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Enhancing your personal brand with a blog.

Learn why and how to start a blog to enhance your personal brand. Discover cool things you can do with a blog and get tips on refining and publishing your content.

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Enhancing your personal brand with a blog.

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  1. Enhancing your personal brand with a blog. • Job Search Focus Group • June 14, 2010

  2. Today’s agenda • For beginners and neophytes • Some ‘why-to,’ ‘how-to’ and ‘what-to’ • Why blog? • Where to start/models of blogging • Cool things you can do • Getting started • Refining, enhancing and publishing

  3. JSFG and job search • “I’ll never forget the night Michael and I combined for 70 points.” • Stacey King, Chicago Bulls, on a 1990 game • In that game Michael Jordan scored 69 points

  4. Why blog? • Key component of your personal brand • Establish credibility • Maximize SEO • Hone writing and expertise • Update LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter • Reinforce your website OR • Serve as your website

  5. Personal branding across platforms • Establish your full name, consistently • LinkedIn profile • Twitter name • Facebook • Purchase domain name • Multiple email addresses • Your blog and/or website • Make it look right!

  6. Steve Phelan‘Your Virtual CMO’

  7. Lisa HanebergAuthor and consultant

  8. Michelle Lentz‘Social Media Adventurer’

  9. Daniel Johnson, Jr.‘Social Media Evangelist’

  10. Did you have job search in mind when you started your blog? • (SP) Not for transition. It is for keeping me top of mind with people who might have need of my consulting services. • (LH) Yes, and no. I was an independent consultant, so I wanted to attract more potential clients. I wanted my blog to build and strengthen my professional platform. • (ML) I got a job blogging by tweeting to the right people. My other blog - the wine blog - hasn't exactly gotten me a job. It's just fun. • (DJJr) My initial purpose was just to learn how to blog. Later spun off other blogs (18), including job search. In 07/08 I started a portfolio blog to document my work.

  11. How frequently do you post? • (SP) Once a month. • (LH) When I started, I posted nearly every day. After 5 years, I now post 1-2 times per week. I would recommend that new bloggers post every day until they build up many posts and a readership. • (ML) I do recommend to my marketing clients that they create a blog and leave it hidden/unpublished for about a month while they create content. Once they go live, I recommend posting at least 3x per week for the first 6 months to a year. That's what drives visitors and differentiates you from other blogs. My wine blog tends to have 2-3 posts per week (although I've been busy lately, so I've been lax at posting) to continuously drive traffic. • (DJJr) Using WordPress and the TwitterTools plugin lets me archive what I’ve posted on Twitter through the week. So I’m guaranteed to post weekly. Even so -- I’ll post when I have something to say.

  12. What has been the most valuable part of your blogging experience? • (SP) The thought that goes into writing it helps focus my thoughts as well. • (LH) My blog has helped me stay fresh - it helps me think through topics and keeps my mind fresh. And the blog, now with over 7,000 subscribers, has helped me build a global network. • (DJJr) It’s helped me communicate my thoughts and words better. It’s also been a great emotional outlet. I can’t say enough about the community of other bloggers I keep in touch with.

  13. How has the blog led to a new lead/opportunity/job possibility? • (SP) Several times it has reminded people of my existence at an appropriate time (right people and right product are easy--you have to be top of mind at the right time.) • (LH) Because the blog is informal, blog readers get to know me. This has helped them pre-qualify people who might want to hire me for a project. I have to do much less to convince people of my credentials, because they know me and know how I approach my work. • (DJJr) I link back to my main blog. One hiring manager found me on LinkedIn and invited me in for an interview. That I have substantiated myself thought building an online presence is one reason I believe I was hired for my current job.

  14. Overall, has it been worth it? • (SP) Definitely. • (LH) Yes, my blog has been an important part of my professional life and has paid back, in terms of relationships, leads, and gigs, more than the effort I have put into it.I also feel more connected to younger professionals, who tend to read blogs more than their older colleagues. • Much of what I’ve done over my years of blogging has been experimental - trying out new things, just to see if it could be done. I truly believe it has been worth it.

  15. Where to start blogging? • Blogger.com • TypePad.com • WordPress • Free and paid options • Highly customizable • Easy to use (in 5 minutes!) • Clean, elegant look and feel

  16. Three models of blogging with WordPress • 1) Install WordPress.org Content Management System (CMS) on your own web hosted space • 2) Publish as ‘yourname.wordpress.com’ • 3) Publish as ‘yourname.com’

  17. 5 cool things you can do with a WordPress blog (automatically) • New content on your LinkedIn profile • Tweet • Update your Facebook status • Maximize SEO For Google, Yahoo and Bing • Post from your cell phone

  18. ‘yourname.wordpress.com’ • Most common • FREE! • Easy to use • Good technical support online • Starts in 5 minutes • Little or no HTML required • Partial personal branding

  19. Publish blog as ‘yourname.com’ • Strong personal brand • Minimal technical requirements(same as ‘yourname.wordpress.com’) • Low cost (c. $50-$100 annually) • Can be made to integrate with your website

  20. Starting your WordPress blog johnsmith •••••••• •••••••• johnsmith@gmail.com X

  21. Choosing a look (Theme)

  22. Navigating the Dashboard options data: posts, pages data: views

  23. drag to sidebar Shaping display contents with Widgets available widgets select

  24. Pages

  25. Pages

  26. Publish blog as ‘yourname.com’ • 1) Buy domain name through WordPress • Least complicated • Least expensive (c. $15/year) • Some restrictions (e.g. no Google ads) • 2) Use one from another ISP • Publish your blog to the domain (or sub-domain) • Change ISP settings to allow this

  27. Automatic publishing on LinkedIn most recent post excerpt

  28. Search Engine Optimization

  29. Using your blog as your web site • “Not every website is a blog. • But every blog is a website.” • Easy to update without HTML • Multiple contributors if desired • Automatically creates an archive • Archive is searchable

  30. Using your blog as your web site

  31. Goodbye.

  32. Cleve’s contact info • cleve@thecallisongroup.com • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/clevecallison • Twitter: clevecallison • Blog: bit.ly/clevesblog

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