The self-styled Blog Traffic King describes the opportunities business blogs have presented him, explains why blogging has changed his life and outlines some ways to make money blogging.

I began blogging in 2004 and in 2005 decided to take it really seriously.

For the next six months I blogged and blogged and blogged. Every spare moment I had was spent “brain dumping” what I knew and had opinions of into my business blog. My traffic grew, my online profile grew and in fact I wouldn’t be here writing this article for you if Robert and Sam from Flying Solo hadn’t contacted me via, yes you guessed it, my blog!

Let’s get serious for a moment though, it’s important you know why blogging is so good. Blogging is a conversation. It provides a channel communication to contact hundreds, thousands, even millions of people, if you become really popular. And yes, there are also good opportunities to make money blogging.

When you blog you aren’t looked upon as a corporate entity or even the boss of a small business. You are viewed and interpreted as who you really are, a real life human living in the world today.

If you haven’t been convinced yet to start a blog, let me recount some specific benefits it’s provided me:

Business opportunities

My blog wasn’t set up to sell my business, yet on numerous occasions I have been propositioned with offers to build people’s websites, consult as an online marketing advisor and recommend products and services. Imagine if my blog focused on selling a service or a product – I wouldn’t need any other form of marketing other than my blog!

Business networking

As a result of my increasingly public online profile and branding as an “expert in my field” I’ve met many other experts. I’ve started a new business venture with two other prominent bloggers and opened many new doors to potential joint ventures. I couldn’t begin to value the benefits of these new relationships – they are priceless.

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Speaking gigs

I’ve been invited to present as a speaker at numerous events, even though I have never advertised myself as a speaker.

Affiliate deals

I’ve been able to earn money as an affiliate selling other people’s products and services. I’ve also earned money from advertising. So far my best month brought in more than $2,000 USD just from affiliate and advertising income.

Also, I’ve started a completely new business of my own thanks to the skills I learnt from blogging. I now teach people how to generate traffic to their blogs under my alter ego – The Blog Traffic King (www.BlogTrafficKing.com).

There is one really significant benefit, which as a result of blogging, has changed my life – I discovered I love to write. When I wake up in the morning I look forward to my day filled with opportunities to interact with others using my words. Being able to make a living, enrich my own life and other people’s lives, work when I want to and how I want to from anywhere with Internet access, all because I started blogging, is the real magic.

I hope you discover it too.

Yaro’s blog is at www.entrepreneurs-journey.com.