Blogging is one of those activities that can appear to be a waste of time or self-indulgent. The vast majority of bloggers, myself included update these blogs with a genuine desire to help people develop skills and to discuss points of view. It does take time away from design and development, but it’s an investment rather than a cost. So how can blogging make me, or you better?

It can help in a number of different ways actually. Firstly to blog about something you have to know the subject and be at least pretty good at it, if not better. That might mean raising the bar, learning more and refining skills. You can’t effectively engage an audience of like-minded individuals if you don’t know what you’re talking about. Blogging also demands good communication skills. Like many web designers, this was a secondary requirement of the job which I didn’t pay too much attention to. Communication skills are valuable in any walk of life and I’m glad blogging is developing mine.

If you want to blog about a new technique or technology you have to research it first. Learning new stuff is part of a web designers lot, but to blog about it you really have to know it. That pushes me to learn as much as I can about things before writing about them. Not only does that help me in my career, but hopefully it will help anyone who reads the blog too.

Blogging about web design is a conversation between me the blogger, and you the audience. It’s a great way of meeting people, sharing opinions and making contacts. Having a lively blog is a great way of engaging other designers, clients, and people in general. All who have something to offer, opinions to share and things to say. That interaction between us is the reason I’m doing this. Not only to give something back by offering hints and tips, but to engage people in lively debate, talk about the ramifications of technology changes or talk about new ways of coding something. Meeting people is a valuable business tool, after all, it’s not what you know but who you know.

Often designers know much about how a site is built and how it all works. Not so many know anything about what happens after they hand the site over. The hosting, maintaining and managing of a website all need different skills. Running a design blog forces you to learn those skills which can only help your designs. I beleive that only by having a full appreciation of how the site works after you hand it off will give you a much better idea about what works in the real world.

Finally, but equally importantly, is time management. If you have deadlines to meet you have to be efficient with your routine so you can fit in the extra work writing a blog demands. This can help all aspects of your life, especially work. Getting more out of the same amount of time is priceless, especially if there is no compromise on the quality of the output.

Blogging isn’t a waste of time or self-indulgent. It not only makes you a more effective designer, writer, communicator and businessman.

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