Interestingly enough, I’ve encountered many questions regarding this topic; what is the difference between blog and a website. Why do I choose to become a full time blogger rather than a website developer? And can we really make money from blogging?

In Malaysia, the blogging trend has just started few years back. I never heard the term blog myself in 2004. And if someone told me back then that you could really make money from it, I would considered it as a SCAM :0.

So, what get me hooked at blogging? First of all, my definition of blog might me different from others. So please keep it as my personal opinion. Blog actually IS a website. Yes. Now you know. But there are few things that made blog a little more interesting than a traditional websites:

1. It’s much more easy to add new contents on a blog. Websites are too technical. Yes, there are some content management systems like Joomla and Drupal but it is way too technical for an average surfers. Updating a content in a blog is as simple as writing an email; just write and send or publish (in blog of course).
2. The contents are updated regularly. I don’t see many websites owners update their content daily, or weekly or even monthly. They come up with a product, attach some nice pictures and descriptions about it and there you go. Where as bloggers updated their blog contents on daily basis, sometime 2 or more articles per day. More ideas means more articles to write.
3. Newest articles in blog are placed at the top, followed by the next most recent and so on. Every articles contain a title and followed by a body of content. The journaling style of a blog remind us of our traditional diaries. I guess everybody has a diary right? or not?
4. Blogging is about writing what you love and passionate about. When I say blog remind us of our diaries, I really meant it. If you have a cat, and you want to write something about it, just write. For example, your cat likes to eat fried fish, he/she enjoys sleeping at your couch or even watching TV with you. Just write. Blogging lets you share your passion with others. Monetizing your blog is the next step. But to love what you are writing are the most important.
5. People can leave comments on your blog. Websites? They do have something called Contact Us (and we’ll reply in say..200 years?). Readers can directly communicate with the writer of the content, carry on the conversion started and soon after, you have already build u a community. Love your cat community anybody?
6. The result of the comments and conversations in blog lead to people trusting blogs more than other medias such as websites, newspapers and even television. Blogs has been considered as a trusted sources of information. Some bloggers are perceived as respected experts purely on the back of their successful blog.

Well these are just my thoughts. I don’t know about other people and why they blog. As I say earlier, passion comes first, monetizing is second.

Happy blogging!