I’ve been telling you what a significant impact blogging can have in your executive job search and overall career management.
Joining the conversation on social media is pretty much a given these days, if you want to create some buzz and position yourself as a thought leader and niche expert in your field.
Take a look at a terrific post today by Chris Brogan. He offers in-depth information and advice on blogging with a purpose, along with the mechanics you’ll need to put together and manage a thriving blog.
His blog is a must-visit for anyone already blogging or even considering hitting the blog scene.
Here’s just one of Chris’s great tips to cull ideas for blog posts:
“Go to the grocery store – there are more headlines and interesting WAYS of saying things right there in your face at the checkout counter than you’ll likely come up with on your own”.
Thanks so much, Steve and Chris, for your thoughtful comments.
Steve, you echo just what I’ve been thinking this morning about quantifying blogging value against efforts/time invested. Blogging done well is quite a commitment.
Chris, you’ve really put this in perspective.
I’ve yet to determine my “numbers of merit”. The impact to my business in dollars is a little vague at this early point in my blogging career, but my network and community are building quite rapidly — one of my main goals for now.
I’m also finding that blogging is where I want to be right now. It’s re-energized me and opened up a floodgate of new places to reach into, learn about, and contribute to.
I truly appreciate the conversation and input from both of you.
Regards, Meg
Steve, you can find ways to quantify depending on your goals for how you use social media.
My goal with my blog is to deliver so much value for free that I am given opportunities to deliver some value for a cost. If a month goes by and I make money (enough that I’m happy that I did the work), then I have met that goal.
Would I blog for free? Sure. Technically, every blog post is for free.
Are there other ways to measure the quantifiable value? Sure. You might have traffic needs. Searchability needs. Cost-per-action business campaigns. Etc.
If it’s for branding, you might need name recognition. I’m thinking mine’s pretty decent in the social media circles. Beyond that? Not so sure.
Another quantifier is whether you’ve got a healthy network to call upon, should you need something. You could measure that in LinkedIn connections or the like.
Essentially, my point is that there are lots of ways to put a number on what you’ll do with social media. The questions fall back into your lap, however, with what you think is a number of merit, and what you need that number to represent.
I am an avid reader of Chris Brogan and I found this post interesting. I guess it’s ‘a given’ that Social Media marketing is good (or at least doesn’t hurt) personal reputation and branding. I’m a little less sure how this is quantified. I was interested earlier this week though to see a job advert (which was for a Social Media strategist I admit) that mentioned that running a successful blog was a pre-requisite. This makes sense as the person setting the strategy should be ‘living and breathing’ the technology and lifestyle, but I struggle a little with understanding how to quantify true value against effort. It seems logical that the benefit is there, but does it seem a little ethereal at times?