Scheduling Your Posts

I see a lot of people that will blog for their career about something that's happened and worry about publishing everything all at once. You don't have to get your thoughts out there all at once, unless you're a journalist of some sort. Even then, it pays to built a following.

Why?

A couple of reasons. The first is that a steady set of blogging, or volunteering shows a bit of commitment and follow-through. It's more impressive to say that you've blogged every week for 6 months than to say you've written 30 posts.

It also keeps you in people's minds if they see you posting something regularly on your site or your entries appear in their blog reader. I know when I a post appear in my reader from someone that hasn't posted in a long time, I wonder what they've been doing.

The last reason, and this might be the biggest one, is that if you schedule things out, especially related items, it gives you a chance to respond to comments and revise them.

Don't get caught up in the idea that all your blogs need to publish right away. Schedule them out over time, at a pace that fits your life.

Networking

When looking to improve upon a simple resume, one of the best things that you can do is build a better network. It sounds cliche, and it is something that's out of many people's comfort zone, but networks really matter.

It's not what you know, but who you know.

I've heard that for most of my life, and it's proven true many times. Many of us get jobs, without knowing someone at the hiring company, but that's often because no one at the company has a candidate in mind already. If they did, you wouldn't get the job.

So why take the chance? Networking isn't that hard, and it should be something real that you build. Forget the image of the salesman that exchanges business cards with everyone or keeps a dossier on his contacts. Build a real network that you can use in your career.

It's possible, and it's not that hard. I'll detail some ideas in future posts on how to practically build a network.

Images in your blog

In a recent talk I gave, I recommended using images to spice up your blog. I think it's great, and I often include images in my posts where I can. I typically grab screen shots, or use pictures I have, but I have linked from the Internet.

However someone asked me about copyright. My reply was that linking an image from another site should protect you from that. There was a case that went to through the courts that held a link, meaning a hot link (using the "img src=" tag), wasn't a copyright violation. But copying the file to your service and using it, was a violation.

However a few other people posted links to complaints people had made about hot linking, saying it was "bandwidth slurping or stealing."

I can see both points, and so I'm not sure what the proper thing to do is. I'll say this:

• If there's a copyright notice, like on a photo or cartoon, don't use the image.
• If someone complains, take down the image or link.
• If it's a large site, like Amazon, use a link, but give credit to them. Amazon actually allows you to save their images off to your server.
• If it's a small site, ask them.

That's probably the best solution. I think that I'll give credit on future photographs that I use in my writings and copy them to my server.

Networking with no need for a job

I wrote an editorial recently about networking, and why it can be important. The focus was about finding out about opportunities that might be out there for future jobs. I think with the economy in shambles, and lots of people out of work, it was a good way to highlight how you might find a job. You might not, but I think most people would rather have another safety net for their jobs if they can.

However in the comments, someone pointed out a few things I hadn't thought about. They mentioned four places where you might benefit from networking in your own career:

• You might hear about a new technology that interests you. Or might further your career
• You might hear about a business opportunity because of a problem with a competitor.
• You might hear about someone having issues and be able to help them.
• You get out of the office.

In terms of your physical resume, the first or second one might be something that helps you, but the last two are items you can bring up in interviews that show off some breadth and depth to your career. I'd make a note of them, blog about them, keep them handy as stories that can make you a more attractive employee.

Why Blog? (or write? or speak? or lead?)

This short piece has a nice summary of the reasons that spending time doing any of these extras. You do this type of stuff at work, or at least your employer wants you to do it, so showing that you can do it is a great leg up on the competition.

Mentoring

I was writing about finding a mentor as an editorial recently, and it occurred to me that this is one of the items I talk about for the Modern Resume. A mentor is a kind of leader, providing counsel, advice, support, and knowledge to someone else. It's about helping someone get where they want to go and using your own experiences and thoughts to do so.

I guess you could be a type of thought leader when you are a mentor. Someone listens to you and considers what you have to say.

What does that have to do with branding? I'd say for the most part that noting these experiences, documenting them somehow, and being able to talk about them, shows a skill that many people look for in an employee. You can blog about them, or just be ready to talk about them in an interview, but just as you should have stories about good and bad experiences, you should keep track of times when you've mentored someone.

The synergies from a team of people come from their interactions, their feeding off each other, but also when a person with a strength in some area helps another that's weak in that same area. That's part of what mentoring is.

Keep that in mind as you go through your career.

Branding is the First Step

I can't really emphasize this enough. Building a brand on the Internet, or even in private, is just the first step in finding your next job. It's an enhanced, modern resume, that encompasses more than just the couple pages you put together to send someone.

I've had many people get upset and feel that building a brand somehow means you shortcut the interview process. That's not true at all. A well built and impressive brand is what gets you the interview, what makes you stand out and what attracts potential employers.

The rest is up to you. You need to still interview well, show off your skills, and present a professional image to those you meet.