The Startup Spouses

There are a lot of reasons for entrepreneurs and small businesses to have a blog, but I’ll let the internet marketing and social media experts make the compelling business arguments for it. I have started this blog for more personal reasons that I think can be as beneficial for the entrepreneur.

1. It’s the journey, not the destination. If you’re just starting out and developing a business idea, blogging your experience as you move from planning to development can be invaluable. Often our experiences are colored by the outcomes, so if you have a win you may forget all the steps it took to get there, and if you fail, you may be too dejected to uncover where you made mistakes. Blogging about the daily challenges and decisions you make will give you a history to look over at the end and a place to make better choices from in future ventures.
2. You are not alone. Blogging is one way to form community with people who are working towards similar goals. This is especially useful if you work from home and primarily discuss your ideas with your dog (which I totally do) or the baristas at the coffeeshop you have made your office (which I’m too shy to do).
3. Ideas beget ideas. A funny thing happens when you start working on your own ideas and solutions: you keep coming up with more ideas and solutions. It feels like the synapses in your brain start firing more rapidly when your work for yourself, which is a good thing, but it can also be distracting. A blog can be a bucket or holding place for your brainstorming, so you don’t spend your day chasing ideas and not getting anything done.
4. Sometimes you just need busy work. My biggest pet peeve at every job was the inevitable busy work that was involved. Now that I work from home, I’d happily take on some busy work. Small tasks that don’t take up too much brain power are great to have to get your brain firing and to feel a sense of accomplishment. A blog provides good “busy work” tasks. You can write a post in the morning to get your day started, check out other blogs during lunch, and reply to any comments while watching American Idol. You are still nurturing your business while getting a mini mental break.
5. Learn about yourself and your work style. When you stop comparing yourself to the guy in the next cubicle or worrying about your next manager review and start facing you own strengths and weaknesses as you sit in your apartment by yourself all day,  you can learn a lot. Most of the blog posts that come to mind have to do with observations about myself (like noticing I hadn’t worn a bra in 4 days because I didn’t have to go to an office) than with concrete entrepreneur advice. Regardless of where I am professionally in 6 months, the knowledge I gain about myself and how I work with my partner will be valuable in any future endeavor.

An entrepreneur or small business blog can yield wins for your business, but it will also enhance your personal and professional development.