I’m reading Technorati’s 2011 State of the Blogosphere report. As I do, I’m reflecting on my own stats, motivations for writing and measurements of success…

Here are some stats from the report:

• Professional Part-Time and Full-Time bloggers make up 18% of the total group surveyed. These are independent bloggers who use blogging as a way to generate income.
• Corporate bloggers make up 8% of the blogosphere. These individuals blog full-time for a company or organization (I fall into this category).

Of the corporate group…

• 70% blog to share expertise.
• 61% to gain professional recognition.
• 52% to attract new clients.

Lastly, 63% of corporate bloggers use number of unique visitors as a measurement of success.

I find these stats interesting as I reflect on my own motivations for blogging. While here (on my personal blog), I write to share subject matter expertise and professional recognition, on my company blog, I write primarily to attract new clients. And while unique visitors is a good measurement of success (that number’s growing consistently for me in the double-digits week over week and month over month), I also look at things like:

• Number of trial accounts people register for.
• Email list sign-ups.
• Comments & social mentions (as an indicator of whether people resonated well with the content).

This year, I’ve been focusing more on my objectives. Meaning, I try and think about the desired outcome and the desired effect I want my writing to have. At times I’m all over the place, but I find that sitting down and really thinking about what it is you want to accomplish helps a great deal in inching you towards your goals.

What about you?

What are your primary motivations for blogging? To establish yourself as an authority in your niche? Generate new business? And what do you track to measure your level of success?