Why I Blog and What It’s Done for My Business

I started my blog for the sole purpose of participating in a fashion challenge, but once the challenge was over, I needed to figure out what to do with my blog.

It didn’t feel authentic to me to continue sharing “outfit of the day” posts, so my blog slowly morphed into a place where I could share advice and my thoughts on the world.

Eventually, I realized that I could create a business helping other women achieve their goals. I quit my job as an editor and relaunched my website as my life coaching business. Um, make that a life editing business.

But if I run a business now…why am I still blogging?

Believe it or not, my business is entirely dependent on my blog and the content I share with my loyal readers. Besides, I love writing too much to stop!

Keep reading to find out why I blog and what it’s done for my business.

Blogging Gives Me a Voice

I’m the type of person who has a million thoughts bouncing around my head every day. I’m a total extrovert, but I can’t stand on the street corner preaching like a crazy person.

Well, I could…but then I’d be writing this from the nut house.

My husband would get fed up with me if I shared all my rantings with him. And Skyla doesn’t have thumbs so she can’t complete my worksheets.

Blogging provides a platform from which to share my thoughts, feelings, and opinions with the whole world! I’m able to attract readers who care about the same issues that matter to me.

Now my thoughts have a place to be free instead of dying inside me.

Blogging Makes Personal Connections

Many women, myself included, have trouble making lasting friendships as adults. Our lives and careers are busier, and there seems to be less and less time to get out there and meet potential friends.

Blogging makes it easier for me to make personal connections with other ladies, even ones on the other side of the planet! I’m able to share my thoughts, get feedback, and have a real conversation.

Several of my readers have become real life friends too, and I love getting emails and cards from my “regulars.”

In a way, blogging and entrepreneurship can be feel isolating—you’re typing away on your laptop alone for hours. But blogging and sharing who I am as a person has helped me build a community of friends and supporters.

Blogging Provides Income

Blogging is essential for me to have an income, but it does so in an indirect way. A traditional blogger might have paid ads, sponsors, or affiliate links throughout her blog to bring in money.

This blog is my platform for marketing my actual business: life coaching programs

Instead, my blog posts show my personality and offer helpful advice to entice potential clients to sign up. I can’t expect people to fork over hundreds of dollars to work with me if they don’t know, like, or trust me.

About half of my clients are other entrepreneurs, and they’ll often ask me why they’re not getting more sales. The first thing I do is check to see if they have active blogs on their business websites.

No matter what kind of business you have, your blog is selling you! You don’t have to be perfect, but you do have to show what it would be like to work with you.

This post focuses on Step 3 of the Life Editing Process, Add Good Habits and Routines. For more about life editing and what it can do for you, click here.

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Dump your excuses, transform your habits, and become the most productive person you know.

16 Comments

  1. Cathy Colangelo on March 10, 2016 at 7:30 pm

    Sage,

    Thanks for this timely reminder. Even when I am not talking to you directly, you are still “talking” to me. My blog is a great way for me to share some of my coaching “tips” with my readers and it helps them to get to know me and my personality as well. I just have to remember not to “over think” and just write.

    Thanks for always being there. Big hugs from Pennsylvania.



  2. Susana Paz on May 1, 2014 at 4:45 pm

    OK. I`ll try to learn every thing is possible.



  3. Lori on April 28, 2014 at 11:19 am

    Wow, I love knowing the history behind your blog! I would have never guessed that you started by posting “outfit of the day” photos. What a great transition you’ve made!

    It’s so good to remember the reason you blog. I’m glad you’re writing about this topic because it reminds me that I haven’t looked at my mission statement for my blog in quite some time. I think it would be of great benefit to me to print out why I blog and post that to my computer. I feel like that will help me on those days when I’ not feeling super motivated to write anything.

    And on another note, I’ve never tried a vegan cupcake before, but now I’m curious to see how they taste! I must find one and try it! 🙂



    • Sage Grayson on April 29, 2014 at 9:40 am

      Haha, yes but I wasn’t a very fashionable fashion blogger. 🙂 And vegan cupcakes are amazing! My favorite recipe book is Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Yum!



  4. Wayfaring Wanderer on April 26, 2014 at 5:31 am

    I started the WW blog back in 2007 so I’ve been blogging for a while even though I was on a hiatus between 2012-2013. The posts I’ve published just this month exceed the total number of posts I put out in those two years!

    It started as a personal journal that turned into a travel blog that is now a place to share about me and my photography/graphic design business/work.

    One reason why I felt the need to start sharing in that space again was because social media only allows you to sprinkle snippets here and there whereas my blog is a place that I can expand on ideas and experiences. It’s been a challenge to get the momentum going but it’s a work in progress! My goal is to put out two blog posts a week so that I can drive traffic to my website and I’ve been doing pretty good but not as consistent as I would like yet!

