Sorry, there’s no excuse. If you can use email, you can blog. And if you use Word 2007, you can use it to post articles to your own hosted blog.

Why blog?

Because if you can demonstrate your subject matter expertise, you’re going to get that job, promotion, or consulting gig you’re looking for. Last week I talked about doing things that are in your control – and top of the list is your blog.

Let’s get past the technical hurdles first. There are many ways you can blog, but to make your decision easier, I’m going to recommend three platforms.

1. Posterous – this is the simplest blogging platform there is. Your first email to them creates your account, and every subsequent email posts an article. You can include pictures, audio, and video, and Posterous figures out what to do with your content. More on this in a moment.
2. WordPress.com – this is the free WordPress site. Create an account, and WordPress will host it for you. It’s also free. WordPress is the most widely used blogging platform, which means there’s lots of online support – and if you need it, there are lots of consultants who can help you. They host over 300,000 blogs!
3. YourOwnDomain.com, using WordPress software. This is what I recommend if you’re going to be serious about blogging. It gives you the greatest flexibility, and you totally control everything you do. WordPress is still free, and there are hundreds (maybe thousands) of free templates. Templates dictate the layout and features of your blog. (In case you didn’t know it, this blog uses WordPress.)

Word 2007 allows you to write your post for WordPress and post it automatically. The first time you do it, you have to provide some basic setup information (URL of your blog, user name and password). When you finish a post, you hit the Publish icon and either post the article as a finished post or as a draft. I write all my posts this way now – the Word editor is way better than the WordPress editor, and almost everyone knows how to use Word.     

Posterous

So let’s talk about Posterous… Take a look at the Posterous FAQ (frequently asked questions) to get started. “Posterous lets you post things online fast using email. You email us at post@posterous.com and we reply instantly with your new Posterous blog.” It just don’t get any easier than that.

Multimedia? Posterous understands Word and PowerPoint file formats, PDF, JPG, GIF, PNG, MP3, AVI and MPG. If you don’t understand all those TLAs (three-letter acronyms), just understand that Posterous will intelligently handle most files you’re going to generate. And you don’t have to worry about photo size, because their software will automatically, and intelligently, resize your photos. If you’re posting a link to a YouTube video, Posterous will automatically embed a player for the post so your reader can simply start watching it.

Here’s another great feature they do automatically: when you post to your blog, it can automatically create updates to your Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr accounts. Blogging pros have been doing this for years – I do it with plugins for WordPress, but here it’s all nicely wrapped up for you. This gives you great Google Juice! And it should be an integral part of your personal branding efforts.

Are you wondering if this is a serious blogging platform? You bet it is – two of the most important bloggers in the world use it (Michael Arrington – TechCrunch, and Robert Scoble).

The route to getting that job you want is to get known as a subject matter expert. First be sure people can find you if they type your name in a Google search. Then start writing on your topic, and keep doing it until people can find you when they type a search for what you do. That’s what recruiters do – especially for higher-level positions. They are always looking for people who have distinguished themselves in their field. And today, and with Posterous, that’s under your control.

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You may feel like you’re completely at the mercy of others in your job search. In some ways that’s true, but there are many things you control. For example, you can create a perfect profile on LinkedIn – that’s under your control – but you can’t make people contact you.

What else can you control? Most job help professionals will advise you to pick some target companies. Why? Because when you target a company you want to work for, you can create an active strategy, rather than passively hoping somebody will find you.

Once you’ve picked out your target(s), the next step is to research them thoroughly. I don’t mean spending an hour on Google – a proper profile of the company will take you several hours in most cases. Read everything you can about the company and any of its key players.

OK, you’ve got your target, and you’ve got your briefing materials. Next step is to figure out what you can do for the company. Why would they want to hire you? What do you offer, what original thoughts can you bring to your new employer? (If you can’t come up with any, you’ve either not done your research properly or it’s the wrong target company…)

So far, your success is totally within your own control. You’re not depending on anybody for the background info, you’re not trying to network into the company – that’s a great way, probably the best way, to get in, but it’s not always possible.

