5 Reasons Why You Should Start A Blog Before Doing A Startup

Undecided whether you should follow the blogging trend? Or have you already blindly jumped onto the blogging bandwagon but unsure as to why you should continue? Read on for some tips from our resident contributor, Aaron Chua.

Aaron writes:

Here is what I always tell first time entrepreneurs: start a blog in your area first and aim to attract x number of readers before attempting the startup. To me, blogging is the best way to test your idea as well as is the ideal training ground for your subsequent entrepreneurial journey. Here are five reasons why:

Blogging tests your commitment and fosters discipline

If you want to attract a certain number of readers, you will discover that daily blogging is almost a must. This is where you will know whether you have the necessary discipline to sit down and do the hard work of writing every night. This is where you will stop dreaming about success and start doing real work. If you find that you don’t have the passion or motivation to write every day about your startup area, you are probably not suited as an entrepreneur or your current idea isn’t right for you.

Blogging forces you to gain domain expertise

The most successful blogger picks a niche and dominates that. You will find that to be successful, you really need to be the best in your niche. This means every blog post must be thoroughly researched on. You will start to read books, hunt down relevant blogs, join discussions etc. You will gain more domain expertise through blogging about your startup area.

Blogging forces you to be customer centric from day one

It is easy to talk about being customer centric than to actually live like one. Blogging forces you to think about what your readers really want. It puts you in their perspective. Practice enough of this and thinking from the other side becomes natural. Blogging also forces you to be value adding. You can’t just write nonsensical posts and hope to attract an audience. You will need to be mindful of how your posts add value and that mindset will go a long way in helping you build a better product in the future.

Blogging teaches you about how online marketing works

In order to reach your target of X readers, you will begin to think about reaching your potential audience. You might start off with blatant advertising but you will soon discover that it is not sustainable. You will need to start reaching out to online conversations and add value to them. That is where real marketing begins. You will soon learn of the importance of linking, retweeting, aggregating etc that will be useful to you when you want to market your actual product.

Blogging builds your connections

Through blogging, you will earn new connections. Some of them can be your first customers . Some can be your most vocal supporters, helping you to spread your product around if it is good. Others might give you new ideas or perspectives or connect you to other important people. These connections will be better than any promotion or advertising dollars can bring.

So, if you are a first time entrepreneur, do start a blog first. It is the cheapest test bed for your business. If you cannot make a blog work, you probably cannot make your startup work as well. Have fun blogging!

*Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in the author’s blog.

Photo courtesy of cambodia4kidsorg.

Aaron Chua is a Manager at the Interactive Digital Media Programme Office, Media Development Authority of Singapore, where he heads a S$40M R&D program that supports startups with innovative ideas in the interactive and digital media space. Having founded a startup back in 1998 with moderate success, he is looking to run another one in the near future.

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