Blogging Expert: Write From Hope, Dissatisfaction

Summary:
Blogging evangelist Andy Wibbels says writing on a personal blog from a sense of hope or dissatisfaction gets you fully engaged as a warm, authentic personality -- a smart way to market yourself as a job candidate.

During a recent teleseminar, blogging evangelist Andy Wibbels urged bloggers to "write from your hope or dissatisfaction."

That suggestion, I believe, is particularly relevant for those of us with disabilities because we often find ourselves in situations where we can write with passion about a variety of disability issues.

Andy, who has his own blog at http://www.andywibbels.com/ and is author of Blogwild! A Guide for Small Business Blogging, was the guest expert on a Reach Branding Club teleseminar June 6.

Reach Out maintains that a blog is the best way to build your brand online, and Andy, who has a background in the performing arts and has been blogging since 2000, echoes that thought, stating that job seekers and small business owners especially need to develop a personal blog.

"Blogs," Andy writes, "allow you to stop hiding behind a stilted/stifled brand and allow you to show up fully engaged with a warmer, more authentic personality."

To me, helping decision makers get to know the real you is the key to effectively marketing yourself as a job seeker or entrepreneur. And, that's one of the reasons why eSight has developed its online course, Online Networking as a Job Search Tool.

This hands-on, competency-based course is designed to help you share, develop and practice online skills so you can find meaningful internships and jobs through personal branding and networking. And it helps you address directly the disability issues you may face in getting your internship or job.

So, I invite you to enroll today in the fall class of eSight's "Online Networking as a Job Search Tool," where you learn about offering statements, JIST Cards, ePortfolios and personal blogs.

Andy defines a blog as a "frequently, instantly and easily updated web site." Through a blog, he said during the teleseminar, "you can publish yourself, update your web presence yourself and free yourself of tech people."

Stating that blogging "is for anybody at any skill level," he advised attendees to build a web site inside available blogging software.

When asked about blogging platforms he would recommend, Andy named two services to consider: TypePad (which has fees ranging from $5.00 to $15.00 a month) and WordPress, which is free.

For those who are afraid of the time commitment required to post new content to a blog at least three times a week, he recommended looking at "the e-mails you've sent during the last two weeks -- those could also be postings to your blog."

Here are other observations Andy shared during the teleseminar:

• You can use a blog to publish information faster than you ever could before.
  
  
• You can use a blog as your primary web site.
  
  
• People buy from people they like and respect. Let your human warmth glow through your blog. Show off your expertise and personality so people can connect with you.
  
  
• Blog readers are primarily aged 30+, affluent, research purchases online, and are not scared of a "buy button."
  
  
• Know the purpose of your blog and make sure that it has a well-defined niche. The more specific the focus the better. "Be clear about who you are" because being selectively famous (a big fish in a small pond) is the key today in branding yourself (and getting the attention of individuals you are targeting).
  
  
• Develop a newsletter or e-mail alert system to promote your blog. Andy said the primary purpose of his blog is to attract new subscribers to his newsletter.
  
  
• Always be obvious online -- make the title of your blog post what you really want to say, since "search engines don't understand puns."
  
  
• Have fun with blogging, and show off your passion for what you do.

You can listen to the full recording of the June 6 Teleseminar. There you'll get more information about promoting your blog and monetizing your blog.

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