HELPFUL TIPS: Blogging Your Way to Job Offers

By Rick Verbanas, YourGuerrillaMarketer.com
Maybe you have heard of the term “blog,” but aren’t sure if it is a fancy appetizer dish or an extreme snowboarding activity. Or, maybe you already know it is a combination of the term “web log,” and enjoy reading various experts thoughts online. But, have you considered writing your own blog? Or, how it could help you land your next job?
1. Establish Yourself as an Expert in Your Field – One of the ways you can legitimize your expertise in a given field or industry is write about it. Write about what you know, or are passionate about. I did that very same thing, and started giving guerrilla marketing tips in my new blog, YourGuerrillaMarketer.com. I make sure to mention it when networking and when applying for positions.
2. Expand Your Résumé Even More Than LinkedIn – You can use the blog for anything, including having an “About Me” page. Here you can illustrate your professional career, but also flesh out stories and experiences and anecdotes. I also have a “What They’re Saying” page where I list recommendations found on my LinkedIn profile, as well as other comments.
3. Demonstrate That You are Hip, Tech-Savy and Keep Up on Current Trends – While blogs are becoming very commonplace, not everyone has one. Separate yourself from your competition by referring potential hiring managers to your blog and see how impressed they will be!
4+. Other Reasons to Start a Blog – Stay connected with family and friends, meet people like you, be creative, help people, stay active, make money and so on. But, for people in transition, I can’t think of better reasons than demonstrating your expertise on a subject, expanding your résumé and separating yourself from your competition.
Getting started – There are many different free services online. I suggest typing “How To Start A Blog” in a search engine to see your options. I found http://www.howtostartablog.org/free-blogging-services.html helpful. Here you will see the different services you can use such as Blogger and WordPress. Personally, I used a hosting service (i.e. GoDaddy.com). Their tech support helped me get my blog up and running in no time.
After the initial setup of an hour or so, a blog takes as much time as you are willing to dedicate. An hour a day? An hour a week? How much time is landing your next great job worth to you?