I know, I know, you've been hearing this word “Blog” float around the internet, and it might even be getting a little annoying.

Who are these weird “Blogger People”? Why is everyone talking about it? Are blogs really the future?

Or even more imminent – are blogs really the present? (that sounds kinda weird).

My name is Leslie Samuel, and yes – I'm a Blogger. 

Top10Yes, the cat is out of the bag and I proudly admit to being one. THAT statement has opened up a lot of opportunities for me. So I want to share with you my Top 10 Reasons Why YOU Should Start A Blog.

And this will be from my personal experience – NOT just me taking what everyone else is saying and sharing it with you. Are you ready for them? Lets go.

Reason #1: Blogging Gives You A Platform For YOUR Voice To Be Heard

Your VOICE gets heardI've been blogging since September of 2008. I have this Blog here at Become A Blogger, and my Interactive Biology Blog. The truth is that I'm an opinionated guy who has learnt a little bit about a little bit and I enjoy sharing that with others.

At Become A Blogger, I teach people that they can Create Content that Inspires Others and even Change The World. That's my big message, and without a platform like my blog, I don't know how I'd be able to let people know.

At Interactive Biology, I teach people . . . you guessed it . . . Biology. I started it because I wanted to teach University Level biology but didn't have a University Level Professor degree. In many cases, someone else would've resorted to just not doing it. Me? Nahhh, I couldn't do that. I had something to say, and my Biology Blog gave me a platform from which I could say it.

Once again – Blogging gives you a platform for YOUR voice to be heard!

Reason #2: Blogging Helps You To Become A Better Communicator

ConfidenceOne of the most beneficial skills to have (in my opinion) is the ability to communicate ideas to others. When I attended university, I had to take a class called Communication Skills. As a part of that class, we had to do some presentations and speeches.

They KNEW that communicating ideas was a very important skill and wanted to help us become better communicators. Now, I'll be 100% honest. I don't remember ANYTHING about that class, because it was just a class that we took ONE semester in college and then said goodbye.

According to Will Smith (and I love this quote):

Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft – Click Here To Tweet That Awesomeness

I resonate with that statement SOO MUCH. I can't tell you how many hours and hours and hours I've spent building my blogs and it has definitely increased my communication skills. In every post, I need to think to myself – “How do I communicate what's happening in my brain in a way that the content and intent gets accurately communicated”.

Once again – Blogging helps you to become a better communicator (by allowing you to spend hours and hours and hours beating on your craft).

Reason #3: Blogging Opens Up Awesome Opportunities

Dream JobI started my Biology Blog because I wanted to be a university professor but was “unqualified” (notice the quotation marks). At the time I was a High School Biology teacher. Well, as many of you know, my biology blog opened up the doors for me to become a University Professor, teaching in a Doctor of Physical Therapy Program (and yes, without a PhD).

If I never started my blog, I would be still teaching at the high school level (or just working from home). Teaching at a university was my dream job. Now, it's the job that I no longer dream about. It's the job I do.opened up the doors for me to become a University Professor, teaching in a Doctor of Physical Therapy Program (and yes, without a PhD).

That's not the only opportunity it has opened up. I've been able to speak at Blog World last June and New Media Expo this month. I've been the science consultant on the nationally syndicated Total Education Radio Show, and have been interviewed by a number of podcasters all across the globe.

Once again – Blogging REALLY opens up awesome opportunities. Btw, if you want to see another awesome opportunity that happened as a result of blogging, check out how Leo Laporte CRASHED MY SERVER, lol.

Reason #4: Blogging Connects You With Awesome People

Connect

I love people. Seriously, I love people. Why? Because people are interesting 😉

Since starting my blog, I've been able to connect with people who have really contributed a significant amount of awesomeness to my life. The first person I always have to mention is my good buddy Chris Deals from Day Job Knockout. He was the first person I connected with online and we've done all kinds of projects.

I've also connected with other bloggers that I've looked up to for a while like Yaro Starak and Gideon Shalwick, the two guys without whom there would be no Become A Blogger.

I've been able to interview people like Andrew Warner from Mixergy (home of the ambitious upstart), Guy Kawasaki (co-founder of Alltop) and a bunch of other well known entrepreneurs.

Lastly, and most importantly, I've been able to connect with people like you – readers of my blog. This has been tremendously rewarding, especially those of you that have joined the brand new Become A Blogger community. You enrich my life in so many ways, so thank you.

Once again – Blogging connects you with Awesome People, and yes – you're pretty darn AWESOME!

Reason #5: Blogging Helps you Build Trust

Reputation - ExpertI remember the first time I saw this in effect. It was when I first heard about blogging as a business by stumbling on to a report written by Yaro Starak. It sounded interesting so I decided to check out his blog. When I checked it out, I remember thinking – man, this seems kinda awesome.

So I decided to sign up for his email newsletter. What happened next amazed me – he started sending me (note, I didn't say selling me) all kinds of awesome, valuable info. I remember looking out for his email and getting excited whenever I saw his name in my inbox (hopefully he doesn't read this and get an “awesome-complex”).

