You Don’t Have to be Shakespeare to Write a ResuBlog
May 14 2008 in Job Search/Career Change, reCareered Blog by Phil Rosenberg
First, what in the world is a ResuBlog? And why would I need one? No one else does?
It’s just what it sounds like – a mashup of a Resume and Blog. That’s exactly why you need one, because few others use ResuBlogs.
Need a reason to start a ResuBlog?…here’s 5:
- Google Rankings – Good blogs can get the author ranked page 1 of Google. Want proof? Search for my name on Google & Yahoo. Blogs and social networks in combination got me 5 first page listings.
- Subject Matter Expertise – The single fastest way to promote your subject matter expertise is to write about it. Tell your war stories.
- Networking – Blogging makes you the expert. People seek the advice of experts. And other bloggers are big online networkers.
- Conversation – A blog isn’t just your pulpit, it’s a conversation. Employers can reach you through your blog, and have a reason to comment. Companies have a reason to tell you about their problems. Wait a second…Aren’t you looking for problems that you’re uniquely qualified to solve?
- Differentiation – So few job seekers blog, it makes you stand out – when everyone else sends out a personal biography, you’re describing industry expert solutions to business problems.
So how do you Resublog?
It’s so easy, you don’t even need a website. The two leading blog providers Blogger & WordPress can host for you. You don’t have to know a thing about programming, as Blogger & WordPress make it pretty automated for you (Blogger is easier). Or if you want to heavily personalize, Blogs give you a chance to show off your design and programming skills.
Pick a blog name that reflects your expertise. Calling your blog “Billy Bob’s Blognation” might sound cool to you, but it won’t give your readers a clue about your content.
But I’m not a writer, how am I going to blog?
No worries…there’s so much content already on the web, you can be a publisher instead. A publisher takes other author’s content, and makes their own collection of articles on their own blog. If you want to get fancy, put comments before the articles, to review them. Even if you don’t write original content, as a blog publisher, it makes you an expert on the blog’s content. Just make sure you ask permission first, then give credit to the original author and blog, or copy the links into your blog article. Not all blog authors wish to have their content republished, so ask first.
Be specific – think long tail
Don’t write about the trials and tribulations of being a controller. As gripping as the stories about reconciling accounts might be, it’s tough to stand out. Instead, write about cost saving efforts in your industry. Don’t just tell your war stories…interview your peers and tell THEIR stories. Interview your peers’ bosses and tell their stories.
Wait a second….when you’re interviewing your peer’s boss, you’ll want to send that CFO a link to your ResuBlog (that contains your digital RESUME), so they’ll see who’s interviewing them. Encourage them to tell their friends! That gets you more readers, more content, and more people seeing your resume in your ResuBlog!
Have an opinion – Take a stand
A blog’s no time to be shy…you’re the boss of your own blog. Take a stand, have a strong opinion. What if people disagree? Let them….having a healthy dialogue and even disagreement on a blog can be very entertaining for your readers.
Don’t forget – Attach your Subject Matter Expert Resume! Back up your subject matter expertise with your experience.
Let’s review:
You can stand out from the competition, get listed front page of Google, you have an excuse to interview hiring managers and discover their challenges, and get your ResuBlog in front of many hiring managers…and you don’t have to write If you aren’t comfortable being an author.
What are you waiting for??
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since you suggested interaction was okay…how does being a blogger or blog publisher automatically make someone an expert?Also, credits for content and links back are not all that is required in some cases. Often times, publishing another’s content is not permitted.
Interaction is not just ok, it’s appreciated, Elizabeth.It’s pretty easy to be a blogger. You can post one article and have a blog, but of course it doesn’t make you an expert. You can post poorly written content or thoughts, or choose poor examples to republish, and it doesn’t make you an expert either.A blog is a way to promote your Subject Matter Expertise. The Subject Matter Expertise has to exist first.However, even if you started with no knowledge of a field that interested you, and started learning about it, researching it, and then crafting well written and researched posts, you could establish subject matter expertise….it would likely take much longer, and wouldn’t work in all fields. For instance, I’m not planning on starting a blog on Rocket Science, nor Brain Surgery anytime soon.Finally, great comment at the end. Not all authors are republication friendly. Most are happy to allow, if you ask nicely and offer to cite the author and link back to their original post.I actively encourage the blogosphere to shamelessly steal my content, as long as you link back and name me as the author. In fact Elizabeth, I might even buy you a drink if you did!Thanks for the great comment!
