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I am not good at swimming, keeping plants alive for more than a couple weeks or staying really organized. Oh, and I don’t consider myself a good writer. At Roundpeg everyone blogs and the thought of writing to people about professional things really freaked me out. At first when I sat down to write a blog post I nearly buckled under the pressure of having to create something with words.

Now with a few months of writing blog posts under my belt, I can say I’ve seen benefits I never anticipated. Sure, regular blogging has improved my writing, but it has also helped me in my professional development and my ability to accomplish tasks. Even if you are a “non-writer” here are several very good but perhaps less obvious reasons you should blog.

It’s educational.

And not just for your reader. Writing a blog every week creates time for scheduled learning. In order to write, you need to research, which usually includes reading loads of reference articles on the topic you want to write about. It’s a fixed amount of time to figure out what’s going on in your field. Before I started blogging, I didn’t realize how much there was to learn online. No matter what field you’re in, you can always benefit from researching and reading what other professionals have to say.

Blogging makes you more creative.

Once I push myself past the awkward-getting-started-stage, I’ve found I can be really creative through writing. As a designer, when I write my blogs, I challenge myself to see it as creating a finished product. Aside from constructing a blog post from start to finish, after I absorb all of my research I feel insightful and open to new ideas. I have learned a lot about the creative process from reading about other people’s work and have learned how to improve my own. A lot of bloggers share helpful tips and are open to discussions to learn more. Blogging keeps you open to new ways of thinking about things and you never know when you’ll stumble upon your next great idea.

You’ll stop making excuses and try more things.

Many people don’t feel that they can write because it’s not their thing. I’m a lot like those people. I probably don’t have time to list all the things I never tried because I thought I was going to suck at them. When you start writing, you feel a lot like the tin man from The Wizard of Oz: rusty. But, the more you write, the more you oil yourself up, find your groove, and gain confidence. When you put yourself out there, it gets easier and easier to try the next thing you never thought you could do.

You’ll become better at explaining things.

When you work for a business you have to get pretty good at explaining what you do. If you’re a designer, you have to justify choices you’ve made on a project to your client or if you’re a business owner you may have to explain a product or service in order to sell it to your customer. When you’re blogging, you can use it as an opportunity to answer questions in depth. By writing things out, you’re clarifying your process, service, or answer to a question for your customer. And once you’re finished writing you’re well versed for the next question a client has.


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