
Blogging can be rewarding for the average person; especially when they have found out that it comes with perks (By the way, people who are above average do enjoy these perks too).
What are some of those perks that I am referring to?
Well, to be honest, those perks will vary from blogger to blogger; they can range from:
- Getting paid to review products.
- Getting free samples of products in exchange for writing a review based on those products.
- Being viewed as an authority figure in one’s niche.
- Being in a position to rid oneself their corporate nine to five job.
- Being in a position to work from home or in any geographical location of your choice.
My blogging-related perks are different and I am going to share them with you.
1.) Those People Who Chose To Follow “Renard’s World”
Yes, my friend, acquiring followers is one of the perks that bloggers get.
And, I am proud to admit, that I am grateful for having followers.
Under normal circumstances, the more followers you have is the more eyeballs that you will have focused on your blog.
But, that is not always the case. A person with a huge following can find their blog getting very little interaction (My blog post, Are We Being Too Hard On Our Followers?, explores various reasons why some of our followers are not engaging with our blog).
I will admit, that the number of followers that we see on our follow widget looks enticing, but it does not mean diddly-squat if our followers are not active participants.
I adhere to the notion, that it is better to have fifty followers interacting with your blog than having three hundred followers who never make the time to interact with your blog.
In my case, I am wise enough to not let the number of followers go to my head.
To those of you who followed my blog, I would like to take this opportunity to say to you, “Thank you for following Renard’s World.”
2.) Being Able To Interact With My Fellow WordPress Bloggers
Many of my fellow WordPress bloggers will agree with me if I said to them, “Interacting with our fellow WordPress bloggers is a whole lot of fun!”
The blogging process involves more than publishing content on your blog; it involves interacting with your blogging community; here are some examples of this:
- Visiting the blogs of your fellow bloggers whenever they have updated their blog with new content.
- Leaving a thoughtful comment in the comments thread of your fellow bloggers after you have perused their content.
- Sharing the links to the post of your fellow WordPress bloggers via your favourite social media networks.
One should always remember the old adage that states, “What goes around, comes around.”
So, never make the mistake of neglecting your fellow WordPress bloggers.
Do you ever interact with your fellow WordPress bloggers?
3.) Receiving Comments From My Fellow Bloggers
If you have left your comments feature enabled, there is a high probability that you also enjoy receiving comments from your fellow bloggers.
Those of us who view receiving comments as an additional perk, love them because:
- They open up an opportunity to discuss the topic that was posted in further detail.
- They let us know exactly what commenters thought about the topic that they read.
- They help us to learn more about the commenter’s personality.
- They help us to build relationships with commenters.
Unfortunately, there are blogs that receive little or no comments.
So, be grateful whenever your blog receives meaningful comments.
By the way, if you love comments and your blog is not receiving any, you can:
- Ask your beloved readers a question.
- Publish content that is worthy of being commented on.
- Create a friendly and welcoming atmosphere on your blog.
- Publish controversial content (This step is risky because it has the potential of attracting trolls, but it works).
- Respond to comments (This is an important factor because if you respond to a person’s comment, there is a high probability of that person developing into a regular commenter).
- Find the time to comment on other blogs (It is normal for most bloggers to reciprocate).
- Simply ask people to comment.
You will certainly see a difference with your blog by implementing those things that I mentioned.
The art of receiving comments is not rocket science.
Anyone can do it!
4.) The Ability To Educate And Entertain My Viewing Audience
Yes, my friend, having the ability to educate and entertain my viewing audience is one of my favourite perks.
My blog posts are created with the intentions of simultaneously educating and entertaining my viewing audiences from around the world.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of boring educational material on the world wide web.
If people infused their writing with their personality, readers would find their articles entertaining.
Educational material does not need to be stiff or robotic.
5.) The Ability To Watch WordPress.com Evolve
The ability to watch WordPress.com evolve might appear as a strange perk to many people reading this.
Now, this means a lot to me because I created a WordPress.com account back in April 2012.
In spite of deleting my first WordPress.com blog, I kept the account.
In June 2018, I created a new WordPress.com blog β Renard’s World.
During my time with WordPress.com, I witnessed:
- Changes in the user interface.
- Blogging themes that changed from beautiful to bland.
- The introduction of the Gutenberg editor (Which is now WordPress’s default editor).
