I’m a crap writer…so why do I blog?

May 31, 2011 Written by History , Social Media

I’m a sub-par writer, and the weird thing is that I’m fully aware of it. I don’t have the natural wit or mastery over the English language that you’d think would be a prerequisite for any aspiring blogger. What’s more I chronically include typos and errors in my posts…so why do I persist with blogging?

writing Im a crap writer. Im a crap writer...so why do I blog?

There are a large number of reasons for my persistence, but they can be classified into two broad themes:

  1. Business Reasons
  2. Personal Reasons

Business Reasons For Blogging

 

  • SEO - Now that we’ve turned iThnk into a business – the key word optimisation and inbound links that come from blogging can’t be ignored.
  • Promotion - Writing semi entertaining or insightful content that might just get retweeted and shared could  result in business growth - in fact this is how we got our first contract.
  • To Be Respected  - People who blog tend to aspire to be seen as thought leaders – I’m not so phased about being the next Seth Godin but I do love it when someone recognises the hard work and thought that I’ve put into a post (believe me when I say blogging is hard work!).

Personal Reasons For Blogging

 

  • Making Connections – Through blogging and twitter I’ve met some great people who I enjoy cyber stalking to see what they’re up to (that’s right Jose, I’ve been watching you). I’m also often challenged by some of the readers of iThnk which brings me to my next point….
  • Expanding My Thnking- Blogging helps me develop my thought process and expand on ideas that deserve a bit more time and attention. Half of the things I write about start off very simple and end up in places I never intended. Sometimes this is great, other times it can be a little frustrating…but it’s always worth it.
  • Forcing me to up-skill- Even though I’m never gunna win a Pulitzer, I’m quite passionate about blogging and as with any sort of passion you tend to unwittingly up-skill yourself. In my case I’m getting better with image editing/design and also using the the back end of wordpress to it’s full potential.
  • It Adds Structure To My Life – Blogging forces you to sit down and dig deep on a regular basis (in my case once or twice a week). Sometimes this is a chore, sometimes it’s fun and sometimes it’s a bit like meditation.
  • Exploring New Conversations - Because of my efforts in blogging I’m also forced to enter conversations that I otherwise wouldn’t have dreamed of entering. I’ve had to look into design forums, wordpress forums, and I’ve even stumbled into the odd artistic convo. I love the serendipitous feeling of stumbling into something that resonates with me on a level I never could have anticipated.

Summing Up

There are probably a hundred and one reasons why I shouldn’t blog….I have a career and business to focus on, or I’m too young to have an opinion of value etc.

But the thing about my journey with blogging thus far is that I’m having fun.

If no one ever reads another post I write and I see no more opportunity come from blogging I’ll probably keep at it because it’s now an important part of my life.

How has blogging effected your life?

If you’re a sub par blogger or if your a pro I’d love to hear about the motivations behind your blogging/blog reading?  What does it add to your life?

Oh and if you’re looking for some blogging inspiration check out this post by Steve Aitchicon: 100 Ways To Find Ideas For Your Blog Posts

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  • http://twitter.com/QualityLMiriam Miryam Spronk

    Sam, don't sell yourself short. The truth it doesn't mean diddly squat if you are or are not an excellent writer. (I'm an immigrant, I know how to completely stuff up the English language ;) What you tell, and how is what matters. I blog for very similar reasons you do. You enjoy what you do and know about what it is you do best. Age has nothing to do with it, there are many over 40 idiots out there (painful truth but there it is), so the fact you are 23 and have an excellent brain should be beneficial to both your blog and your business. Spelling hazards or not. Now let's hear more about your great new plans and activities…

  • socialsammy

    Hi Mryam,

    Thanks for the encouragement – you're probably right about the 40+ idiots. In my short time in business I must say I'm fortunate enough to have not met too many, but I'm sure they're out there lurking in the shadows.

    I guess you've touched on one of the other reasons I blog “the fact that I'm 23…” – I am a firm believer in the fact that it's a marathon not a sprint and I might not ever be Seth Godin or Chris Brogan – but I'm sure if I keep at it and keep developing my skills I'll eventually be slightly less crap at writing, hell maybe one day I'll actually be half decent.

