Yes & No both!
However, in this 2020 digital world, if you are good at writing you should definitely start a blog.
May be of your own (which we will create in a while in our journey) or may be on Linkedin or Medium or Quora. Anywhere!
I mean, why not do it if you are good at writing and you want to do something for yourself in this digital world, right?
Forget the “build a business” or “monetization” aspects for now.
Blogging is an amazing way to improve your writing, explore areas of interest in depth, learn the basics of website management and SEO, and — perhaps most importantly, develop clarity of thinking.
Specifically, blogging develops at least 5 skills:
Improves your writing — Most people cannot write well. By committing to a blog and sticking with it for at least 6–8 months, your writing will improve. The practice of writing blog posts — and the added pressure of making them public — is the practice of an invaluable craft.
Keeps you current — No matter how passionate you think you are about a certain subject, there will be days (and even weeks) when you aren’t inspired to write. Here’s where the habit and consistency of blogging kicks in — it will force you to read more and keep current in your topic so you have ideas for additional posts.
Teaches website management — No matter what platform you use, be it Wix, Squarespace, WordPress, etc. publishing blog posts will force you to learn the basics of back-end website management and SEO — perhaps even HTML and social media marketing as well.
Builds a portfolio — At the end of the day, you own the content of your blog — no publication or platform can change their algorithm or delete your posts.
Blogs provide ways for you to not only express your thoughts and (potentially) build an audience, but also build a portfolio of original work at your pace and on your terms.
Improves your analytical skills — Writing blog posts require you to clearly organize your thoughts, write persuasively and edit ruthlessly — these are skills that spill over beyond mere writing into other areas of thinking and analysis.
So yes – I think you should start a blog. Play with it, commit to it. In a year, you’ll be amazed at what you’ve built.
