While there are many ways we think of taking care of our health, from going to the gym to wearing sunscreen and eating the right foods, there are some unusual ways we often don’t think about.
One of these ways is to start a blog. This is very similar to a health journal, only it is more public, and offers you as the user some unique opportunities. Of course, the first step is that you must look for a domain name, a web host, and set up the blog itself. This can be a very inexpensive process, and as we will see momentarily, can be a profitable one.
Once you have set up your blog, you are ready to make your first entry. Here are five ways blogging can lead to better health.
Accountability
One of the primary reasons to blog over just keeping a journal is that it is done publicly. This means friends, family, and other readers will be able to keep you accountable to your goals in fitness, diet, and spiritual health.
This is important. When you blog, put your goals out there for everyone to see. Post regular updates and include both your victories and your failures. This gives your audience an opportunity to congratulate you in your highs and encourage you to keep going in your low times.
This also keeps you real to your audience. No one wants to read the blog of someone who does things perfectly every time. It is difficult to relate when we often fail ourselves. While you want to keep a positive attitude even when you have a down day, you also don’t want to be unrealistic.
Community
When you offer to let your audience keep you accountable, you will also begin to create a community. Audience members may take to keeping each other accountable, and those who are following your journey will use it to encourage others, and invite them on your journey.
Essentially, what you will begin to find are your friends and fans. These people are going to hold you accountable, true. They also will often join you in your pursuit of fitness, sharing their journeys as well. They will then bring others with them, the people they share their stories with.
This word of mouth will help you build a wider audience as you go along. These friends will tell their friends, and so on. As long as you are sharing your journey and others are sharing theirs, you will have a website that not only gets a lot of traffic, but may make a difference to a large number of people.
Education
As your audience grows, so will your understanding that you don’t know everything you should. Your audience will bring a new perspective to your fitness efforts and can offer you ways to alter your plan, change up your exercise, or modify your diet to obtain optimal health.
A word of caution with this, though. As with nearly any other endeavor, too many cooks spoil the soup. Listen to advice, but take it with a grain of salt. do your own research, and make sure the advice you are getting is sound, from someone who has the background and expertise to give it.
Still, by blogging and listening to your readers, you can become healthier simply by being open to suggestions and learning.
Tracking
Besides accountability, it is often a good idea to track your fitness. This is true for several reasons. The first is that you can look back on your journey and see your own progress. This helps because if you can see how far you have come, it gives you confidence that you can accomplish what you have set out to do.
The second is that if something were to go wrong physically, or suddenly you were not able to do some of the things you were doing before, that can be a warning sign that something is wrong. By sharing the information you have tracked with your doctor or another medical professional, you may assist in diagnosing and fixing the problem.
Finally, you can also see when and where you have fitness plateaus. This can alert you that it is time to change up your diet or your exercise routine, since you are no longer making progress. This can also be a useful motivational tool.
Monetization
Often we don’t think of monetization as being good for our health, but it can be. Using your blog to make a little extra money can mean you can afford to eat better, get the supplements you have been wanting to try, and even upgrade your gym membership or the bike you ride.
Of course, there are several ways to monetize a health blog. Here are just a few suggestions.
- Sponsored Posts: SEO companies and other brands often want to be exposed to your audience and will pay you to place posts on your site. As long as the posts are relevant, high quality, and make sense with your site theme there is no reason not to accept them and the money that comes with them.
- Advertisements: Of course, another direct method of getting money for your site is to sell ad space. This means that you place ads, at a sponsor’s request, various places on your site in exchange for payment.
- Native ads: You can also place native ads from Google and Amazon that pay you every time someone clicks on them.
- Site Sponsors: Sometimes a brand or company will want to be featured on your site on a regular basis. This can be a great source of regular income, and less work as they often provide the ads you need to place for you, and often offer sponsored content as well.
Monetizing your blog can be good for your health if you use the money you get in the correct way to benefit your lifestyle.
We don’t often think of blogging when we think about doing things that are good for our health. However, it can be. These five ways are just a few examples of how your blogging can lead to better health.
