This blog may be new, but I have been blogging for a very long time. From the outside, it may just look like someone sharing their ideas or promoting themselves; however, from the inside, there is a whole lot more going on with a blog.

Some of the benefits I personally get from blogging:

  • A blog provides me a space to work out my thoughts and opinions. It helps me develop my personal/professional philosophy around work and profession
  • I become more aware of what is happening in my industries and the larger world. As I monitor more sources, I can see the larger context and changes happening.
  • I become more engaged with my profession and the subject areas I work in. Monitoring sources and seeing what is happening, I start to think about how they affect what I am doing.
  • By engaging more, I am connecting more with people. There was a time when bloggers were so rare, many of us knew each other and developed a camaraderie of sorts. We responded to each others’ posts–either with our own posts or in the comments. We met in blogger meet-ups whenever more than a couple of us were in the same place. That may not happen quite as much today, but we still look to other bloggers for opinions, the latest news, and hot topics to bounce off. What you don’t see here is the feed of headlines from other bloggers I get on the back end of the LexBlog blogging platform. What a great idea.
  • This ultimately becomes a creative outlet, allowing me to explore ideas in a somewhat low-risk way. I throw out a rough idea, see what responses are, and polish that concept until it gradually becomes a jewel.
  • Putting ideas out into the blogosphere can have influence. A lot of influence if a lot of people read those ideas.

It’s fascinating how much benefit we can get from blogging, and none of it is explicit until you set out to try it yourself on a regular basis.

What questions do you have about blogging? What favourite blogs do you read? Let me know in the comments.