Launching a Career with your Blog
This Fast Company article should have been titled "How to Launch a Career with your Blog if you are a Writer". And also, there really was no "how" in there; just examples of the fact that you could. If you were already a famous blogger.
It would be interesting to see more writing about how to "launch a career", "expand a career", whatever using a blog when the career is actually in industry. So how does a marketing professional use a blog to take a next step in their career? I'm not sure if I am trying to convince myself to write something. I think I did write something in the past with the focus on being "findable" and "credible".
Anyway, this Fast Company article kind of left me feeling "that's great for them but what about me?"
Comments
Anonymous
December 08, 2006
You mean like a corporate recruiter expanding her career by becoming a highly visible representative of her company and profession through her blog? How many people do you think had heard of you before your blog? How about now? Within your field, I think you're a fairly obvious example.Anonymous
December 08, 2006
In my experience, though it wasn't my original goal, I would say my blog has expanded my career based on: a) connecting me with a great network of peers and experts that I am not so sure I would have had the pleasure of meeting otherwise b) allowing myself to express my thoughts and experiences related to the technology that I use that has somewhat enabled me to gain some level of credibility i hope ;-) c) helped me fine tune and expand my writing skills that has since evolved into more ambitious projects such as articles and books - things I probably would not be doing if I hadn't started a blog several years ago. I don't think it is a "just add water" type thing where if you build it...opportunities will come. But I do believe that by putting yourself out there, engaging with people and writing good content, you can create opportunties both from a credibility and relationship point of view. I guess what you do with them from that point is up to you. I have in the past visited blogs that were being positioned very agressively to launch or advance one's career or market themself and it left me feeling a little uncool about it. I think while the opportunities for advancement are strong, you still have a requirement for good content and a genuine approach. When those come together with the right person who knows their audience and what they are looking for...I think the possibilities could be endless.Anonymous
December 08, 2006
I think the writer missed a giant point in his article and that is how to get people in your industry to read your blog. I have seen a ton of security people get web credibility by using social networking sites like Digg.com and Slashdot.org to expend their reach into places they normally wouldn’t be seen. I think blogging is just another logical step in social networking that some people have started to take advantage of.Anonymous
December 08, 2006
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December 08, 2006
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December 08, 2006
great thoughts and comments... I love the idea of blogging to advance in a career - actually, I consider it part of your career management strategy. Blogging allows you to substantiate your breadth and depth (which can't come across in a resume or elevator pitch)... one of my favorite examples, hands down, of someone that does that is here: http://www.jibberjobber.com/blog/archives/156 For related fascinating dialogue on using a website for personal branding check out this one (note the comments are from leading experts in the personal branding and/or recruiting industry (or at least, very active bloggers themselves)): http://www.jibberjobber.com/blog/archives/240Anonymous
December 08, 2006
Good article - and I wonder if theory will evolve into practical application in my own little world of petty blogging... You've got a great thing here, HH. You are the epitome of that article... Me, not so much. I'm going to be a featured Yahoo! 360 blogger sometime this coming week... but I don't think much will come of that other than would-be stalkers trying to contact me. I won't see book deals and the only job offers I see in my future have to do with a bank transfer from Uganda and a commission of 8% from Prince Mubuto. This was their promise to me... As are the slew of work-at-home potential start-ups that I have overloading my inbox.... Some people have all the luck.... HH, you've got it good! :) Trust me...Anonymous
December 09, 2006