I have seen WordPress.com in both its past and present state.
I am most eager to find out what WordPress.com is going to evolve into in the future (I pray that it is a WordPress.com that you and I could both enjoy).
In my article, WordPress Made Me Dwell On Blogger, I talked about WordPress.com taking away the user’s (the one on the free plan) ability to choose or adjust the size of fonts with the newer themes and in order for the user to make those changes via CSS, they will have to upgrade their plan from a free to a paid one.
WordPress.com is already making money by displaying advertisements on my blog. So, there is really no need for WordPress.com to force me to upgrade my account in order for me to change the fonts on the newer themes to my liking.
Are you curious to find out what WordPress.com is going to evolve into?
Final Thoughts
Where I am concerned, those perks are not monetary in nature.
If I wanted to make lots of money via the monetization process of my blog, I would have jumped on the WordPress.org bandwagon (The self-hosted version of WordPress).
My perks are related to having fun combined with the contribution to the betterment of the WordPress.com community.
Are there any blogging-related perks of your own that you are grateful for?
If you answer happens to be, “Yes,” please tell me all about it via the comments section of my blog.
And, thank you for reading!
I enjoy these perks, too. Not every pleasure in life involves money.
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π Well, it is nice to know that you do not dwell on the monetary aspects of blogging.
Thank you for sharing your perspective!
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great post, Renard. I never thought about the perks of blogging, but you did a nice job stating what you believe they are, and I’d have to agree.
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π Thank you, Jim!
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I would agree with yo here as the whole community that is wordpress seems to be the most enjoyable part for m.
There is one person I follow who heavily monetizes they’re work. And honestly, though they’re brilliant, it gets annoying having the “buy this, buy that” consistently slammed down our throats (as followers) several times a day. I’ve actually been contemplating hitting the unfollow because of it. I’m all for people monetizing their blogs, if they do it smartly. But man oh man, there’s a right way and a wrong way.
(Now that I’m reading this comment it looks like a bit of a rant. Sorry about that. it was meant to just be comments)
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π Worry not. The comment is a polite rant.
In my case, I do not get offended whenever someone tries to get something sold on their blog because I know that is their livelihood (I want them to be able to provide for themselves and their family).
You were indeed correct when you specified that there are correct ways of doing things.
I can also understand the reason why a reader might find a person who is always trying to sell a product annoying each time that they publish a blog post; it could make the reader think, “Does this blogger want to pass on their knowledge freely? Or, are they trying to break me down eventually with the intensions of buying something?”
By the way, you are within your rights to unfollow a blogger if you believe that they are not seeking your interest.
Thank you for your participation!
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Oh, I know I can unfollow. I just… they’re a brilliant blogger. Like… I’m fascinated by their intelligence and ability to captivate me. That’s why I get so torn. Four posts a day of “buy this from me” to every one posts of me saying “Wow, they’re a genius and I want to be like them”. I’m rambling again. Sorry for rambling in your comments section. lol
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π Ramble on; you are still on topic.
You have not violated anything withing my commenting policy; you can find it here: https://renardsworld.wordpress.com/commenting-policy/
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What’s the right way? π
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These perks are a part of blogging scenario. I enjoy all aspects of blogging. I did try to make money off my blog by signing for Word-Ads but that is just peanuts. So I have decided to pause the ads for now. I donβt think that I would ever be in the β affiliated links and product endorsement β world. But I am happy to be blogging here.
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π Thank you for sharing that with me, Sadje!
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A pleasure Renard.
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I am enjoying expressing my thoughts. I never thought I would enjoy writing as much. That is my biggest Perk
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π Expressing yourself via your writing is one of the best perks that a blogger will ever have, Neil.
Thank you for sharing that with me, my friend!
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Well, was just going to contact you (that email addy you list), but then saw this new post and decided to just comment here instead. I’m now wondering if the Google Translate button offered on WP can help with “Perks” and/or a new addition to a topic list and/or etc? You just said we could “Ramble on.” π My Linux blog has been getting more foreigners than Americans, so I recently added that button to it, and also to my political blog (not many foreigners there). In the “Stats” Referrer area I’ve started getting “translate.google.com” numbers (?) being listed there – on the Linux blog, but not the political one. Seems like more visitors, and these visitors are viewing more stuff. Anyway, not a topic for me, so thought to drop it off to you in case you might be interested.
