The ROI of Blogging

Creating unique content on a regular basis has its fair share of challenges. Unless your blog is your full-time job — or you see it as a legitimate side hustle — the quality will vary depending upon what’s happening in your real life. Do the kids have soccer practice? Is your spouse traveling for work? If you don’t invest time and energy into your blog, what you’ll have is a sloppy journal of your thoughts instead of a legitimate body of work.

But what’s the ROI of blogging? What can blogging help you accomplish in life that no other platform can?

The ROI of blogging is better communication. For some people, writing creates a meditative state within their minds that carries over into the real world. Thinking and speaking become easier. For others, writing helps to release tension and anxiety that clouds judgment. For me, writing is meditative. It can be a substitute for — and an extension of — my mindfulness practice. It calms me down so that I can have more meaningful conversations in real life.

The ROI of blogging is better work-life habits. Regular writing creates regular schedules, which begets better work-life habits. If you only have thirty minutes to write, the discipline for your blog becomes the foundation for better habits in the rest of your life.

The ROI of blogging is better relationships. I’ve had my fair share of weird experiences on the internet, but blogging has opened new doors. Friendly, like-minded people have walked into my life. It doesn’t look like they’re going anywhere, either. There’s so much content on the market, and the chance that anybody reads your blog is slim. If someone reads your work and has something to say, it’s worth listening. That person is trying to be your friend.

When jammed into a traditional blogging format, the ROI of blogging sounds boring and limiting. Will you make money? Will you have a better personal brand? Will you have better sex? If you do, please write a blog post and tell us how. I’d like to know.

Blogging can be a single element of a broader life strategy, or it can be a brave act of sitting down at your computer and telling your truth. When it’s the former, blogging can change your life if you let it. When it’s the latter, blogging can change someone else’s life.

The beautiful thing about blogging is that it seemingly has no ROI. It’s just a blog. Do it, anyway, because it’s a skill that can lead to greater life experiences. It’s changed my life, and I think it can change yours.

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I’ll be at Collision Conference all next week plus a speaking gig in Orlando. I’ll have limited access to my blog. Find me on Twitter and the GlitchPath blog. Also, here’s a video that I forgot to record in HD, earlier this week, about my passion for making the HR blogging community a little better.