5 Surprising Ways You'll Benefit From Starting Your Own Blog

Photo courtesy of Filipe Ferreira at Flickr.com. However, it's probably not smart to set your coffee
on your computer's keyboard. Even if it looks cool.

There's this really great motivational poster that says, "Blogging: Never before have so many people with so little to say said so much to so few." When I read that, I sort of bought into the idea that blogs weren't helpful. So I ignored them.

Photo from Radiatedigital.com

Then a couple years ago I went to a huge leadership conference. I was looking at the program and beneath one of the keynote speaker's pictures was his title - Blogger. I thought wait a minute, bloggers are supposed to be losers. What gives. 

The rest of that weekend changed my outlook on blogs. I even found a couple that I like reading. After that, it was nearly a year later before I started my own blog. 

You're just doing this to try to be famous, right?

I started writing because I saw few guys I really admire doing it. I certainly did have stars in my eyes when I started. But when the honeymoon stage wore off, I found myself sitting in front of my computer at the end of a tough day, and having to write a blog post before bed, I began wondering why I was really doing this. 

I've been writing timhswanson.com for a little over a year now. In that time, I've not only come to see the incredible personal value in blogging, but it has become the number one thing I recommend to people who want to discover more potential in their lives and leadership. 

Here are the top ten things I am getting out of blogging. I think that, if you start a blog, you'll get these things too. 

The money to mouth ratio. At some point I had a scary thought - I'm writing a lot. Am I doing everything I'm advising others to do? That made me take a good long look at my own leadership. Needless to say, I found lots of areas to tighten up. And I've made a commitment to myself to never advise anyone to do something that I haven't already had success with.

If you want to challenge your leadership, and hone your skills. A blog will confront your weaknesses, and help you see where you need to step it up. 

The chance to see what you're really made of. When I first started writing, I committed to three posts a week. At first it didn't seem like a big deal. After a while I realized that it was. Then the question came up - Do I have what it takes to stick with this? Now each post is an opportunity to answer that question. And for that reason, every time I post, I get the special sense of accomplishment that only comes from keeping a promise to myself.

It's easy to set a simple goal of writing once a weekm or even once a month. But sticking with it will show you what you're capable of. Quickly, you'll be looking at bigger goals in other areas of your life. In that way, blogging could become a catalyst to living out some of the biggest dreams you have.

Money. There are guys who make big money doing this. That is not my goal. I think lots of people make the same mistake with blogging that they do with the music industry. They assume that you're either super famous, or a nobody. The truth is, in both blogging and the music industry, there's a lot more to it than making it big. Most of my blogging goals are not financial, or centered around fame for that matter. I do have financial goals, but they're all focused on putting money into long term savings. 

It's not difficult to make money blogging. In my first year, I made significantly more than I spent. If you're looking to make a little extra spending money, a blog is an easy decision. If you're interested in making a lot of money, you'll have to approach blogging with a plan. Either way, when you're blogging, you're the boss. You are in charge of how much you make. And to a certain degree, you're even in control of how fast you make it. 

Bigger Light Bulbs. I have always admired guys who have wisdom beyond their years. As it turns out, there's a trick to being one of those guys. They're like everyone else, except they're always on the lookout for a brilliance in the world around them. When I started writing, I set the simple goal of providing useful content to my readers. That meant I had to do what wise people do. The result has been that I have grown faster and further than I ever have before.

The best way for you to begin pursuing wisdom is to pray for it. The best way for you to make progress is to make a commitment to providing consistently helpful information to other people through a blog. 

An boundless place to flesh out creativity. Every once in a while I'll have an exciting idea that seems like it might be a little too risque for the platform at church on Sunday morning. The nice thing about a blog is that if people don't like it, they don't have to read it. That has given me the freedom to write on subjects like My Dirty Secret and The Pastor's Guide to Cussing. 

Lots of church leaders and Christians feel like they can't be themselves at church. A blog is nice because it's like having your own room. People will only come in if they want to. When you begin providing content that truly represents you, your room will become filled with other people like you. Then you'll make some really great connections with like minded people. 

These are just a few things. I could list many more. In the end, the motivational poster was wrong. I've found that the challenge of consistently providing useful content and the privilege of engaging you and others like you has been worth more than I can express. 

Thank you for reading!

Question: If you were to start a blog, what would it be about. 

You can leave your response in the comment section below!