    Great post! I love Creative Live! I’ve watched many FREE workshops through them! Signing up for this one, for sure!

    Thanks for sharing!



    • Sage Grayson on April 26, 2014 at 4:12 pm

      Awesome, Jessica! I’m glad you’ll be watching this workshop. April is an amazing blogger, and I’ve learned so much from her. You’ve done a ton of work this year on your blog and your business–I hope you take some time to celebrate that. 🙂 It takes most bloggers a little while until they’re blogging consistently. You’ll get there!



  5. Tracy on April 25, 2014 at 11:23 am

    I find how you have used your blog to help your business very awe inspiring. I think it is amazing how you have been able to use your blog to help create a business for yourself.



    • Sage Grayson on April 26, 2014 at 4:13 pm

      Thanks, Tracy! It’s amazing what you can do online now. I wouldn’t have been able to have this kind of job 10 years ago.



  6. Amanda Sue on April 25, 2014 at 11:38 am

    Ooooohhhhh!!! I’m not a jealous person, but I could almost be envious that you’re going to see her in person!!! How exciting!

    I love your post…it was hilarious, and spot-on. Although I don’t understand the extroverted part, lol. Okay I “get” it, cause my sister, brother-in-law, and husband are E’s. I’m a total I though. And yet somehow, it’s easier for me to be extroverted on the Internet…but that’s not unusual for Is, lol.

    I love the idea of sending my favorite bloggers stuff….I’ve always wanted to send April something, but she knits so my crocheted stuff probably wouldn’t be that exciting, roflol. On that note, I hope scarves or something like that would be an acceptable sub for vegan cupcakes, should the reader/commenter relationship pan out? I just haven’t delved down that road (although I’m investigating G-free).



    • Sage Grayson on April 25, 2014 at 8:54 pm

      Yes! I know people who are extroverted online but are introverts in person. It’s more common than you think. My readers have been really kind, and most of the time they send me cookies or other baked goods. They know I have a sweet tooth. 🙂 But I’ve also gotten cards, stickers, craft supplies, and other knick knacks. I love having this personal connection with people who may live thousands of miles away. Thanks for commenting, Amanda.



  7. Sarah @ Long Island Nerd on April 24, 2014 at 8:23 pm

    Another great post! You’ve had such an amazing journey from fashion blog to a life editing business blog. It’s been fun to watch you and your blog transform and I can’t even express how proud I am of you!

    Like you, I started my blog because I wanted to become a part of a community. I had just gone vegan and there was no one around that was vegan to be my support and part of my team so to speak. I hoped that starting a blog would help me feel like part of the vegan community and would help me form connections with amazing, like minded people and I couldn’t be more grateful for the amazing friends that I’ve made along with way! Over the past few years I’ve gone through some changes and have become a more general interest blog (well… MY general interests as nerdy as they may be, ha!) and I’ve made it my creative outlet since I lack musical and artistic ability 😉

    Have a great time at the workshop!



    • Sage Grayson on April 26, 2014 at 4:15 pm

      Aw, thanks, Sarah! You’ve been here since the start, and I appreciate your support SO much. 🙂 And I love your nerdy interests and yummy recipes.



  8. Coral on April 24, 2014 at 4:09 pm

    So funny… We are all talking about how beautiful blogging can be. A way to share our hearts with people who get us and the amazing friendships that have unexpectedly become such a special part of the adventure. It’s not what most people imagine blogging is about, but it seems to be what is the best part for all of us.

    I agree that forging new friendships is so hard as an adult. And blogging lets you find other kind hearted souls who maybe don’t live in the next street over from your house. Blogging has given me a couple of friends I now share mail art and old fashioned snail mail with. Such a beautiful was to build a friendship with someone on the other side of the world.

    It lets you find the people you need to come into your life. Somehow, they find you. They find you, they get you and they stay. They show up every week to hear your words. And from there, awesome stuff happens.



    • Sage Grayson on April 26, 2014 at 4:17 pm

      Thanks for stopping by, Coral! 🙂 Blogging has definitely made it easier for me to find friends. The internet makes it possible for so many different connections.



  9. April on April 24, 2014 at 8:37 am

    Thank you for a post that made me laugh out loud! I just received an email this morning from a lovely woman who asked, “Should I blog? How would that help my business?” And, I’ll definitely be pointing her in this direction as a great example.

    I have so many substantial, business-y reasons for blogging but one of my favorites is that I can do it in my pajamas or a really cute romper from Anthropologie that I could never wear to an office. 🙂

    Thank you sooooooooo much for participating in this blog tour. I can’t wait to meet you in person. Get ready for a BIG HUG cause I’m a hugger.



    • Sage Grayson on April 24, 2014 at 9:06 am

      I’m a big hugger too! 🙂 Thanks for inviting me to be in the audience. It’s going to be so much fun, and I’m confident I’ll be able to take my blog up a notch with your help. Yay!