Blog Post: Write, Write, Write

Last week I wrote about my intent to reach out to Fawn Germer, a national best-selling author, through my blogging efforts. I am happy to say that it worked! Fawn responded in the same approachable and friendly manner as she did when I first introduced myself. In fact, her words of advice to me were, "write, write, write".

The difference in our meeting this time is that I was better able to express myself through my writing (all I said in person the first time was, "hello"). I share this with you for 2 reasons: 1) to let you know that persistence often pays off when you approach a business contact or potential employer in the right manner and 2) to inspire you to consider blogging and writing on discussion forums in order to advance your career. As I finish reading Fawn's book, "Mustang Sallies, Success Secrets of Women Who Refuse to Run with the Herd", I will continue to let you know about my communication with her, but, for now, I want to focus on why you should be blogging.

The Janet Jackson song, "What have you done for me lately?", is not only an anthem for strained relationships, but also the burning question that sits in the back of manager's minds. Employers appreciate a track record of success, but they are often more interested in what you are doing now. For the unemployed, it can be especially challenging to talk about current successes. Blogging within your area of expertise provides you with something to point to and say, this is what I am doing". It makes it clear in no uncertain terms that you are self disciplined and committed to your field. And, if you are currently employed, then it may be a good way to add value to your employer; you can show your boss how your blog casts can be linked to twitter in order to draw attention to your company web site.

Since you are taking the time to read this entry, you may already be inclined toward appreciating the written word, but may not know how or what to blog about. First of all, It's free, so here are a few sites to refer to www.wordpress.com, www.blogspot.com , and www.typepad.com ( and, of course, all recruiters who are clients of www.gojobing.com have the opportunity to blog on this site). In regard to deciding what you should write about, there is a great deal of inspiration to be found on the internet. On www.answers.yahoo.com , people convene and to ask random questions. Similarly, on www.linkedin.com , you can click on "Answers" to find numerous professional topics to comment upon. When you provide high quality responses on these sites, you may receive approval votes from readers who wish to give  you credit as an "expert". This is certainly an impressive status. In addition, if you want to blog on your own, you can pick any of the running topics from these sites to inspire your writing.

In case you question whether somebody like you really could gain the attention of a potential employer or others by blogging, read the stories at www.girlsguidetohomelessness.com. This young woman invested some of her unemployed hours into documenting her experience as a homeless person. She wrote to a columnist after "messing up" an interview to ask what she could do to earn a second chance. After they saw her writing, they offered her a paid internship with Elle magazine.

So..... to quote Fawn once more with greater emphasis, get started today and "write, write, write".