vicki- it builds over time. Plus, having a company like Microsoft attached to my name has been a BIG part of it. The "proessional" blogs (you can decide how professional mine is) definitely have some more visibility because the bloggers are talking about something that others want to know about. The novelty of using the blog as part of one's job has definitely brought a lot of visibility. I don't believe in luck, but that is just me. As casual and effortless as it may appear, this blog has been a lot of work; especially on the days where I have nothing to write or have to deal with trolls. I'd like to believe that there's some talent involved...you all can humor me on that one : ) Plus, not everyone is willing to share part of their lives with a broad audience. I'm not sure what has led me to be able to do that (and it's something that I've gotten used to), but it ain't luck : ) I've gotten into a discussion about this on another blog. "Luck" will not bring people to your blog. It doesn't lead to traffic. Writing well about things that people care about, using opportunities for visibility, being down-to-earth and credible, responding to people...those are the things that lead people to your blog. First thing you need to decide is why you are blogging, to whom and what actions you would like to have come about by your blogging. There was actually a lot of thought that went into my blogging shortly after I first started (I'd like to say before I started but that's not the case); I identified my intended audience and outcomes I'd like to see and I figured out how to increase the likelihood of those things happening. It's not even "luck" that I work at Microsoft. Those interviews were tough! : ) I guess my point is (besides that fact that I hate the word "luck"...hee) that you can't attribute it to luck. All those people in that article made it happen. You can't sit back and expect traffic; you have to drive it to your blog using the right keywords your audience might be searching, engaging in comments, being part of the conversation on other blogs (with similar topics). You kind of have to make a successful blog happen versus wait for it to happen. It actually can be a little exhausting sometimes. Trust me, I feel fortunate to work for a company that allows employee blogging. But I still don't think that is luck. Microsoft's corporate culture was a big factor in me deciding that I wanted to work here in the first place. Anyway...Anonymous
December 09, 2006
OMG - my apologies for using the word "luck" - I have made a note to self on that!! Quite simply, I meant that things are going well for you and other people may not have that same opportunity. Although, I believe that people should TAKE opportunities and not WAIT for them to be handed to them. And, you're absolutely correct --- whether it is talent or seizing the moment - there is a certain amount of drive that can be attributed to one's success (or lack thereof). Personally, I strongly believe in Einstein's theory of relativity... and the belief that some people have innate abilities that others wish they had. But it is STILL a matter of using one's strengths and differences that put you ahead of the pack. How you use your abilities will be important only to you. "Use it or lose it" so to speak. Let me re-word my last sentence from my previous post: instead of being lucky, you're fortunate. ;) Why? Because you've learned how to use it!Anonymous
December 09, 2006
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December 09, 2006
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December 09, 2006
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December 10, 2006
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December 11, 2006
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December 12, 2006
As you guys mentioned earlier I am having a heck of a time getting visibility. I have sent it to my candidates, but I have to continue to forward the link everytime I post in order for them to read it and even then no one responds. Heather do you have any insight other than the age old cliche of time will tell?Anonymous
December 12, 2006
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December 18, 2006
I just stumbled across this post and these comments this morning, though, ironically, I had posted on just this topic last week, inspired by this <a href="http://servantofchaos.typepad.com/soc/2006/10/blogs_are_the_n.html">post</a> on "Blogs as the new CV." One can certainly use blogs to gain an audience, but, as you point out, this takes a lot of ongoing, hard work. That aside, growing an audience and landing consulting gigs, or pulling in ad revenue, are not the only or even the best reasons to create a blog. It may be more realistic and practical for people in almost any industry to use blogs as a sort of annotated or supplemental resume. That is, if you blog regularly on topics pertinent to your area of specialization or expertise, even if you don't get a lot of traffic, you will have effectively created a portfolio of thoughts, case studies, etc. with a broader scope and greater detail than a traditional resume. Having done that, you don’t necessarily have to attract the masses to your blog and hope to get discovered. Instead you can use your blog in a more targeted way, bringing it to the attention of those specific employers you want to reach. Who knows, there may come a time when hiring managers don't want to see your resume, they just want the URL of your blog.Anonymous
March 27, 2007
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March 27, 2007
Hi John, I'm glad you came back. I'm happy to hear that my blog is blind user friendly. That's cool! To answer some of your questions:
- locating blogs by topic....try technorati.com. It is basically a blog search engine. So you can enter keywords and find relevant blog posts.
- regarding discussions online regarding clerical jobs, unfortunately, I am not sure as I don't recruit in that space. I'd be interseted in finding out from you, if you do start a blog, which are the most friendly to adapative technologies. In fact, I think I'll ask my blog readers if they know...we may generate some ideas for you!