Selling Yourself

As most of you know, I'm a writer. And a lot of my blogger-friends are writers too. I know all of us love blogging now, love meeting new people and making friends through this fantastic medium. But I've been wondering: why did you start a blog in the first place? Because you thought it'd be fun? Or because you thought it was the way to start building up a readership for your writing career?

I started this blog because I read countless bits of advice for new authors telling me I should have some sort of web presence. I thought I'd like blogging, so I picked this form of web presence. I didn't expect to love it as much as I do, so much so that these days it's more about the posts and the interaction than it is about selling myself.

So my question for you is, is this why you blog? To sort of market yourself? I don't have a book due out, but if and when I do, having a few blog followers and a few people already interested in your work is going to prove helpful.

Do you think it's ever too early to start selling yourself and your work?