Why I Started a Blog

Why did I start blogging?

I started a blog a few years ago, to have one place on the internet, that I had control over. I didn’t do much with it, after my nephew designed the logo for me, because I tend to overthink things. I plan so much that I plan myself in and out of a project.

For my birthday month, April 2020, I decided to challenge myself to 30 days without Facebook. I do this with other things to see if I have a healthy relationship with them. Because I knew from past experience, that I would be reaching for my phone to check Facebook, I decided not only to stay off Facebook and replace it with a blog post a day. I figured I had nothing to lose, since experts say you have to be a full-time blogger to even have your blog show up. So, I wrote every day and published to my blog, only to find out on a day that I missed, that a few people were reading it. That was weird to me, yet kind of exciting.

Naturally, what followed, was some more overthinking. Well, if people are actually reading it, maybe I should put a little more effort into the posts, not just write off the cuff and publish. And, I quit blogging as a result and my blog sat, taking up space.

In 2021, Facebook decided to take a break from me! The nerve. I’ve always been pretty low key on FB and they never tell you why you are suspended, but I suspect my account was hacked, as I got several email notifications of attempted logins. I will never know, because I couldn’t even get on the Facebook site to ask for help. Over 14 years of pictures, content, friends, health groups, quilt groups and coach groups were gone or inaccessible. And honestly, it wasn’t all that horrible and I would still be off Facebook if it weren’t for a couple of business groups that I can only access on FB. It’s off the topic of this post, but I believe Facebook will fail and the metaverse will be Zuckerberg’s biggest failure. I have no research to back up my opinion, it’s just my gut feeling, for what that’s worth. The reality is, he’s set without it.

Enter the blog again. My long-term goal for my blog is to have a central place, on the internet, that is mine and is not reliant on any social media platform. I want my social media to be supportive of my blog, not the other way around. It does take more work, it is slower and open to more criticism as I learn and grow, but it’s mine.

Bottom line, I’m blogging so I don’t spend as much time in rabbit holes on social media, so I have a space that isn’t reliant on algorithms and filters, to get better at writing and storytelling, and to showcase my product and coaching in my own way to serve my clients better. I may have a few affiliate links thrown in, but only for products that I really love and use. I’m not blogging to sell my blog or make it into an affiliate engine, not that that’s bad, but I already have a business!

That’s why I’m blogging. How about you? Are you thinking of starting a blog? Why?

Anne