The post 9 Important Lessons You Can Learn by Starting a Blog appeared first on Brazen Life.

Specifically, here are nine important lessons I’ve learned from starting a blog:

1. I finally know how the Internet works

Sure, I go online all day long, but until I started News To Live By, I really didn’t understand how websites come to be and operate. I’ve gained all kinds of insight on user experience, site maintenance and content strategies. Now, I look at other sites and think, “Ah, I know what they’re trying to do here.” I have plenty left to learn, but my perspective has completely changed over the past year and a half.

2. The fastest way to get better is to let my guard down

Am I a good writer, or do I think I’m a good writer? It’s not up to me. The decision rests with people who read my blog. When I look at my columns when I first began versus today, the content now is much stronger. That’s because of a steady diet of critiques from friends, family and complete strangers in the comments section. Criticism sustains me.

3. All I needed to do was light the spark

The toughest part of any project is getting started, right? Once the flame began to flicker, News To Live By generated its own momentum and kept me busy. The next phase of the project always reveals itself in time. It feels like training for the real world: put an idea in motion, and let the process unfold organically. Doesn’t seem as intimidating that way, I think.

All it takes is a single spark. So go find a match. (Click here to Tweet this thought.)

4. What’s the worst that happens if I get rejected?

In 2013, I applied to two companies that syndicate newspaper columns and was roundly told, “Thanks, but no thanks.” Undaunted, I then approached an editor at Parade Magazine and asked, “Would you be interested in News To Live By columns?” He said, “Yes, and thanks for asking us.” So now I contribute to Parade Magazine.

Why? Because I figured, “What do I have to lose?”

As a young writer, I don’t care if someone slams the door. Frankly, it energizes me. I love doubters and relish the opportunity to prove them wrong. Blogging has given me that confidence.

5. Great advice is like solving a 1,000-piece puzzle in two minutes

As I work to improve News To Live By, I always think, “Who can help me with the next step?” I relied on a blogger friend (with a great healthy eating site) for a suggestion on Web hosting services, a journalist buddy for the crucial tip on why I should build an email list, all of my readers for spot-on content suggestions through a short reader survey and my friends to tell me flat-out if my columns are any good.

Each time I ask for assistance, it feels like I’m handed step-by-step instructions out of an elaborate maze. I say to myself, “Ah, that’s how you do it.” Blogging has shown me the tremendous power of sound advice. Worth its weight in gold.

6. Relationships are everything

Since my blog is written for Millennials, I’ve developed a network of inspiring 20-somethings who do wonderful work on their own blogs and platforms — dynamic movers and shakers like Paul Angone, Erin Lowry, Rebecca Fraser-Thill and Chelsea Krost. We rely on each other for advice, resources and encouragement. We all realize the more we pay it forward, the more it comes back.

I never anticipated my blog would connect me with people who share my passion, interests and drive. Pretty awesome bonus.

7. Every blogging skill is transferable

The work I do with News To Live By impacts every part of my day job in PR and marketing. I understand social media on a deeper level and uncover all kinds of creative billable ways to improve a client’s online presence, sharpen decision-making and manage my time better. Hell, I even started a blog at our PR firm to highlight recent projects and expertise. And no matter your job, everyone can sharpen their writing. (For starters, stop using “in order“ and “amazing.“)

8. We are worth more than a 9-to-5

As I wrote in 2013 on why every 20-something needs a side hustle, work-life balance isn’t enough. What we really need is a work-hustle-life balance. A blog is a perfect side hustle and will make you feel productive every day — especially if your actual job leaves you unfulfilled. Plus, your blog could wow an employer and help you move on to a better situation.

9. Don’t wait for opportunities; create them

The beautiful thing about blogging is that you don’t need permission. Just start a site, give it a name and go. Once you begin, you put your career on an entirely new trajectory. Now, you can impress at an interview with your blog (in other words. a portfolio to showcase your work and experience). Once on the job, the site becomes an indispensable teaching tool that informs and enhances everything you do.

With a blog, you are the employee, HR manager and CEO. Congratulations, you just got hired — by yourself!

Kick off 2014 with the best decision you’ll make all year. Even if you only want to write for yourself and not a larger audience, it’s absolutely worth your time and energy.

This post originally appeared on News to Live By.

Danny Rubin is a PR professional in Virginia Beach. He writes News To Live By, a blog that shows us the career advice that’s hidden in the day’s top stories. Danny is also the author of 25 Things Every Young Professional Should Know by Age 25, available on Amazon. Follow him at @NewsToLiveBy.

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The post 7 Ways to Build a Community That Will Help Your Business Succeed appeared first on Brazen Life.

Over the past few years, I’ve built up an audience of a few hundred thousand readers and several thousand subscribers with my website, IMPOSSIBLE. Here are a few things I’ve learned along the way:

1. Start a blog

Find a hosting service, start a basic WordPress account, buy a simple framework or template and get started. Write, learn to communicate effectively and help others. Answer questions. Be helpful. Solve problems.

2. Don’t worry about being original

Originality is overrated. Most ideas have been thought of before. But if you can take something that’s been done before and improve it while putting your own spin on it, you can evolve the idea into something compelling.

You don’t have to do something completely new. You just have to do it better. Evan Williams, the founder of Blogger and Twitter, credits this with being the secret to success.

3. Connect with others

You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time around. Spend time around people you want to be like and who challenge you. Always try to be the dumbest person in the room — not by being stupid, but by surrounding yourself with smart people. You’ll find you’ll have more job security with your own network than you’d ever have at a job.

4. Be strategic

If you try 100 different things starting out, 90 of them will do nothing to move you forward. Ten of them will move the needle, but only one or two of those will catapult you forward. Focus on those.

Hone in on what matters and forget the rest. Know which efforts propel you forward and which efforts kill time.

5. Do something interesting

Don’t fall into the trap of writing about writing. Do something worth talking about. People pay attention to Chris Guillebeau partly because he gives great entrepreneurship advice, but also because he’s traveled to every country in the world, and he’s telling a great story with his life.

Writing becomes easier when you’re doing something worth talking about. (Click here to Tweet this thought.) Be interesting, and people will flock to you.

6. Make your own rules

Stop listening to blogs, reading books and taking advice. They’re good, but at some point you have to close the book and get to work. That thing you want to do? Go do it. More advice, ideas and inspiration won’t cut it. You have to take action.

7. Do something impossible

Once you start to grow, challenge yourself to do something you’re not sure you can accomplish. Something that scares the daylights out of you. Then go out and make it happen. Push yourself, grow and see what happens.

People are attracted to action. It might help your community that much more.

Joel Runyon runs IMPOSSIBLE, a platform for pushing your limits, telling a great story and doing something impossible. Get the step-by-step tutorial to starting a blog here.

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The post How to Create Kick-A$$ Blog Posts That’ll Get You Hired appeared first on Brazen Life.

In this competitive market, a blog that highlights both your personality and experience can set you apart from other candidates who only have resumes to show. Blogging on a topic not covered in your past work experience will also impress potential employers and boost your street cred during a career transition.

But what happens when you sit down to create this amazing blog and end up in a staring contest with the blinking cursor on your computer screen?

Follow these four key steps to formulate a killer blog post that will impress your ideal employers and boost your blog confidence at the same time.

1. Give your ideal readers what they want

Pinpoint your ideal reader. Are you writing for a creative executive at an animation company? Or is your ideal reader a partner at an important law firm? Know the tone or essence of your ideal job, and write to match that mindset.

A recruiter at Pixar wants something much different than one at Arnold & Porter Law Firm. Be smart and do a little research. Call the company and notice how the receptionist interacts with you. Check out their website and note the formality of the voice and tone. Then, match your blog content to it.

2. Put on your thinking cap before you start writing

Once you have a good idea of the tone you want, brainstorm a list of topics to write about every week. This will ensure you never waste time trying to invent a clever topic on the fly. Instead, you’ll be able to look at your list, choose one that’s most inspiring and get to work on an outline.

It’s helpful to enlist a friend to do this exercise with you, but you can do it on your own as well. Write down the tone or essence you want to capture in the center of a piece of paper and put a circle around it. Around the circle, write down your areas of expertise. You can start with resume items like “Microsoft Word proficient” and “certified conflict mediator,” then move onto the more unique and quirkier sides of your personality, like “wine connoisseur.”

Each area is the foundation of a great blog post. Do you have a story about a conflict you mediated at work? That’s a great topic. How about your favorite way to use Microsoft Excel to keep track of statistics? Another smart blog entry. The trip you took to Napa Valley to explore vintage wine is good, too; it shows you’re a well-rounded person with interests outside of work.

The bigger the list, the better. You’ll have lots to pull from later on when you sit down to write.

3. Schedule a meeting with yourself

The most challenging part of writing is sitting down to actually do it. (Click here to Tweet this thought.)

Set an appointment with yourself when you know you’ll have some quiet time. Create an outline, and think about what you want to say in this particular blog post. Usually, 45 minutes to an hour will do the trick.

4. When all else fails, ask for help

If you’re still stuck after following these steps, there are professionals who can help make your blog content sparkle. There’s no shame in hiring a professional writer to help you move forward with your blogging goals. Remember, it could be a solid investment in landing that job.

Above all, have fun writing your blog. Find a way to let your personality shine in a professional manner. And then, let the job offers flood in!

Allison Volk is the founder of The Blog Babe, a professional blogging service that creates personalized content for blogs that are ready to grow like crazy. Learn how The Blog Babe can help you land your next dream job at www.TheBlogBabe.com or follow @allisonvolk.

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The post 12 Ideas for Revamping Your Boring Company Blog appeared first on Brazen Life.

Whether you work for a multinational corporation or a one-man startup, their tips are worth checking out to turn your blog into the audience-building, client-engaging machine it can be.

