Showing posts with label Advantages of Blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Advantages of Blogging. Show all posts

Friday, November 15, 2013

Blogging Basics for Resume Writers

Starting a career-related blog can be a great way to increase your profile as a careers industry expert, allowing you to attract new clients and driving traffic to your website. However, deciding to start a blog is a commitment. The more you publish, the more you'll get out of your blog. Here are some things to think about as you consider publishing a blog.


Where Most Resume Writers Go Wrong With Their Blog
When you're blogging, you're building your brand (or destroying it, in some unfortunate cases). Having a social media presence online is important for the majority of resume writers, since more and more resume prospects find their resume writer through online sources (it's second only to referrals as the source of new business for most resume writers). You can use your blog to build your social media following (Twitter, Facebook Business Page, LinkedIn, etc.) and you can also use your social media following to increase readership of your blog.

To get the most out of your blog, you'll need to deliver a certain number of blog posts per week (usually a minimum of two), and you should also consider finding guest blogging opportunities (where you can blog elsewhere and link back to your main blog). Blogging "for fun" is different than blogging to build your resume writing business. Don't confuse the two. It's fine to have a personal blog (I'm really enjoying resume writer Barbara Safani's "Across the 59th Street Bridge and Back" blog), but a personal blog has different objectives than a professional blog. You can tie in personal experiences on your career blog (Julie Walraven does this quite well, as does Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter), but make sure there is a lesson to be shared when you do!

Make Blogging Part of Your Routine
This is the part I have the most difficulty with. All the blogging experts say you should be consistent with your blogging. They say that it's better to to write one post per week — every Friday, for example — than to blog haphazardly. More power to you if you can do that! I just can't. Sometimes I get in the mood to blog and sometimes, it's at the bottom of a lengthy to-do list.

The good news is, blogging is something you can do anytime — in the morning before work, on your lunch hour, after work and on the weekends. You can even write your blog posts in advance and schedule them to post. (I should do this.)

Like writing resumes, blogging is a real business when you start pursuing it for financial reasons. Yes, it gives you much in terms of happiness — but when you’re making money doing something you love, it’s very rewarding.

And, as I mentioned earlier, your blog can also establish you as a leader in the career services industry. One thing that’s important is that you make sure that you love writing about career industry topics. You should want to wake up every day, eager to get to your computer. Don't start a blog because you feel like you "have to" — do it because you "want to."

If you dread it because it bores you or it’s depressing, then you won’t help your readers and the blog won’t "work" for you.

Make a list of possible blog topics before you start. If you can't come up with at least 10 ideas, don't start until you do. You can set an entire editorial calendar for your blog where you choose which topics are presented to your readers. You also get to pick the tone for the blog pieces.

Developing a Relationship With Your Blog's Readers
Having a relationship with your readers means they value your blog and they share the link to it with other people. You want that type of connection because as a professional, the traffic and branding that you gain will be priceless.

When blogs have a loyal readership, they enjoy a fantastic word of mouth traffic flow. While many bloggers are out there buying links back to their site and paying people to help them get traffic, you can do it all for free.

First, pick topics your readers want to know about. Part of your job in relationship building is to listen to your audience and meet their needs. There are many ways you can do this.

Do some preliminary keyword research to find out what people want to know in your niche. Visit some of the job search-related groups on LinkedIn and see what people are talking about.

This is known as a sentence starter — and it gives you some insight into what type of blog post you might want to do, such as:
  • If someone is unemployed for a long period of time, how can they get back in the workforce?
  • How to find a job that allows telecommuting
  • Top three reasons you may not be getting called for interviews.

You can also simply invite your readers to submit questions to you. You can do this on your email autoresponder opt-in form, or have a special contact form on your blog where people can engage with you that way. Or you can ask them to post their questions in the Comments section under each post.

Whenever someone emails you with a question, you can assume there are more people out there who are wondering the same thing. Use those questions as fodder for your blog topics.

When you start blogging about all of these things, it makes the audience feel like you’ve really got your finger on the pulse of the marketplace — like you have great instincts.

Next, write in a highly conversational style and end each blog with an invitation to connect. People need to feel like you’re speaking just to them.

When you write, make sure it’s conversational and not stuffy like you’d write for a professional publication. If you make a video blog, look right in the camera and be casual and relaxed, not stuff and nervous.

