Are you thinking about starting a blog but haven’t pulled the trigger yet?
Well, what are you waiting for? Read on for nine compelling reasons to start a blog this year.
By the time you finish this article, you’ll be convinced that now’s the right time to start your own blog.
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9 Compelling Reasons To Start a Blog Right Now
First, remember that all my blogging advice is geared towards helping you make money. If you want to start a blog to document your life, online journal style, that’s fine too. But this probably isn’t the right place for you.
I also want to go beyond the overused advice to “blog about your passion”. I struggled with that concept for many years. I couldn’t find my passion and I thought something was wrong with me.
My goal here – to help you build a business blog that makes money as quickly as possible. In an unstable world where the cost of living is skyrocketing, there’s no time to hang around.
#1. Boost Your Existing Income
In the early stages of blogging, you don’t need to worry about giving up the security of your full-time job.
In fact, I advise you to keep your job for as long as possible, while building your blog in your free time. It’s perfectly feasible to publish a new blog post every day while still working 9-to-5.
You might take longer to publish at the beginning, but once you become familiar with the structure of a good blog post, you’ll publish new posts much faster. There are also lots of handy AI tools that can speed up your content publishing workflow.
Hate typing? Don’t worry. So do I. That’s why I’ve got a couple of handy tricks up my sleeve – so you won’t have to spend hours pecking away at the keyboard. Check out my guide on how to write blog posts faster.
#2. Replace Your Full-time Job
Once you’ve been blogging for awhile (typically six months to a year), you may be in a position to give up your full-time job. That’s good news if you’re sick of commuting, don’t like your boss, or don’t feel comfortable in an office environment.
I was able to earn a full-time equivalent income after around 12 months of publishing on my primary blog. I could have done it sooner (by publishing content either every day or several times a week), but I had to juggle my blog alongside a full-time PhD.
Don’t forget, SEO takes time to start working. You’ll probably need at least six months of consistent effort in publishing and keyword research to build sufficient traffic to your blog to make money through ads or affiliates.
That’s why I recommend starting your income-generating blogging activities with coaching, consulting, or freelance writing. You can easily make money from these without having organic traffic to your blog.
Are you a coach, consultant or expertise-led business? Check out my guide to SEO for coaches.
#3. Have Freedom to Move Abroad or Travel Anytime
Out of all possible reasons to start a blog, this is my favorite. It’s the reason I started Digital Émigré, back in 2020 – just before moving to Portugal.
If your long-term life plan includes relocating to another country (or even just frequent travel), then starting a money-making blog now is one of the best things you can do. You might be wondering how to become a digital nomad. Well, blogging could be a great start!
As I’ve said before, success with blogging doesn’t happen overnight. You’ll need at least a couple of months to ramp things up to a good level, although your mileage may vary depending on your other commitments, your niche, how often you publish, and so on.
But once you have that baseline portable income, the freedom it gives you is mind-blowing.
#4. Protect Yourself Against Inflation
Another great reason to start a blog is to protect yourself against inflation and cost of living rises.
Due to external drivers – the war in Ukraine plus the after effects of the COVID-19 pandemic – living costs across much of the world skyrocketed in 2022. And they haven’t really let up since then.
For example, people in the UK have experienced an 80% increase in the cost of utilities. That, combined with increases in food costs, left many people struggling to make ends meet.
For those reasons alone, there’s never been a better time to start building your portable online income. Can you imagine the feeling of confidence in knowing that you’ve made yourself more resilient against these external shocks?
Even a modest blog earning $1,000 a month can offset increases in cost of living and improve quality of life for you and your family.
#5. Open Up New Career Opportunities
You might not necessarily want to achieve global freedom with your blog. Not everyone does and that’s okay.
Perhaps you’re aiming to change your career, or improve your existing one. Having a blog can help you do that, with the added bonus of boosting your income at the same time.
Running a profitable blog showcases a whole host of important skills, vital for the 21st century.
For example, here are some examples of key skills you’ll learn from running your own blog: writing online content, SEO, email marketing, graphic design, media outreach, video editing, copywriting, and many more.
Your own blog is better than any CV, because it’s living, breathing proof that you have all these skills and can leverage them to make money.
It also demonstrates determination, discipline, motivation, and a whole range of soft skills that any employer would be happy to have in their team.
A word of warning – once you start earning on your own terms, you might become allergic to the typical office environment and/or having a boss. That brings me to number six in this list of reasons to start a blog.
#6. Work Flexibly on Your Own Terms
The COVID-19 pandemic taught the world about the value of flexible working. Now, in the aftermath, many people find themselves longing to have that same flexibility back again. Perhaps you’re one of them.
Being able to work on your own terms is another compelling reason to start a blog this year.
Imagine having that same flexibility as you had during the pandemic, but without being under pressure from the authorities or weighed down by the fear of a potentially deadly virus.
If you have kids, you can spend more time with them. If you want to travel more often, you’ll be able to do that. If you’re an early bird who likes to start work at 6 am, you can do that.
Alternatively, you can stay up all night working instead. With your own blog, the choice is absolutely yours.
#7. Make New Connections (And Even Friends)
Making new connections and friends is another great reason to start a blog.
A blog can be a great way to meet new people who share your interests, and it can also help you build relationships with other bloggers.
By networking with other bloggers, you can learn from their experiences and get helpful advice that can help you grow your blog.
When you write interesting and engaging content, people will want to read it and connect with you.
This can help you form relationships with other bloggers, customers, and clients – all of which can be beneficial for your business. Definitely one of the best reasons to start a blog!
#8. Blogging Doesn’t Cost the Earth
There’s no need to worry – starting a blog doesn’t have to be expensive. You can do it on a very low budget indeed.
At the beginning, I recommend keeping your costs as low as possible. Essential spending will include a domain name and web hosting, but you can get those for less than 100 USD per year.
Check out my full guide on how to choose the perfect domain name for your blog.
You’ll probably want to upgrade to better blogging tools later on. But luckily there are lots of free plans and tools available so you can start making money right away without spending very much at all.
#9. It’s Never Been a Better Time to Work Online
We’ve entered the golden age of remote working and there’s never been a better time to get started.
In fact, it’s one of the best reasons to start a blog this year. Several factors have come together to create this perfect environment.
Most notably, the pandemic, but also the many advances in digital technology enabling remote workers to do their jobs. The rise of AI writing tools has been another major driving force.
That shift also extends to online entrepreneurs, such as those running their own money making blogs. There’s now a whole host of clever, thoughtfully built online blogging tools which are designed to help you easily earn a living online.
Many of these tools are extremely user friendly with a manageable learning curve, even if you’re not tech savvy. What’s more, to run a successful blog there’s absolutely NO need to learn to code.
Working remotely or running an online business has become an acceptable and even aspirational norm for much of the world. It’s time to jump on the bandwagon.
Considering starting a YouTube channel instead? Check out my comparison of blogging vs YouTube.
Actionable Next Steps
The world is changing and working online is becoming the new normal.
In this article, I’ve outlined nine compelling reasons to start a blog in 2024, with the goal to use your blog to secure portable income and global freedom.
Check out my guide on how to start a blog in 7 easy steps.
Starting a blog is very affordable, and you can use it to supplement your existing income so you can get started without giving up your full-time job.
I built a profitable blog that’s now replaced my full-time job and allows me to live comfortably abroad.
To learn how to do the same, join the Traffic Mastery Insider newsletter!