Here's the thing – he was gaining my trust. So much so that when he eventually launched his coaching program, I knew I had to join.

Since I started blogging, I've seen the same thing. By putting valuable content out there, a lot of people have come to regard me as a trusted expert and that has gone a long way to helping me build something extremely valuable.

Once again – Blogging helps you build TRUST, if you're providing value to your audience.

Reason #6: Blogging Makes You A More Well-Rounded Individual

researchYeah yeah, I know what you're thinking – aren't bloggers those withdrawn nerds who live in their basement attached to their computers? How is that well-rounded?

Well, sorry to break the news to you but we aren't that sad (well, for the most part).

Here's the thing – IF you are blogging the right way, you are doing research on different ideas, learning new information constantly so that you can present that info as an authority.

Doing that kind of research helps to make you more well-rounded. Connecting with awesome people (as mentioned above) even helps that process more.

Once again – Blogging makes you a more well-rounded individual IF you are blogging the right way.

Reason #7: Blogging Makes You Think

ThinkingAboutBlogOk, maybe you're tired of thinking. Maybe you work at a job and have to think so much that by the time you get home, you don't want to use ANY more neurons. I fully understand.

However, if you want to present your thoughts in a coherent way on a regular basis, this is something that you need to think about. The more you do this, the better you become. You're forming synaptic connections between those 100 billion neurons in that awesome brain of yours.

Once again – Blogging Makes you Think – that's how you come up with Awesome Content.

Reason #8: Blogging Helps Others

Instead of explaining this, I will share an email that I received a while back from someone who visited my Biology Blog:

I can't begin to tell you how much your work means to me and my family! I've just taken my first teaching job after years in the healthcare industry and was thrown into a high school that has no text books, given one day's orientation and well over 100 students who have been falling behind the state required standards because they've been waiting for new teachers………without your lectures and free materials, I never would have been able to survive this first week……it's a critical job for my family as well….we're down to the most bare food and I couldn't afford to fail……….

God bless you for making this available. I will certainly remember your donations link just as soon as we have enough pay checks to refill our critically empty food cabinets……..you've kept me, my children and an impoverished inner city school afloat……..no better life's work than that I'd imagine.

Can you imagine the feeling that comes when you get an email like that. Every time I get a thank you email/testimonial, I have my assistant put it in a special folder for me to be able to look through and find motivation to continue.blog teamwork success

I just glanced in that folder and saw that there were over 2,600 messages in there. That's just AWESOME!

Reason #9: Blogging Can Help You Build A Significant Online Business

BlogMoneyLet me be 100% honest here. MOST people who blog won't make ANY money doing it. That's just a fact. According to a survey done by Blogging.org, 81% of bloggers have never made $100 from their blogging efforts.

When I started my blog back in 2008, that was one of my goals – to build a significant online business so that I can pay off a bunch of debt, take care of my growing family, and travel a little (or a lot, lol).That being said, if you're smart about it, you can build a significant business around your blog.

Because of what I've learnt over the years, I've been able to do just that and I thank God for that. Not because it's all about the money, but because I live on this earth, have accumulated debt, and I'm tired of it 😉

Both my Biology blog and Become a Blogger make a significant income each and every month. It's a beautiful thing.

Reason #10: Blogging Is A Ton Of Fun

If this were just another job, I don't know that I'd be able to do it as long as I've been doing it. Part of what has kept me going is how much fun I've been having.

Seriously, I've been having a blast. When you take the 9 reasons mentioned above, you have a recipe for doing something extremely enjoyable.

From writing content to recording podcasts, to making videos, to interacting with you AWESOME folk, life is good.

social network_cropped

Interested in Starting A Blog?

A lot of people think starting a blog is difficult. However, you can literally have a blog up and running in a very short period of time (I'd give yourself about an hour or so), have a nice design and start adding your awesome content to build an awesome blog.

That's exactly why I created my 10 Free Videos for Becoming A Blogger. In those videos, I show you how to get your domain and hosting, install wordpress (your blogging platform) in 3 clicks, start adding content, and getting your blog setup for success.

If you have the “technical expertise” to check email and you can follow along as I show you one step at a time how to set it up, you can get your blog going.

Click Here To Sign Up For The 10 FREE Videos

What are YOUR reasons?

Ok, so I've given you my top 10 reasons why I think YOU should start a blog, but you probably have some reasons of your own. So, go ahead and let me know your reasons for starting (or wanting to start) a blog in the comments below.

About the Author Leslie Samuel


Leslie Samuel a business coach for high-performing entrepreneurs. As the host of the Leslie Samuel Show, he teaches how to build an online business. "Changing the world one post at a time” is the mission he strives towards. As a former university professor, he has a passion for education. He's the founder of Interactive Biology, a blog and YouTube channel dedicated to making biology fun for students and teachers. As the head of training for the Social Media Marketing Society, he helps social media marketers get the training they need to stay on the leading edge of social media.

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