When you end a blog post, you can ask a question or invite people to share their own $0.02 about the topic in the comments. Make sure that whatever comment system you’re using, it’s easy to find — because some are almost hidden.

Participate in the conversation that goes on in your blog comments. If people are kind enough to take you up on your invitation, then make an effort to have a dialogue with them.

Thank them for their comment, call them by name, and open up a discussion about what they had to say.

Making Money From Your Blog
While there are several ways to monetize your blog, the easiest — and most common way — is to turn blog readers into resume clients. This can happen naturally as they recognize your expertise as a career industry professional (be sure to give a "call to action" on individual blog posts or on your page so they know how to get started working with you), or you can invite them to opt-in to your email list, where you can share more resources, and convert them from a prospect into a client.

Speaking of lists, build a list from your blog so that whenever you have a new blog post, you can notify people about it. Also have an RSS system set up for people who use RSS feed readers to get notified of your new content.

Whenever you have a list, it gives you a certain amount of power — the power to instantly communicate with your target audience when you are selling or promoting your resume services and related products (webinars, teleseminars, workshops, membership programs, and other information products).

Another easy way to derive revenue is using Google AdSense. You can put different sized ad banners on your blog, from buttons to skyscraper ads. You can include images or go with just text. Don't expect to get rich from AdSense, though.

You can also sell ad space directly on your blog. You can arrange a specific area of your blog for ad space that people rent on a monthly basis, paying the ad revenue to you directly. If you go this route, make sure you have specifics in place to control what kinds of ads can get placed on your blog — all the way down to the colors and whether animation is allowed on it, if you want.

One thing you have to remember whenever you place any ads on your blog is that yes, it gives you some money when people leave your site for somewhere else – but in leaving, it also means someone else is capturing their name and email address and selling something to them, not you.

Promote products as an affiliate. You can sign up as an Amazon Associate and promote anything they sell there that they offer a commission on. Digital products can be found at sites like ClickBank.com. You can sign up for free and get a hoplink (affiliate link) where you earn around 50% for each sale.

Create your own products and sell them from your blog. You don’t have to promote other people’s stuff. Why not create an info product (ebook, video, or audio course) and teach something you blog about in more depth — or in a more comprehensive manner?

Offer your resume services from your blog. Coaching is also something you can offer. Many people pay top dollar for one-on-one coaching sessions via Skype or even email!

Blogging can be a very fun and very profitable venture if you approach it correctly. Don’t make the mistake of flying by the seat of your pants. If you do this, your blog will be scattered with topics, have no set monetization plan, and you’ll end up unhappy with the effort you’ve put in.

With proper planning and enthusiasm, you'll attract a steady stream of readers (prospective clients!) and new business. In fact, you might be the one putting out feelers for a professional blogger to come onboard and help you with your content needs!

Friday, September 7, 2012

How to Use Blogger to Build Your Mailing List and Drive Traffic to Your Website


I love my blog. I hope you do too. I love sharing ideas and resources with resume writers (and the occasional jobseeker who wanders across this blog as the result of a search engine).

When you blog, you can connect with your target market and promote your resume writing services in a way that is difficult to do through other marketing tactics. Blogs allow you to share in-depth information with jobseekers -- you can post about frequently-asked questions and then simply direct clients and prospects to the blog when they need answers.

While Wordpress gets a lot of the attention nowadays for bloggers (and there are some cool tools -- like LinkedIn's integration with Wordpress -- that are exclusive to that platform), I like using Blogger.

Blogger is a free, easy-to-use blogging service offered by Google. Using this Blogger to host your blog can be a great way to market your business. You can write a blog post and, at the end of the post, you can add a line, "For more information, [link to your website.]" This can drive traffic to your website.

Once you start creating information products to support your career services business, you can promote the special reports, membership sites, and ebooks with your blog posts. People are more likely to read a blog post (which comes across like an article) than a sales letter.

Blogs serve as a great communication tool.  You can keep your readers up to date with any changes you have made to your site, provide information on new services you are going to be introducing (i.e., LinkedIn profile development), and receive feedback on the types of services your customers wish you would develop.

Another way to communicate with your target market and position yourself as an expert is to establish a "Question of the Week" feature to your blog.  Simply have your readers send in their questions, and then, one day each week, choose one of the questions to answer. Your readers will look forward to this interactivity and will take note to visit each week to see if their question was chosen. The archive of questions you build up on the blog also serves as a powerful reminder of your expertise as a professional resume writer.