Read on for their advice:

Take Readers Behind the Scenes

“Even in a ‘dry, boring old industry,’ your blog readers will be fascinated to see the hidden, behind-the-scenes vantage point of the company. Incorporate photos or video to enhance plain text blog posts, and use a variety of writers to bring in diverse perspectives from the team. And, of course, post regularly to keep your audience engaged.”

-Doreen Bloch, CEO and Founder, Poshly Inc.

Go Pop Culture

“Using pop culture references can be a great refresher. For example, my company blog focuses on the subject of presentation and video. When Coachella featured a Tupac hologram earlier this year, the Web went abuzz with questions asking if this was a new feature of presentations. Of course, we jumped on the discussion, explained some costs and our opinions on the matter.”

-Kenny Nguyen, CEO and Founder, Big Fish Presentations

Win With Video

“We liven up our blog by periodically creating a video-based post. Just use the webcam on your computer to speak openly about a specific subject that’s relevant to your audience. Our readers feel more connected to us when we create video posts, and the responses have been overwhelmingly positive.”

-Bhavin Parikh, CEO, Magoosh Test Prep

Stock Up on Case Studies

“I learned the importance of stories through the book Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. Even when a topic is boring, people love to hear about the emotional struggles that people faced when implementing something new. For example, if you are in the concrete industry, talk about the joy your customer had when they got their driveway paved. Think about both the product and the people behind it.”

-Lawrence Watkins, CEO and Founder, Great Black Speakers

Showcase Your Clients

“Interview your best clients for their stories about how your company gave them value, and inject some personality into the blog. Ask these clients to explain how their perception changed from boring and stuffy after working together. Even if the process is boring, get them excited about the results and share those with prospective clients on the blog.”

-Kelly Azevedo, Founder, She’s Got Systems

Become the Industry Expert

“My target market for RewardMe was restaurant and franchise owners. We were in a dry and boring industry — the customer loyalty space. Instead of exclusively blogging about customer loyalty, I decided to become an expert in local marketing. We wrote about local social marketing, restaurant hardware and customer loyalty. We were so good that we now rank very high on search engines.”

-Jun Loayza, President, Ecommerce Rules

Shake Up Your Industry!

“If you think your industry is dry and boring, you need to shake things up by coming up with ways to make it worth paying attention to. Why does it matter to you? Get personal, share success stories of people in your industry or your clients and don’t be afraid to turn what you’re ‘supposed’ to sound like upside down.”

-Nathalie Lussier, Creator, The Website Checkup Tool

Create Internal Excitement

“Get employees to blog about something that excites them. We created the ‘Prolific Innovation Fund,’ which allows everyone to purchase a mobile accessory and write a review on it. It is creating team excitement, innovation and a lot of great relevant content for our company blog.”

-Bobby Emamian. CEO, Prolific Interactive

Provide Unique Value

“No matter what your company does, there’s information, inspiration and/or entertainment customers are looking for in the space. Provide something consistently valuable — and something people passionate about this space couldn’t get elsewhere — and you’ll engage your current users while finding new ones.”

-Derek Flanzraich, CEO and Founder, Greatist

Entertain With Infographics

“For the average American, the crowdfunding industry and the JOBS Act may seem like alien concepts filled with complicated, dry details. We’re currently working on an infographic to feature on our blog that will detail the impact of the JOBS Act and the widespread change the implementation of the Act will bring. The visual representation of the change makes it approachable and engaging.”

-Eric Corl, President and Co-Founder, Fundable LLC

Make It Trendy

“Tie your business into the hottest trends. For example, anyone in any industry can blog about ‘What Fall TV Previews Teach Us About [your industry]‘ since you can take elements of fall TV previews — promotion strategy, engagement, specific show themes — and spin it for your own business. It’s all relative!”

-Melissa Cassera, President and CEO, Cassera Communications

Make Others Better

“A counterintuitive approach is to invite the other ‘dry, boring’ players to participate in your fun. Get them excited at what you’re doing in the industry, and encourage them to participate in your blog. Feature your competitors! Be the source. Great players make the players around them better. (At my first company, I had the job of blogging in the vending machine industry. Yes, it can be done.)”

-Luke Burgis, Director, ActivPrayer

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons. 

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The post Use Blogging to Brand Yourself as a Business Authority appeared first on Brazen Life.

You can blog about what interests you, what you’re passionate about and topics in your field of study or expertise. Spend just a half hour to an hour a week keeping your blog up to date. When potential employers search for your name on the Internet, they will see your blog and that you’re an authority in your field. If you start blogging in college, it can help launch you into the job market and establish yourself as an authority on your topic. It might even become a successful business in itself.

Where to start?

Two of the most popular free blogging platforms are Blogger and WordPress. Both platforms offer free tools and are very easy to use.

One of the most important things to do when starting your blog is to pick a name that will be your brand and represent the topic you will be writing about. Next, set goals for blogging that will allow you to be consistent. It’s important to blog regularly, so make sure to choose a schedule that you can keep up with. Finally, a clever design that entices readers and is well-organized will ensure that readers can find what they’re looking for.

What to blog about?

The possibilities here are really endless. Whether you have a broad topic or a very specific niche, others are bound to be interested in what you have to say. The key is establishing yourself as an authority on whatever it is you’re going to be blogging about.

Promoting your blog and getting readers to subscribe will propel your blog to the next level. When you continue to post interesting and shareable content, you will establish your brand and notoriety.

Reaping the benefits

Being a popular blogger also means managing successful social media channels to help promote your blog and a consistent brand. Once your brand begins to be recognized and established, you will see increased sharing and more subscribers who regularly read your blog and look forward to your postings.

As your subscribers and social quotient rise, your marketability will also increase, giving you the potential to be hired for your services, expand your brand to writing or host advertising, product reviews or affiliate links on your blog to generate income.

Learn from the masters

Some bloggers have established powerful brands and successful blogs. There are many lessons and tips to be learned from their success. Here are just a few:

Perez Hilton. Perez Hilton has been blogging since before it was popular. He has blogged about celebrity gossip since 2005, embraces the controversy that goes along with reporting about celebrity gossip and continues to have a top-viewed site on the Internet. Following the success of his blog, he has gained access to celebrity events, talk shows and is a published author.

Melanie Notkin. Melanie Notkin has developed her brand about being an aunt and has appealed to millions of other aunts (and even uncles) with her SavvyAuntie blog and brand. She has established Auntie Day and has a very specific niche for her readers. When you visit her blog, you will see the consistent imagery and graphics that help establish her brand as recognizable.

Michelle Phan. Michelle Phan is a beauty expert who got her start posting how-to makeup tutorials in 2005. Since then, she has grown her brand and her business in amazing ways. If video blogging matches your concept, you should consider that as well. Phan has grown a successful company from the early beginnings in video and then expanded into writing and posting pictures to tie it all together.

Crockin’ Girls. This unique concept for a food blog features cooking tips, recipes and videos for crockpots and slow cookers only. The success of the niche brand has led to a cookbook, in addition to a successful social brand and many contributors to their recipe ideas.

Mommy bloggers. This whole category deserves a shout-out here, because there are so many successful mommy bloggers. Some have niches within the category, but they all have being a mom in common. The successful blogs have a distinct look to them and use graphics or images to create a brand that is recognizable and memorable.

When mommy bloggers develop a following, they can host advertising on their site and bring in income that way. Many mommy bloggers review products, and companies send them their products for free in exchange for a review and the exposure to the blogger’s readers. In exchange for posting an honest review to their readers, the mommy blogger gets to keep the products. Even though this is not cash payment, it is definitely a great way for moms to help support their families.

This post originally appeared on Levo League.

Carly Heitlinger is the founder and blogger behind the blog “College Prep.” Ask her for advice on how to best brand yourself.

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The post We’re Looking for Recruiters to Write for Our Blog appeared first on Brazen Life.

We’re now looking to amp up our coverage of this topic, so we’re actively seeking recruiters to write for us. If you’re a recruiter who would like to offer advice to your peers about industry trends, best practices, hacks for success or any other topics that will help recruiters do their job better, please get in touch!

Here are our guest post guidelines, which include the best way to contact us, as well as perks for contributing — new eyes on your site, respect from your peers, and possible syndication on our partner sites. In cases pre-arranged with our editor, we’re willing to pay for blog posts, too.

We look forward to hearing form you!

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The post The Difference Between Launching a Blog and a Business appeared first on Brazen Life.

The problem is that their plan was not really a plan. Starting a blog is not an exit strategy. In fact, some entrepreneurs to tell you not to bother starting a blog. But the real problem is not with blogs (or businesses) themselves. It’s the confusion people have between the two.

Once you’ve quit your job and eventually realize your blog isn’t a business because it doesn’t generate income, you wonder what went wrong. But you can’t blame the blog. You need to blame the expectations you had for it.

Before you leave your job to do something else, ask yourself if you want to start a blog or a business.

Let’s take a look at why you might want to start each:

Benefits of Starting A Blog

1. Create a Voice

A blog can give you a voice. That is to say, it can give you a measure of influence and a growing expertise over a tiny (but potentially huge) audience. You can use your blog to gain the kind of influence you couldn’t get through any other medium.

This can lead to all sorts of other ventures and opportunities down the road for speaking, writing and interview engagements depending on how you play your hand. If you do it right, this can be a huge leverage tool for your career.

2. Improve Your Communication Skills

In my opinion, the best thing about blogging is that it’ll help you grow some great communication skills. Not right away, though—you’ll suck at first, but eventually, you’ll start to realize you can think through your own ideas better and communicate clearer because you’ve improved with practice.

If you want a practical way to teach yourself communication skills, maintaining a blog is killer way to do it.

3. Create a Long-Term Asset

A blog is a long-term investment. If you’re only planning on writing for two months, don’t even bother. However, if you’re willing to stick with it for a couple years, a blog over the long-term can be a powerful marketing tool.

With that in mind, you’ll need something to sustain yourself throughout the process, so make sure you have a few ideas on how you plan to do that.

