogging bandwagon or perhaps provide a slight nudge for those seeking validation to what they have already begun as blog authors and enthusiasts.

Blog on!