What Is Your Blogging Motivation?

If you haven't already pondered this question, then it's probably about time you ask yourself the question. For many people, the answer to the question is simple - money. For others, it is for personal enjoyment, the feeling of being a known expert in their field, venting of personal feelings or opinions, and some people blog to self publish their books or poetry where readers can follow the writer on a literary journey.

If you were able to sum up your blogging motivations in a simple word, the word is probably money. Let's face it, it is one of the most common motivators among new bloggers, and can also be the single factor to cause a lack of enthusiasm from a once gung-ho blogger. Money as a motivation has also led to the creation of sploggers, who design their entire blog to flood the visitor with spam advertisements instead of quality writing. While this might make a few dollars for the lucky splogger, there are a world of savvy blog readers who will avoid the splog like a disease, and it will not be a viable long term source of income, nor will it inspire return readers since splogs do not usually provide any useful information, advice, or even a funny anecdote to keep readers interested.

If money is your motivation, but you also have a true passion to write, then you just may have a healthy combination that could push you towards success. Once you find your blogging niche, put your energy into writing quality posts, and write often enough to keep readers interested in coming back. Your motivation to express yourself through your writing should be fueling your blog's growth, which - if you are writing useful or interesting information - you will see an increase in return visitors at a fairly steady pace. If you are genuinely motivated to write, then you just may have what it takes to endure the first few months of potentially no revenue from your blog.

What if your motivation to blog truly is money? Does that directly translate into failure? Not at all, it just means that you may have to work a little bit harder to come up with original content, and find your inner strength to keep up with the daunting task of writing your posts. It definitely helps to have some interest in either writing or sharing information, but doesn't have to be your passion. Many successful bloggers began out of a desire to work from their homes, without having to sell anything. Blogging is a great way to do that, but it isn't quick and it isn't a guaranteed shot at making big bucks, and your success can hinge on whether or not you continue to write. For you it may help to enlist the help of a few guest bloggers or college interns to keep up with the demand of providing fresh content on your blog. There are plenty of bloggers for hire who really enjoy the writing aspect and will readily provide content for your blog - some for pure enjoyment, some motivated by the mighty dollar, but sometimes for surprisingly low prices.

Whatever your motivation is, the key to successful blogging is quality original content. Things that encourage readers to come back can be anything from your writing style, your topics of choice, your humor, your great advice, sharing knowledge and information. Some may even read your blog because they identify with you in some way, and are personally enriched by your words, or maybe you inspire them to be the person they want to be, and cause them to be better than they are. Maybe you don't even care if you're helping people, you just love knowing that you are an expert in your field, and that makes you feel good. Either way, grasp your motivation and let it pull you up to the next level - you'll need ongoing enthusiasm to keep you on the road to success!