Keep in mind that a blog provides a lot of avenues for revenue down the road, but it rarely generates revenue directly. In other words, blogs are a great marketing tool, but they do not come baked-in with a product (which is important if you want to generate revenue).

If you want to quit your job and start a blog, it’s worth thinking about how you can make it sustainable and bake a business model into it from the start.

This brings us to the business side of things.

Benefits of Starting a Business

1. Generate Capital

A successful business means one thing: you’re generating capital. If you’re not making money, you don’t have a business. Sure, money is only one measure of a business. And you can do a lot of things without generating a billion dollars.

Ask yourself how people can give you money for your product or service. Because if you’re running a business, you need to have dollars and cents coming in. If you don’t, it’s just a hobby.

2. Create Freedom and Options

A business gives you freedom, and money gives you options. Again, money isn’t the only important thing here. But if you quit your job, you’ll need another source of income.

Blogging might seem like a great option, but unless you’re a blogging superstar, blog success won’t come overnight and money isn’t guaranteed. If you want to be sustainable, it’s a good idea to have a business idea in mind for how you’re going to cover your baseline expenses every month. Once you have a business and a revenue stream established, you’ll have more options to do even more things you want down the road.

3. Quickly Validate a Long-Term Investment

A business is a long-term game, but if your business solves a problem or provides a service that people need, you’ll find out quickly whether or not your business idea is valid.

From there, building your business is a long-term proposition, but you can validate it much quicker than you can sometimes do with a blog.

So, what are you really trying to start? A blog or a business? Make sure you know the difference.

Joel Runyon is the author of Impossible HQ, where he helps people to push their limits to the impossible. Check out his complete guide on how to start a blog here.

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The post Brazen Life’s New, Better Comment System appeared first on Brazen Life.

But our community didn’t like Facebook comments. Brazenities — that’s YOU! — told us that even though Facebook’s comment system was easy to use, you didn’t like having to log in via Facebook to leave a comment. Many of you also didn’t appreciate your interaction on our site showing up on your Facebook page.

We heard you! We want this blog to be fun, enjoyable and most of all, helpful. And we want you to be able to comment easily, without worrying about whether your interaction shows up on other social sites.

Because of your feedback, we’re now transitioning to DISQUS comments. Starting today, when you go to leave a comment on a post, you’ll log in through DISQUS instead — and based on your feedback, that’s a move that will make you smile.

We hope this transition will make it easier and more enjoyable for you to leave comments for our contributing writers and to chat with one another in the comments.

Thanks for telling us what’s important to you!

Be Brazen,

Alexis Grant, managing editor

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The post How to Connect Emotionally with Your Blog Readers appeared first on Brazen Life.

But does your writing feel a bit dry? Need some help reaching out to and connecting with your readers? Blog posts, especially ones you want to catch the eyes of hiring managers or job tipsters, need to be either informative or relatable—and, ideally, both.

Some people struggle with how to create new information when the Web is already so crowded. Others struggle more with the emotional connection, often because they’re afraid (legitimately!) of the personal veering into the unprofessional.

Yet even if you want to keep things clean and career-oriented, the most successful blog posts create a connection between readers and blogger, which in turn leads to a connection with the blog or website itself.

What do we mean by an emotional connection? Something that will make a reader think, “Wow, this person is just like me” or “I am going through that same situation.” You don’t have to be gooey or border on oversharing if that’s not your style (it’s probably for the best); you just have to be honest and show your human side.

If you find your blog readers heading elsewhere after only a couple of visits or see them unsubscribing from your newsletter, one of the reasons could be because you’re not creating the kind of emotional connection they crave.

Here are some tips for creating a more heartfelt relationship with your readers:

1. Include personal experiences and stories

Just about anyone can write a blog post. It takes a good writer to make you feel involved in what they’re writing—but it takes a very good writer to make you feel connected.

Readers are more likely to comment, share your blog, favorite it and return again if they feel like you’re someone they’d want to get a cup of coffee with.

Sharing a story is an important step in showing readers that you’re a real person, just like them. Try stories woven in throughout multiple posts, or keep it as simple as telling a personal tale on your blog’s About Me page.

2. Think of your writing as an audition

The best way to keep a reader engaged is to treat your writing like acting.

How? Think of it this way: if you were auditioning for a role, you’d perform the script by depicting the emotion the director needs portrayed. In the same way, write depicting the emotion you want your readers to feel. Be willing to put your all into your writing, just as a professional actor would at an audition.

3. Don’t expect the muse to come knocking

You’ll probably get some of your best writing done when inspiration and emotion are present. Readers can have great B.S. detectors, and they will know when you’re faking it.

The double-edged sword here? Writers who only write when they’re inspired don’t get very far. If you’re committed to blogging, you’ll probably want to establish a routine, and that will involve writing on days when the muse is hiding out. That’s okay; any successful, established blogger will tell you they’ve learned to write through the lulls. Often the habit of writing even when you aren’t totally feeling it unexpectedly triggers writing that leads to a great story.

Tara Hornor writes for PrintPlace.com, an online printing company that prints booklets, business cards, flyers, posters, postcards, brochures and other marketing media. Connect with her on Twitter at @TaraHornor.

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The post How to Screw Up Your Business Blog appeared first on Brazen Life.

Don’t get me wrong; these articles are all correct. If you’re looking for a job, a blog can be a great way to make yourself stand out to potential employers. If you’re running a business, a well-maintained blog can set you apart from your competition and strengthen your connection with your customers.

What these articles don’t tell you, however, are the possible consequences of not handling a blog correctly. Here are some mistakes that you could make with your blog and what could happen because of them:

1. Poor or inappropriate content

“Content is king.” You may have heard that Bill Gates quote quite a few times, and it’s true. If your content is weak, employers and customers will simply pass you by.

Your blog’s content can be weak in a variety of ways. If you blog about a particular industry, your content may only scratch the surface of that industry (policies, news, etc.). Worse still, you could have content on your blog that has nothing to do with that particular field. (An exception here would be posts that wish everybody a Happy or Merry [insert holiday]—those make you look considerate and personable.)

Even if you produce good content for your blog, you can make it look bad if you don’t do so regularly. This is especially true for job seekers. Employers may look at a blog that rarely gets updated and decide the blogger doesn’t have the passion or discipline to fill the open position.

If your blog falls into any of these categories, you might as well hold up a big poster that says, “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

2. No images or poor-quality images

Staring at a wall of text can be a strain on reader’s eyes. It may not matter whether you produce excellent content if you make employers or customers work too hard to read it.

You don’t need to stuff your posts with pictures; at the very least, just place an image at the top that pulls it all together. If you can come up with an infographic that summarizes or supports the points you make in your text, that’s even better.

Also make sure your image relates to your content—don’t stick pictures of your kitty on a post about a medical seminar. And look to use high-quality images. Including inappropriate or unattractive images makes you look unprofessional.

3. Ugly or unprofessional colors

Wearing certain colors on the job can convey various messages about you. Similarly, people can gauge your professionalism by the colors you use on your blog.

Different colors may suit your blog depending on its subject matter (e.g. browns and greens for blogs dealing with nature topics, pastels for blogs relating to motherhood or parenting). Overall, however, your safest bet when blogging for a career or business is to go with plain old black and white for your background and text. (Black text on a white background is best, but you can possibly get away with white on black.) Presenting your readers with these colors will give them the impression that you’re serious and, consequently, that they should take you seriously.

Suppose you do a search for blogs about financial issues. You click on one of the pages that pops up in the search results, go to the home page and see neon green text on a lavender background. Would you expect to find reliable information on finance here? Of course not! It wouldn’t matter who the blogger is or what that person writes about—the blog’s colors don’t suit its subject matter. That makes the blog’s author look unprofessional and untrustworthy.

4. Failure to spread the word

Of course, it won’t matter how good your blog’s content and appearance are if people don’t see it. If you don’t network and let people know about your blog, whether in person or through social media, you risk becoming the tree that falls in the woods with no one around to hear it. If you’re proud of your blog, put it out there any way that you can.

Jessica Reynolds writes about a variety of topics relating to business, science, technology and education. She currently writes for the scientific poster printer postersession.com.

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The post How to Screw Up Your Business Blog appeared first on Brazen Life.

The post 10 Places to Find Blogging Gigs That Pay appeared first on Brazen Life.

If you’re aiming to make money as a freelance blogger, here are 10 places you can look for blogging gigs that pay. You’ll find a wide variety of options here so you can pick up and run with the particular ones that suit you.

1. ProBlogger Job Board

Let’s start with a site that I have a particular affinity for, as it’s where I found my first two blogging clients. Rather unsurprisingly, I heartily recommend it to any freelance blogger.

Although online job boards tend to get a bad rap for being full of time wasters and bargain seekers, the ProBlogger Job board offers up a healthy share of viable opportunities. In fact, I still work with the two clients I found there back in 2011.

I actually made a video of what you should look for (and look out for) on the ProBlogger Job Board, which may help you:

2. FreelanceSwitch Job Board

While ProBlogger is mainly made up of freelance blogging jobs, the FreelanceSwitch Job Board has a wider range of offerings, from copywriting to programming. This is all well and good if you are a bit of a multipotentialite, but for most of us, this means that you’ll have to do a bit of filtering to find what you want.

Although browsing through job listings is free, you have to subscribe to a paid membership if you want to apply. This will only set you back $7 per month, so it’s not a huge commitment.

3. Blogger Jobs

This site is a little more rough around the edges when compared to the two job boards above, but its value is revealed in the name. With a tighter focus on blogging jobs, you can usually turn up some interesting prospects here.

Furthermore, the listings are sorted by category, which means that you can target areas of specific interest (e.g. fashion blogging).

4. Craigslist

Some freelancers will be shocked by this, as Craigslist has a terrible reputation for featuring freeloaders and time wasters. To be honest, I have no direct experience with sourcing freelance work on Craigslist and used to have much the same opinion.

