Many people start off blogging without an end goal in mind. This is a recipe for failure and those same people eventually give up. However, blogging can be successful and rewarding if you start off on the right path.

Whenever you embark on a project you should know what results you desire to achieve. Blogging is no different.

Ask yourself these questions:

Do I want to earn money through blogging?
Do I want to share my expertise in a certain area with other?
Do I want to create an online diary of sorts to chronicle my life?

These three goals require three different approaches. If you take the right path you will achieve success as you define it.

Earning a living through blogging is not an easy prospect. You must learn the mechanics of creating a blog and generating traffic. If you don't have visitors to your site, you won't make money. This type of site is more about marketing than blogging. Sure, you need to have good articles but you also need to spend a lot of time getting the word out about your site in the blogosphere. Basically, you will be running a business, and you need to treat your blog as such. Because you will be using your time to create quality content and to market your website you may get discouraged quickly. Results are slow to come by.

Sharing your expertise takes a different approach. You still need to know the nuts and bolts of site creation, but you can focus on your content. Sharing what you know with others is a common reason to start a blog. You will not have to focus too much of your attention on marketing, especially if making money is not your goal. People will come to your site looking for answers about your subject and may link back to you or refer your content to others. Your site may grow more slowly but "word of mouth" or in this case keyboard will assist your site growth.

An online diary is a enjoyable way to blog. In this method you create a site for mom and dad, and dear old Aunt Mary to keep up with you and your life. You post media (songs, pictures, movies) and keep in touch with friends new and old. You don't much care about traffic and your site is your canvas. This is my favorite type of site to write because I can post about anything that is on my mind.

Every person is different, and your goals from blogging may differ from the above three reasons. What is important is that you know what goals you have in mind before beginning. Blogging is a time consuming process and an abandoned blog is time wasted. That is not to say that your goals will not change. A blog is always a work in progress, and once you achieve one type of success you may decide to change direction. It is your choice.