One of the greatest examples of someone who has taken this ‘simple’ career tool to a whole new level is Heather Armstrong, also known as Dooce. Heather began writing a journal back in 2001 as a way to express her struggles with depression, her pregnancies, parenthood, skin cancer, as well as other important topics in her life. Her journals were noticed by thousands upon thousands of people who were drawn to her humorous and controversial writing style. In 2004, Dooce began accepting advertisements on her website, and would soon be her family’s principal source of income. Fast forward a few years later, she has published two books, her latest reaching #16 on the New York Times Bestseller List and she was also featured on Forbes magazine among 30 honorees on its list of “The Most Influential Women in Media” in 2009.” She’s been on Oprah several times and has a Twitter following of 1.3 million people. Her website gets over 250,000 unique visitors each month that brings in an estimated $40,0000 per month in advertising revenue......how you ask?....SIMPLE....she began to write an online journal entry, more commonly called a BLOG.
There’s an overwhelming amount of information out there on BLOGS, but I’d like each of you to focus on just 3 reasons why each of you should have your own personal blog and how it will act as your career insurance plan. Before we dive into each point, I’d like each of you to think about these questions:
“Are you satisfied with the quality of your network of business associates?”
“Could you benefit from several hundred people reading your blog each week?”
“What would you do if your current position and major source of income was eliminated tomorrow, what’s your backup plan?”
These are the questions that I asked myself several months back before starting my own personal blog.
1. The first reason why BLOGS should be a normal routine for you is: To Become An Expert. Blogs allow you to identify yourself as an expert in any particular field or industry. Each of us have passions and hobbies that we all enjoy. Begin to think about how you could transpire your passions in life into an online journal entry. I also encourage you to search existing blogs on these topics, it’s like college in hyper-speed. Information can be rushed to you like water from an exploding fire hose. Blogs have given each of us the power to become a author, critic, evangelist, or an expert. For example; lets say you enjoy event promotion and marketing; you’re always the party planner in your group or the organizer of happy hours between friends. You could create a blog that shares pointers for organizing an event, proper preparation, or the planning needed towards having a successful turnout. In some cases having a blog is better than a resume because this allows employers a unique look at your personality. Plus if you have no professional experience - having a good blog says your tech-savvy and motivated - two extremely important qualities to have.
Jeff Jarvis, author of “What Would Google Do?” says a personal blog can function as a promotional platform for people in any profession.
2. The second reason why Blogs are important to your career development is they’re indexed in search engines. Blogs will help you become visible in a endless sea of web information. If you run a Google search for your name and nothing comes up - that’s NOT a good thing. Try it out now...
3. The third and final reason why each of you should have your own personal blogs is that the majority are free or very low cost to maintain. WordPress and TypePad are two companies that provide blogs for free. They have customization templates so you can personalize the look and feel of your blog to your liking. To think that there’s a free way to keep every thought you have, and to archive that forever is nothing short of amazing. This archive could be priceless to you if you decide to write a book, want to share an experience from several years ago with friends or co-workers, or to prove your experience with a particular topic.
No one can disagree on the importance of your goals and career aspirations. By leveraging the powerful tools made available within a Blog you can reach new heights, meet incredible industry experts, obtain that dream job, or simply have a release for expressing yourself. Don’t wait until it’s too late, your career could depend upon having a blog. Spending 15 minutes on a blog could get you that next promotion or career advancement opportunity, and that’s why BLOGS are your insurance for career development.
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