    In terms of exciting things that we're working on….we're already thinking about our next website redesign (but gotta work out all the kinks on this one first). We're also considering creating a Wiki based book project where we want to encourage people to share their social media stories – the plan is that we'll eventually publish the book and give share the profits in equal proportion with each person contribution. Would you be interested in something like this?

    There are a couple of other things, but they're all top secret for now….but I'll reveal in good time.

  • http://twitter.com/QualityLMiriam Miryam Spronk

    All sounds good to me! Have you considered contacting Mark of BusinessBlogs, I think he could be very helpful to your 'cause' as well. #tip

  • alexwhalley

    Sam, this is a really well constructed post and contradicts the point of the content. I love it (Ithnk)
    I'm sure I don't need to tell you how blogging has effected my life, but in typical Alex style, I will anyway…
    I started blogging to keep track of all my attempts to learn how to make money online. Ironically it is through the blogosphere that I have started to make connections and learn the intricacies of traffic generation. I met you through blogging and we work 7metres from each other! THAT speaks volumes for the power of a blog. In terms of your writing style, I love it mate and you better not go and 'improve' in anyway. Your typos add character to an already awesome perspective that your writing style offers.
    I think I'm a good writer, but this has not put me in any advantageous positions, in fact it's the posts that are not grammatically perfect that get the best response.
    On another note, yet again you have managed to break down something I do every day in such a way as to provide insight into 'how' I should do it, and of course, a framework to makesure I cover all bases.
    Thanks Sam, it's been too long since I visited.
    You have been SOOOOOO busy at work (Sam is at a very important place in his career right now) so you must be telling the truth when you say you 'love blogging' cause how you found the time to not only post but be this insightful is beyond me.! Kudos my kiwi brother. Kudos

  • socialsammy

    Thanks man – it's amazing to thnk that your blogging story is only about 3months old and already it's a powerful one. Can't wait to see what it's like in 6 or 12 months from now! Especially as you're also in an important place in your career, quitting your career. Throwing in the 9-5 grind to take the plunge try and make something big happen with your online business is a huge move and it's super inspiring.

    You've touched on something hat I mentioned in my post, but now realise it was far too brief… “making connections”. It absolutely blows my mind to think that even though we walk passed one another every day we may never actually met if it wasn't for blogging. I really do believe that its the connections made through the socialsphere that make it all worth the effort. To me it seems that the powerful nature of these connections are ten times more evident when those they manifest themselves in “the real world”. You're enthusiasm has been a shot in the arm for me.

    Let's not loose touch one you leave the office.

  • socialsammy

    Definitely will do, I've had a few Twitter conversations with him and he seems like a top man. Once we've launched the wiki I'll fire him a message or two and see if he has any pointers. Thanks for the #Tip an!d thanks for commenting – love it!

  • Sally_Neill

    Hey Sam, found your blog from a comment you left on Alex's.

    I think you have a nice writing style, it flows very easily and I enjoyed reading the post, you are very honest, being honest is always a bonus and better than those stupid affiliate review blogs that are full of lies.

    Like you, blogging is fun to me, I like to do it, and if we can make money from it then all the better I say.

    Sally :)

    • http://ithnk.com Sam Schuurman

      Hi Sally
      Firstly, thank you for making the extra click through from my comment on Alex’s site and taking the extra bit of time to comment here. Not everyone does this in fact iThnk your in a very special minority. So once again thanks!

      I appreciate your feedback especially as honesty is something I’ve always strived for. In regards to I’m so with you on the “if we can make money from it…”. I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever get paid for what I write, in fact I doubt it very much but if it adds credibility to what we’re trying to achieve in business then I guess that’s kinda the same thing.

    • Anonymous

      Hi Sally
      Firstly, thank you for making the extra click through from my comment
      on Alex’s site and taking the extra bit of time to comment here. Not
      everyone does this in fact iThnk your in a very special minority. So
      once again thanks!

      I appreciate your feedback especially as honesty is something I’ve
      always strived for. In regards to I’m so with you on the “if we can
      make money from it…”. I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever get paid
      for what I write, in fact I doubt it very much but if it adds
      credibility to what we’re trying to achieve in business then I guess
      that’s kinda the same thing.