However, more than one experienced freelancer has told me it’s possible to find a diamond in the Craigslist rough. If you’re keen to find work, this could be an option worth exploring.

5. Freelance Brokers

Don’t forget about Elance and oDesk. If you browse these sites, you’ll find a lot of people offering writing services for paltry money, which can be an immediate turnoff. Not only that, but you have to hand a slice of your earnings over to the site.

However, there is a market for relatively well-paid bloggers if you can establish a decent reputation. The key is to not waste your time on low-paying jobs.

6. People Per Hour

Although People Per Hour is really a freelance broker site like the two mentioned above, it deserves a dedicated spot on this list because it has a special value.

Sophie Lizard of Be a Freelance Blogger, who has been freelancing since 2009, recommends People Per Hour. She commands an hourly rate in the region of $80 per hour—the kind of rate the vast majority of freelance bloggers would be delighted with.

I’m not suggesting you can simply sign up at People Per Hour and start earning mega bucks, but with persistence, you can certainly establish yourself.

7. Freelance Writers Den

This paid membership site is a huge a resource, not the least for its junk-free job board, which is essentially an aggregated list of the best freelance jobs currently available on the Web.

Unfortunately, the Den tends to sell out pretty quickly and isn’t always open to new members. But it does open periodically. If you’re keen to get in, register on the waiting list.

8. Google

If you know what search queries to use, Google can turn up a treasure trove of potential blogging work. Try these two search query templates:

1. [your niche] + “write for us”
2. top [your niche] blogs

The first query should be pretty self-explanatory—it will return a list of blogs in your chosen niche that are looking for writers (paid or otherwise). The second query is an effective way of discovering the most authoritative blogs in your niche, many of which will probably be looking for writers.

There’s plenty more you can do with Google, but those two queries will certainly get you started on the right track.

9. Local Businesses

Most of us don’t like the idea of cold calling, but business blogging can be an extremely lucrative area. And besides, you don’t actually have to pick up the telephone—just fire off emails to local businesses to see if anyone is looking for help with their blog.

My friend Ruth Zive had a “10 before 10″ rule when she was first starting out as a freelance writer. Quite simply, she would contact 10 new prospects before 10:00 a.m. Now that’s one way to kickstart your business.

10. Your Blog

Okay, that might not make sense initially. How can you find clients by looking at your blog? Well, you can’t exactly, but what you can do is leverage your blog to source clients.

This is something I’ve done to great effect ever since I started freelancing. My blog produces a steady stream of client referrals—in fact, I haven’t gone looking for a job since 2011. While I wouldn’t say it’s easy to produce a blog that can do this for you, it certainly is possible (and well worth the effort).

Have you managed to make money as a freelance blogger? How do you find your gigs?

Tom Ewer is the author of Successful Freelance Writing Online: How to Make a Full Time Income by Writing for Blogs. He quit his job at the end of 2011 and is now a freelance blogger and Internet marketer and has chronicled his journey at his blog, Leaving Work Behind.

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The post 3 Strategies for Nailing Down a Killer Blog or Company Name appeared first on Brazen Life.

How to name a business: Google, Zazzle, Groupon, Bing, Squidoo, Yahoo!, Flickr… what’s in a name?

If you’ve been pondering how to name a business or blog for awhile, you’re not alone.

When it comes time to set up a website for yourself, the unlimited combination of letters can be overwhelming. You want to have a website name that people can remember, and that also somehow explains what your business or blog is about.

There are several ways to go about it: the made-up word, the straight-up definition, or something more personal, like your name. Each has its own benefits and drawbacks:

1. Make something up (aka how to name a business in the tech field)

Made-up words are great if you’re creating a brand or a business where you plan on having many people on board. Most examples of these tend to be tech-related, and all the examples above fit into this category.

You can play around with some wacky name generator tools. Or you could throw some letters into a hat and pull them out randomly to form your new company name!

2. Choose a descriptive keyword (aka how to name a blog for SEO)

You can also choose to describe your site exactly: HowToEatRawFood.com or PlantAGardenGrowYourOwnFood.com. This tells people who land on your site exactly what they’re getting.

This approach is also good because it helps search engines understand what your site is about. But the downside is you can’t start writing about your sock monkey business if you decide to change business directions.

3. You are your business: YourName.com

This one brings up a lot of “stuff,” and I know exactly how you feel. Being in the spotlight or putting yourself in your business can feel like an ego thing, but in the end, it’s the one thing that’s unlikely to change over the lifetime of your business.

You’ll always be there, and even if you change business directions, you won’t need to start your website over from scratch.

I like to think of Walt Disney on this one. Although Walt is no longer with us, his name and vision lives on through his business. Whether or not you would want your company to live on beyond you, the benefits of using your name definitely outnumber the cons.

One of the biggest drawbacks of using your name is that names can be tricky to spell. Very few people have straightforward names, but that might work to your advantage when it comes time to buying your domain name!

What’s in a name?

So what name should you pick when you’re putting together your website and business? That depends. I recommend having one main website “hub,” and if YourName.com is available I’d snag it before it’s gone. Otherwise, feel free to choose something else for your business and domain name.

I’ve got a lot to say about blog naming basics, so if you want more, check out my post on ProBlogger.

Why did you choose your domain or business name? I’m curious to find out your thought process on the topic.

Nathalie Lussier got her Bachelors in Software Engineering then promptly turned down a “stable” job on Wall Street to start her own online business. She’s an online business triple threat who teaches people how to get techy with their business as a digital consultant.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.

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The post 7 Easy Tweaks to Turn Your Blog Into a Job-Search Tool appeared first on Brazen Life.

Here are a few easy tweaks you can make to your blog to increase your chances of getting hired:

1.  Create pages that mirror your resume headings

Think about how your blog is structured. A monthly archive, topical categories and list of recent posts can be helpful, but there might be a better way to frame your work.

Traditional resume headings such as “Education, Experience and Awards” are a good place to start. Create pages that organize related information—not to duplicate your resume, but to expand upon it with links to presentations, multimedia and other web-based work samples.

2.  Rethink your landing page

What does your home page look like? For most blogs, the entry point is the most recent post.

But if you’re a little behind in blogging or add new posts infrequently, a static landing page might be a better way to introduce your blog as a professional portfolio. This format might also make it easier to showcase your resume pages (see above).

3.  Choose a professional theme

This one is easy to do, and there are hundreds of great-looking themes available through free blogging platforms like WordPress.com and Blogger. Try a few out and consider each from your prospective employer’s point of view.

Keep your industry in mind, too. A financial advisor’s theme choice might be different from one selected by an elementary school teacher. Ask a former colleague or someone working in your industry to review your choice and provide feedback.

4.  Add links to your professional profiles

Are you active on LinkedIn? Do you use Twitter or Facebook in a professional way? Your blog can serve as a hub that connects all of these accounts in one central location.

List all of the places where you have an active online presence, from profiles to reading lists, and evaluate each one for inclusion. Choose only those that involve career-related posts and conversations and represent you well in a job search context. Add these as widgets or create a list of links on your About Me page.

5.  Say “Hire Me.”

This is a popular component of freelancers’ blogs, but it could be a helpful addition to any job seeker’s site. Tweak your About Me page to include the fact that you’re seeking employment, or add a new page to present your pitch.

Include your contact information, your areas of expertise and the kind of work you are pursuing. SixRevisions.com offers 30 creative examples.

6.  Do a little housekeeping

This one is especially important if you have an existing personal blog that you want to retool as a professional resource. Review everything from your layout and color scheme to recent posts and pictures. Do they present the image your target employers are looking for?

This is another good opportunity to seek feedback from friends and colleagues so that you can ensure your blog is sending the message you think it’s sending.

7.  Include your blog URL in your email signature

And anywhere else that might be in the view of your current network (such as your business card, social networking profiles, etc.).

After you’ve taken the time to prepare your site for a job search, the next step is to get people to take a closer look. Google recommends adding the URL to your email signature as one of a variety of strategies for promoting your blog and using it to further expand your network.

What else can you do to make your blog an active part of your job search?

Your blog, like any other website, requires maintenance and upkeep. Check it periodically to make sure links are working properly and your message is still current. And, of course, keep it up to date with new posts and recent accomplishments.

Don’t be afraid to experiment a bit and explore the features and functions of your blogging platform. You may even improve your technology and design skills while you’re at it!

Melissa A. Venable, PhD, is a contributor to OnlineCollege.org, where she writes from her experience as a course designer, instructor and career advisor in higher education. You can also find her on Twitter and Google+.

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The post How to Blog Your Way Out of That Entry-Level Job appeared first on Brazen Life.

I started blogging when I was a sophomore in college, and because of my blog and the ability to effectively stalk people on Twitter, I was able to land a job working from home for a mid-size PR agency based in New York. And guess what? The ways I leveraged blogging to skip entry-level work can be replicated by anyone with a computer and a few good ideas.

So how can you skip an entry level position by blogging?

1. Show what you know

The only way to skip entry-level positions is to show potential employers you have more skills and better ideas than their entry-level employees and therefore are worth more money. A blog is the perfect platform to showcase great ideas, show potential employers you’re actively thinking about your industry and demonstrate your great skills without having to serve coffee for the next year.

As Penelope Trunk says, if you blog, “Potential employers will look at your ideas instead of your experience and you will not look entry-level if your ideas are good.”

2. Drive results before driving results matters

A year after launching my personal blog, I launched a project asking women to write letters to their 20-something selves. I collected letters from top bloggers and pitched the idea to traditional media publications. This project landed me an interview on NPR’s All Things Considered and my site was featured on New York Times.com, Chicago Tribune.com and a number of national and regional media outlets.

As a PR girl, I was able to show I knew how to create social media programs that spread, I had the project management skills to roll out big ideas and I was able to secure major media coverage. My blog allowed me to show that I could drive results — and yours can, too.

