why I continue to blog after 14 years

When my daughter Rose was a few weeks old I started writing again.

I wrote about how hard it was to get back into running again now I was a mum…but I knew the accountability of writing the blog would get me back out there.

I signed up for a half marathon, and I wrote an ebook about running that sold 300 copies in the first weekend…and I realised I was on to something.

I was still unemployed at this time, and looking for paid work, but I wondered if I could turn the blog into a business.

EVERYONE said it was impossible.

Nobody I spoke to understood the model. But I knew there was a market for it, and I did it anyway.

That business based primarily on blogging as my main way of driving leads became a 6 figure coaching business, with the blog being read by millions around the world. It gave me a platform in which to launch a clothing brand, online coaching and fitness challenges, life coaching and of course books. 

It opened doors to sponsors, and cool overseas trips, and brand partnerships, and industry events. 

I was featured in a Runners World Magazine Special about the Greatest 40 runners of all time…alongside Paula Radcliffe, Seb Coe, and Usain Bolt…it quite literally blew my mind.

But business growth aside, I just simply loved to write.

I wrote 12 books while running that business, my best-selling book The Fat Girls Guide to Marathon Running having sold 6000 copies in the last 5 years…which baring in mind the average book on Amazon sells less than 250 in total, is pretty epic right? Women literally stop me in the street and thank me for writing that book. It still remains in the charts in its category, with peaks every time the ballot opens for London and other major marathons around the world.

In March this year I closed that business. The pandemic changed the environment in which I was operating and it just wasn’t viable for me to keep it going….and yet this weekend The Times newspaper wrote an article that referenced the blog, and it is still up as an archive so it lives on in many ways. 

I could have kept the blog going, but with a blog that generates that level of engagement, it became a bit of a full-time job fielding opportunities and responding to messages…I just couldn’t justify keeping it going, plus after running my 6th marathon in Sierra Leone, an epic partnership with the charity Streetchild, my long-distance running days are firmly behind me.

Plus I wanted to focus on my business coaching business. The pandemic saw so many small business owners struggling. I worked with 3000 clients to help them pivot, survive and thrive in some really challenging situations. I realise that THAT is my mission, to help the underdog in business succeed against the odds. 

But what about blogging?

Well, I have been blogging sporadically here at juliecreffield.com since 2017 about my business ventures.

Recently I have been blogging more frequently 2-3 times per week and I remember why I choose blogging over and above other ways of communicating.

Blogging is a long game.

It creates trust and repour with your readers, who come back time and time again to consume your content.

Your words can be repurposed and reshared over and over again…they serve as a back catalog of your work.

It creates stability, credibility, and a sense of longevity in your personal brand…and of course SEO.

It shows people who you are and what you stand for.

It is FREE for people to enjoy.

I used to say “Inspiration doesn’t pay the bills” but turns out it very much does.

I am a writer at heart. My latest book How Not to be Broke is a book for Solopreneurs who want to make more money yes, but it is also a book about expressing who you are…all of you. It shares the story of how I monetised my blog, how it changed mine and my daughters life. 

Blogging has helped me with business growth most over the years.

Blogging has given me the discipline needed to sit down and write a 60,000-word book, over the summer holidays.

Blogging has helped me hone my writing style and helped me get my thoughts and feelings out onto a page without overthinking it.

Writing a blog takes me about 30 minutes, and that 30 minutes frames my day.

Words are powerful, they are your legacy. 

Why not give blogging a go?