Blogging? It’s actually good for you. Who knew, right?

Contrary to popular belief, blogging isn’t just a pointless endeavor for the hopelessly vain. There are studies and concrete evidence that proves blogging can have a positive effect in your life, whether through your well-being or your wallet. Here’s a list of all the good things that blogging can give you, regardless of what age you are.

Maintaining your mental health

Studies dating all the way back from the ’80s have documented the health benefits of journaling (the old school version of blogging). A 1982 research by the University of Texas at Austin’s James Pennebaker, PhD found that “short-term focused writing about emotions can enhance immune function, lower blood pressure, decrease heart rate, reduce asthma and arthritis symptoms, and lessen sleep disturbances in patients with metastatic cancers.” Today, New York-based psychotherapist and award-winning author Deborah Syrani puts these findings into practice. Specializing in depression, Syrani encourages her patients to pursue expressive arts, specifically journaling or blogging, because it works. “There’s a lot of science grounding expressive language writing and journaling as being an extremely helpful piece for maintaining mental wellness,” she explained. This only proves that no matter the medium, this process of pouring out emotions on paper or WordPress has the same benefits.

Boosting your business

For small businesses, blogs make for a quick and easy aesthetically appealing virtual store with a reach wider than any physical store’s immediate surroundings. It can also help you build your database through collecting emails and a more direct sort of networking with your consumers.

On the other hand, you can also make blogging into your very own business. With brands big or small trying to establish good social media presence, social media influencers and bloggers are high in demand right now (although trend forecasters believe this will be less in 2018). Nothing makes a person want a product more than seeing another person have it.

Updating your skills

Establishing your own blog also forces you to develop certain skills in-demand today. You would at the very least, develop an understanding of HTML, CSS, and the importance of building your search engine optimization (SEO). You will also, at one point, take a dabble in graphic design, content marketing, and social media marketing.

Pursuing your passions

There isn’t anything like blogging that provides a platform where you can express about anything and everything under the sun. It’s a place where you can explore and talk about things you’re passionate about. Fashion, food, art, business, cars—the sky is the limit.

For the writer, practice makes perfect. Blogging offers a more personal space to keep on writing, regardless of the type of content or if it’s unfinished or imperfect. This gives any (budding) writer the medium to explore their craft and get better at it.

That being said, there are restrictions and responsibilities attached with running a blog. Blogapalooza, the first and largest business-to-influencer event in the country, will be holding a panel exploring exactly what these limitations are. They’ll also be discussing what makes good online content. Catch them this coming Nov. 18 at the City of Dreams.