Are you studying film? Create a creative YouTube video and make it go viral. Are you looking to get into journalism? Pitch a few stories to well-known sites and get your work published. Once you get a featured in a media outlet, you can leverage that to build your business, get a promotion and make more money. (Check out this post where I explain how you can turn a media placement into a promotion.)

3. Never suffer through a bad networking event again

The truth is you probably won’t meet many senior professionals at networking events. But blogging and social media give you the opportunity to connect with major players in every industry without leaving your house.

Find people who are doing what you want to do, follow them on Twitter, quote them in blog posts, and comment on their blogs. Networking via social media is the best way to get your skills in front of potential employers.

For example, I landed a job using Twitter. Yes, Twitter. How can you do the same? By finding people on Twitter who have the job you want, and talking to them, which can lead to opportunities — and then closing the deal by meeting them in person. Here is exactly how it happened to me.

Cassie is a writer, social media specialist, entrepreneur and PR girl who has built digital programs for Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs, small businesses and bloggers. You can find her shelling out PR and career advice weekly at AskaPRGirl.com.

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The post 15 Smart & Fun Blogs that Will Inspire You All Day Long appeared first on Brazen Life.

We’ve rounded up a few of our favorite blogs that career-minded 20-somethings should read if you’re looking to jump-start other parts of your brain. The bloggers behind these reads will give you a motivational kick in the pants!

1. Belle Renee: Too Cool for School: Now working on her M.A. in communications, Renee describes herself as a political junkie, social media nerd, suburbanite and beer connoisseur. Check out her latest series, “The Powerful Woman Monologues,” which she began in response to the media’s representation of women as inspired by the film Miss Representation.

2. Sam Davidson: An author, social entrepreneur, father, story-teller, Sam’s blog should be a daily read for any young professional who’s looking for a way out of the clutter. Sometimes all it takes is a couple of sentences, but Sam never fails to truly inspire.

3. Life Without Pants: Sam’s partner-in-crime at Proof Branding, Matt is a 26-year-old self-made entrepreneur who believes life should be lived deliberately. He’s also training for a marathon this year, so let’s cheer him on.

4. Bottle Up the Crazy: Jenn is a quirky geek with the best sense of humor. One day she’ll have you laughing about her cats and the next, you’ll be pondering what plan the universe has for you.

5. Generation Meh: There’s no better way to describe this read than the blog’s own self-description: “GenMeh promotes self-actualization for slackers, offers up post-modern pep talks and tough love beatdowns and serves as a not-so-subtle soapbox.”

5. Cordelia Calls It Quits: Most of us create to-do lists, but how about to-quit lists? Cordelia, who also happens to be a Brazen regular contributor, has set herself on a mission to live by her own rules.

6. Budgets Are Sexy: We may hate talking about money and finances, but out of all the personal finance blogs out there, this is one of the most fun (and informative).

7. Careful Cents: Speaking of personal finance, this blog is straight out of the mouth of a 20-something who’s struggling to figure out finances like the rest of us. You’ll find inspiring (a few weird and gross) ways to save money, boost career satisfaction and pay down debt.

8. Sydney: Unfiltered: Have skydiving on your bucket list? Sydey has not only gone skydiving, she’s created a lifestyle that weaves skydiving into it. She also offers a lot of foodporn to counter that adrenaline rush of skydiving.

9. The Boomerang Kid: After quitting her job, moving back in with her parents twice – can you relate?! – and starting her own company, Lindsay is on a journey to create “a life of significance.”

10. No Ordinary Rollercoaster: Ben works as a community manager for Yelp, but his journey “between carefree student living and adult everything’s a panic time” is one you don’t want to miss. Ask him about his amazing visit to Ethiopia.

11. Get Busy Living: Want to live an epic life? Of course you do. Inspired by the Shawshank Redemption, Ben helps us take control of our lives instead of waiting for something to happen.

12. Working for Wonka: This blog is all about working for start-ups. You’ll find everything from information on breaking into a start-up to actually surviving the start-up environment.

13. Hope Dies Last: It’s easy to get a little jaded during the hustle and bustle of being a grown up. Eleni reminds us of the things that matter by writing about the stuff we usually “only share when the lights are off.”

14. Life Excursion: David is a goal-crushing expert who wants to help you reach your goals. All the way from Australia.

15. Twenties Hacker: A brand-new online magazine full of inspiring bloggers hacking up their twenties to get the best out of their lives. They’re “dissecting their experiences and chopping up the rigmarole of their daily lives to share with you.”

Which blogs would you add to this list? What’s on YOUR daily reading list?

Berrak Sarikaya is a digital media strategist, writer, and coffee addict ready to amplify your world in Washington, DC. Check out her company PQ Productions for all of her services, one of which is a brand new blogger community network. You can also follow her personal journey on her blog.

Image courtesy of Bigstock

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The post The Run-Around: Your Topic for February appeared first on Brazen Life.

Last Run-Around, we asked you to blog about your professional goals for 2012. Now, let’s get a drum-roll for your next topic…

The February Run-Around

The topic: How has blogging helped your career?

Or, how do you hope blogging will help your career if it hasn’t yet? If you’re a successful blogger, what tips do you have for your fellow Brazenites who are interested in using their blogs to boost their professional life?

How to participate: Write a post about this topic on your blog, and leave the link to that post below in the comments. Only one post per participant.

Deadline: February 29, 2012. That gives you a month! Then watch for your link in our next Run-Around post in early March.

Ready to get writing? We can’t wait to see what you come up with!

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The post How to Master the Art of Coworking #BrazenStuff 11.11.11 appeared first on Brazen Life.

Here’s some excellent career and personal development content for you:

1. We’re looking forward to seeing a lot of you at next week’s blogging bootcamp! Here are six easy ways to make sure people are actually reading your posts.

2. Learning is cool and free learning is even better, especially when it is from top schools.

3. Recent college grads describe exactly what it took to find their first jobs.

4. Should Occupy Wall Street become Occupy Higher Education?

5. How to master the art of coworking.

6. 10 things learned in 10 years of business.

7. Should employees be hired based on skill or spirit?

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The post Andre Blackman: Rocking at the Intersection of Tech and Public Health appeared first on Brazen Life.

In our podcast series, we’re hoping to provide insights and answers to that very question. We talk to young people who have amazing jobs or are doing something really cool and interesting and ask them how they did it. So listen along for good information and some inspiration, too.

Blogging, networking, social media, health. It’s all in day’s work for Andre Blackman, the director of digital communications/new media for the American Heart Association’s mid-Atlantic affiliate.

Though Andre was on the engineering track when he started college, he soon discovered his interest in public health and started using the problem-solving skills he learned as an engineer to think of innovative solutions for health problems. He launched his blog, Pulse + Signal as a way to further explore the intersection of public health, innovation and technology.

“Blogging has opened up numerous doors for me and has really played an integral role in my own personal development,” Andre said in our interview. And how’s this for cool? Some of the opportunities he’s landed through blogging and other social media connections include serving on the advisory boards for the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media, and SXSW Health.

Recently, Andre also helped organize the first Fast Forward Health film festival to highlight innovative public health stories from around the world. I checked out the event a few weeks ago in D.C. and it absolutely rocked! Unique, fun and edgy. It was even written up on NPR’s Shots blog. NPR wrote:

Organizers and speakers described the film festival as a fun way to approach a serious subject, and a great counterpoint to the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting also taking place in DC this week. They dubbed their event “the un-conference.”

In the interview, we discussed how Andre and his co-organizers came up with the idea for the film festival. And bloggers, listen up! You’ll want to hear the part about how Andre is using a unique niche job board to monetize his blog.

Andre Blackman

So listen now, and be sure to connect with Andre in the comments here or on Twitter.

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The post Andre Blackman: Rocking at the Intersection of Tech and Public Health appeared first on Brazen Life.

The post What to Blog About When You’re Looking for a Job appeared first on Brazen Life.

So you want to showcase your experience and expertise online, and you hear a blog is a good way to do that.

You’re right. It is.

But what exactly are you supposed to write about?

Most job-hunting blogs fall into one of two categories:

1. Blogging about your job search

The benefit of blogging about your job search is that people get invested in your progress. And when people get invested they become more inclined to help. Pus, chronicling the journey is a) interesting, b) means you never run out of content and c) as relatable of a story as they come. We’ve all been there.

This is your chance to talk about why you’re the perfect candidate. A simple list on why someone should hire you works like a charm. I once brought my post on that very subject into a job interview and ended up landing the job.

The downside of blogging about your job search is that you need to be reealllly careful. You can’t say anything bad because, well, you’re trying to get a job. And people become less inclined to help if you start mouthing off your interviewers.

2. Blogging about your industry

The benefit of blogging about your industry is that people from said industry are more likely to find you via links, comments on other sites and Google search. This is your chance to show off your skills, your knowledge and your involvement. Even if you’re a recent grad without much experience, you can blog about your opinions, changes in the field and how your study applies to said field. There is so. damn. much. opportunity here, it’s unreal.

The downside of blogging about your industry is that it’s really hard to stand out. I don’t care if you’re in Nonprofits for Puppies or Public Relations, there are already 50,000 blogs out there about your industry.

This isn’t to say you shouldn’t start a blog. At all. It does, however, mean that in order to get found you really need to do a fabulous job. Have a voice. Don’t be afraid to have an opinion or contradict popular thought.

Also don’t expect employers find you right away. Make sure you’re active and consistent. Just because you’re using your blog as a tool to land work doesn’t mean you can slack off on the marketing side of your site.

Go make a list of the top 10 blogs in your field and add them to your Reader. Comment on those sites, make friends with the bloggers and ask to guest post. Connect with them on LinkedIn.

And here’s one little fun bit of advice: Make sure your blog and your job seeker website are one and the same. Don’t be an idiot and buy bobsmith.com and then start a blogspot.com site. That will completely defeat the purpose of blogging for work.