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π Honestly, I do not know how accurate the Google translation service is; if it is working for your blog, you can consider it as a perk.
And, yes, Karmi, you are allowed to ramble on (Provided that you stay on the topic, my friend).
Personally, I am not interested in the Google translation service (But, I must admit that it is one of their best products; due to the fact that it helps to break down the communication barrier).
Thank you for sharing your unique perspective!
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I am same when it comes to these perks and being able to express myself that started as therapy for me and still can at times, while helping others not feel alone too on something they may relate to.
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π That is good to know, Liz.
Thank you for mentioning that to me!
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I like blogging because it’s a creative outlet that allows me to express my thoughts with the rest of the world. I also enjoy the other perks you mentioned. I would like to monetize my blog, but I don’t really want to go self hosted because I’ll lose access to the wordpress.com community.
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π Well, EJ, there is no need for you to break the bonds with WordPress.com.
I genuinely believe that WordPress.com has a fantastic community.
By the way, WordPress.com also allows its users to monetize their blogs; you can find out more by checking this link: https://en.support.wordpress.com/monetize-your-site/
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Wow! Thanks for the link. I will definitely check it out. π
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I’m new to the blogging world, so I’m still learning what perks there are. After reading your article, I feel a little wiser about WordPress and will take your advice to heart. Thanks for the insight. ππ
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π You are welcome, Paula!
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Excellent insight Renard. π
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π Thank you, Ron.
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Gladly Renard. π
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Very informative post. I don’t blog for monetary reasons, my blog is young and starting to get followers and likes but it lacks comments and interaction on my posts. You make some great observations. Thank you
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π You are most welcome, Bruce.
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I will be re-blogging your post in 12 hours.
The challenge of finding topics for my various theme posts and learning interesting things as I do the research is one thing I am grateful for.
I agree with your points mentioned above. I started my blog June 2013, but didn’t post until early July. Been more active blogging in the last year. I use the WordPress Reader to find new blogs to follow in addition to doing topic searches.
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π I am always fine with you reblogging my blog posts.
Also, it is nice to know that you are grateful for finding topics for your various theme posts (A wonderful perk).
Wow, you waited almost an entire month before you posted your first article on your blog. Was cold-feet the cause of that?
Thank you for your participation!
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I think it was a case that I joined WordPress, forgot I had joined until I noticed it. Initially I didn’t post much. After an update in late 2014 or early 2015 made my original blog inaccessible, I stopped posting for the first half of 2015 as I tried numerous things to get my blog back up.The company that had my domain name wouldn’t help. The company whose update broke my blog wouldn’t help. Thankfully, just before it became inaccessible, I made a back-up copy of my blog and was able to import that into the old WordPress account.
About July of last year, I started posting a lot more. With the posting picking up pace early this year.
On the theme topics, it can be fun because I use about 3 dozen websites to search most of the themes. It takes a fair amount of time as I have to be creative sometimes. For example, my post on San Giovanna Fortress, I also had to search for Fortresses of Kotor.
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I always enjoy your content itβs educational yet simple clear text that holds interest even for me with my tiny attention span π. Another perk of blogging is the ability to empty your head of all the useless clutter and hopefully share something helpful with others. I appreciate the interaction itβs priceless to us newbies, thank you!
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π You are welcome, Elizabeth.
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Another perk of blogging is that it gets me to actually write, rather than just thinking one day I will write a book.
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π Now, that is a wonderful perk, Michelle.
Anything that gets you to write is worthy of making a note of.
Thank you for mentioning that to me, my friend.
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Meeting people in the wordpress.com βuniverseβ is definitely a perk that I enjoy. Both from my own country and across the globe. I wouldnβt have known them (and of course including you) if not for this interesting platform.
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π You have made a fantastic point, Emile.
Thank you for reading and commenting!
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I am afraid I am not yet a seasoned enough blogger to get all these perks. But I really enjoy the interaction on the comments section on my own blog and others.
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π Well, at least you are enjoying some of the perks of being a blogger (Which in my opinion is much better than not having any at all).
Thank you for your valuable contribution.
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You are most welcome π
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The quality over quantity aspect is key to blogging. A massive audience who don’t care about your content holds no value.