How do you get to the company management? Assemble everything you’ve put together, and start writing about them. In many cases, they’ll know you’re doing this, because most companies watch for their company name with Google Alerts. But if they miss you, you can let them know that you’ve been writing about them – this is the kind of communication that’s welcome, because you’re giving something rather than asking for something.

Here’s something a client of mine did:

“I applied for the top HR job at XYZ Company a couple of weeks ago. Then I sent the CEO, COO and CFO a memo about how I could add value as a non-traditional human resources professional. I pointed them to my blog. I specifically gave them the url to my engage presentation, employee engagement and courage posts. On Monday, I called all 3 executives and left them voice mails. The next day, I received an e-mail from their internal recruiter that stated she wanted to talk to me as she was directed by the CEO and COO to do so.”

See the difference between an active and a passive search? You won’t get all these jobs, but your chance of getting an interview goes up enormously. And you’re totally in control.

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Did last week’s post convince you to start blogging? It’s the only method of getting found for that job you want in which you control 100%. If you blog long enough and strong enough, you will be found. 

Just to reiterate, here’s my simple recipe for your success: 

1. Get your “placeholder” sites done – and done right. You’re probably already on LinkedIn, but don’t overlook ZoomInfo (which is still used by many recruiters), and your Google Profile. Ryan Rancatore, a fellow Brand-Yourself contributing blogger, had an excellent post on this topic a couple of days ago (here).
2. After you feel comfortable about your subject matter expertise, start writing. Comment on other blogs or write articles (check out Jacob Share’s great post about freelance marketplaces here.)
3. When you’re ready, start publishing posts for your own blog.
4. Repeat step 3 until you get really good at it. Get feedback from other writers and industry veterans so you know you’re doing it right. Then repeat it until you’re accepted as a thought leader in your subject area. 

Photo by Kevin Lim

OK, step 4 may sound hard to you, and I’ll grant that it takes some time and effort to keep coming up with new things to say. There are many writers’ techniques you can use; for example, carry around index cards and jot down a subject whenever you think of one. You’d be surprised at how many ideas you will come up with every day. 

Here’s another idea, and this is based on actual data. Most blogging software platforms give you some feedback about your users. I always install dedicated WordPress installations for my clients, because it’s the most widely used blogging platform. That means lots of support on the internet, many great authors giving templates and utilities to you free, and pretty good statistics. You can even add Google Analytics to your blog. 

Over time, I’ve found that articles I write about how to do things get the most traffic. Some of these articles are like Energizer bunnies – they just keep on producing. Every day, I get stats about how many people visited my blog, my top posts, referring sites, and the search terms people use to get to my site. I also see the links people click on to visit other sites. 

You can learn some pretty interesting things by watching these stats. Here are the five most common search terms for my blog: 

1. LinkedIn photo size
2. 3 variations of my name
3. LinkedIn picture size
4. Sandwich board (!)
5. Zoho cloud

What that tells me is that there is a real need for more information about LinkedIn profile pictures! (It appears in several other forms in the most popular search terms). My second most popular search, in aggregate, is a post I did about how to do multiple emails using Word and Excel. I get traffic to that article every day. 

What’s really interesting about this is that my personal branding articles don’t show up at the top of the list, even though that’s the main topic of my blog! In fact, I wrote the LinkedIn photo article, and the email article, at the request of people who wanted more information about these topics. Ah, but there’s a rub… 

My top posts are not the same as my top search terms! My five top posts are 

1. How to use Microsoft Excel and Word to send multiple emails
2. The proper way to send and accept a LinkedIn invitation (I wish everyone would read this)
3. How to add your picture to LinkedIn
4. How to complete your LinkedIn profile
5. Create a PDF of your LinkedIn recommendations

So what does all this tell me? 

