Posted on April 2, 2012 - by Nicole Humphrey Cook

B is for Blogging: Top 5 Reasons I Blog

B is for blogging. I have no idea why I chose blogging for today, except that was the one B word that wouldn’t leave my head. Well, there was another one but I didn’t think it was appropriate.

Since I am not really going with a ‘theme’ per say, I am just blogging the alphabet, it took me some time to come up with what I would write about. I’ve been blogging since 2003 since it had really caught on and I’ve blogged about just about any topic that interests me. So, I decided I’d tell you the top 5 reasons I blog.

Reason #1:

Giving back. I blog because I like to help others. The first blog I had was a paper crafting blog and I used to put tutorials and articles and all sorts of things up there. Then I migrated on to both my food blog and writing blog which I’ve been doing since about 2005. I like giving back. I’ve learned a lot in my writing career and I have not forgotten what it is like to just be starting out. The only regret I have in my writing career is that I didn’t start writing for me (ie. working on my books) until I started as a freelance writer – and I got burnt out writing articles all the time. Do both if you can. It’s therapeutic.

Reason #2:

It’s good writing exercise. It’s a way to get words flowing each day before I sit down to do my own writing. It’s also a nice distraction when I get up early and I’ve been writing in the wee hours of the morning and I finally need a break. My blogs do that for me.

Reason #3:

Meeting new people. I have met some of the coolest, most fascinating people because of blogging. I have been blessed to make several close friends, I have found work opportunities because of the generosity of others through blogging. The friendships I have formed may be online, but they are important and are just as important as my friends I get to see more often. Notice I didn’t say ‘real life’ friends. You know why? Because my blog is also real life and the friends I have made are part of my ‘real life’ too.

Reason #4:

Sharing. It’s nice to be able to share good things that happen, trials and tribulations. It’s nice to get advice from people when you need it. I like sharing pieces of my life  with my readers and blogging allows me to do that.

Reason #5:

Inspiration. Okay so blogging doesn’t exactly inspire me as much as checking out other people’s blogs does. If I wasn’t blogging, I probably wouldn’t spend as much time reading other people’s blogs. Challenges like the A-Z April Blogging Challenge even help me find new blogs to follow and new people to get inspired by.

So those are my top 5 reasons for blogging. Why do you blog?