Brent Hodgson, Copywriter

A friend recently noted how much time and effort I put into this blog, and asked me:

“Why do you do it, Brent? Surely there’s more productive things you can be doing.”

Sure there are more productive things I could be doing… And more profitable things too!

For starters, I could be billing hours to clients - there’s always more work for me to do than I end up getting done. Or I could be working on my own ventures.

But I give that time up when I blog.

My motivation for blogging is simple - I have three reasons to blog:

1. A selfish reason;
2. An unselfish reason, and;
3. A relationship building reason.

The selfish reason is simple. I blog to remind myself about the things I’ve learned, the things I know, the things I want to achieve, and the things I already do well. I blog as a journal - to keep myself focused, positive and moving forward - and as a record of how far I’ve come.

The unselfish reason is that I also blog for the people I have personal relationships with in my life - my friends, colleagues, family, and clients. I blog to share with them some of the things I know, and some of the things I want them to know. I blog to give them things I feel they may want, need or are missing, and to stay in communication and relationship with them.

The obvious thing about relationships is that they are all about constant communication.

The thing I’ve noticed is that when communication is poorly and selfishly executed, it’s called “marketing” - but when done well it’s called “relationship”.

Because of this type of honest communication in my blog, I end up connecting with other people around the world, and building relationships. People just like you. People no different to the people closest to me in my life - those who I already have personal relationships with. It’s not my primary purpose (it’s reason #3) - but I’m glad when I can help people through my blog, and end up building a relationship with them.

That’s why I don’t hold back here - with anything I say.

If I hold back here just so “I know something you don’t know”, I’m holding back.

I’m holding back from making a connection. I hold back from my friends, colleagues, clients and family. I hold back on relationships. And I’m holding back from myself.

That is the reason I dedicate hours each week to this blog, and why I’m willing to give away all of what I know about marketing.

It’s for you, it’s for my friends, my family, my clients and my colleagues - but first and foremost, it’s for me.

Popularity: 24%