As much as I wish I could say your hobby blog could get you work, unless it’s really obvious on your site that you’re looking for a job and your post content ties into that, I can’t make any promises.

Instead, start your job-hunting blog with these few post ideas:

1. Thoughts on the changes in your industry
2. Why an employer should hire you
3. Opinion on a major industry new story
4. Things you wish college had taught you
5. Unique ways your looking for work
6. Your favorite job experience or boss or internship and how it helped you
7. Update on your job search and what is or isn’t working
8. The pros and cons of a resume
9. What you’ve learned from your job search
10. A list of your favorite industry bloggers

Are you using a blog to look for work? Have you experienced success? Failure? Meh?

Marian Schembari is a blogger, traveler and all-around social media thug. She’s based in Auckland, New Zealand, hails from Connecticut and blogs at marianlibrarian.com.

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The post How Writing Guest Blog Posts Can Boost Your Career appeared first on Brazen Life.

Whether you’re seeking a job or looking to advance your career, using social media to raise your visibility is a must. Yet if you want to stand out — either in a stack of resumes or when your boss needs someone to head up a new project — don’t just do what everyone else is doing. Instead, go beyond the cliché of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

How? Write a blog post — for someone else’s blog.

Is this more time-consuming than sharing a link on Facebook? Absolutely. Is it more difficult than banging out 140 characters on Twitter? You bet. Does it seem strange to write for someone else’s blog rather than your own? Certainly.

Yet put the time and effort into crafting a thoughtful piece, and you’ll likely experience a rich range of rewards. At minimum, you’ll demonstrate thought leadership, make a name for yourself and earn a byline in which you can link to your resume or website. Even better, you could land a promotion, secure a job offer or generate new business.

For my part, guest blogging has led to a variety of opportunities. For example, my first commentary for Mashable produced the following fruits:

• 100 new Twitter followers
• 2,000 page views to my blog (http://jonathanrick.com)
• a pitch from a PR agency
• a reprint on Yahoo
• coverage in the SmartBrief on Social Media e-newsletter
• praise from the Measurement Standard blog
• two requests to meet for coffee
• an invitation to speak at a conference
• two new clients

Heady results for 500 words, right?

Here’s another personal example. A few months before my Mashable debut, I spoke to the American Marketing Association’s Washington, D.C., branch about how to win friends and influence bloggers. Afterward, I published my presentation on SlideShare and milked it for three blog posts. The former has been viewed almost 10,000 times.

(Of course, it helps that I did my own PR, tweeting to people and companies mentioned in the post and presentation and blasting the links to everyone in my address book.)

Jen Moire, a PR pro in St. Louis, has pursued a similar path (though instead of opining, she reports). In the spring, she wrote her first article for All Facebook. Today, she’s a regular contributor, with all the benefits this brings: more Twitter followers, traffic to her website, new contacts and a reputation as an insider that boosts her business.

Marketing firm Eloqua offers another case study. Over the past year, Eloqua has risen to prominence in the social media space on the strength of its community offerings. Recently, the firm detailed the success of an infographic it called the Blog Tree:

• 1,000 tweets
• hundreds of inbound links
• 49 sales-qualified opportunities
• introductions to the bloggers featured in the infographic

On this last bullet, Joe Chernov, who oversaw the project, tells me that these intros later blossomed into partnerships, whereby the bloggers contributed to Eloqua’s e-books, both its Grande Guides and the Social Media ProBook.

So whether you’re penning an op-ed or delivering a speech, reporting the news or developing an infographic, guest blogging can open up unexpected doors. Now it’s up to you to start knocking on them.

Jonathan Rick is the president of the Jonathan Rick Group, a social media agency in Arlington, Va. He tweets at @jrick.

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The post The Secret to a Successful Career Transition: Blogging appeared first on Brazen Life.

Like many of you, I left my liberal arts education with the daunting challenge of finding a job relevant to my degree in international affairs. Among my college friends, I counted French majors, history buffs, women’s studies experts, urban designers, foreign policy gurus and even philosophers. Growing up in a rural area, I was in the wrong region to pursue my interest in international affairs, and in a field that had few entry-level openings for new college graduates.

My close college friends were not in much better shape; even in 2003 there were relatively few positions open for people who had just graduated. So like my friends, and like many recent graduates today, I relocated to a bigger city, took jobs that were slightly less than ideal just to get that “foot in the door” and actively sought out positions that would give me the expertise that I always wanted.

Looking back more than eight years later, I wish someone would have told me that I didn’t need to wait for a job or title or promotion to become an expert. I didn’t need to get a job as a research analyst to write about international affairs, nor did I need to work at a prestigious government agency to start making a difference.

The secret I wish I would have known then is that blogging can accelerate your career in whatever direction you want to take it. And you can start today, whether you’re still in school or schlepping lattes at Starbucks while applying for your dream job.

I’ve seen the impact blogging can have for young professionals first hand. In the past eight years, I’ve held management roles in Washington, D.C., and New York City for various public and private sector employers, and I’ve seen people get hired for having a great blog. I’ve seen friends make successful career pivots using blogging as the basis for change. I’ve met dozens of people who have successfully leveraged a blog to change careers.

Here’s how they do it

If you are “underemployed” — stuck in a job that doesn’t really challenge you — you can probably spare an hour a day to think about the issues you really care about, whether that’s urban planning, photography, French literature or the latest fashion trends. It doesn’t take any high-tech knowledge to start a blog on WordPress.com or Tumblr. If you get in the habit of writing once, twice or three times a week, that’s enough to start building a credible voice in the field you want to enter.

Pretend you already have the job you really want. What would you be expected to comment on in an expert fashion? Try to develop that expertise through research and writing in your spare time.

When your dream job finally opens up, you’ll have already taken the initiative to develop a new substantive expertise. You’ll have a relevant set of thoughtful articles to take to a job interview. And as an added benefit, you’ll have gained a tangible online presence and technical skills that are highly sought after in today’s economy.

So don’t wait for your next job to get inspired. Embrace your passion now and start building expertise through blogging. That could be just what you need to position yourself for your dream job.

Whitney Parker is vice president for user experience at Brazen Careerist and co-host of an upcoming bootcamp on blogging: Secrets of an A-List Blogger: A Week with Penelope Trunk. If you’re ready to learn how you can make the most of blogging for your personal or professional career, sign up here.

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The post Introducing The Run-Around: You Write a Smart Blog Post and We Share It appeared first on Brazen Life.

So we’re psyched about a new feature that will help you become part of that community — and driving some traffic to your blog never hurts either, right?

Throughout the month of November, we’re asking YOU to write on your blog about a certain topic. Once you do, leave a comment on this post with the link to your musings.

At the end of this month, we’ll do a round-up of what our community has to say, including a link back to your blog. If your insight is particularly awesome, we might even choose to feature you in that round-up.

Sounds fun, right? The idea is to generate ideas around the topic, help you find blogs by other Brazen thought-leaders and shine a spotlight on our most innovative members. Plus, we like to see Brazenites blogging ahead of the pack, since that helps you move up in your career.

The topic for November: Landing your first job

That means you could write about tips for landing a job out of college, how you did it or are planning to do it, how not to do it, what a first job should or shouldn’t be… The sky’s the limit.

We’re all in favor of thinking outside the box, so your post only needs to remotely relate to this topic to be included. In other words, you’ve got a license to be creative!

So what do you say? Take a stab at writing a post around that topic, and leave the link here in the comments when it’s published.

Can’t wait to see what you come up with!

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The post How A Blogger Used ‘A View From the Cave’ to Advance His Global Career appeared first on Brazen Life.

In our podcast series, we’re hoping to provide insights and answers to that very question. We talk to young people who have amazing jobs or are doing something really cool and interesting and ask them how they did it. So listen along for good information and some inspiration, too.

Here at Brazen, we’re all about using a blog to establish yourself as an authority in your field and networking your way to awesomeness. After all, that is how Brazen was founded.

As an international news junkie and a global health geek, I’m especially a sucker for a rising blogger like Tom Murphy. Tom started his blog, A View From The Cave, to document his year abroad in Kenya, and it has evolved into a must-read for anyone interested in humanitarian issues. He’s also a dynamic presence on Twitter, making connections all day, sharing important blog posts and news and live-tweeting the occasional event.

In the interview, Tom talks about how blogging helped him land his current gig as deputy editor for PSI Healthy Lives. Another recent blogging accomplishment: Tom was selected to participate in the 2011 United Nations Foundation Press Fellowship: Global Health, Global Challenges last month in New York.

These days, Tom is experimenting with being a solopreneur. He left his job and is working on a couple of different projects, including the DAWNS Digest, a daily roundup of news and opinion for individuals who work in the international humanitarian space. Tom co-founded the project with UN Dispatch editor Mark Goldberg with the goal of creating a platform to support journalism for the humanitarian community.

Blog visibility leads to opportunity

When it comes to getting your blogging noticed, especially as a younger person in your field, Tom is a huge advocate of consistency and volume.

“One of the beautiful things about blogging is you can write multiple posts in a day. It doesn’t have to be one every night. So being able to put a bunch of things down and to have content that you’re getting people to consistently read what it is that you have to offer — whether its a really long, in-depth piece or it’s a video with a quick comment — having content and being able to turn people on to different things has certainly been something that I’ve stumbled into and realized that works well,” he says.

Tom Murphy

I hope you enjoy this interview. Feel free to leave questions and feedback in the comments!

[podcast]http://static.brazencareerist.com/brazenlife/2011/10/TomM.mp3[/podcast]

Jaclyn Schiff is managing editor of Brazen Life. When she’s not Brazenly thinking about careers, she can often be found writing or tweeting about obscure diseases or media trends.

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The post How to Turn Your Blog Into a Thriving Business #BrazenStuff 8.26.11 appeared first on Brazen Life.

