Is maintaining a blog still worth it?
Is maintaining a personal blog still worth it?
For those still maintaining personal blogs: How do you find readers? Where do you share your content? And most importantly - why do you keep writing?
Is maintaining a personal blog still worth it?
There is absolutely still value in writing for its own sake. Personal blogs should first and foremost be for yourself. Long-form writing is a great skill and compiling your thoughts in one location is a great idea. Not to mention that while you may not host the blog yourself, you will own the content. You can transport it anywhere, regardless of the shape of your blog.
As far as brand, finding readers and sharing content goes, I think plugging your blog posts here and there to your communities and social media platforms of choice is sufficient. Being algorithmically savvy about the process can be good, but posting to your favorite Discord server, your favorite social media network, and even just emailing/texting/DMs people works well too. Also... HN is good for this too, of course.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42686438
Writing (more than tweets or short comments) is exercise for the mind and a skill that, like most skills, requires practice and repetition to improve. Writing is a good way to teach yourself how to organize information in a way that someone else finds useful.
Also, to be a good writer, you need to read. A lot. Some writers will resonate or connect with you more than others. Spend some time to figure out why. Maybe you want to adopt elements of their writing styles.
If you're primarily trying to "build your brand," hire a marketing consultant.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42686086
Blogger for more than 20 years. I love writing and I can't stop. Last year I published 60 or 70 original posts on my two business-focused blogs, and maybe 10 on my personal blogs. In terms of finding an audience, it starts with being a good writer and having very original outlooks or information to share. Sometimes, that entails stating something provocative or that goes against the hot takes spouted by everyone else.
I've found that using multiple platforms to market your blog posts - and also expanding into other types of creative content, such as videos or newsletters - is the best way to build awareness.
Repurposing content is important. Some great blog posts started out as my own HN comments that seemed to resonate or I thought deserved a wider audience. I'm currently working on a project to turn about 35 blog posts (which originally were published on my niche business newsletter) into a book.
Awareness also requires regular cross-promotion - video descriptions have a direct link to the blog, and social media accounts might mention a single post a half-dozen times over the course of a year.
I spend a lot of time and effort on it, but I like to do it and there are real benefits for my business.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42686006
"Maybe there's still value in writing for its own sake?" I hope this doesn't need an answer!