Why Should I Read Your Blog?

Once I find a really good blog that I love, I'm a dedicated fan. I subscribe to it via email and visit the site often. I'll tweet about it, share links on Facebook, and rave about it to my friends. Which raises the question: Why should I read your blog?

I'm terrible at reading other people's blogs. I fail to regularly check my Google reader and follow RSS subscriptions.

I rely a lot on Twitter referrals and Instapaper to make up for my poor, personal connection to the blogosphere.

However, once I find a really good blog that I love, I'm a dedicated fan. I subscribe to it via email and visit the site often. I'll tweet about it, share it on Facebook, and rave about it to my friends. If I find the blog content really inspiring, I'll even link to it from my own blog.

I can only do this with a handful of sites, so I choose the very best blogs. Due to my obsession with getting my email inbox down to zero, I am often pruning this list of blogs that I follow closely.

I admire those who follow hundreds of blogs a day, but that's just not me. Which raises the question: Why should I read your blog?

I don't mean that in a condemning or critical tone. I really want to know. I do my best to follow many of you who blog, but here is your chance to tell me (and the world) why you have something to say and why people should listen.

This exercise in answering why I should read your blog can be a good time to reflect on your reasons for blogging, the content you're sharing, and how much value you're actually offering.

Not everyone needs to have a how-to blog or be offering expertise on a particular subject, but every blogger should have a reason for blogging (and a reason for others to read what they write).

"What if I don't know why you should read my blog? What if I just blog to blog?" Frankly, that's not good enough. You have something to say. If you don't know what it is, then you're probably not saying it. You owe to yourself to take this blogging thing seriously. Otherwise, why bother wasting your time?

If you really don't know what you have to say, then I suggest you watch this powerful video clip from The King's Speech: "I Have a Voice." Then, think about whether or not "blogging just to blog" is a good enough answer. Consider what you have to say and how you are uniquely gifted to say it.

This may be the most important question you answer today: Why should I, or anyone, read your blog? Once you have an answer, share it, along with your blog link, here.

Recommended additional reading: How to Get Me to Read Your Blog [Blog Herald]