      Sorry if this message is short, was sent from my phone

    • Anonymous

      Hi Sally
      Firstly, thank you for making the extra click through from my comment
      on Alex’s site and taking the extra bit of time to comment here. Not
      everyone does this in fact iThnk your in a very special minority. So
      once again thanks!

      I appreciate your feedback especially as honesty is something I’ve
      always strived for. In regards to I’m so with you on the “if we can
      make money from it…”. I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever get paid
      for what I write, in fact I doubt it very much but if it adds
      credibility to what we’re trying to achieve in business then I guess
      that’s kinda the same thing.

      Sorry if this message is short, was sent from my phone

  • Jeffrey

    Hi Sam,
    I'll have to back Alex's take on this post. Looks pretty good to me also. You want to see a challenge, stop by my site!

  • socialsammy

    Hi Jeffrey – thanks for stopping by, I really appreciate your comment. I'd love to check out your site but you've made it kinda hard for me having not left your URL.

    Don't worry though I'll find ya!

  • http://twitter.com/Jansa020 Sam Janett

    Dude i love ithnk and your blog posts. So many things hit home with me. I have tried to sit down and blog about my business experiences so far but every time i try i waffle and babble my way through and when i come back and re-read it i can't believe how far off topic i'd got. I like the way you are able to communicate your ideas succinctly, and also the use of images really ads to the posts and gives this blog a very authentic 2.0 feeling. Perhaps you could write a blog post about how YOU write a blog post…ironic considering the title of this one!
    Nothing substitutes hard work bro keep it up.

  • socialsammy

    Man iThnk you must be our first GENUINE “fan” – you're always super encouraging and I get a massive kick out of interacting with you!

    You're absolutely right: perseverance is genius and hard work is the starting point for success! So keep at it and I'm sure you'll nail down your own unique writing process.

    The idea of me writing a post about how I write posts seems a bit 'out there' for me at the moment, especially considering I don't actually know what my process is – but I will try – perhaps this well help me turn my unconscious process into a tangible framework. Watch this space – that'll be my next post.

  • http://twitter.com/Jansa020 Sam Janett

    Look foward to reading it! iThnk the reason ive found it so hard to blog is because im trying to blog about my personal experiences on the Room4Rent blog, rather than a separate personal blog. I think the two should be seperated and that way i can focus my thoughts better…Right time to get a personal blog then :)
    Another thing you may want to think about with the ithnk blog is having recent posts easily accessible. It would be good to see another area on the right hand side of the page with Recent Posts, perhaps below Popular posts, just so that we don't have to go back to the homepage to find recent posts. Just an idea.

  • socialsammy

    Thanks for the heads up – I've just added recent posts to the sidebar. It fully just slipped my mind when we rebuilt the site.

    Most bloggers advise you to just start writing and tweak as you go. So maybe when you start your personal blog you'll also find that some of your content is completely appropriate for your corporate blog. I can't wait to see what emerges.

  • alexwhalley

    Dude? just reading the comment and noticed the one to Jeffrey and that made me realise – where are the links to the site? This is not helping your comments man!

  • Naijarumour

    do you have to be very fluent with English language to blog, I just started a blog to write about rumour in my country and we have our own version of English language called pidgin, I dey sometime write my post, abi wetin you call am for broken english, I hope you get the gist, it has to do with be real and knowing who your audience are, simple and find the best ways to communicate with them
    the home of naija latest rumours

  • socialsammy

    Hey Alex

    Thanks for the heads up – I'll look into Comment Love and other comment systems tonight – you're very right, not having links back to people's sites is super lame and certainly won't help with encouraging comments from other bloggers! Thanks again for taking the time to suggest an improvement that we need to make.

  • socialsammy

    I completely agree with the fact that it's about knowing and understanding your audience. It's something that I'm going to continue to work on. But I also wish I had a slightly stronger comand and understanding of the English Langauge. (also something that I can work on).

    Your site sounds facinating, I will certainly check it out. Although I may struggle with pidgen.

    Thanks for stopping by and for taking the time to leave a comment.

  • http://nanoomi.net nanoomi

    Love it Sam! Keep it up. I wish I could blog more myself but sometimes time is not in my favour. – Andy TeBay