Here are some awesome links from around the web, and we know you’ll love the video at the end. Oh and psst! Be sure to check in on Monday when we’ll have an exciting announcement about Brazen Life. Hint: we’re expanding a little It’s gonna be a big week for Brazen in general, so stay tuned.

1. Did your company have a summer barbecue or some other social get-together? No? You’re not alone, it seems to be part of a trend.

2. If you work with clients, you’ll want to check out these 10 steps that will help you prepare for a perfect meeting.

3. Telecommuter wannabes: do you really have what it takes to work remotely?

4. Do you have a secret career alter ego? Check out the comments. There’s quite a range from host of the Daily Show to a mechanic!

5. For the bloggers out there who would love to turn your blog into a business, watch this Rise to the Top interview with Brett McKay of the Art of Manliness:

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The post The 27-Year-Old Who Interviewed Somali Pirates #BrazenStuff 8.21.11 appeared first on Brazen Life.

Can you believe it’s back-to-school time already? Even if you’re not headed into the classroom, the end of summer is a great time to seize on the energy of the new school year and kick your professional and personal plans into high gear.

With that in mind, we’ve rounded up tips and stories of inspiration to help you buckle down and make it happen. And hey, if there’s a post you think would make a good addition to this roundup, add it in the comments or tweet it and include the #BrazenStuff hashtag.

Happy reading!

1. Okay, so if you’re thinking about starting your own consulting business or becoming a full-time freelancer, you’ll want to read this piece about turning your employer into your first client.

2. While we’re on the topic of working for yourself, here are nine strategies to help you launch that entrepreneurial idea.

3. Ever thought about starting your own social good organization? In this interview, the founder of @shesthefirst, an organization that sponsors girls’ education in the developing world, discusses how she starter her nonprofit.

4. If you’re done with college, but haven’t landed a job yet, you’ll want to check out these career boosting tips for unemployed news grads.

5. Did you hear about the 2010 millennial who unwittingly became the poster girl for out-of-work grads? Read about where she is now.

6. This is pretty neat! Stanford University is offering a free online artificial intelligence course this fall. So far, more than 58,000 students from over 175 countries have signed up.

7. Want to take your blogging to the next level? To write powerful content that changes people’s lives, you need to master writing for yourself.

8. How’s this for an amazing professional adventure? Writer Jay Bahadur, 27, spent several weeks interviewing pirates in Somalia for his latest book. He recently talked about the experience on The Daily Show (hat tip Chris Blattman):

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The post Did You See These? #BrazenStuff 7.15.11 appeared first on Brazen Life.

1. Here’s an interesting strategy some job seekers are using: outsource the job application process. Forbes writer Susan Adams says you should just say no.

2. Fellow Brazen member Thursday Bram explains how she quit her job and became a freelance writing entrepreneur.

3. Oh hindsight! A writer/speaker writes the letter he wishes he’d received when he first started his career.

4. “This millennial generation is not just looking for a job, they’re not just looking for salary and financial benefits, they’re looking for skill development, they’re looking for mobility, they’re looking for opportunities to acquire different skills and to move quickly from one part of an organization to another,” PricewaterhouseCoopers Chairman Dennis Nally said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

5. When interviewing for a job, give a short answer before getting into more detail. That’s one of the 99 tips to help you get a job from Passive Panda.

6. Justin D. Martin, a journalism professor, says Americans should do what he did and work abroad. Americans will have an edge because of a coming global talent crunch, he says.

7. While we’re on the topic of work in other countries, here are five jobs that will get you globetrotting.

8. If you’re on the job hunt and your parents are giving you a hassle, you’ll want check out these tips for how to manage parental expectations.

9. Use someone else’s blog to find your next job.

10. In case you missed it, you’ll want to look at Entrepreneur magazine’s list of best business bars. Copa d’Oro in Santa Monica, Calif, is featured as the best bar to network at without spending a ton.

11. Brazen Life contributor Amanda Abella interviews Liz Funk, author of “Coming of Age in a Crap Economy.”

As always, we invite you to send us ideas for this roundup. Mention it in the comments or tweet it and include the #BrazenStuff hashtag. Have a great weekend!

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The post How Being Laid Off Helped Me Start a Freelance Career & Tips to Start Yours appeared first on Brazen Life.

While I was packing up my desk, my boss came by and told me that if I blogged about the layoffs, she’d pursue legal action.

So, on that rainy November day, I cried myself home and collapsed on the floor in my two-bedroom apartment.

How was I going to afford my apartment? How about my car? Which dumpster would be the best one to rummage through for food scraps? I’m really good at “worst case scenarios,” clearly.

My unemployment was made worse by the fact that I’d recently parted way with a serious boyfriend. Double-Decker-Life-Exploding-Crap-Sandwich! Yay!

I was depressed and wasn’t being diligent about finding a new job. With no real income coming in, my landlady got pissed off that I was not paying rent and my car payments were beyond late. Eventually I was forced to move back in with my father.

I hit rock bottom.

One day, I woke up and decided to change things. The truth is, I wasn’t really invested in the job I’d lost. It wasn’t my life passion. I started scouring the web for “side jobs” and came across Elance.com,  which offers freelance work. I navigated the site, found a few jobs that I liked, and squealed a little when I found a posting looking for a blogger to write about autism.

I had zero experience aside from my personal blog, but I went ahead and put together a few good examples of my writing and applied for the job.

When I hadn’t heard from the potential client a week later, I assumed someone else had been hired. But then I got an email offering me the job! I was so excited.

A few weeks later, I applied for two more positions: one as a virtual assistant and another as a marketing consultant. To my surprise, I landed both!

These days, I have a 9 to 5 job, but I still hold two of my freelance gigs. The moral of my story? Being laid off isn’t the end of the world. It forced me to be resourceful and introduced me to freelancing, which helped me earn some cash and continues to be a nice source of side income for me.

So, I’ll leave you with some tips that can help you start freelancing (hopefully minus the layoff).

1. Decide whether you really want to freelance

The first step to becoming a freelancer is committing to it. Are you okay with the idea of having several short-term jobs and not one stable source of income?

2. Put together a portfolio

You must must MUST have a portfolio. Whether for writing, web design, whatever. If you’re new to freelancing, don’t sweat it. Come up with a few topics on your own and write about them. If you’re into design, make a few new website designs on your own. Or, offer a pro-bono design to a friend to build your portfolio. You have to be able to show your clients what you are capable of doing.

3. Create a schedule

When will you be available to work? Know your available hours and stick to them. Don’t work overtime, don’t work under time. Know your limits.

4. Know how to write a job proposal

Seriously. You can’t just say things like, “Hi. Want Job. Will do it.” That won’t fly. You have to be clear and concise. Ask questions about the project. Inquire about any specific needs. You’re selling yourself to a potential boss. Make them feel you’re interested. (If you’re not interested in the job, don’t apply.)

5. Come up with a payscale

Figure out how much you want to be paid. If you’re utilizing a website like Elance.com, you have the ability to put your hourly rate in your profile. I have an hourly rate and for some projects I require a minimum number of hours.

6. Just. Freakin’. Do. It.

Often, people doubt they’ll make any money or doubt they’ll make enough money from freelance work. I can tell you first hand that you can make a decent amount of money from freelance work. It just depends on how seriously you take freelancing, how much time you dedicate to doing projects and the quality of work that you put out there. Starting off, you might not be rolling in the dough. It takes time to build a customer/client base.

The best thing you can do it you want to start freelancing is just to start somewhere. And don’t wait. Start now.

Katie Colihan is a freelance writer and business consultant living in Philadelphia, Pa., by way of South Jersey. She works hard so that she can play hard and support her need for live concerts, pancake brunches, new notebooks and iced coffee.

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The post How Your Blog Can Land You a Job appeared first on Brazen Life.

Just take a look around the Internet, people! Big names like Leo Babauta and Darren Rowse have been making a living from their blogs for years. There are also lesser-known bloggers who have used their blogs to create money-making side projects, land book deals and start blog-centric businesses. And just last week, my blog, which I’ve successfully used to land several clients, helped me get a full-time job offer. But more on that later.

So what’s the secret? How do people use their blogs to get projects and job offers? They do it by providing thoughtful, substantive content that appeals to employers.

Your Blog as a Portfolio of Excellence

I have used my blog as a portfolio to show potential clients that I know how to write. Some of them were so impressed that I knew my way around WordPress and the written word that they didn’t hesitate to offer me good rates for projects. Likewise, I have had other people find me through my blog and request me for their projects.

The secret is to use your blog like a portfolio. While it’s perfectly fine to add your own personal flair (after all, you are the editor-in-chief), keep in mind that professionalism is key. You need to find a focus and not ramble on and on about the random events of your day. Potential clients are looking for substance, professionalism and an ability to connect with an audience.

Nail those three things and you’ll nab readers from all over, all of whom have the potential to become clients or provide job opportunities.

A Place to Highlight Your Expertise

Blogs give you the perfect opportunity to become an expert on any given subject. Do you have an affinity for rock climbing? Is cooking your thing? Does gardening make you warm and fuzzy inside? Are you particularly passionate about a political issue or movement?

Whatever your passions and talents, blogging helps you become an authority on the subject. Pick a focus by looking at your life experience, educate yourself as much as possible, and share the wealth with others.

Need an example? I had no idea what I was doing when I got out of college, so I started a blog to keep myself focused and help others. There are plenty of bloggers out there, from mommies to skydivers, who have taken some experience from their actual lives, made a successful blog out of it and found exciting projects as a result.

A Unique Edge for Your Resume

Perhaps having multiple clients isn’t your thing and you prefer a traditional full-time job. No problem. Blogs can help you there too.

With today’s job market you’re facing a sea of tough competition for very few positions, so you’d better stand out and bring something unique to the table. I just used my Gen Y personal development blog on a resume and landed a full-time job at a local career consulting agency that specializes in placing college grads in professional positions. The president of the company was so impressed by my interest in the business and my creative abilities that she hired me on the spot.

