Confessions of a Six Figure Professional Blogger

What Motivates You To Blog?

April 16, 2009 | Blogging, Feature

In my quest for questions from my readers, I got several really good ones. One of them had to do with my motivation for blogging. Reader “BobHereYo” posts the following…


What Motivates you to Blog? I know it is a very simple question but it is important to know why you are passionate and why you like to blog?

Sometimes this blogging game is not for everyone and it is good to know your motivations for blogging because obviously you are successful to those of us still working our way up the ladder.

Good question. So, what motivates me?

Obviously I have managed to make a business out of this. It would be a lie to say that money isn’t one of my motivations. I mean, let’s just be up front about it, right? :) But, yes, it does go deeper.

Many years ago, I arrived at a conclusion. I decided that it was my job in life to help as many people as possible by way of communicating to large numbers of people. In other words, I really enjoyed being able to touch the lives of lots of people. Traditionally, this would be done through journalism and, no doubt, many journalists enter that field with grandiose ideas of changing the world.

Now, I’m not setting out to change the world in a political way (as so many journalists wish to do). I simply want to leave my mark in a way which I’m passionate about. It just so happens that I really LOVE the Internet and I believe in the power of the Internet to change lives.

When it comes to this blog, I feel as if I have evolved into doing something online that a lot of people out there would like to do (namely, being a problogger). It would help people’s lives to become successful bloggers.

You, as bloggers, have the power to change the world. It goes way beyond the acquisition of wealth. You can also use the platform to help people.

If you don’t think bloggers have the power of changing the world, just look at how suppressive governments like Iran and China go so far out of their way to stop them.

The reasons I get so motivated doing this, then, include:

  1. I believe in the power of communication to change the human condition for the better. Communication is THE solvent for world problems. However, I believe in the power of communication from person to person, without the power grabbing efforts of a governing body.
  2. I believe that the Internet is a truly equal opportunity communication platform, where anybody with a computer and a net connection can influence thousands of people (if not more).
  3. I believe I can help bloggers become better bloggers, fulfill their missions through effective communication, and make a good living doing it.
  4. If I can help people be more in control of their own lives by controlling their own income and firing their boss, I’m a very happy man.
  5. I am the luckiest guy in the world that I can do this stuff and make enough money doing it to support my family and provide a decent lifestyle (which is obviously a huge motivation for me).

Enough About Me – What About You?

Since the question was directed at me, I answered it. But, what about you?

What motivates YOU to blog?

Let me make one thing clear. This blog is geared toward helping bloggers make money. However, I will NEVER say that you should go into blogging solely for the money. If you start blogging only for the payday, you will most likely fail. You have to truly care about your readers and what you’re doing.

Blogging is not a hands-off, set-it-and-forget-it kind of online business. It takes work. And you need to be motivated by more than money.

So, what motivates you?

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  • I enjoy the process of researching and writing. I may not even be interested in a topic at first, but just going through the process sparks my own interest. I actually like the fact that I can transmit my interest to others through blogging -- the pinnacle of information sharing.
  • Right now it is the desire to make something of myself, to build influence and create an income!
  • Love getting insights into who and what you are, Dave.
    I started blogging to pass along advice on learning to promote and manage themselves to a small network of independent bands/musicians. I'm moving past that now as more and more with years in the music industry are also writing on the same subject. It got to the point I was just posting links to people's sites instead of doing any actual advice writing myself.
    Next project: my website and 3 new blogs on what I'm truly interested in and know a lot about.
    Molly
  • BobHereYo
    Thanks for answering that question in detail.
  • I love to write, so when I discovered blogging, it didn't take me long to figure out that it was for me. I had been building static websites for a while, but when I created my first blog, light bulbs just went off everywhere.

    I also like the challenge of making money online. There's a lot of ways to make money online, but not everyone can do it.
  • I blog for a lot of reasons, but mainly to learn about things and to share them with friends and strangers alike. I think a lot of us are stuck at work, or are otherwise looking for something entertaining or fascinating to see or read, but not all of us are researchers. Blogs can function as a research tool - like a library where the librarian (the blogger in this analogy) has actually done the reading for you already, and selected only the most interesting things (he or she sees fit) to show.
  • I blog because I'm a branding consultant who believes that the principles and practices of good branding should be available to all, not just the largest 5% of companies. (I do a lot of speaking for a similar reason.) Blogging is a great way to share information, and one of the most rewarding things is receiving feedback that it's helped someone. My blog's at www.ThatBrandingThing.com.

    I've still got a lot to learn in the blogging area, and your posts are certainly helping. Keep the good info coming!
  • I blog because I have certain thoughts I have to get out of my head...I just happen to be fortunate enough that people want to listen.
  • I blog for a few reasons.

    I write about a pretty complicated subject (credit repair) in a niche that has a lot of unscrupulous folks.

    I hear from a lot of people about how something they read on my site helped them avoid a financial catastrophe, or got them into a new house. Getting that kind of feedback is what motivates me to blog.

    Yeah, a few ad clicks here and there are nice too, but if it was all about money then I'd have quit long ago. Don't get me wrong, I'd like to have about 100 times the traffic I have right now and make enough ad revenue to do it full time, but helping people out is more than enough to keep me interested and inspired.
  • While there are several motivating factors, I sometimes use blogging (and other forms of writing) as a process to learn about something new. For example, the URL link in this comment goes to a post that I wrote about a "Natural User Interface" group that I have created on FriendFeed; I knew nothing about the topic, but I figured that if I read about it, wrote about it, and sought the opinions of others, I'd learn more about the topic. And, as a side benefit, others who are interested in the topic may be drawn to my writings.
  • I think this is an important point...there is nearly always a greater purpose behind any successful business. It's almost never just about the money. Although...without money the business would not survive of course. But you have to know WHY you're doing something...very important!
  • Why I blog is expressed in a blogpost I did on my site. http://gbridgetv.com/?p=208
    Essentially I blog for the conversation it creates because without the stories we tell we do not exist.
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