Is Blogging Good For The Mind, Body, and Soul?

By Lior Levin

Anyone who has ever blogged will tell you that blogging has had an impact on their life and I, personally, will be the first one to tell you that this thinking is true.

I have become a blogging enthusiast which I compare to finding something in life that makes you feel really great — you just want to share it with the world! Needless to say my friends are hearing about blogging all the time; some are into it themselves and others just haven’t tasted the good life yet.

But, is blogging good for the mind, body, and soul? Is so, how? The only way I can tell you is by sharing my take on what blogging has done for me.

What blogging does for the mind.

Traditionally speaking, I have not been known as an outgoing person, rather most people would consider me to be a good listener. Not that listening was a talent of mine; I didn’t figure I had anything worth saying. And, if I had something to say I wasn’t sure it would come out as sounding intelligent, so I just kept my mouth shut. I think this sort of behavior describes someone who is introverted.

I was still acting like that when I first started blogging because I wasn’t really blogging — I was blog reading. Then, I got up the nerve to leave a comment one day and suddenly realized I had blogged! Nobody came back and told me that my comments were stupid or “virtually” laughed at them. I have to tell you I only wrote a few lines, but I was pretty proud of myself as I had voiced an opinion.

Still, I was treading slowly, picking my blogging comments carefully. At first, I was spending 15-20 minutes at blogging sites each day and catching up on the thoughts of others, but have since increased that practice to a couple of hours daily.

Did that make me feel good about myself? You’re darn right it did! I discovered that I had lots to say, plenty of opinions to share and judging by the feedback people were interested in what I had to share.

Blogging is good for the body

When I tell people blogging is good for the body, they laugh. But, I see them giving me the quick once over and they’ll admit that I have lost a few pounds (10 in fact.). They find it difficult to equate blogging with weight loss because how can you lose weight when you are sitting on your butt?

I admit there is a fine line here, but let me explain: I used to be an avid junk food eater. It was common for me to have a bowl of chips by my side or a chocolate bar in my pocket for in-between meals.

Now, I have a new rule to follow: there is no food, drink or smoking allowed in my computer room. So, with all the time I spend there blogging and gaining enough confidence to start a new business thanks to blogging (another story), I just don’t have the time or desire to gorge myself which explains the weight loss. Regarding smoking, I went from using a pack a day and am now down to five cigarettes. So you tell me: is blogging good for the body?

Blogging is good for the soul

Your soul is the center of your being and where you form your beliefs. It is where your religious beliefs lie, but it is also the core of who you are. I found blogging gave me confidence to speak up. It showed me that I was intelligent, interesting and had something worth saying. It allowed me to believe in myself so I could move on to do things in my life that I may have never done otherwise. It also allowed me to form a circle of friends and to allow others the right to their opinions as well.

So is blogging good for the mind, body and soul? I think I have proven that it is. Blogging for me is like having a virtual psychiatrist.

I hope you are enjoying blogging as much as I do. If you’re not yet posting your thoughts and knowledge — you should be!

Author Information

Lior Levin is an owner of a SEO agency working with a nursing wear company called Milk Nursingwear and also with a task management start-up called Producteev.

Photo Credit: Artem Chernyshevych

Writing Onsite Content with Branding in Mind

By Steve Lazuka

Writing effective content for a business website can make all the difference between a vibrant, successful site and one that languishes unread and at worst, may even damage your business’s reputation.

But, perhaps you are happy with your website’s content. If this is the case, it is still worth taking a step back and looking at your site with fresh eyes. Perhaps it’s time for a change, or perhaps it’s time to move things up another gear.

While effective content is central to a website, the ability to use it to further your own brand is where an online site can really come in to its own. There are a number of ways of doing this:

SEO Content

Maximizing the use of search engine optimization can really make a site, but even more significantly, it can help enhance your brand so that customers identify easier with what you have to offer. Think about your brand and the words that best describe your product or service. Perhaps you have a brand tag line. If so, make sure you incorporate it into the site so search engines can easily locate it when anyone uses it as search criteria.

Emotional Buy-In

A brand is a great way of getting customers to “buy-in” to what you offer. A website can really come into its own here as you can (and should) tailor its content to enhance the brand. So if you were in the business of selling organic, locally sourced food, it would make sense to extend this brand.

You could have a section of the site with links to farmers’ markets or recipes for healthy meals. You could write articles yourself, or even better, use a business blog writing service to create content that compliments your brand. This helps create a self-contained “world,” which should encourage customers to explore what you have to offer.

Inspire Loyalty

Always working with your branding in mind is a great way to increase customer loyalty. Filling your site with articles, blogs and links that help reinforce the message of your brand will create a sense of belonging for your customers.

Remember that many successful sites aren’t just online stores, but foster a sense of community by discussing ideas, issues and news relating to your product. If you sell CDs, then why not include reviews so customers think of your site not just as a place to spend money, but a resource from which they can learn.

Call to Action

Don’t forget the call to action. What do you want the reader to do after they read what you have to say? Do you want them to fill out a form, call you, request more information? Be sure you use proper calls to action that can help your bottom line, while also considering all the other factors we discussed.

Writing onsite content with branding in mind will help create an overall sense of identity and a place where customers will be happy to return time and time again.

About the Author

Steve Lazuka is owner and operator of Interact Media, a website content company based in Ohio that services social media, content development, a business blog writing service and more. He’s also an avid tweeter (@SteveLazuka), and a guest blogs regularly.