• Write about things you’re passionate about. Almost every one of the 10 items above are poorly covered elsewhere. Why should it be hard to put your picture on LinkedIn? That’s simple: if you’re too dumb to do it, maybe you shouldn’t be using LinkedIn. Sorry, not my attitude, but it does make you wonder about LinkedIn help and support.
• Content is king! Don’t fill your blogs with nonsense. People come to blogs to learn. Give your readers something to take away.
• Use your statistics to help you fine tune your messages. In general, more readership means better (or at least more popular) content.

A small side note: I’ve also found that taking a somewhat controversial standpoint can lead to higher readership. Anybody who’s heard of Rush Limbaugh knows controversy sells. But you’d better decide who and what you want to be on the Internet. Some people think any news is good news, but I don’t subscribe to that. I want to be known for quality contributions. My personal belief is that I’d rather reach fewer people with better content than the inverse. 

Oh yeah… I always advise people to write about their passion(s). I have a client who’s a real estate broker. He writes about real estate topics, but he’s also a great violinist, and he writes a lot about fiddles. I just love his posts, and I have to admit I read the violin articles first. Part of your objective in publishing is to let prospective recruiters, hiring managers, and clients know you before they contact you. And it really works.

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I’m often asked this question, and my answer is pretty consistent: for an individual, a blog is almost always better, and for a company it is frequently better as well.

I have both, but that’s really an artifact (website, blog). While I can fool around with HTML and other web technologies, I’m not a web developer. My HTML learning pretty well halted in 1995, so what I know is largely useless. Nevertheless, I built a personal website that is Flash-based, using technology from an Israeli startup that makes this pretty easy.

Later, when I felt more confident about going public on the Internet, I started my own blog. I wrote pretty consistently for about a year, but I haven’t written much there recently. (I’ve gotten involved with a startup company, which is very time-consuming, so I’ve been restricting my writing to this site.) It’s OK to give yourself permission to write or abstain – unless your blog is your job. And once you’ve got enough posts – and assuming they’re good – you really don’t have to write frequently.

Oh, and don’t forget to have fun with your blog – just don’t write about religion or politics.

So, I have both a website and a blog. But I still recommend a blog for you, and here’s why:

1. You can write, edit, and post articles without any real technical knowledge. In fact, I write my posts in Word, which allows me to publish them on my blog site in draft or final form (this requires Word 2007).
2. Your blog can be infinitely adjustable – by you, without requiring technical assistance. WordPress, which is the platform I recommend, is designed to be a publishing system (also known as a content management system). Its main purpose is to enable you to post articles and create discussions as a content manager rather than as a technocrat.
3. Your blog will actually get higher Google ratings than most websites – and if you’re out there promoting yourself, this should be all you need to hear! My blog typically gets indexed by Google within 15 minutes of posting an article. I know because I immediately get a Google Alert about the article. I’m also easily found by topic (look up “personal branding statement” on Google and you’ll usually see my article within the first few results (and interestingly, you’ll see the version here on blog.Brand-Yourself.com rather than the version on my own, more humble, blog). Google may actually favor blogs because their content is more frequently updated than static websites.
4. You can make your blog just as appealing as a website. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of templates available for WordPress, and most are free.
5. You get useful statistics on readership. Not only do I know how many people read my blog, but I know how they get to it – including the search terms that are most often used. That, in turn, enables me to write more directed posts to get greater readership.
6. Blogs encourage conversations, and that’s hard to do on a website.

Keeping these ideas in mind, there are still great benefits to be had from a website that cannot be garnered from a standalone blog.  The biggest plus is the ability to provide a lot of information about yourself which doesn’t fit in a brief blog bio or LinkedIn profile. 

Things like an extended biography, an annotated resume, detailed academic and extra-curricular information (for students and recent grads), and pretty much whatever else you want the world to know about you can all find a place on a website.  Brand-Yourself.com offers a great platform for website creation which is usable by pretty much anyone, regardless of technical ability.  Check it out!   

Also remember, if your blog or website is on your own domain, and your domain is your name, it will help in your Google ranking. This is an advantage of hosting your own website or blog on your own domain.

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