It was a normal night or was it evening,? listening to Kendrick Lamar's new album, Damn in the darkness of the nationwide Dumsor; I saw a message in my notification from an old friend, This old friend ask me
why have you stopped?
wondering what she was talking about, I asked her and she replied the letters to yourself =D
I sent her my usual "lol" and here's is what I told her;
Why I blog & What I think About Blogging in General
I love writing anything that comes in mind, I honestly write these letters to myself and I think this is just my style, there are other reasons. There are many personal reasons why people want to create a blog post whether it's telling a story, documenting their life or even to raise awareness for a cause that means something to them. The most common thing I hear from Bloggers is that they just wanted to share their views on whatever subject it is they Blog about. Blogging is a lot more personal than just posting a status on Twitter or Facebook and can be followed and contributed to by others.
The purpose of blogging is to find/have a voice online.
Owning a blog compared to using one that's free gives you many more options. Such as the possibility to make money. Selling items, ads, or content.
See a "blogger" becomes an "accidental marketer". That's actually how I got interested in marketing. And how I started
I'Redy Labs.
There are many types of blogs. Most of the time people use it as a daily personal journal. Others use it as a portfolio site showcasing there ability to write. And even some use it as a fullwebsite/membership site.
State of Blogging in Ghana
Blogging in Ghana is increasing on a daily basis, may be because people have been hearing of the money and millions that the likes of Linda Ikeji and Ameyaw Debrah recently made from their blogging careers. Though when done properly, it can be a good job in Ghana that could help reduce the unemployment of the country. But just looking at the positive side of blogging in Ghana is wrong and could lead to disappointments, failures, criminal activity, and lost of focus from what blogging is supposed to be.
No one would want to start a journey that has no end or has no purpose, the same applies to all who would want to start their own blog in Ghana.
You will earn Money when you blog in Ghana
When people start a blog, their main purpose of everyone is to make money from it. I am starting with this because that is the sole aim of why people blog especially in Ghana. There are so many ways by which you could make money with your blog in Ghana such as through advertisements displayed on your website or blog and through paid contents of which you will be paid to write an article about a company, or any publication.
You will have Exposure, Popularity and Publicity
We often think that it is only in the physical world that we could become popular. It happens even in the internet world. For the fact that you sit at home and write articles alone does not mean that no one is observing you. After all, you are writing articles in order for people to read them and not robots, so know it today that what you say, do, post, or update on your blog speaks volume about you. There are people watching, observing and analyzing whatever you do. This is the more reason why you need to write something that is of help to people because in the long run, the success of your blog depends on what these people perceive your blog to be. If they see it as a good blog then they will associate you to be a good person but if the perceive it to be bad, then they may also see you as a bad person.
Challenges and problems of blogging in Ghana
Now that we have known the benefits associated with blogging especially the financial aspect, what then are the challenges you will face when you start a blog here in Ghana.
Starting a blog in Ghana is not as easy as just having a laptop and modem but maintaining a blog can become as hard as climbing the top of a mountain. Blogging does not come on a platter of gold because people may think what is there than just writing. It is not all about writing, my friend! it is more than that. I will explain the challenges you will face, the pitfalls, the disadvantages and problems you are likely to come across.
Financial problems: Money is the most important limitation you will have. It can cause a set back for you and can really pose a serious problem if you have no one to support you. People may include blogging to be the top among businesses you can start with less than 150ghc but it is not entirely true. First of all, even if you are going to use a free domain and hosting on your blog, You will still need money to buy internet data bundles which are costly. Why do you think bloggers in Nigeria so much love internet data cheats? It is because the bundles are costly.
You will have problems with Internet connectivity: having problems with the internet means that you will need a modem for browsing which requires money as I have earlier said and you will also need a Laptop. Whatever way you choose to connect to the internet, you will need money to that. You may decide to use a smart phone but still you will need money to buy the smart phone. Not all needed tools can work on mobile devices so my advice would be for you to buy a laptop. If you have a smart phone with a Hotspot, you could use it as a Modem instead of buying a modem.
Another issue with the internet connectivity is the speed. You need to browse at a fast speed because you may not want to take 2 minutes trying to open one page. That means before you write one post on your website or blog, it may take you half of the day.
Copyrights and Plagiarism: So many bloggers in Ghana are guilty of this. They will copy your work without adding backlinks to you and giving credits to you. it hurts when you see your work being copied. Most of the giant websites and blogs are suffering from these acts. Sites like ModernGhana, Ghanaweb etc have many of their News copied because people often wait for them to post and copy. If you intend going into blogging in Ghana and you have that unhealthy thought of copying what people have written, then desist from it because it will hurt your reputation and may get you into problem. That is what people often do. Google itself is seriously against it and once they understand that you copied someone's posts, they will penalize your blog and when people search, your blog will not be shown. Get rid of it. Even when you want to start earning money with the blog, google will not accept you and you may end up being frustrated.
Again when you write your articles or Posts, make sure you get google to copy it before anyone else does. You can do this by use of google search console for webmasters where you can submit a Url for indexing and control other site related issues.
You may become overwhelm by fellow bloggers' success: confusion may arise when you start blogging in Ghana especially when you hear the success of others. It can be so overwhelming that you may become confused. One thing you have to know is that success hardly comes overnight, it takes diligence, focus and passion.
My Take
Being human is enjoyed by people in many different ways, isn't it? The march of time and technology has given us all the chance to spend some of our lives in new pursuits. Those of us privileged enough to have access to IT can now flop around on the sofa watching TV all day, or wear our thumbs out playing games. We can take stunning photographs, make music and video and we can access more information than ever before.
The urge to communicate is a fundamental human trait and most of us share a primal need to let others know what we are thinking. People have kept diaries and journals down the centuries, although of course these were mostly meant to be private memoirs. Vanity publishers have always had their clients, and from the earliest days, people have felt the need to make their mark for fun and for posterity.
Putting these observations together, it seems to me that there are many, rather unsurprising motivations for keeping a blog. Some people want to keep a record of their life and thoughts for themselves, maybe also for their family or friends. Some will feel that it gives them the opportunity to be published to a wider audience. Since we live in a culture of celebrity, perhaps some people see a blog as a digital chance to make a mark. It is just a digital extension of what people have always done.