Great read. Thanks for sharing.
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π You are most welcome, Scott!
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I agree with all the perks you have listed here Renard when it comes to blogging – another superb post π
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π Thank you, Rory.
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Pleasure Renard π
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As they say, blogging should be fun, and for me that’s the best part. Unless you are a professional blogging for a business website, then a person should enjoy sharing their thoughts and photos with others. The more I read what other people post, the more I learn that no matter where we are in the world, most everyone has the same things we care about. We are more connected than not. I enjoy seeing and learning of other places that I would never get a chance to visit, all through the eyes and words of those who live there or where they travel.
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π I also agree that blogging should be fun and we can certainly learn a lot from each other by reading each other’s blog posts.
Thank you so kindly for sharing your point of view!
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You’re most welcome, Renard! Hope your day is going good. π
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Nice post Renard, I’m glad that WP finally made it possible to ( like and comment ) on rebloged post’s using the WP app and I love meeting new people and interacting with them on WP π.
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BY FOR NOW
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π Thank you for your point of view!
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Your welcome dear.
β€οΈβοΈ
BY FOR NOW
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Keep the posts coming because they always benefit in some way. Thanks always. I have an upgraded WordPress site that Iβve had for a while and one Iβm doing away with. Itβs hard sometimes trying to figure it all out. Your post do help.
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π Thank you for sharing that with me!
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The great thing about blogging is that it provides a direct connection to an audience. To me, writing is almost like breathing — it’s a psychological necessity, and I would hardly know how to not do it. But before blogging became a reality, the only outlets were writing for magazines or writing a book — and then you had to deal with editors and publishers. There was always someone standing between you and the potential readers, who had the power to decide whether what you wrote could be published or not, and to demand changes. With a blog, that obstacle is gone. I can write whatever I want and people can read it exactly the way I wanted to write it.
Over time I’ve built up something of a readership, so at least some people like what I have to say. Yes, there are occasional trolls (especially when I post something controversial), but over time I’ve learned to be ruthless with them.
The interactions are always interesting. My blog is on Blogger, but I have WordPress and Disqus accounts just so I can comment on blogs that use those systems.
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π When it comes to blogging for your own self, there is no middle man to worry about; you are your own boss.
Thank you for reading and commenting!
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I never thought of myself as a perk! Interesting perspective there.
Have a nice day.
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π Thank you, Jomz.
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You’re absolutely right, for some the perks will be monetary but for most it’s rewarding enough to give and receive within our communitiy. I appreciate every reader and every comment, as you do.
Have a great day Renard x
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π Thank you, Karen.
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Hi, Renard. Thanks for sharing another great post. Blogging can be demanding but should always be enjoyable and fun. Interaction is the name of the game. Have a wonderful day. Goff
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π I would be bored to death if blogging didn’t have the interactive aspective to it.
Thank you for the wonderful sentiment, Goff.
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Pleasure. Love reading your posts. Have a great day. Goff
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Living…not waiting for it to pass by brother. Love it! π
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π Thank you, Lee.
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ππβοΈβ€οΈ
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You brought up such a good point of interacting with other bloggers, wordpress is such a supportive community!
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π Indeed, Linh.
The WordPress community is very supportive!
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I 100% agree with each of the perks you have mentioned above. To take genuine interest in what someone else is saying involves caring and empathy. We need more of that in this world! What I see within the WordPress community are a group of people who are willing to share with you – work with you – and support you. I too am so grateful for thoughtful comments, social shares and all the rest.
Most of all, I LOVE that you added, “What goes around, comes around.” Yes, yes and yes. How we treat others will come back to us. If we choose to uplift others and help them achieve their dreams – we just might find that our dreams come true too. We need to stop competing and start supporting. β₯
Thank you for this awesome post. You are absolutely right!
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π Since we are all part of a blogging community, we might as well treat others the way that we would like to be treated.
Thank you for your valuable input, Holly!
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I completely agree π Very wise words. Thank you Renard for your thoughtful reply!
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Those are great perks. Spiritually nourishing.
Do you ever plan on jumping over to .org?
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π I have no plans on jumping over to WordPress.org anytime soon because WordPress.com is the right place for my personal blog.
I would only utilize WordPress.org if I have intentions of setting up a blog that is business-related.
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