This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
Hey Ladies, this is Amber here…
One of the things that I love about the 5 Minutes for Mom community is that so many of us are mom bloggers ourselves. We are online for a lot of reasons – to connect with other moms, to learn things, to make money, to enter giveaways (who doesn’t love giveaways?), to practice writing, or to communicate information we care about. No two of us are the same, yet we have a lot in common.
I’ve decided to write a series of posts on the ins and outs of blogging. It will cover some of the personal and practical considerations that we face as mom bloggers, as well as some technical tips to help you get a blog set up and running well. If there is something you would like to talk about, please leave a suggestion in the comment section and I’ll check it out.
But first things first. Before I get too deep into the hows of blogging, I thought I’d address perhaps the biggest question of all: why blog?
As I said earlier, no two of us will have the same answer. And likely, over time your reasons will evolve. Blogs, like children, have a way of growing and changing before our very eyes. I started blogging at Strocel.com in May 2003, before I even had children. Back then, I was blogging about my home renovation, mostly for people I already knew. Today I blog about parenting and building a life as a mother, mostly for people I have never met. Seven years will change a blog.
No matter your reasons for blogging, it’s a good idea to flesh them out a little from time to time. Because your reasons for being online may affect the way that you blog. It’s always good to know what your goals are, if you want to stand a chance of fulfilling them. Right?
If goals are good things, then let’s start making some. Here are a few reasons that I can think of to blog:
- To share photos and stories about your family with friends or relatives who live far away.
- To find friends and build an online support network.
- To promote your business, or share information with customers and clients.
- To promote a cause that you believe in.
- To build an audience for your writing, speaking, photography, art, etc.
- Just for fun.
My list is by no means complete, so I need your help to build it up a little. Why do you blog? Or do you? I’d love to hear!
Written by 5 Minutes for Mom Contributing Editor, Amber Strocel. Check out her blog, Strocel.com.
Mleastland says
I blog for my friends mostly. I live in a small town in Texas very far away from the people I love. So I blog about my little boy and our life together so that they can peer in to our life. And it’s fun!!
Mozi Esmes Mommy says
Do I have to have a concrete reason?! I started my blog as a way to keep family/friends updated on my baby daughter’s life, but it has evolved into much more. It energizes me and gets me up in the morning. It’s a hobby I can’t get enough of; one that I have to set time limits on in order to stay balanced. And I can’t exactly pinpoint why. The connections, to be sure. But I love sharing ideas, and I love reading other people’s ideas, and those ideas motivate me to share even more…
kristin says
i blog to remember, to relive and to pass on my memories with my girls. its an extension of my years of diary writing, its a creative place for my photos.
i blog to connect with others, to learn, to inspire and to be inspired.
Hayley says
I blog to put a little piece of myself out there. I blog for me. It is therapeutic when I write something personal. Even if no one reads it, I can go back later and read it myself, and say, oh yeah, I remember that. I also like to share freebies and deals and fun stuff with others.
SomeGirl says
I blog to make a difference and to spur myself and others on toward love and good deeds.
I also blog to keep my husband and friends sane… I took this week off from blogging and have talked my husband’s and friends’ ears off!! I need a place to share all the crazy thoughts that run through my head! 😉
Thanks for asking! 🙂
♥ Michelle
Shelia says
I started blogging around the time of the birth of our fourth child. Mainly because our family is scattered all over the country and we knew with four children traveling to see everyone would be a thing of the past. (And everyone wanted to be able to watch the kids grow up!) I never anticipated then that I would still be blogging three years later! I guess I continue due to all of the freedom of creativity it has sparked and all of the great moms I have met along the way… and the chance to share an occassional great recipe!
Cari says
I blog because I like to connect with other moms who may be going through the same struggles. Maybe there are those out there who may be blessed or encouraged by something I write. I also blog to meet other bloggers to seek encouragment from them. Also, it is a great way to sort of journal my daughter’s life’s events.
One more reason is that my husband’s family are all far away in Canada so it is a great way for them to keep up with us!
Nancy says
I blog because I have a bad memory, and when the new owners of our house want to know things like when we bought the drapes, I can look it up. I’m not in it for the money (though doing the odd review is fun), or the social connection (I know lots of other moms through PTO, Cub Scouts and our great neighborhood), or because my inner writer is dying to come out. It’s kind of like talking just to hear the sound of your own voice. 🙂
The Mom Venture Blog says
Ok, I’m still getting my why straightened out, but the main reason to be honest is to make money. I want to blog also for people to enjoy reading about my evolving motherhood and business ventures, homeschooling and cooking. I have several websites, but I especially want to get my soy candle business out there, so I hope that by building up my mom blog, I might also have a potential customer base for my candles. I’m thinking about starting a candle blog to, though.
