Aside from providing value to many, blogging is a way to improve your communication, skills, build your personal brand, and it can provide an additional source of income.
TL;DR
- Your experience and knowledge can help many
- Researching and preparing content for your blog increases your own knowledge and experience
- Improve your ability to influence others through clear concise communication
- Receive useful feedback from your readers
- Build a personal brand that has companies coming to you, not the other way around
- Create and sell digital courses based on your blog material
- Take this free email course on how to get started blogging
Update: 24/07/2019
Just picked up a great book on technical blogging: Technical Blogging, Second Edition: Amplify Your Influence
Provide value
There are quite a few developers out there with their heads down getting work done, yet they don’t take the time to contribute back to the industry. This is a real shame because most developers accrue a wealth of knowledge over the span of their careers. Knowledge that others could really benefit from.
The battles you’ve fought, the technologies you’ve worked with, the pain and suffering you’ve endured getting the job done over the years can help people and companies save time, money, effort, and reduce stress. This is a worthy cause.
Perfection is the enemy of done. You don’t need to agonise over every word but when you do output content, make sure it provides real value: it’s accurate, useful, clear and concise. Your readers will appreciate it.
Skill up
The process of research and gathering material together for your blog is a great way to learn, solidify existing practices, and further refine your knowledge and experience. Essentially, blogging helps hone your skills.
The Protégé Effect is the process whereby you learn through the act of teaching or intention to teach others. You have to know your content better than those you teach and you have to organise and communicate that knowledge effectively.
Production over consumption
Most people consume much more than they produce. Buck that trend and be one of the < 1% who produce more than they consume. Why? It comes down to value. If you want others to value you then make damn sure you provide value.
Open Source, Stack Overflow, communities and forums. When was the last time you contributed or posted something of value? Producing content is a great way to get out there, pitch in, tell your battle stories, and take pride in your work.
Stand out from the crowd
So, you’ve produced great content, gathered a loyal reader base, and you’re known as the expert in your specialisation in your part of the world. You’re building a personal brand!
If a nearby company is on the lookout for such talent, chances are strong your name will come up. Build a strong enough brand and you could have companies from all over the world looking to hire you.
This is a great way to get an edge over other candidates and get hired at companies notorious for difficult recruitment processes. Your skill, attitude, and approach will be clear from your content; interviews will be mere formalities.
Feedback
You should be going out of your way to receive feedback on your blogging. Your writing, content, and approach to work and problem solving will all be under scrutiny.
Dreading the inevitable feedback simply won’t do. By actively seeking out feedback and meeting it head on you are far more likely to grow. You’ll develop a thick skin and be able to disassociate your identity from your work, objectively sifting through the feedback and applying it wisely.
Get started
Luckily I happened upon the book Soft Skills: The software developer’s life manual by John Sonmez of simpleprogrammer.com. John attributes a great deal of his success and financial freedom to blogging. Check out his free email blogging course where he explains exactly how to get started and grow your blog.