Apart from a basic tool for recording your thoughts online there is another dimension to blogging. It is known as professional blogging or pro-blogging. A problogger is one who uses blogging as a medium to gain fame, money or anything else – clients, new business, speaking opportunities – directly or indirectly as a result of blogging.

Those who align individual expression to a bigger goal can benefit from it in many ways. But be aware that to benefit from blogging, one need to investment significant time and effort for a period of 1-2 years.

Let us discuss some ways – how individuals can benefit from professional blogging efforts.

Learn to ship: If you decide to blog regularly – you will need to write and post it online on a regular basis. There are two important parts of the process – writing and putting it online. Writing and keeping it with you – where nobody sees it does not make you a professional – even a starter at it. You need to write and put it online. This is calling shipping as in shipping a product.

If you will get into habit of shipping as a blogger then this will show in other parts of your life as habits tend to extend from one area of life to others. If you are in the habit of starting something and taking it to its commonsensical end; then this will reflect in other areas of your life.

Starting a task and finishing it – and then delivering it to those who are expecting to see it – takes work, commitment and courage – so not many people do it on a regular basis. If you do it, you will create a special space for yourself; and you will be happy about it.

Learn to be consistent: It is good to blog with a purpose. To fulfill this purpose you need to be consistent. Blogging success does not come in a day. As shared, it may many months or few years before you see any real success from your blogging efforts. All this while, you need to be regular and consistent in writing and shipping it.

Helps you write better: Those aiming to improve their writing skills through blogging are thinking right. Regular blogging will help you become a better writer. If you write with intent of improving, seek reader feedback – your writing skills will improve.

Blogging makes it easy to seek feedback. As you post an article or a small piece of writing – potentially entire world can see it. Even when the world is not seeing it you can share your writing with friends and seek their thoughts. Once you have more people reading it, they can provide feedback in form of comments at a time suitable for them.

Make new friends: People who comment on your blog posts are likely to be likeminded people. A mutually beneficial relationship can emerge out of this connection. As a problogger you are seen as a part of an extended community and you can reach out to community for help and make connections.

Increase your influence: When you write regularly and post sensible stuff, chances are people will find you. Search engines are one way that people find you. If you are really more serious about it then also help to use other ways to be found online – like guest blogging and commenting to add to the conversation on related blogs.

Reach out to the world: If you have an idea that needs to be shared with the world then blogging can help you. Tim Ferris did it and took the idea of a “4-hour work week” to the world. You can also do it. Kyle Macdonald did with his One Red Paper Clip project where he traded a red paper clip with a house through a series of barter trades. If you an idea you think needs to be shared with world – then do share it; and when you do it – you will be able to reach out to the world.

Help you earn money: Money earning need not be your primary goal. It should be to write well and let money come as a by-product. Having said that let me also share that money in my book is a good motive to work – when it is made ethically. So if you want to make money – look around and learn from people who are doing that with their blogs. Good news is that problogging for money is no hype – it is entirely possible as shown by bloggers like Michael Dunlop, Steve Pavlina, Leo Babauta and likes.

Leo Babauta who was recently listed among the top 25 bloggers worldwide by New York Times – has created a significant business network. Starting with Zen Habits, a blog on simplicity he was able to launch a small network of blogs and later also started A-list Blogger Camp a membership coaching program in partnership with Mary Jacksh. And as much as I know about him –he is not stopping there. Then there is Mr. Problogger Darren Rowse who launched variety of ventures based on his blogging success. Brian Clark of CopyBlogger fame is also somebody wannabe probloggers can take inspiration from. These are big names but there are scores of other small niche bloggers who are reaping the benefits of a focused effort in growing a blog.

Help launch writing, speaking career: If you have writing and professional speaking aspirations, blogs are the right point to start. Many bloggers have got book deals because of their blogs. Leo (Babauta) and Chris Guillebeau are the ones who have gained significant book deals in recent times because of their blogs.

Help launch a business (empire): Techcrunch, Mashable are fairly established businesses and examples of super blogs started by individuals. They now employ a team of writers. It is not that only business or technology blogs that work. Personal blogs like Dooce became really big without talking about any high-end stuff. So blog about what your heart says. Try to get “YOU” – your own persona in – when you write.

