I blog because I’m lazy. There’s more too it though: In any given day I may explain something to someone, the first time I do this I make a bit of a mental note. The second time I do this, especially within a short time frame I make a physical note of this in the form of the title of a blog post. Once I’m already to a second time of doing this its almost inevitable I’ll continue repeating myself – and its valuable to others.

Becoming replaceable

My goal in doing this is actually to become heavily replaceable. Keeping information locked away means I’m the only one capable of doing it. Making myself highly replaceable means I can continue to work on new and interesting things.

Lots can be shared

I don’t recall exactly where I read it, I believe it may have been James Governor, but any email that doesn’t contain proprietary info or trade secrets should be blogged. I fully expect the sentiment around this is something to the effect that anything that contains good ideas/learning/processes can also be helpful to others.

Distilling information

For every time I explain something I often linger about one piece too long, hit something that doesn’t need to be discussed, or miss something entirely. Putting an idea or guide together in written form you re-read it, which is hard to do when simply verbally explaining. If you’ve video taped yourself before for public speaking practice you know this is an awkward but valuable experience. Its much easier to practice as an exercise in writing.

Economies of scale

While in some ways I am absolutely lazy when I blog I get economies of scale I couldn’t otherwise have. On a given day on a high day I may have 15 one on one conversations. Every post has the opportunity to become a one on one conversation.

One on one conversation is my preferred method instead of in a large group. In a related area I’ve been having an ongoing conversation wth Ryan Daigle on whether blog posts should have comments. I opt for having you reach out to me directly via email, he believes comments should be available. Putting this in words crystalizes that to me its just relative to how you prefer to interact.

Summary

As with any other post, this is one conversation I’ve now had a few times over. Hopefully this gives some basis to why I feel others should contribute content as well. Whether you want make your self dispensible, refine your thoughts, or reach new economies of scale I believe its a worthwhile exercise for many. If you have other reasons you feel its valuable as always please reach out.