Yesterday marked 7 years since I started this blog and what a ride it has been. Blogging has brought so much to my life from friendships to travel, and has provided me with a whole new way to run my image consulting (personal styling) business.
To celebrate I'm sharing my Top 7 Benefits of Blogging
1. Relationships - I have met amazing people from around the world, both bloggers and readers of my blog. What a blessing this has been in my life as it's people and the relationships you form with them that keep me blogging from behind a lonely computer keyboard.
2. Travel - Hello, I got to go on amazing trip to Dubai last year - that's not something that would have ever happened if I hadn't started blogging. Not only did I get to experience some amazing sights activites, I made friends (see point 1 above) and make memories that will last a lifetime. I also had the opportunity to share my travels with you too. Plus all the other trips I've made going to AICI Conferences and holidays, I've shared these with you and I've also got to meet some of you when I do travel.
3. Creativity - I believe that I'm now more creative than I've ever been. I have ideas constantly (it can be draining at times as I have so many and so little time to bring them all to fruition), and I believe that ideas are a great part of what makes us creative. I try new outfits and ways of putting clothes together to photograph for this blog which also assists me in becoming more creative when I'm working with my personal styling clients here in Melbourne. You ask me questions, sometimes kind of curly ones, and that makes me think and use my brain to think up new ways of explaining a concept or showing you the answer. I always wanted to be more creative and now I feel that I am. Creativity rocks!
4. Income - I started this blog in 2008, soon after the global financial crisis started to hit and by doing this I created a buffer, it helped me keep working as an image consultant, bringing me clients, but also started helping me sell my image related ebooks. It now forms a much larger portion of my income itself, as a place to sell my ebooks, and my style programs Evolve Your Style and 7 Steps to Style where I get to help people all over the world discover what works for them, rather than just limit myself to the local population.
5. Expertise - Having spent the past 7 years writing lots and lots of content for my blog, I've had to think lots about my subject topic and so it has increased my expertise. Being able to write about something or teach someone something helps you learn that concept better yourself (there is research that shows teaching something helps you retain the information better yourself). I believe that blogging has made me an expert in my field, as I'm not just relying on the time I spend with clients working with them one-on-one, but also the time I spend answering questions and writing blog posts has ensured that I've truly passed my 10 000 hours of working on the subject of style that I now believe I am an expert. Plus I've had to learn a whole load of new internet/website based skills as I've been blogging too. It broadens my horizons and skills in so many ways.
6. Clients - Blogging has brought me clients. One of the reasons I started the blog was as a marketing stream for my image consulting/personal styling business. I'm an introvert so not the keenest on attending lots of networking events. Blogging has created a channel for potential clients to find me. It finds me the perfect clients too as they like how I explain concepts, so we know we're going to be a good fit. It also showcases my method of working and brings those who want to train as personal stylists to my Academy of Professional Image where we train many aspiring image consultants both through our classroom and online personal stylist programs.
7. Personal Growth - Blogging has made me grow as a person. Since I started blogging I've been presenting workshops at international image conferences (in fact as you read this I'm heading to Washington DC to the AICI Conference and will be presenting two workshops there) as well as having spoken at an Australian blogging conference. I'd never done a lot of public speaking in the past, but it's something that I now love doing. I adore being able to share my knowledge on the topics I'm passionate about. I love that I can inspire others to either take up blogging, or just become a better image consultant (sadly there are many poorly trained personal stylists out in the world who just don't have the understanding they need to work with many clients). I think that being able to educate and help others grow, personally and in their business is something that helps me grow too. It makes me strive more, it makes me be more creative and think up new ways of explaining concepts and creating new tools.
So after 7 years I want to say thank you - to you my readers - without you I wouldn't have kept blogging. Your comments bring me joy and satisfaction. And to me, that interaction is the most important element of blogging, it's the conversation that a blog post starts.
Do you blog? I'd love to know what you have found the benefits of blogging to be?