Let’s face is, there is no one real answer to why people blog — there’s daddy bloggers and Regretsy, Copyblogger and people who post photos of their pets. Everyone’s got a different reason to start, and a different reason to keep on.

This blog is a marketing piece for me — it’s something I both enjoy doing and that comes naturally to me, but I wouldn’t blog here, about the things I do, if it didn’t help me out in my business. I do put time and effort into making sure that most of my posts offer something, even if it’s only a cute cartoon or the chance to recommend your favorite brand of face wash.

I have had other blogs in other places, but they’re for different things. I post photos of my cat licking milk off his nose, talk about my favorite books and tv shows with like-minded friends, and rant about poor grammar on the internet. Okay, I do that last one here, but it’s a lot nicer. Those blogs allow me to connect with like-minded people for fun, to share things I’ve made or seen, and to be myself (okay, even there I’m perhaps nicer than in real life, where I’m actually deeply cynical and snarky).

What brought this subject up for me is a recent spate of high-end copy writers writing posts on their blogs talking about how it’s a big sweat shop that they’re forced to generate all this content for free, and to me, that seems like they’ve lost sight of the reason why they started blogging in the first place. I’m not talking about little hobbyist bloggers, either — these are people whose blogs serve to bring them into the spheres of their potential clients and customers, so that they can sell services, consulting, ebooks and more. And yet, despite that, they’re suddenly thinking they should also be paid for their blog posts.

So I have to ask, if their blog posts were paid, then how would people find them to know they wanted to pay for the posts? Would they have to start a second string of crappier, less useful blog posts to serve as their marketing? Would they just rely on their charming Tweets and good site design to lure people into subscribing?

There’s a ton, and I mean a ton of great info available on the web for free, because people have chosen to make it that way. But the people who write the best, most informative blogs aren’t doing it entirely out of the goodness of their hearts — they’re making a living off that time, effort and expertise, somehow, some way. Leo Baubuta writes a bunch of different blogs, but also sells books and gets ad revenue. Men With Pens gives a ton of great writing advice for bloggers, copy writers, and fiction writers, but they also sell a whole suite of services. Ittybiz writes excellent marketing and life lessons that are both entertaining and full of swearing, but she’s got expensive consulting, less expensive ebooks, a membership site, and more.

And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

Sony spends a ton of money on their commercials, sometimes ones that are entertaining enough they get shared on websites everywhere for free — and yet, they wouldn’t expect you to pay to watch them, because they’re getting their return another way.

I’m not saying all blogs are advertising — but this one is, and the blogs I’ve mentioned above have marketing as a part of their purpose. When I post kitten pictures on my personal blog, I don’t expect to sell anything as a result, and a ton of hobby bloggers out there are posting for love and community.

So, I’ll ask again, why do you blog?

This Monday was the third and final installment of Blonde Chicken’s Share Your Thing teleclass, and I was kind of sad it was over! She had a ton of great things to say about making a living with art and handcrafts online. I bit the bullet and bought into the course right before the first call, and I’m really glad I did — I can see how it will offer me a good return on my investment (and not just because of the affiliate link love).

Now, I’ve gone to a lot of free & paid teleclasses in the past year, and some of them aren’t really worth the hour or three of my life they take up, but this one was worth the time and money both. I’m still trying to get Antemortem Arts off the ground, and one of the ways I’ve been doing that is with an Etsy shop. Sadly, though, I haven’t seen much activity on Etsy, and so I wanted to see if this class could help point me in a better direction, since what I’ve been doing has clearly not worked.

Tara (that’s the Chicken’s real name) is a cheerful and enthusiastic speaker, and she dealt with difficulties with great aplomb. I’m not sure if I should tell this story, but the second class ran a little short because she spilled coffee on herself — but you’d never have known it from the call! Her friendly tone never wavered, and her advice is rock solid.

The best part about the class was not only that she gives you a ton of ideas, but she encourages you to experiment with all the different marketing ideas and then stick with the ones that feel good and genuine for you. Not only does forcing yourself make your social media seem forced and fake, but you won’t see much return. And she did discuss Return on Investment in a clear, awesome way — you’ll get to hear my charming voice on the Q&A; call asking about it, in fact!

I don’t want to give too much away, but if you do any kind of handmade awesomeness and want to sell it online, this call is a great place to start. She even gives you handouts for reference!

Click Here to buy the Share Your Thing Course (and give me an affiliate payment woo).

P.S. Just a few days after starting to implement her advice, I made my first sale to a complete stranger, followed by 3 more a few days later. Result!