Providing content of substance will not only get you readers, but it will also open your blog to a world of job opportunities. Untraditional as it may be, blogging can give you the creative edge employers are looking for while building a clientele of your own.

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The post Gen Y’s Comparative Advantage Over Mid-Career Professionals appeared first on Brazen Life.

In contrast, Gen Y’s often feel handicapped by their lack of experience and wish they had the resume of someone more seasoned. But the truth is that Gen Y’s are better at taking advantage of many of the opportunities that more senior professionals fail to tap. And being younger means you need to worry less about not knowing everything, which frees you up to ask all the right questions.

Here are a few areas where youth rules in the job market:

Networking Online and Offline

Senior people in busy jobs are notoriously bad at networking. Despite all the advice to network when you have a job, it is tough for those with busy jobs and families to put time into networking with others because as they see it, it is a waste of time if it doesn’t serve a specific end.

Gen Y’s, on the other hand, understand social networking intuitively and love to connect with others throughout the day—both in and out of a work setting. So when they are looking for a new job or information on something, they have an automatic network to consult.

Blogging to Leverage Their Careers

One great way to get the attention of industry pros is to blog about a specific sector. If you do it well, and you’re provocative, smart and good at SEO, you may be contacted by interested companies. And if not, you have a portfolio of writing and opinion ready to take to an interview.

Blogging to share an interest you have and get a conversation going comes much more naturally to younger people. Although those with experience could more easily create a compelling body of research and opinion about a sector they know well, chances are they won’t do it.

Seeking Advice from Mentors

When you’re new or relatively new to the workforce it’s a lot easier to ask people for advice, especially if you do it in the right way (specifically, with a message that the meeting will require just 20 minutes of someone’s time). It could even tie into an article you’re writing (for your blog, etc.), to make it more business-focused.

Older generations have a natural desire to help up-and-coming professionals in the industry and share their knowledge and years of experience. Don’t underestimate the power of the legacy factor—successful people are interested in mentoring people who remind them of their younger selves and appear to have potential. Especially if those Gen Y’s have good ideas for solving problems or creating new opportunities.

It’s clear: youth and inexperience don’t need to be an obstacle in the workplace. Being younger has clear strengths, and young workers should derive confidence from these advantages.

—-

Allison Cheston is a New York City-based career advisor. Cheston holds a BA from the University of Michigan in International Relations & Romance Languages, and an MA in International Education and a Certificate in Adult Career Planning from New York University. She is also the NY Career Change Examiner.

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The post The Absolute Best Advice for Starting a Blog appeared first on Brazen Life.

During tomorrow night’s Blog Mentoring event on Network Roulette, you’re going to get the chance to interact with some of my absolute favorite bloggers. The number-one thing that helped me out when I first started blogging was advice and encouragement from these people.

In anticipation for tomorrow night, I’ve asked each of our blogging mentors to share their absolute best piece of advice for starting a blog. Their advice is all very different. Occasionally contradicting. That’s because there’s no one way to be a successful blogger, but there are a few common traits that all great bloggers have: focus, passion, patience, character, inspiration and networking skills.

Focus

Dan Schawbel
I recommend that new bloggers have a focus area of what they want to cover in their blogs, instead of talk generally about a variety of topics. If you try and become known for everything, you won’t become known for anything.
Website: Personal Branding Blog
Twitter: @danschawbel

Elisa Doucette
You can follow a ton of website that will tell you all about analytics and traffic and feedburners (I recommend Think Traffic, Problogger and BlogCast.fm, personally), but they will not tell you “how to write a good blog”. So do not worry about all that stuff at first!
Website: Ophelias Webb
Twitter: @opheliaswebb

Nick Cicero
Consistent Content is King. Try and maintain a schedule for your blog to keep your posts organized.
Website: Honkfish
Twitter: @nickcicero

Maggie McGary
Don’t try to force yourself into someone else’s definition of blogging success. If you want to blog because you love writing, do it—don’t worry about SEO, perfect headlines, or editorial calendars. It’s YOUR blog and the only person you have to please is you.
Website: mizz information
Twitter: @maggielmcg

Annabel Candy
Make sure you have a clear goal with your blog. You need to know exactly why you’re blogging and who will read your blog so don’t just dive in without thinking about that.
Website: Get In The Hot Spot
Twitter: @getinthehotspot

Vickie Elmer
Play to your strengths, your passions, and your goals. Write so you demonstrate your strengths and use the blog to achieve your goals, however modest or grand they may be.
Website: Working Kind
Twitter: @workingkind

Ben Donahower
Start writing now! Whether you have a blog or not, writing will help you find your voice, figure out if this is for you, build up some content, and end analysis paralysis.
Website: Campaign Trail Yard Signs
Twitter: @iapprovethismsg

Passion

Stephen Gibbons
Blog about what you love, if you do that you will win. Have HP&P. If you have Hustle, Patience, & Passion you will win. Head down and CRUSH IT today!
Website: Madden Bible
Twitter: @sgibs7

John Pham
Don’t try to copy someone else, build a voice that uniquely your own. Stand out and don’t be afraid to be different, quirky, weird, funny or serious. Let the words reflect who you truly are.
Website: .:: phampants
Twitter: @phampants

Vincent
Writing is meditative. Pushing your thoughts and passions into a mold won’t produce writing worth reading or generate conversation.
Website: Cranial Gunk
Twitter: @cranialgunk

Patrick Pho
Don’t worry about writing a number of times a week, don’t worry about writing within a certain genre and niche, don’t worry about being perfect. Just write. Get it out there. The rest will come together once you get going.
Website: Life With Pho
Twitter: @dmbosstone

Patience

Ben Lang
Many people start blogging because they think it will be an easy and fast way to make money online. In reality though, it takes a great amount of dedication and time, if you’re willing to be patient success will follow.
Website: EpicLaunch
Twitter: @entrepreneurpro

Jason Mollica
The worst thing you can do as a new or experienced blogger is to try too hard to write something. If what you want to write isn’t coming together or even sounding right in your head… Stop, take a break, and come back.
Website: One Guy’s Journey
Twitter: @jasmollica

Grace Boyle
Blogging takes time and effort. Building content, developing your style, creating blogger relationships and establishing a readership and community doesn’t happen overnight.
Website: Small Hands, Big Ideas
Twitter: @gracekboyle

Character

Renee Powers
There is nothing more engaging than being human in your writing. Conversely, nothing that will make you lose readership more quickly than appearing fake or lacking goodwill.
Website: Belle Renee
Twitter: @bellerenee

Erica O’Grady
Tell Stories That Matter. At the end of the day, what people really want is to be inspired. With story you can inspire them to make more money, step outside their comfort zone and try something new, donate $10.00 and help change the world. Whatever your end goal is, stories will help you get your readers there faster.
Website: ReinventingErica.com
Twitter: @ericaogrady

Jamie Nacht Farrell
Write about things that matter TO YOU. DO not write for other people. If your content is YOURS, your niche will find you. Keep it real.
Website: Bizrelationship’s Blog
Twitter: @EducationNut

Page Huyette
Write like a loyal, idiosyncratic friend and readers will keep coming back for your point of view if it resonates as the real deal.
Website: With Design in Mind

Jenny Blake
Think about the posts you most like to read—oftentimes the blogger is sharing something deep: fears, failures or feelings. Hitting “publish” on these posts can sometimes feel like we’re streaking naked across the Internet, but it pays huge dividends in terms of community-building and support. Experiment with vulnerability and see how it goes! It’s an evolution, not a destination.
Website: Life After College
Twitter: @jenny_blake

Marquis Parker
Many people have concerns about putting too much of themselves into what they post on the internet, but, in my opinion, it is difficult for one to gain the trust of his potential reader base without being willing to show a little trust himself.
Website: MarquisParker.com
Twitter: @marquis930

David Stehle
The posts you are most scared to write and push publish on are the ones that resonate most with readers! They are the ones that always get the most feedback and the ones that will help you grow as a writer and as a person.
Website: The Rest Is Still Unwritten
Twitter: @davidstehle

Finding Inspiration

Tiffany Monhollon
Getting started blogging can be daunting, and there are so many questions you’ll have: What to write about, how to make your posts unique, how to keep your momentum going. You can address so many of these questions by finding and sharing inspiration around you, like rewriting headlines from magazines you read or introducing a post by sharing a real-life story that relates.
Website: Personal PR
Twitter: @tmonhollon

Alison Garwood-Jones
Try not to bury yourself in technology. Learn it, use it then abandon it every day in favour of hunting and gathering the old fashioned way.
Website: Society Pages
Twitter: @AlisonGJ

Doniree Walker
Keep writing. Don’t second guess your writing or your unique, personal style. Let the early stages of your blog be about not only discovering your voice, but getting comfortable in that voice, and owning it.
Website: doniree.com
Twitter: @doniree

Networking

Cathy Reisenwitz
Your best hope is to get the attention and affection of the bloggers who already have the audience you want. A word from them will mean more to your success than a thousand words from you.
Website: The Anarcho-capitalism Blog
Twitter: @cathyreisenwitz

Olga Garcia
Find yourself a blogging mentor before you start blogging. You can look to that person for advice on your blogging strategy. Secondly, you are building skin in the blogging game by being accountable to someone you look up to. That will prevent you from committing to blogging and flaking on it, two months down the line.
Website: Being Olga
Twitter: @olgaLG

Elysa Rice
Blogging is not an island. So many people start out blogging trying to reinvent the wheel. There are so many great networks of people, including Brazen Careerist, that are happy to help answer basic “how to get started” questions.
Website: GenPink
Twitter: @elysa

What did we miss? Think about the following questions and leave some of your own ideas in the comments section below.

• Which piece of blogging advice do you totally agree with?
• Which piece of blogging advice do you totally disagree with?
• What’s missing? Share your own blogging advice with the community.

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The post The Absolute Best Advice for Starting a Blog appeared first on Brazen Life.