How to Keep A Digital Journal of Your Experiences

Journals are daily, weekly, or monthly records of events and activities for an individual, business, or company. It’s a visible footprint of what’s happening in your life financially, academically, socially, etc. In the past, people keep journals personal, in a physical book where they hide secrets and all that stuff. This article explores ways to keep a digital journal of your experiences.

We have come a long way in embracing technology in that we can write our journals online. It’s okay if you want to keep it personal but what’s the fun in that?

Digital journals are like blogs and can help you achieve a lot of things like the following:

1. Sharing your experiences

People go through different experiences, personal, learning, or professional. Keeping a digital journal while going through your experiences will help you keep track and remember all that happened throughout the experience. Journals will help you keep things in detail, and people will appreciate the knowledge.

2. Build an audience

Journals help you build an audience who loves to hear your thoughts, read your journey, see your works, etc. This can help you build an audience, and with that, you can earn a stream of income and do much as influence other interests you may have.

3. Grow customers

When growing your business, it’s best to keep a journal about your experiences, your work, etc. Sharing how you bake or ice a cake, how you make Jollof Rice, or create a unique design can help you catch an audience that will grow into your future customers.

4. Get students

Whether you offer a service or sell products, you can equally use your journal as a means to reach out to students or apprentices. You can create a physical or digital course that people will be willing to buy.

5. Get donations

If you are just doing what you do for fun, there is no reason why you shouldn’t get something extra. If people really love your journal, you can get donations from people. Open a Patreon or Kofi account and earn something little on the side.

Note: Having a digital journal is different from having a digital portfolio. A digital journal records events, posts, and shares of experiences, while a digital portfolio contains examples of your work. If you are a writer, you may fill your with writeups and pictures, but your portfolio will have details of your writing publications.

Websites you can use for your digital journal

Sincerely, any good site that allows its users to share posts and images and build an audience is a digital journal. What varies is that websites may be specific to the type of users and field or topic discussions.

There are different sites for writers, journalists, artists, entrepreneurs, etc. Knowing the right site and channel for your content will quickly help you attract readers and engagement. The following are such websites;

1. Social media

Used by: All professionals

If you have been using social media to catch a cruise without aim, it’s time to stop and think about the possibilities. You don’t always have to start a new page and account when you find a hobby or a new interest worth sharing. You can always continue with your personal account. Facebook, Instagram, Quora, LinkedIn, etc., are good places you can start a digital journal.

2. Hashnode

Used by: Developers and Tech guys

Hashnode is a website where people in tech can own their own personal domain and share their thoughts, projects, skills, and experiences with others. It’s the substack for developers, software engineers, data scientists, etc. If you are in this field, this is the place to be, making the most impact. It’s free with no ads and things like that.

3. Medium

Used by: All writers

Medium is a website for anyone who writes. You can write good articles and series about your past or current experiences regardless of your professional field. Like Hashnode, it gives you an international audience and controls your stories and profile.

4. Substack

Used by: Everyone

Substack is another realm for bloggers, writers, columnists, and creators. It also has a feature for podcasts, comic creators, etc. It has a newsletter feature that makes it easy for users to send out posts and information to their subscribers. It also has a payment plan for users according to their number of subscribers.

How to keep your digital journal

Write in detail, except…

Give your readers what will make them come back again and again for more. Give details and everything they need. If you can freely give your audience spicy details and information that is fresh on the internet, except you want to keep it for a special few paying audiences. A lot of creators and writers do this, engage your audience in a fascinating story until the last minute.,

Use videos and images

Pictures, videos, audio, and images can tell a story or make a story look authentic. Use photos to show what’s happening, don’t always keep your viewers wondering about what you are describing looks like. Remember, you are describing to people what only you can see; making a digital journal is making a graphic novel.

Create a donation platform

When your digital journal becomes very popular and you get a lot of sweet comments, that should be a sign that you can start accepting donations. Donations are an excellent way to make money out of whatever you are doing or passing through. If you are making an impact or adding value, you can rest assured that people will donate to your cause. Donations are great; they help you give your best to everyone without holding anything back.