Over the last couple of weeks, I have been approached by several colleagues within the PR discipline about creating their own personal website. For academics / professionals, I think that this is one of the first things you need to do when you 1) enter graduate school (Master’s or PhD); or 3) start your new academic position.
Why would it be important for academics to have their own personal blog? Well, this is the opportunity for you to establish your reputation within your field as well as letting others know that this is going to be your centralized location of personal / professional information. In addition, it is a great platform to write about your research, teaching tips and best practices, and upcoming conference presentations.
Here are some other reasons why professors and others in academia need to blog:
- If you are asking your students to blog, you should too!: This is one of the points I hear from students across the board – they say they have to write a blog for class, but their professor doesn’t have a blog. Lead by example by having a blog and join the students on this journey – you will be portrayed as being more credible on the issue of blogging.
- Blogging opens doors not only to students, but professors as well: We tell our students they need to write and create / manage their own blog to get a position at an agency, organization, or their ideal position in PR – but the same goes with academics as well. Consulting, key note speaking opportunities, and formulating new professional networking relationships are just a few benefits for having a blog.
- Gives you a platform to share your own story: Talk about your research, issues and trends you find interesting, and relevant changes that are going to impact what you do in the classroom. We always talk about the importance of telling a digital story for companies, organizations, and other clients – but what about you. Who will be telling YOUR story? This is your chance to do so with your blog!
- People are searching online not only for new candidates for agencies, but for professors as well: This is specific for young PhD students who want to make an impression with universities in PR and social media. Having a blog is not only expected, but almost required, especially if you market yourself to be an expert in new media and emerging technologies. People not only what you to know how to research on the topic, but you live, breath, and practice with the media on your own time.
- Staying current w/new trends & issues related to field in timely manner will make you a credible/trustworthy source: With a blog, it does put on the pressure to make sure you spend the time to write a thoughtful and concise post about some of these trends. People will want to know about these trends, and if they know you are providing them with the resources they need in their job/business/agency – you will be viewed as a trustworthy source of information related to that particular topic.
There are many good checklists or best practices for blogs (as well as microblogs) you may want to review and look at, but here are some of my best practices I have learned along the way over the past six years:
- Determine your focus of your blog: Will this be a teaching blog? Or just a research focused blog? Or a combination of both? What will be the main topics you will focus on? Understanding the overall vision and essence of your blog is top priority.
- Make sure you have the basic information available on your blog: Links to main bios from university page, CV, links to publications, video interviews, etc. You also want to make sure to let others know about your social media extensions on other sites (ex. FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, etc).
- Have your own blog policy. Will you allow comments? How will you monitor for spam or hackers on your blog? Will you be looking at specific sites to monitor traffic and SEO coming to your site? What is your policy for guest bloggers? Each person will be different in terms of their approach to their academic blog, so you have to determine what works best for you and reflects your reputation.
- Share blog with students, colleagues, and others as a resource: The way to build traffic to your website is to let others know about it. Talk about what you have to offer that is unique and helpful for the academic community. Is it your generosity of knowledge or great insight for the field? Is it your teaching practices? You have to look at your blog through a SWOT analysis – what are your strengths, what are items you would like to improve on, and what are some opportunities you can tap into with your blog that separates yourself from the rest of the academics in your field?
- Learn by reviewing other blogs: I think one thing to do is to look at other blogs and see what others are doing. I particularly like several blogs by some of my PR colleagues, including Karen Russell’s Teaching PR blog or Barbara Nixon’s Public Relations Matters blog.
- Do a little bit each day: Blogs do not have to be dissertation length at all – aim for at most 1000 words. It can range from short updates to thoughtful and concise insights about a particular issue.
- Actively look for inspiration: Don’t rush or be pressured to find the “perfect topic” for your blog – review what is going on in the industry, news, and social media – and it will come to you. In other words, as Gru says in the movie “Despicable Me”, chillax! 🙂
In summary, growing a blog following or readership takes time and dedication, but if you invest the time and energy into it, you will be rewarded. Blogging is great not only as a platform to manage your reputation, but also to help you with your writing. Since I first started six years ago, I can see a dramatic improvement with my writing due to being active on my blog. Plus, it is a lot of fun! 🙂
Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
Karen
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