You can also use Blogger to increase the size of your mailing list by adding a sign up form to your newsletter or other autoresponder list. (You'll note I have a signup form on the right-hand side of this blog page!) Once people are subscribed to your newsletter, you can continue to market to them.

As I mentioned earlier, you can also create links back to your website on your blog that will also help your website gain search engine traffic. The search engines crawl the Internet, and when a site has a lot of links coming into it, the search engines take notice.  This can help your website rise in the results pages when someone performs a search using one of the keywords on your page.

These are just a few of the reasons why it is important to have a blog and how you can use a service like Blogger for marketing purposes.  As you get more familiar with blogging, you can add an RSS feed to your blog, which will notify your readers that you have created a new post.  This will keep your readers coming back regularly, and further help your marketing efforts.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Why Resume Writers Should Consider Guest Blogging


On last month's BeAResumeWriter.com teleseminar, "Using Content to Capture New Career Clients," I talked about the idea of "Write where the people are."

In looking at my blog statistics today, I've had more than 74,000 pageviews on my blog since I started it … but many of the resume writers I talk to who have blogs have much less traffic. If your blog doesn't get much traffic (visitors to your blog), it can feel like you're shouting in the woods. No one is listening. The concept of guest blogging is taking that message to the streets -- specifically, the corner of a really big city. Go to where the people are, and share your message.

One way to do that is through guest blogging. There are several advantages to guest blogging -- as I mentioned, it's a great way to drive traffic to your blog or website. It's also a good Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tactic. Finally, it can also help strengthen your brand as a resume writer.

Guest Blogging Helps Position You as an Expert
Not all guest blogging opportunities are created equal. While my general feeling is that you should consider any and all guest blogging offers, some opportunities will prove more fruitful than others (in terms of visibility and traffic). Others might not have a large volume of blog visitors, but can help boost your credibility.

You also need to consider the quality of the target blog. Here’s why: presumably you’re going to put a bit of work into writing a top-quality blog post. You’re going to focus on providing value and benefit to the blog's readers. If that post is then placed on a blog that doesn’t have a good reputation -- or a blog that really doesn’t fit your target market -- then you may be doing yourself a disservice.

Instead, work hard to earn guest blogging opportunities for top rated blogs that fit your niche. You’ll be able to reach people who are actually interested in your information and build your brand. Aim for quality over quantity.

Consistency Is Key
While your guest post content will differ based on the purpose and mission of the blog, it’s also important for your voice and style to remain consistent. Part of building a strong brand as a resume writer is helping your readers recognize you immediately. Your voice and writing style can help make your brand memorable. It boosts awareness.

For example, if you have a no-holds-barred style that likes to stir the pot and create controversy, that same style should remain consistent -- regardless of where you’re blogging. The look and feel of your blog post will ideally remain consistent, too. If you regularly include text boxes with side notes on your own blog, then include them in your guest posts too. Be consistent.

Don’t Just Stop at Posting
Once you have published a guest post on a notable site, start marketing the heck out of it. Link to it on your social networking sites (Facebook business page, Twitter, LinkedIn -- even Pinterest!). Send a snippet and a link to it in your email newsletter. Share a link to it on your own blog too.

Guest blogging can be fun and it can certainly be an effective tool to drive traffic to your resume writing business website. However, the strongest reason to pursue guest blogging opportunities may be to build your brand.

If you want to learn more about content marketing (including using blogging to build your resume writing business), check out the "Using Content to Capture New Career Clients" teleseminar recording.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

"Write Where The People Are"

Note from Bridget: Here's an excerpt from my "Using Content to Capture New Career Clients" teleseminar last week. I'm finishing editing the transcript today, and it will be posted to the Expert Interviews Series page on BeAResumeWriter.com by the end of the day today. (Note: Bronze members have access to all previous teleseminar recordings and transcripts; Free level members have access to the recordings only.)

As you work to develop a content marketing strategy for your resume writing business, I’m going to advise you to start with this important piece of advice: “Write where the people are.” 

So, to start with, that’s probably not your own blog. Probably the number one challenge that I see from resume writers is they say, “I’m putting this stuff out here and I’m not getting the people to visit my blog.” You have a hard time getting momentum or traction when you’re shouting in an empty forest. Go to the city. Go to where the people are. And so from that standpoint, focus on putting content where people already are and driving that traffic to your website then, to build your mailing list.

