To Blog or Not To Blog?

Found some interesting Blogosphere stats from The Future Buzz (article dated January 12, 2009) and one Dec. 2009: and here is what they had revealed:

133,000,000 – number of blogs indexed by Technorati since 2002
346,000,000 – number of people globally who read blogs (comScore March 2008)
900,000 – average number of blog posts in a 24 hour period
1,750,000 – number of RSS subscribers to TechCrunch, the most popular Technology blog (January 2009)
77% – percentage of active Internet users who read blogs
55% – percentage of the blogosphere that drinks more than 2 cups of coffee per day (source)
81 – number of languages represented in the blogosphere
59% – percentage of bloggers who have been blogging for at least 2 years source

Let us first answer the question,  what is a blog?

A blog is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.  Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability of readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (Art blog), photographs (photoblog), videos (Video blogging), music (MP3 blog), and audio (podcasting). Microblogging is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts.

So many have considered writing or putting up a blog.  Majority have succeeded in maintaining and have grown their readers and subscribers.  If you are one of those considering it, I feel it would be great to consider the following questions:

1.  Do I have time to write at least 1 or 2 posts a week?– Writing posts and updating it at least once or twice a week is important, specially if you already have people following and eagerly awaiting what you write.  Making time is important, don’t start now until you can commit to it.

2.  Am I doing this to share what I know and in turn help others?  Or am I just going to do it to earn money? – Most people think that by just starting your blog now you will end up with tons of money.  If you have that as an intention at the beginning then you are in for a big let down.  If you share great content, information about your field, you help people understand what you are about, then and only then will you be able to have the chance of earning.  The readers of your site can either hire you or they can be advertisers for your site.  Most of the successful bloggers I have met did not have profit as the main focus of their existence.

3.  What format will I use? Can I sustain that format? What content should I share? Plan your blog.  There are so many resources on the web to let you see which type of format you can use.  WordPress, Blogger, etc.  As to the format, it should be something you know you can sustain for a long period of time.  What do I mean here?  Is it drawings, Is it mostly gadget reviews?  Planning will help you make sure you stay on track.

4,  Who will be interested in reading my blog? The topics and the format will come easy once you have also determined who or which audience you want to reach.

To blog or not to blog? I have given my answer a year ago and I am happy I did.  I hope the statistics and the questions can guide you in your decision.

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