Tips from the Pros: Holistic Blogging Strategy

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• February 10, 2010
• By James Moreau
• 6 Comments

Starting a career focused blog is a great move for your personal brand and your career. If you’ve decided that writing a blog is right for you and that you’re not only willing, but excited to put a lot of time and energy into it, there is literally no boundaries to how creative and how out of the box you can get while building your personal brand and developing your career.

Here are some tips from the pros in the Brazen Careerist community on how they got started with their career blogs, why it’s worked for them and how to keep rolling:

Corvida Raven of Shegeeks.com talks about how she uses people outside her immediate circle to get fresh ideas and perspectives for her blog:

“I called everyone! Friends, mentors, those I’ve previously worked with, new connections and old. Get your community involved! My support system is stronger now more than ever and increasing everyday. Sometimes you just need to open your mouth and clearly state the problem to address it. It’s not rocket science, but we’re so used to talking to ourselves sometimes that the banter becomes repetitive. Ideas go stale.”

Andy Drish at AndyDrish.com stressed the importance of relationship and community building through your blog:

“You’ll be smarter, more observant, and a much better writer… But most importantly, you’ll surround yourself with the people who think different, who share your ambition, and who have accomplished more than you. These are the people that will teach you new things, mentor you, and continually push you to new levels. These are the relationships that will change your life.”

Aurora Bell at FirstPersonNarrator.com writes about why blogging can be even better than having a really good resume:

“This is the first reason why I blog: My blog is my resume. I’m just starting to think that some people are best represented through a resume, and some are best represented through a blog. Others still are best represented through a portfolio of their work. But here’s the awesome thing about my blog: it’s also my portfolio.”

Meg Roberts explains how she purposefully used her blog to develop a network of people around her that eventually helped her relocate and get her dream (paid) internship:

Last spring, I was awarded second place in the PRSSA/Edelman Outstanding Public Relations Student competition, and the nominating team mentioned that my blog showed how passionate I was about my education and the PR field. When my last semester of college was ending, I sought advice from bloggers who had re-located after college and, with their advice and encouragement, decided that leaving Florida to pursue my career in PR was the best decision for me to make. Then, I used my blog to develop a professional network on LinkedIn and Twitter, both of which earned me informational interviews at several prestigious PR agencies in Washington, D.C. Because of my blog, I landed a summer internship at one of the best public affairs firms in the country. There, my supervisors tapped me for insight into the digital space and pulled me into important client meetings I never dreamed I would attend as an intern. I met former congressional members and presidential press secretaries – and got paid for it!

Lance Haun at Rehaul.com talks about social media and blogging as being a true game changer in how people can take their careers into their own hands more than ever before:

“We talk about what a game changer social networking and social media is all of the time. The only real game changer is where the conversations are happening and what limitations there are on who you can connect with. The principles that people use to get ahead are the same now as they have been for the last half century (if not longer). Sharing good ideas, helping people around you succeed, being a decent person and doing what you say you’ll do? That still works in social media and its impact is bigger than ever because the amount of people you can connect with is… well… a lot.”

Marian Schembari talks about the difference between blogging for your audience and writing for yourself, blurring that line and what finds the most success:

“The most successful bloggers on the web will tell you this: to be The Best Blog you need a niche. You need to assert your authority and establish a following and be super specific. Sometimes the posts we work hardest on are the ones no one gives a crap about. My own blog has slowly started to focus more and more on what other people find interesting, and not the ones I have the most fun writing.”

All of these tips link back to the idea that you should try to be true to yourself whenever you’re trying to express yourself through any medium. Being honest with yourself and your community about what you know, don’t know and what you’re passionate about is the best way to get people to care about you and your ideas.

What career blogging tips or questions do you have? Feel free to leave a comment if you’ve had any success or setbacks with this!