After I tagged him yesterday, Kenric tagged me back. Bastard :-)
Five Reasons I Blog
- Motivation. Back when I started blogging in July, 2004, I viewed the blog as motivation for me to follow through on my plans. I had a habit of starting things and not finishing them or only doing something once. I had just sold my first investment property and wanted something to drive me to keep up investing in real estate. The need for more blog fodder proved to be a good incentive for keeping me moving forward. I'd like to think I don't need that incentive anymore...
- Education. Really, REI isn't that hard. The biggest hurdle I had to get over was taking that first step of buying a property - I was intimidated by the thought of being responsible for another mortgage. I want to show others that finding and buying investment property is not that hard, not scary, and provides great wealth potential. All you need to do is conquer your fears. Many of the books I read were great on motivational-type messages, but there was nothing that gave step-by-step instructions or details on the process of buying, renting, and selling properties. (And since every real estate deal is different, there really can't be a book that does this.) Being analytical by nature, I craved these details when I was starting out. My thought was, by blogging about every minute detail of my experiences, I might be able to help those like me who were motivated but still a bit scared. As I said, every deal is different (not to mention, each state has different laws), but there are similarities and hopefully my experiences can help others.
- Networking. By nature, I'm a shy person. It's difficult for me to go out and meet others in a social setting. Since networking is an important part of real estate investing, the blog helps me find other investors in a way that is more comfortable to me.
- Money. I don't make lots of money from this blog (on a good month, I'll get close to $50 from the Google ads), but it's extra money for me and I budget it towards things I would never spend my W2 income on - like my ludicrously expensive ice cream maker and my next frivolous purchase - a MAME cabinet. Truthfully though, I do make some good money indirectly from here - it's through this blog that I got some properties in Oklahoma.
- Fun / To Kill Time. When I started the blog, I was working at a day job that wasn't very challenging. I had about 6 hours of free time a day. I needed something to fill up that time and I filled it by reading the message forums at richdad.com. From there, I started reading other blogs and decided to start one of my own, writing entries during the free time I had at work. Now, I have much less free time, but I still blog because I enjoy it.
Now that I think about it, I should ask my wife what I obsess about. I'm sure she could come up with a list!
And now, I will take it upon myself to stop the insanity and I will not tag any others for this meme :-)
4 comments:
Cool. Almost the same 5 reasons I blog, although, I haven't made ANY money off my blog, so #4 would more likely be to Track My Progress, or something similar.
Keep up the great work, Shaun!
The MAME thing is more expensive than it looks. I think I budgeted around 1k and ended up spending just north of 1.5k. But, it's still a lot of fun, both building and playing. Do a Lot of research before you start. People gloss over all the little details you need to know to be successful.
Actually, I've got a very good idea of what the MAME cabinet entails.. A friend of mine made one. My day job is also at a video game company and there is one in our office, in addition to several other co-workers who have also made one :-) Thanks for the advice!
Heh, after posting on this I decided it was time to do a little upgrading on my mame box. I ordered a new set of ROMs and I finally splurged and bought the smart strip surge protector so I don't have to turn on the tv separately than the computer.
Debating whether it's time to bite the bullet and pick up a set of racing wheels ;)
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