I am writing this blog post to mark the third year anniversary of my blog. Wow, has it been that long?! That is amazing! 🙂
I started my blog shortly after retiring from track and field in 2006 after competing for USC. It has definitely evolved over the years in terms of topics. I started off discussing issues that were happening in sports public relations (mostly PR Nightmares), and then I started focusing on crisis communication and now I talk a lot about social media and reputation management. I also blog on certain aspects of my life that are important to me – my family, school, friends, and hobbies that I do. These range from my adventures with Jenny Craig with my family to kickboxing to even my travels with research presentations. And of course – how could I possible forget my foodie posts! 🙂 I believe that a blog serves as not only a good professional tool to establishing yourself online – but it also serves as a light into the blogger as a person.
Adrienne Waldo wrote a great post on AdAge discussing the benefits of having a blog – from having it being a living and breathing part of your resume to being a tool for networking purposes. I have to agree with all of these points based on my personal experience. There are so many benefits of having a blog. I definitely agree with Adrienne Waldo that it does make you stand out and separates yourself from the crowd.
However, I believe in today’s business economy and the way that technology continues to change and evolve how PR professionals practice and operate – you need to have your foot in every aspect of social media. Whether it is at Facebook to Twitter to YouTube, of having your own web site and blog – all need to be utilized. The more you use and understand how social media works, the better it is for you to stand out.
Here are a couple of other benefits that I would add to having a blog:
A useful tool in managing your online reputation. You never know who is going to read your blog, or what possible network opportunities that may arise from this. This has happened to me on several occasions, where I have made some amazing contacts with other professionals due to the fact that they first heard about me based on my blog.
Employers and others want to see more than just another resume without any personality – they want to see YOU: This really means that people want to see the complete package – they want to hire or work with a professional that not only has the experience and skills for the position, but someone that they know and like. Blogs give you a chance to express not only what you know, but your personality as well!
This was definitely a lesson that I learned while I was a track and field athlete both in high school and college. I would say that I had a successful athletic career, but I was not #1 or went to the Olympics, but I had a large fan following. One coach told me while I was at Florida that there were some people that came to the track meets to see some throwers because they were either #1 or they were the record holder, but he said that people came to the meets to see me because they felt like they knew me as a person based on what they read on my web site and newsletter (I wrote an email newsletter for Florida called K-mail talking about my experiences as a track and field athlete at Florida and USC).
In other words – I am a huge fan of blogs. My family also likes to blog as well – Dad has his own personal blog that discusses his fabulous recipes and Mom has her psychology blog. So, if you don’t have a professional blog, I would highly recommend that you start one. Blogs are a lot of fun, and they are a great way to establish yourself online and a useful tool in managing your online reputation. 🙂
Hope you all are having a great day. 🙂
Best Wishes,
Karen
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