So where are the people? It depends on the kinds of jobseeker clients that you target, but some ideas can include guest posting on another resume writer’s blog or teaming up with a couple of other resume writers and blogging on a joint site, like Career Thought Leaders does. 

Another idea is pay-per-click advertising—go to the sites that are already getting traffic, like Facebook and LinkedIn and Google and use pay-per-click advertising. You can also sign up for a site like Careerealism which allows you to subscribe to be able to provide content on their site, which is very heavily trafficked by job seekers. You can send out press releases like we talked about. You can post articles on LinkedIn groups that target your jobseeker clients, especially within specific niches. You can post on article directories, although the caveat there is that they require unique content and that they don’t drive as much traffic to websites as they used to. And you can create joint venture partnerships.

The most important thing to remember, though, is to "Write where the people are." Before you can build your own tribe (followers, members, subscribers), start building a following.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Advantages of Blogging -- Part III

The first two posts in this series outlined the advantages of a blog to drive traffic to your website and helping brand you as an expert.

The third advantage has to do with your website making you money directly.

3. Money making potential: There are going to be lots of people who come across your blog who don't turn into resume or career coaching clients. You can make money from your blog by getting them to purchase your affiliate offers -- but you can also make money from them just by virtue of them visiting your site -- through advertising revenue.

If you are getting a lot of traffic to your blog, you can sign up for a service like Google AdSense which will place relevant ads on your blog posts.  Every time a person clicks one of these ads you will be paid.  There are also tons of affiliate offers out there.  On a site like Clickbank, you can sign up and promote other people's products on your site.  This works especially well if the product is relevant to your content. 

You might even get the opportunity for selling your own ad space. You can sell ads directly on your blog -- you might partner with a local service provider (for example, a mental health therapist who offers career assessments) and sell them ad space on the blog.


Blogs have moved beyond the realm of an online diary and yes it seems like everyone has a blog.  Those aren't reasons for you not to do it, especially if you want to succeed as a professional resume writer and/or career coach.  More traffic, brand yourself as an expert and make some money...who wouldn't want that?


Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Advantages of Blogging -- Part II

In yesterday's blog post, we looked at the first advantage of blogging, feeding traffic to your resume writing or career coaching business website.

The second advantage has to do with positioning yourself as an expert.

2. Brand yourself as expert on a topic:  This is also a great benefit for professional resume writers and career coaches.  If you are constantly blogging helpful advice about a certain topic -- you will eventually begin to gain followers.  If your information is high quality, people will begin to look at you as an authority on your subject. Once you are looked at as an authority on the subject, you will instantly gain the trust of your blog readers.  They will come back and be loyal visitors.  Loyal visitors means you can funnel them to become clients or even tempt them with affiliate offers.



Next up in the series: Making money directly from your blogging efforts.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Advantages of Blogging -- Part I

For a resume writer or career coach, there are a number of advantages to having your own blog. Lots of people have blogs -- they're used for online marketing (promoting your resume writing and career industry services) by small business owners (just like you!). There are also a number of "hobbyist" blogs out there, focusing on specific niches -- giving you the opportunity to connect with other blog publishers (and drive traffic to your own blog!)



Despite what many people think, blogs aren't just "teenage diaries." While there are a number of blogs out there these days in the career industry field, the market certainly isn't saturated.  Competitiveness in a market just means there is traffic to be had and money to be made...if you want it.





Creating a blog in this day and age could not be easier.  There are literally hundreds of completely free blogging platforms available to people.  So why not give it a shot? 





If you are shaking your head right now thinking about how you said you would never blog, check out these three advantages. We'll look at advantage number one in today's blog post:


1. Feed traffic to your resume writing business website:  If you have a website for your career industry business (resume writer, career coach), adding a blog to that site or even on its own domain is a smart move. 

Blogs are based on dynamic content -- meaning the content is fresh and regularly added.  Google likes fresh dynamic content.  If you are blogging constantly about things related to your business you will naturally begin to start ranking in Google for some long tail keywords. This means you will be picking up web traffic that your static business site wouldn't have.

If your blog is part of your business site then that will mean more traffic directly to your site.  If you have your blog on another domain -- you can use links and banners to direct the traffic to your business or "money" site.



Tomorrow: Using a blog to showcase your expertise.