One of the surprises that I came across while attending SXSW was the amount of designers who didn’t blog. This confused me because I always figured that if you were trying to do freelance work and are just starting off it would only make sense to blog. Blogging is free marketing and although it takes a small chunk of time to do that is part of the business.
One of the biggest issues seems to be that many people feel that everything has been discussed already, which obviously isn’t true. How many debates could we revisit from the past? How many sites on the web are there ready for critique? Have you talked about your coding style? How do you manage your projects?
Even if you talk about what has already been written before, as long as you place your own ideas into the pot it is original. Also, too many people believe that your blog has to be successful for its purposes to be served. Even if just 50 people visit your site, that is 50 potential clients and let’s not forget the chance of someone coming across your site via search engine looking for services.
Another great thing about blogging is that it helps to reinforce what you already claim to know. Too often we assume we are knowledgable about a subject simply because it is in our head, but try putting it down on paper or the screen to see how well you can explain it. That will really show how well you understand a topic. Your blog doesn’t have to have comments and doesn’t even have to be public. Do it for yourself first and foremost and if you want to help your business do it for that second.
So again, if you are not overflowing with clients and work, can you afford not to blog?
Originally posted on March 23, 2006 @ 2:52 pm