There’s no “right” or “wrong” reason to start blogging … but perhaps one of these resonates with you. Any of these could give you a good basis for how to start a successful blog.

1. Start an Online Business

Not all bloggers want to make money, but each year, a lot of people start blogs in order to create an online business.

If you want to make money online, blogging is a great way to do so. It’s easy and cheap to start a blog – in fact, it can be virtually free. You don’t need to create a business plan, raise funding, or remortgage your house to start a successful money-making blog.

In most countries, you don’t need to set up a formal business structure in order to create a money-making blog. However, you will need to pay taxes on your business income, so it’s important to keep good records.

Tip: Try to view your blog as a business right from the start. Think about how you’re going to make money – for instance, do you plan to sell downloadable products (e.g. ebooks), or monetize through affiliate marketing and advertising?

Don’t worry if you’re not sure yet how you might make money from your blog: we’re going to cover lots of different techniques later in this article.

2. Grow an Existing Business

Another great reason to blog is to grow a business that you’ve already established. Plenty of people use a blog as just one of their types of content marketing channels for a business that already exists.

For instance, maybe you sell handcrafted jewelry on Etsy. You could use your blog to share your techniques or even tips for what types of jewelry go best with which outfits. Then, you can link to your Etsy products – hopefully boosting sales.

Or perhaps you own a local business like a restaurant or cafe. Adding a blog to your website can help you connect with your customers, win more repeat business, and get new people in through the doors.

Tip: A blog isn’t a “quick fix” solution for getting more customers. You’ll likely find it takes a bit of time for your blog to become truly effective in winning new/repeat business. Don’t give up after just one or two posts.

3. Create a Personal Brand

A blog can also be a great way to build your personal brand – or even establish thought leadership. If you want to build a name for yourself in your industry, blogging lets you easily get your thoughts out there into the world.

With this type of blogging, you can infuse a lot of your personality into your blog. You can develop your writing voice and keep readers coming back for more because they love the way you write and think.

Tip: Guest blogging on other people’s blogs is a great way to further grow your personal brand, spreading your message across the internet. We’ll come onto more about guest blogging later.

4. Launch a Freelance Writing Career

Blogging is a great place to start if you want to become a freelance writer.

There are lots of blogs that pay freelancers to write for them. Many freelancers love blogging because of the quick turnaround times compared with magazines and other publications: you could write an article one week and see it published the next.

Freelance blogging is also a great option alongside the other goals on this list. It can be a great way to get a “behind the scenes” glimpse of how big blogs work.

Plus, it lets you bring in a steady and fairly predictable income while you’re growing your own blog to make it profitable.

Tip: While you don’t have to have your own blog in order to freelance, most freelance bloggers do have their own site. You can use this to connect with potential clients or simply to showcase samples of your work.

5. Promote Your Books

Many authors have blogs where they promote their books. This works particularly well for non-fiction, where you can easily blog about the same topics you wrote about in your book(s), bringing in search engine traffic and visitors from social media.

Fiction authors also use blogging, often as a way to stay in touch with readers, to talk about their writing process, and to share their own lists of favorite books in their genre.

Some bloggers do this the other way around: they start a popular blog on a specific topic then write a book about it. James Clear is a great example of this: he was blogging about habits before he wrote his bestselling book Atomic Habits.

Tip: Remember that some readers will find your books first, perhaps through an Amazon search for your topic.

Use your books to promote your blog, as well as using your blog to promote your books. Lots of bloggers include information at the back of their books about where to find them online.

6. Spread an Important Message

Do you have a message that you want to share with the world? Perhaps you hold strong political views or there’s a charity or good cause you want to support. Blogging is a powerful way to get your message out there.

Many money-making bloggers also have a message that underpins their blog’s brand and voice. It could be something encouraging like “I did this and you can do it too.”

Tip: Some blogs have a tagline that sums up their message. For instance, Michael Hyatt uses “Win at work and succeed at life.”

A great place to position this is on your home page or even in your blog’s header (the top section of your blog that appears on every page). You can also use your About page to explain your message or mission in more detail.

7. Document Your Life

Another way to use blogging is to document your life, just like some of the earliest bloggers did. If you’re using blogging as a creative outlet or to share news with friends and family, you can simply post about what you’re doing on a day to day basis.

It can also be a lot of fun to look back on your blog posts years later, to see how your life has changed as time has gone by.

Some niches, particularly travel and lifestyle, can involve quite a bit of documenting what you do. For instance, you could write about trips you’re going on, share lessons learned, or post lots of photos.

Tip: You can include documentary elements on almost any type of blog. For instance, I post monthly income reports detailing what I’ve earned from my blog in the past month, along with details of blog traffic and email subscribers.