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Working at Home on the Internet (found via Lorelle on Wordpress)

There are indeed several reasons why a freelancer or other work-at-home professional should blog. Many of them are simply publicity, and there are a few other reasons too. However, the simple truth is that both freelancers and other professionals, such as accountants, therapists, etc. can benefit from the awesome power of the Blog.

1. Get your name out there

Blogging allows your name to have a web presence on the Internet. As many bloggers before me have stated, if your name isn’t on Google, you don’t exist. Therefore, what better way to get a name out there then to blog?  When others see you, it’s just more of your influence that might just land you a client.

2. A supplementary income helps, doesn’t it?

Ad programs like AdSense will allow you to post ads on your blog. In exchange, you can get 5 cents per click. Believe us, it adds up. However, there’s more to it then that. If you can land a job as a blogger in your contributory area (Poly Sci, Psychology, etc) It’ll basically be doing something on your topic, while getting paid for it!

3. Contribute knowledge to the field

When you blog, you’re not submitting to a journal, or a newspaper, or whatever. Here, what you post is what goes on the blog. That being said, if you have something that you feel will contribute to your world, but nobody’s listening, Blog it!

4. Have written proof of your abilities online

It looks weird to be a writer without some sort of website (I need to update my business card…) so to have a blog would show people a lot more about who you are then a small piece of cardstock. The way you write is an excellent representation of who you are, and you could arguably land clients based solely on what you write about, if anything. At the very least, a person with a blog will be placed higher up then you if you don’t have one, so get one!

5. Learn from and network with other professionals

Remember, quite a few people have blogs. Many of them write about the same topics you would write about, and many of them also do the same work as you. That being said, all it takes is an RSS feed reader and a few blogs, and you might learn a thing or two about your business. Furthermore, many of these bloggers are also willing to help people like you, be it in blogging or in your profession. Don’t be afraid to ask! All I personally ask is that you do the same in return.

The best thing about having a blog is that for the most part, it’s FREE! That’s right! You can have all five of these benefits for free with the right hosting. You could of course have your blog linked to your website (such as maybe blog.accountant4you.com) and with places like Wordpress.com, you can have that subdomain link to your hosted blog, so WP does all the work for you!

What are you waiting for? Get a blog!