Being a part of this industry sometimes taints our team members’ perspectives of how others view our work. Like, doesn’t everyone understand why creating compelling content is so important? Or why managing your online presence by offering something of value to your stakeholders will make a difference for your organization?
The answer is no. Which leads to opportunities for us to often begin a relationship with the process of educating. Just read some of the other posts from my team members, Rebecca Dutcher and Erin Jones. They begin relationships with our new clients, by sharing solutions we can provide. Sometime solutions for problems our clients don’t recognize exist.
So, what does this have to do with my topic of blogging? Well, it’s really the same concept. Managing your personal presence online can make a difference for you – personally and professionally. And doing this by creating content (words or images) that is insightful, can help others.
Let’s face it, if you’re reading this post, you’re not just the average social media user. In my Strategic Staffing class this week, I asked my students who read blogs on a regular basis. About 25% of the them – while almost all of them use Facebook regularly. You’re looking beyond the average social channels, for other information, like this blog. And chances are you’ve got some opinions of what you read here or in other blogs you follow. So, why not share them, in your own format.
What’s stopping you:
1) I don’t have the time. After you write a couple of blogs, you’ll find that you can often type a couple of paragraphs in a hour or less. Because you’re writing about something you know.
2) I don’t see how this is going to benefit me. I could write pages here, but I’ll keep it simple. Writing is a complex thought process. So, just the mere fact of writing means you’re engaging your brain. And you’re providing something of value for others. You’re likely to connect with new people through your blogging effort which can help you network, learn and possibly find new opportunities.
3) I don’t know what to write about. Start with something you know. Like I did here. I usually keep a list of blogging topics that might be something I want to explore. The more I blog, the more ideas I have. It’s really an amazing process.
Finally, the best benefit I receive from blogging is my own learning. While my fingers sail across my keyboard, I get more insight into the topic I’m writing about than I had before. I research, I reference and I think.