Help you fulfill your desire to help a lot of people: Teaching and sharing is a good way to help people. With a blog you can do so with a lot of people at little cost. Ok your time is an investment but when you teach you also learn – so you stand to gain from the act of sharing itself. Teachers can share their lessons with students through a blog. You can share your presentations with potential partners.

Blogs can also help you gain good ranking in search engines and help you land a job. This we will explore later.

What do you plan to use blogging for?

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Blogging is a great way to get visibility for businesses and individuals. Artists, entrepreneurs, academicians all can benefit from the long lasting and wide reaching impact of blogging – when done right. Blogs have contributed a lot to the growth of people. Joel Spolsky, Cal Newport and Chris Brogan are some living examples.

A lot of people know this but they do not blog; because it involves writing. Off late Vlogs (video logs) have also become popular and have been proven a great marketing tools by the likes of Gary Vaynerchuk and Steve Garfield. Still it is mostly about writing.

Why writing seems so difficult to most of us? Because it involves shipping and shipping is difficult. If you are writing for yourself then there is no problem. Many people write dairies or keep journals which are comparatively easy; because nobody is looking at it. That is your own thing. You are not bothered about people looking at it and providing an opinion. Guess people are more scared of other people’s opinion than the act of writing itself. If it was only about writing then task would have become easier.

Whenever you are in a new place you are bit a surprised and amused. A part of you is also scared of uncertainty – about the hotel room, taste of food or alarm not going off when you need to wake up early. People experience similar uncertainty when they meet somebody new. How do you handle that? – By telling yourself in your heart that everything will be fine. Tell yourself the same about writing.

Tell yourself that you will be able to write and with time you will improve and hopefully you will be able to explore a new you. You see writing is like a journey – a journey of self-exploration – where you will have milestones but no end destination. If you continue long enough, learning en-route, may be you will reach a milestone like a book deal; but that cannot be the end.

Let me ask you a question –especially those who want to start a blog or want to write a book – what is stopping. Is there anything that tells you that you cannot do it? Do you provide a reason to yourself, “I have never written, how I can write now?” Did you ask the same thing when you learnt driving? Did you eventually learn driving?

Think about it do you REALLY do not know how to write. Think again. Did you go to school? I am sure almost all the readers of this blog have gone to school. Have you ever written an exam? When you appear for an exam you write about topics that you read about and discussed in class. Think about your life so far. If you are young then write about your experiences at school. Somebody slightly older – can write about relationships, quest to grow or how you see life. All these are potential and interesting writing topics.

Fast forward to current times; have you ever written an email? Do you have a facebook account; do you comment on the walls of your friends. Do your express yourself in these different medium in different ways. Think about your writing as an extension of this expression. If you can write an email you can cobble together couples of sentences to create a paragraph; and potentially write a small article.

Talking about exams; in exams there are some right answers and some wrong. In life there is no right or wrong. It is what you think. If you think you can do it, you can; if you think you can’t – you can’t. Some ideas, some thoughts may work or may not work. You cannot know without doing.

Now you have a cue. For your posts write like you will write an email. If you need some inspiration then start by commenting on some blogs.

For starters write something that is close to your heart – if you are an avid gamer write about gaming. If you have spent your life marketing variety of products – write about old ways of marketing. If you want to go one step ahead – then write about how old world marketing can be adapted to online medium.

“Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn from the Most Iconic Band in History” by David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan – is one such book. Sure, to become as prolific as David, you will need some real experience and will need to put in considerable effort. But no harm in taking chances as we live only once.

Blogs always need not be about business success. It is good to have a purpose and a schedule like any worthwhile writing pursuit; but it should be more about expression. Whether you are writing to only express or you have A-list aspirations; it always helps to use proper grammar and spell check. By doing this you will avoid creating any clutter on the web.

Another deterrent in writing is thinking too much before putting even a single word to paper. First write, write some more and then think. At this stage some editing may help.