I have absolutely no interest in stealing your content, and wasn’t asking permission. To make a blanket statement that a person becomes an expert by having a blog, or publishing the contents of other experts is false. And to tell your readers that publishing content is okay, without informing them of the rights and permissions that come along with that, I feel, is irresponsible.Writing a blog and researching a subject matter isn’t what makes someone an expert in that field.Just as blogging won’t make one a journalist.Accreditation matters.
Thank you for our lively comments Elizabeth.I appreciate your passion about responsible Journalism, but consider a few things.1) You don’t have to be a Journalist to be a Blogger, nor do you have to hold the same journalistic standards. That’s one of the beautiful things about blogging…anyone can do it.I’m not a professional Journalist, nor do I pretend to be. I’m a Career Coach – but I have a keyboard, and know how to use it.I’m not suggesting my readers should be professional journalists either. There’s a place for both professional journalism, as well as grass roots communication through blogging.2) The post wasn’t meant to be a book on blogging, not a complete instruction guide. My blog posts are meant to be about the length of a Reader’s Digest story…And thank you for pointing out the details about rights and permissions. reCareered is a blog about job search, not a blog about the details of blogging. For those details I’d refer to CopyBlogger.com, tricks-for-new-bloggers.blogspot.com or other great resources on the web for learning details of blogging.All that being said, consider the point of the post. It’s intended to encourage job seekers, who have already established a subject matter expertise (see many earlier posts on this on my Subject Matter Experts tag) to promote their subject matter expertise. Thanks for the great dialog Elizabeth. Now will you steal my content?
you said in your blog:”Networking – Blogging makes you the expert.”It’s simply an issue of clarity. It’s an oversimplification that caught my eye…because it came across a bit misleading.I never suggested you were saying bloggers were journalists. I said “just as” which is a comparison.Whether your blog is about new careers or farm equipment, you have a responsibility to your readers, and other writers, which includes not promoting or encouraging publishing without the correct information on permissions. The information you gave simply suggested credit and trackback. Which is not correct in many cases.I felt you would appreciate the clarity, so I mention these things.and lively is what i do best.
Elizabeth, If you won’t steal my content on job search, can you at least steal my content on farm equipment? It might even be worth telling you a second time that you’re right…if you’d just steal my content.
I have to strenuously agree with Elizabeth concerning your advice to “take other author’s content.” So strongly, in fact, that I ask you to rewrite that paragraph because many people will not read the comments.As soon as something is posted online, it is copyrighted. It’s dangerous to assume that it’s OK to post and either ask for permission later or skip asking altogether and simply cite the source. People can be blacklisted and have their sites shut down for unlawfully posting others’ work without express permission. In addition to copyright laws and general decency and respect, in some instances authors have rights agreements with publications.If an author has an open re-publication policy, that should be clearly stated on the blog with the signature desired. If that’s not present, then always contact the author first.
Thank you to the 2 readers/commenters who have taken an interest in this post. They’re both right. And I’ve updated the original post to reflect their suggestions.The fact is folks, that ‘ya gotta ask first. Not everyone wants their content republished, and some publications have specific policies against republication.While many authors appreciate it when their content is republished, do the right thing and ask first. As for my content…feel free to steal mine anytime. I’d appreciate if you tell me so I can say thanks.
On a somewhat different note than the other commentors. Doesn't it seem funny that so many of the advocates of blogging are self employed? Do big companies, (the ones with HR departments) really want to see their associate's blogging about their expertise? That sort of invites recruiters to snatch them up. Looking forward to your input.
Chad,While many forward thinking companies want their employees to influence and communicate with customers through blogs and social media. Most large companies have, or are developing social media policies to protect themselves from employee negative comments or release of company information. If you want to see examples of companies who actively embrace and reward blog interaction, check out Seth Godin's blog at http://sethgodin.typepad.com/ .