Blogging for personal branding

Building or improving your personal brand can seem like facing a massive mountain. But some strategic use of social media can help anyone improve their personal brand – or the collective impression online search results speak about who you are. 

One of the best places to start? A blog. 

Now a blog doesn’t need to be a massive undertaking. Think of it as a one-step-at-a-time approach to making a name for yourself or being an expert about something.

There are all kinds of theories about how to decide what your blog should be about and how to make it successful for personal branding. Here are some of the best pieces of advice I’ve seen:

15 Tips for a Successful Personal Branding Blog

1. Pick a blogging platform or a free website tool that is easy to work with. For a starter list of platforms see 5 Free Blogging Platforms to Start a New Blog in 2015.

2. Make it about something you care about so you’re more likely to keep it going. 

3. Write about an aspect of your industry OR make it about something you can have a lot to say about. Which means as long as you write an informative and enthusiastic blog it will get a following and get you some attention. 

4. Keep blog posts in the 250-500 word range. Shorter than that and it may not get indexed. Longer than that and it may not get read. 

5. Stick with it. In other words post regularly (something I’m guilty of not doing this year) – perhaps once a week or twice a month at a minimum. 

6. Plan how you will share your blog – this could mean via social media accounts and/or via email. And make sure social sharing buttons are always on your blog posts so others can share a post. 

7. Join a blogging network – a place where members share each other’s posts- or find another place that welcomes blog sharers. See 15 Places You Should Be Sharing Your Blog Posts. 

8. Discover sources of illustrative artwork for your blog. A blog post with at least one image is twice as likely to get attention and be shared by others. For a list of 20 sites and some good how-to-use-art tips see 20 Free Blog Graphics Sites and How To Customize Images For Your Blog. 

9. Write out in a single sentence what the blog is about. Then a list of topics it will cover. Refer back to this list regularly 

10. Develop a posting calendar. It can be flexible, but it takes a lot of pressure away to know what your next five to 10 posts will be about. 

11. Be patient. All blogs take a little time to get established and win an audience. 

12. Include two or more internal links to exterior, deeper content. 

13. Be sure to include links to your previous posts – two or three per post once you have a catalog of posts. 

14. Check to see how the blog displays in various browsers. 

15. Interact with those who comment on your blog and, if necessary, delete spam comments. 

So, do you have a blog? Will you start a blog? Will it be something you’ll add to your social media activities on a regular basis? 

Related post:
Quality SM connections for personal branding
Personal branding – don’t leave it to chance
The Importance of Personal Branding for College Students #infographic