You’ve probably heard a great deal about why a blog is good for your business as well as why it is good for personal growth. The question you’re probably wondering at is, it also good for those who are trying to run something that is at a bit of an intersection? Is it, for example, good for somebody who wants to run something like an educational blog?
It is in fact, that if you’re considering running something like an educational blog you get the benefits of both sides, in that way you become a fantastic tool to advance your career and your personal growth. I’m going to spend the rest of this article explaining how.
1. Teaching is a fantastic way to learn
Right from day one, even before you’re famous and people hang on to your every word before you’ve even had your first reader, blogging can have serious benefits. The very act of researching and writing blog posts is the way to make yourself think in an organized manner about whatever it is you’re trying to explain.
And, as a result, you’ll find where you’ve got holes in your reasoning, where you thought you knew something but it turns out you didn’t, and discover what subjects you actually do know. In this way, you’ll make sure to plug the gaps and gain confidence about where you’ve got your information down pat.
2. You’ll get your numbers right
Statistics change. That’s the way it goes. As time rolls on, the world around us shifts and the numbers that represent that world shift with it. If we aren’t asked to check the numbers in our head, they’ll, therefore, drift ever further away from reality.
Blogging changes that. As you look for sources and numbers to back up your argument, you’ll be able to fact-check those things that you thought you knew and in the process update your internal model constantly and consistently. And in that way, you’ll be far more aware of emerging trends and changes.
3. It can serve as your CV
The great thing about an educational blog is that it doesn’t just have to be a blog. It can be so much more. It can be your CV, your portfolio and anything else that you want it to be. In this way, it serves as a bit of personal branding.
You can even start using it as an alternative to sending out a CV. Just send people a link to your website. This will make you look professional (provided your site does too, of course).
If you stay with it long enough, it will even serve as a way to open up new work opportunities. For example, people that have worked with you can send links to people who they want to recommend you to. Similarly, if people search your name they’ll find your site and be able to see what you’re about and approach you easily.
From there it becomes a work generator, drawing in new clients and new possibilities without you having to lift a finger.
4. You’ll be able to position yourself as an authority
By putting up thoughtful posts about interesting topics, you’ll be able to make people sit up and take notice and – in the process – position yourself as an authority in the field.
From there, the world is your oyster. You’ll be able to use that to get whatever job you want, the attention of somebody that you’d like to talk to, or to connect with industry insiders.
In effect, your educational blog will become your calling card – getting you into places where you otherwise might have struggled to get attention.
In fact, it’s better than a calling card, for the material on your blog is you. It, therefore, doesn’t just represent a fountain of knowledge, but it also offers potential readers a doorway into what you think and why you think it.
This means it can serve to connect you with the likeminded. Which is even better than just being connected to the movers and shakers as you’ll actually have something to talk about.
5. You can recycle your educational blog’s content
Asked to teach a last-minute class, but don’t have the material ready? Or you probably need to write a mastergrades research paper for somebody but don’t know what to write it about? Sure you do. It’s on your blog! In this way, your blog becomes a storehouse for information, which you can reuse and recycle to your heart’s content.
In that way, it will be much easier and faster to build a new lesson plan. You can even copy pieces, quote yourself, or rewrite parts to better serve your audience.
6. You’ll have a good reason to reach out to experts
It often feels strange to just reach out to experts and say ‘hi, my name is’ with no real reason. Well, if you’ve got an educational blog then you’ve got a reason. Ask them questions about subjects for blog posts. Do interviews. And when you’ve created something that includes something they’ve mentioned, let them know about it.
In this way, you can get to talk to some real movers and shakers in the industry. This will expand your network, get your names into the digital-rolodexes of the people that matter and give you an in when you need something else.
7. You’ll have writing samples in case you want to work for publications
One of the difficult things about breaking into the writing industry is that you need work samples in order to get hired, but you can’t work samples until you get hired. The blog is the perfect way out of this catch-22. It offers you the opportunity to show your stuff.
And in that way, you’ll be able to get those real opportunities at the big publications that will make your CV look like an administrator’s wet dream.
Last words
Starting a blog as an educator is a no-brainer. It isn’t that much work (you only have to update it once a week or so for it to still be effective) and if you keep at it, you’ll reap tremendous benefits. You’ll become a better writer, contact the people in the industry, be able to showcase your work and your thought process and do a bit of personal branding besides.
The only thing that you should be aware of is that a blog is a long-term project. You will not become famous on day one. You might not eve reap significant benefits in year one. It will take time to establish yourself.
Still, it’s an investment that is well worth it. For one or two hours a week, you’ll be building something that will help you for years to come. Now if that isn’t a good reason to start a blog, I don’t know what is.
