A 2012 article by Forbes (http://onforb.es/KsCbNI) lists six things you must do to get your first job:
1. Create a LinkedIn profile
2. Establish a presence on WordPress or through your own blog
3. Get an internship as early as possible
4. Get creative about finding a mentor
5. Use your career services office
6. Join a professional development or industry-specific group
This is all great advice. And, as chair of the Bristol & West team for the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), I’m pleased that we’re able to support the UWE Marketing Society.
I’m going to talk about point 2: blogging.
Blogs started life as online diaries, in which individuals wrote, published and distributed their own opinions on any subject that took their fancy. Blogs have now become a hugely effective marketing and communications tool for individuals and businesses. From 2009 to 2011 the percentage of businesses with a blog grew from 48% to 65% (source: Hubspot). Businesses that don’t blog are now in the minority.
According to Wikipedia, “The term blog is a shortened form of weblog or web log. Authoring a blog, maintaining a blog or adding an article to an existing blog is called ‘blogging’. Individual articles on a blog are called ‘blog posts’, ‘posts’ or ‘entries’. A person who posts these entries is called a ‘blogger’.
Why blog?
A blog should be written to educate, inform, provoke and inspire. A blog is a viewpoint about a single subject. It can demonstrate your expertise, and introduce the skills you can offer. How long should it be? As long as is necessary to communicate your message clearly. Each blog should be a single subject – it’s not an essay – and in depth yet free from waffle. Use the writing of your blog to develop a voice that your audience can relate to. A blog with character is more fun to read and likely to attract loyal readers.
To be a successful blogger you need a strategy. Decide what you’re going to blog about and why. Identify your target audience, and some clear objectives. Once you’ve made these decisions the ideas should flow. Keep a notebook handy to write down blog titles and you’ll be set. Decide how often you want to blog, schedule time in your calendar, and stick to your schedule to build your audience.
What makes a good blog?
What next?
This great infographic summarises the 12 things you should do after you’ve written a blog post: http://bit.ly/bloginfographic
Search engines love new content – always remember that they’re a key part of your target audience, whatever you’re writing. Write to be found. Regular blog posting creates loyal readers, improves search engine optimisation and boosts social media connections.
Finally, plenty of websites welcome posts from guest bloggers. This is a great way to reach new or wider audiences. Spend time looking for appropriate websites and take a look at their guidelines for guest blogs.
Want more blogging tips? Here are another 50 tweetable tips to put into action: http://bit.ly/50bloggingtips
Written by Luan Wise
uk.linkedin.com/in/luanwise
1. Create a LinkedIn profile
2. Establish a presence on WordPress or through your own blog
3. Get an internship as early as possible
4. Get creative about finding a mentor
5. Use your career services office
6. Join a professional development or industry-specific group
This is all great advice. And, as chair of the Bristol & West team for the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), I’m pleased that we’re able to support the UWE Marketing Society.
I’m going to talk about point 2: blogging.
Blogs started life as online diaries, in which individuals wrote, published and distributed their own opinions on any subject that took their fancy. Blogs have now become a hugely effective marketing and communications tool for individuals and businesses. From 2009 to 2011 the percentage of businesses with a blog grew from 48% to 65% (source: Hubspot). Businesses that don’t blog are now in the minority.
According to Wikipedia, “The term blog is a shortened form of weblog or web log. Authoring a blog, maintaining a blog or adding an article to an existing blog is called ‘blogging’. Individual articles on a blog are called ‘blog posts’, ‘posts’ or ‘entries’. A person who posts these entries is called a ‘blogger’.
Why blog?
A blog should be written to educate, inform, provoke and inspire. A blog is a viewpoint about a single subject. It can demonstrate your expertise, and introduce the skills you can offer. How long should it be? As long as is necessary to communicate your message clearly. Each blog should be a single subject – it’s not an essay – and in depth yet free from waffle. Use the writing of your blog to develop a voice that your audience can relate to. A blog with character is more fun to read and likely to attract loyal readers.
To be a successful blogger you need a strategy. Decide what you’re going to blog about and why. Identify your target audience, and some clear objectives. Once you’ve made these decisions the ideas should flow. Keep a notebook handy to write down blog titles and you’ll be set. Decide how often you want to blog, schedule time in your calendar, and stick to your schedule to build your audience.
What makes a good blog?
- Statistics – facts and figures demonstrate that you’ve done your homework, give you credibility and make sense of the content (provided they’re meaningful and relevant)
- Quotations – everyone loves a good quote. Include quotes to support your viewpoint or to provide the counter opinion
- Subheadings/bullets/numbered lists – as well as helping you to structure your thoughts, these devices make it easy for the reader to navigate and digest your post
- Links – include links to further resources and related articles. This will help to get you noticed, as you’ll appear in relevant companies’ Google Alerts
- Call to action – remember that each post is part of a strategy, a plan to achieve an objective. Avoid ‘buy now’-type calls to action. Instead, lead the post to a natural conclusion – something that leaves readers wanting more
What next?
This great infographic summarises the 12 things you should do after you’ve written a blog post: http://bit.ly/bloginfographic
Search engines love new content – always remember that they’re a key part of your target audience, whatever you’re writing. Write to be found. Regular blog posting creates loyal readers, improves search engine optimisation and boosts social media connections.
Finally, plenty of websites welcome posts from guest bloggers. This is a great way to reach new or wider audiences. Spend time looking for appropriate websites and take a look at their guidelines for guest blogs.
Want more blogging tips? Here are another 50 tweetable tips to put into action: http://bit.ly/50bloggingtips
Written by Luan Wise
uk.linkedin.com/in/luanwise