I also enjoy doing giveaways and hope to do that more too. I love to give helpful advice on child raising and other things.
So there are so many reasons, and I’m still trying to figure out a main course of direction for my blog, because, well, I’m not sure it’s that great to be going in a zillion directions!
Maybe I just need to start separate blogs for different topics…Yikes! Can you tell I have a problem with putting too much on my plate? LOL
Katina says
I love blogging because I get to share my family life. I also love connecting with other moms.
Jackie says
I blog because I love helping people to stretch their paychecks with freebies, deals and discounts. I also love that I get to do reviews and I always be in the know about new products. I have also through blogging met some wonderful folks from around the country and been invited to some great events – none of which would have happened without my blog.
Tiffany says
I love this blog, I am here all the time.
I have an award for you over at my blog.
Gattina says
That’s a good question ! I dropped into blogging without even knowing what a blog was. I looked for documentation of Egyptian cats (I had just learned to use Internet) that was in end 2005, from a chat room, I landed in a Forum and suddenly saw blogs. And as I was retired and didn’t know what to do with my time, I just created a blog. It was on Yahoo. Then as nobody read my things, I moved to Blogger. And still even today my friends here Belgium and most of the people still don’t know what a blog is ! I enjoy it. I learn a lot, I move around, I learned to take pictures, and I can write and people even read me ! It’s a great hobby !
Barbara H. says
Here are a few reasons for me:
1) I had been wanting to write and felt blogging would help me to improve my writing and communication skills.
2) As an older Mom and middle-aged lady, I felt perhaps I could be an encouragement to younger moms.
3) As someone with a not very well-known illness, I hoped to be an encouragement to others with that same illness or others.
4) As a Christian, I wanted to be able to share what the Lord has taught me along the way.
5) Fun!
Amber Strocel says
It sounds like you have some great reasons for blogging! As a young mom, I have to say that I really appreciate #3, especially. It’s so great when those of you who have “been there, done that” share your hard-won wisdom.
Jaclyn Rubly says
Blogging to me is a way I rejuvenate and connect with other moms. It’s about meeting new moms, finding new ideas and staying current with technology and anything consumer related. I think it’s fun and you can put your mind to just about anything.
Amber Strocel says
I think the connection is SO important to us as moms. I know I don’t always see a lot of other adults during the day, so finding other people to connect with online has been HUGE for me.
Narelle says
I blog to give myself a bit more of an identity than just a Stay at Home Mum, and also because it keeps me focused on spending my free time doing things I enjoy (cooking and crafting). When nap time comes around, I think “What can I do today that I can blog about?”. It’s not that my life revolves around my blog, but it focuses me so I don’t just waste time watching TV or on the Internet.
Amber Strocel says
That’s great that blogging focuses you in that way! I’ve definitely found myself doing some great stuff, even with my kids, just so that I could blog about it.
RefreshMom says
I blog as a means to record thoughts I don’t want to lose. A blog post is a manageable chunk of writing that I might not otherwise take the time to do. If I wanted it to be a solitary exercise though, I’d just have a journal (I’ve never been good at keeping up with that).
I like that blogging offers a chance to connect with like-minded and like-hearted people that I wouldn’t necessarily cross paths with.
Mary Hampton
Amber Strocel says
I’ve heard of people printing out their blogs in book form to keep the record. They can make really good memory books! I know that I love to read through my archives sometimes to see what I was up to at the time.
Great point!
Katie says
I blog mostly for your first point – for family and friends – but also for RefreshMom’s point – “it’s a little chunk of writing that I might not otherwise do” And I did print mine, the blogs from the first year of my daughters life is now in a nice neat hard bound book compliments of Blurb.com. And now it’s all there for me to go back and flip through without all the fuss of creating a scrapbook or baby book – both of which I’d love to do but don’t have the time. That’s why blogging is great – little pieces at a time.
Robyn Wright of Robyn's Online World says
I blog because I can say anything I want and no one can shush me and I don’t have to remind myself to let others talk either. I can just ramble on and share whatever I want and if people want to “listen” they will and if not they just won’t visit my blog.
Amber Strocel says
That’s a great reason! I love to talk. I mean, I REALLY love to talk, so you’re right, blogging is a great way to just let that part of myself go.