Hello.
If you are reading this post, I want to thank you for taking time out of your already jam-packed day to read my writing. You could be here for a number of reasons: you enjoy reading. You are one of my friends. You are one of my parents (hi Mom and Dad!). You happened to find me through a link I posted in one of my social media channels and were curious enough to click and then…take your precious time in an unbelievably busy life to read these words.
Again, thanks. That is pretty cool!
You see, I don’t blog for the reasons many people believe are the only reasons to write online regularly. It’s obvious for anyone in the know about blogging that I’m not exactly getting tons of comments. Sure, I have a decent Alexa ranking, but I think maybe three people have me bookmarked in their RSS feed? My phone isn’t ringing off the hook because of my blog posts. I can’t boast about having a million trillion dedicated Twitter followers as a result of my blog. And I haven’t been invited to speak on any stages because of what I write.
But to automatically assume that these kinds of results are why someone blogs presents the paradox.
Has blogging helped me build my online presence and add credibility to what I do professionally? Absolutely. Have I deliberately done keyword research before writing a blog post to increase the odds of getting my post found in the search engines? Yup.
But honestly, I don’t blog consistently for any of those results listed above.
I blog because it brings me personal joy, keyworded or otherwise. And that, in itself, is enough.
I spend a good part of my day every day working very hard behind the scenes on developing online marketing strategies for clients. Among other things, I build marketing funnels, study social media metrics, analyze online trends, design and build websites, plan webinar presentations, teach, train, and coach, create graphics, shoot and edit videos, take pictures, Skype with my team, research, research, research, plan and strategize and execute. I serve a growing community of emerging authors through a private membership site I built with two business partners. Â I get how this whole online thing works, and yes, I make money online every month and know from first-hand experience that when you put together a strategy, amazing things can happen.
These things may not move the world, but they do change lives and lead people closer to making their precious dreams come true. I love what I do and believe me, there’s nothing more amazing than seeing the look on someone’s face when you tell them: guess what? You have a lead. You made a sale. Your book just went to #1 on Amazon.
Whatever the news I have to share with clients may be, there are moments of pure bliss that come from the massive amount of hours we who choose the online space as our place of work spend to make something happen.  This is why creating a new blog post is such a welcome break in an otherwise hectic day crammed with tasks that can be, at times, very tedious and boring work (social media fatigue, anyone?). It provides an outlet, a release, a much needed rest from the grind. I’ve been blogging for five years; writing since I could hold a crayon. Writing for me over the years has served many different purposes, each tied to the immediacy of its circumstances. Some writing is very results-oriented; other writing, not so much. It really all depends.
The point is, not everything has to have a point that, well, points to numbers on a spreadsheet, somehow proving to the world one’s level of importance, status, or worth. I do not dismiss the value of analytics as I rely on them greatly for the work I do.
But sometimes, writing just for the sake of getting a thought out into the world, an expression, capturing a moment in time that will never come around again, like this one right now…that lightness of blogging…is worth celebrating for no other reason than because it is, in itself, enough.