And don’t worry about what people will think when they read what you have written. Do not think about the profoundness about your writing still. Be at it for a year or two and start some analysis, and self-critique of your writing. Better if you can find someone who has been there and done that. If you have been at it for some years; you will find a worthy mentor easily. People are willing to help you if you show that you have persevered and put in some real work.

Whenever you set out to do something different you will find supporters but you will also find detractors. Writing is nothing great – but still something that not many people take up professionally – so you are sure to find some people who will say that it is not worth it or you do not have it in you. Let people say whatever they want with the gentle confidence in your heart that you are the one who is writing consistently and not them. The idea is not to suggest that those who do not write have less talent but just to assert that when somebody is pursuing a cause like writing consistently then it needs to be appreciated by those who are not doing it. You, the consistent writer, also should be ready to laud the achievements of people in different spheres of work and life. You see life is give and take; and it is better to give first before asking for something in return.

Having reached this far, you are almost ready to write. Believe me you can write; who knows you will be signing your own book and fans will be waiting in line to get a copy signed by you. Practically it is possible for some of you to get a book deal; even if you call yourself a novice right now. You can be that person. It does not make sense to lose this chance. Give it a shot. Have faith in yourself.

Ok from high skies I am back to the ground. You may not be pursuing the lofty goal of becoming a published author but you still can create a name in industry by getting featured in your industry publication or be able to write more focused emails to your clients. At the very least you can write engaging emails to your friends when you get old or while you are still young. Each one is a worthy goal in its own sense.

So if it is about writing then do it. You will be happy that you did that. It will be fun to look back. Do it and do it often and you will improve. You may not create something like “Walden” still you will have the joy in your heart that you did it. Understand that anybody with basic language and writing skills can create a written piece of work. Your first writing piece need not be 1000 words. It is ok if you write 20-30 or 50 words.

Write that next email like sage advice, copy it to a file on your computer or in your paper notebook; remove personal elements (related to others, your life in your writing is ok) and release it. Online is the simplest, cheapest, and fastest way to get your words out in front of the public.

This is about the process. In near future I will write about how 21^st century technology advancements have made it really easy to publish information and have the potential to take it to a large population.

Stay tuned.

What are you going to write today?

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But before the communication begins, it is my responsibility to create content that is worthy of a conversation, of getting comments by you or being converted into a book. I will try to do this by synthesizing the best practices in the field of personal development and share the same with you. It is likely that some stuff I write here will overlap with what other credible writers have written. At the same time you will find unique thoughts also.

Hopefully through this blog I will be able to touch the lives of millions of people and share thoughts which can create a positive change in their lives. My intention is to provide you with principles, ideas and tips which will help you in embracing change one step at a time and take you closer to your ultimate aim.

Hopefully in our life time, each one of us will start living a purpose driven life and hence live it to the fullest. I dream of a world where there will be no crime, no wrong doing, where rightful means of livelihood will be available for all of us, where nobody will die of hunger.

You see the intention is grand. So my task is cut out in terms of writing content which will convert intentions into reality. I will need your help along the way. You can help me by telling what is that you like, what it is that needs to be improved, what it is that you would like to read about. You can also share some real-life experience which had a profound impact on your life. While you share all this with me, I will write about the topics which create the core of personal development like values, character, integrity, truth, self-esteem, determination, perseverance, hard work, time management etc.

Time to time you will also find ideas which are meant for short term gains but are aligned to your ultimate aim. One such idea is having your last meal of the day before 8:30 pm. As a result, you will be able to get up easily the next morning and will feel light throughout next day. These are the short term gains. Long term benefits are better assimilation of food, less toxins in your body and better health throughout.

Here health is not the end. It is the means to an end. The end is to know your purpose and devoting your energies to this purpose. This needs your mind and body to be in good health. Hence the small idea of eating your last meal of the day early is aligned with finding your purpose.

Let me know your views on this approach.

Going back, this blog is also an experiment for me. I work in a day job. I want to find out the secret to succeed as a professional blogger while working at a full-time job. A few bloggers have already done that but nothing like checking it out myself.

The main website will serve as the gateway to this web log and other ongoing projects in my life. So now you know about my intentions?  I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Peace.