Everybody’s heard the stories – the internet is full of them, the hotshot kid who came from nowhere and used their innovative new blog and social media acumen to bring themselves to the attention of the best in the business, who then hired them on the spot. It’s an old narrative, beloved of Hollywood movies and reality shows, but here’s the thing: the accessibility and ubiquity of the internet man it really is possible to get a huge leg-up in your career if you know how to blog effectively This isn’t a story that happens to a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend, you probably know someone who got a job or at least an opportunity through their activities online. It really could happen to you. All you need are a few tips on how to focus your attention and get the most out of your blog.
Choosing the right blogging platform Who Am I?
Think about the kind of career that you want: are you an aspirant marketeer? Artist? Web developer? Journalist? It’s time to examine what kind of thinker and worker you are and how that affects the way you engage with your audience and potential employers. Programming Jobs – Web Developers/Designers
Blogging platforms like WordPress and SquareSpace allow for an in-depth amount of tinkering with .php and .css, Javascript etc. If you’re an aspirant programmer/designer and you don’t want to build a site from scratch, demonstrating that you know how to manipulate and work with a fairly ubiquitous Content Management System will show potential employers/freelance opportunities your ability to work imaginatively within a framework. If you’re not yet a front or back-end guru, designing and developing your own site on something like WordPress will give you the best experience and advertising for the kind of work that you do. Visual Jobs – Artists, Illustrators, Stylists
If you’re more interested in conveying who you are visually, a blog that handles visuals effectively and makes sharing and conversation easy will be of most use to you. This is where something like Tumblr or even Pinterest comes into its own. These sites make it very simple for you to show off your talent and aesthetic to a wider audience and gain a compelling amount of followers in the process – indeed, there are plenty of web artisans who make their living by selling their wares on Etsy, buoyed by traffic via Pinterest – which beats out Twitter in terms of referred traffic. Pinterest is a powerful tool – a well-pinned image really is worth a thousand words. Writing/Analytical Jobs
Whether you’re looking for a writing gig or a chance to show off your finely honed media sales techniques, then a blogging platform that handles long-format text without spewing junk code every which-way will definitely be your best bet. WordPress excels at providing clean, spare designs that let your writing speak for itself, as to a lesser extent, does Blogspot. In addition, both sites provide the crucial trackback service so that popular posts shoot up the search engines and drive more traffic to your site. Tumblr does too and indeed people do attempt to write long-form on this platform but it can be a heartbreaking process, filled with weird formatting and endless reloads. However, aspirant marketeers/advertising executives may want to consider Tumblr more seriously as a way of generating a following for your blog – sites that run under a principle of the quick-share are the ones that go viral most easily, so if garnering attention through your own personal guerilla marketing campaign is your aim, you could do worse than teaming Tumblr with Twitter and going on an engagement spree. Engagement Sprees
This is crucial no matter what your vocational aspirations. Nothing’s worse than blogging into a vacuum – it’s important that whatever platform you choose, you promote your work outside your own domain and that you directly engage with other practitioners doing similar interesting things. Take it upon yourself to keep your eyes open and your ear to the ground – build your own network. And be patient! These things often take a little while to build momentum. But trust me, kid. You’re going to be a star.
Author Bio:
Rebecca Cartwright is a freelance writer and an occasional blogger for Media Week Jobs
Think about the kind of career that you want: are you an aspirant marketeer? Artist? Web developer? Journalist? It’s time to examine what kind of thinker and worker you are and how that affects the way you engage with your audience and potential employers. Programming Jobs – Web Developers/Designers
Blogging platforms like WordPress and SquareSpace allow for an in-depth amount of tinkering with .php and .css, Javascript etc. If you’re an aspirant programmer/designer and you don’t want to build a site from scratch, demonstrating that you know how to manipulate and work with a fairly ubiquitous Content Management System will show potential employers/freelance opportunities your ability to work imaginatively within a framework. If you’re not yet a front or back-end guru, designing and developing your own site on something like WordPress will give you the best experience and advertising for the kind of work that you do. Visual Jobs – Artists, Illustrators, Stylists
If you’re more interested in conveying who you are visually, a blog that handles visuals effectively and makes sharing and conversation easy will be of most use to you. This is where something like Tumblr or even Pinterest comes into its own. These sites make it very simple for you to show off your talent and aesthetic to a wider audience and gain a compelling amount of followers in the process – indeed, there are plenty of web artisans who make their living by selling their wares on Etsy, buoyed by traffic via Pinterest – which beats out Twitter in terms of referred traffic. Pinterest is a powerful tool – a well-pinned image really is worth a thousand words. Writing/Analytical Jobs
Whether you’re looking for a writing gig or a chance to show off your finely honed media sales techniques, then a blogging platform that handles long-format text without spewing junk code every which-way will definitely be your best bet. WordPress excels at providing clean, spare designs that let your writing speak for itself, as to a lesser extent, does Blogspot. In addition, both sites provide the crucial trackback service so that popular posts shoot up the search engines and drive more traffic to your site. Tumblr does too and indeed people do attempt to write long-form on this platform but it can be a heartbreaking process, filled with weird formatting and endless reloads. However, aspirant marketeers/advertising executives may want to consider Tumblr more seriously as a way of generating a following for your blog – sites that run under a principle of the quick-share are the ones that go viral most easily, so if garnering attention through your own personal guerilla marketing campaign is your aim, you could do worse than teaming Tumblr with Twitter and going on an engagement spree. Engagement Sprees
This is crucial no matter what your vocational aspirations. Nothing’s worse than blogging into a vacuum – it’s important that whatever platform you choose, you promote your work outside your own domain and that you directly engage with other practitioners doing similar interesting things. Take it upon yourself to keep your eyes open and your ear to the ground – build your own network. And be patient! These things often take a little while to build momentum. But trust me, kid. You’re going to be a star.
Author Bio:
Rebecca Cartwright is a freelance writer and an occasional blogger for Media Week Jobs
