Should I blog?

I absolutely love blogging. I love the challenge, I love the relationships, and I really love having an outlet for my thoughts. But before I started this blog over 3 months ago, I had to ask myself the question, “should I blog?” Not “do I want to blog”, but “should I blog?”

Thankfully, I answered yes. Little did I know that I’d have so many people out there who wanted to read what I had to say (I told Meredith just yesterday that the thought of it simply floors me).

However, I was at a severe disadvantage. I had no one to help me answer the question. For all I knew, this blog would have been a colossal failure (and still could). So today, I want to help you answer that very question, “Should you blog?”.

After reading this post, it made me think of some questions to ask yourself before you venture into blogging. Here are some examples:

1. What are your expectations? Do you care if no one reads what you have to say?
2. Do you have time to write at least 4 posts per week? As a blogger, I find it hard to recommend (with few exceptions) a blogger who doesn’t post much. I feel like I cheat my audience by doing so (although if you write really good stuff, it makes up for lack of quantity).
3. Do you know what you want to write about? Does all your material have a central theme? For instance, I write about many things, but the overall theme is I write from a Christian perspective.
4. Is this a personal blog or do you want to inform people on certain topics? If it is personal, do not be offended if no one cares what you have to say about the restaurant you ate at last night.
5. Do you have the patience to wait for readers to come?
6. Do you have the drive to go find readers? Sometimes it’s hard, especially if you have an obscure niche, but it can be done. Will you work for them?
7. Are you personable enough to develop relationships with fellow bloggers inside and outside your niche? Can you find a blogging mentor to help you if you have questions?
8. Are you willing to read a daily digest of blogs designed to help you blog? They can help with the technical stuff.
9. Are you willing to read a daily digest of blogs from all categories? They can help provide you with content springboards and style.
10. Can you blog even when you’re not mad. I’ve seen too many people start a blog because they get mad at someone or something, then go for months without blogging, get mad again and go blog it, then go another couple of months without blogging. This is a complete waste of web-space!
11. Do you get bored reading blogs? You’ll probably get bored writing one too.
12. Have you ever participated in an online community like message boards of comments of another blog? This is key when it comes to knowing how to write for the web. Less editorial, more conversational.
13. How long are you willing to commit to blogging? 6 months? 1 year? Forever? Blogging isn’t something you can simply give a try for 3 weeks. You have to make a somewhat long-term commitment.
14. Do you have the time to watch your stats? Find out who’s reading, where they’re coming from, what posts are their favorites, and follow up on that information. For instance, whenever I see that I have added new feed readers or had a heavy traffic day, I make sure that I follow that up the next day with at least 2-3 quality posts. Are you willing to do what it takes to “hook” your readers?
15. Are you willing to pick a blog that you like, take a month and study what they do, then implement their strategies into your blogging style? This can be very helpful.

There you go. 15 easy questions to ask yourself before you start blogging. Remember, blogging can be easy and fun, but it’s not always sunny days. Your commitment to your readers and your topics is key.

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