Monday, October 24, 2011

Hello world!

Welcome to my newest blog! :] Now, I have tried the blogging thing in the past, but aside from a Xanga I am embarrassed to say I kept up regularly in middle school, my previous attempts have not gone very far. So, I am hoping to have better luck this time.

The biggest issue I have had when it comes to blogging is finding my voice. My problem is that I studied social media in college, and what I have learned about using blogging as a tool tends to conflict with what I really want to write about. Currently, I am a recent graduate of Miami University with a degree in Marketing whom is looking for full-time employment. The articles I have read about "using social media to enhance your job search" (or something along those lines) would recommend that I use this blog as a platform to share my knowledge about digital marketing. To make it a place where I post interesting articles I find with a witty accompanying paragraph or two. Then, hopefully my established online personality will be attractive enough to a company/brand that it will recruit me to manage its online presence. Unfortunately, social media is not the only thing I am interested in writing about.

I have always been a very creative person, and to be honest, the times I am most likely to read a blog are when I am researching a new artsy project I want to start. Those are the blogs that make me attracted to the platform. They inspire me to want to join those communities and conversations. To start my own blog about painting, various craft projects, baking, fashion, etc. But seriously, how am I supposed to pick just one of those topics to be interested in?

Most blogs today are extremely specialized. Authors make money writing blogs because they become experts in one specific area. So, for example, if I am interested in baking and art, and I want to be credible in those respective communities, I need to start two different blogs. Oh, and in order to keep my audience engaged, I need to write posts on a regular basis with new content. Well that is a LOT of work... not to mention, I am also supposed to be writing about social media, right? Now because I am interested in three topics, I need three blogs?? Holy cow. This whole blogging thing is starting to make me feel schizophrenic. If the point of being a blogger is to manage an online personality, then why can't my blog be multifaceted like a REAL person? Well I am hoping that it can be. Which brings me to what I aspire to accomplish with this blog.

In nearly every interview, I have been asked by a recruiter where I want to be in the next 5-10 years as well as about what I like to do in my free time. Well, I hope that through this blog, I can work on getting to where I want to be in the future while enjoying what I like to do today. I plan to share and apply the principles I have learned about blogging and establishing a personal brand online while also writing about the art projects I like to take on in my spare time. A sort-of combination of "how to" and "DIY" material. I am not sure if I will be successful, but I am sure going to try.

Thank you for stopping by and sharing this small part of the journey with me! Please feel free to leave comments or suggestions, and come back to see where this goes in the future :]

2 comments:

  1. Hello,

    My name is Alexander and I stumbled upon this blog per a link shared by your sister on Facebook and found it to resonate with what I come across every time I try and make a post for my photography blog. Seeing as though this is something that (from what I would think) is likely a thing many photographers have trouble with, I would think that there might be some success rooted in helping photographers (or people in whichever field you might be interested in,) get established in the social aspect of business.

    With the current market for professional series cameras being as easily accessible and affordable as ever, I think that there would probably be a ton of people out there who would love help starting a blog... I know I would have.

    I wish you the best of luck in your job hunt! I will definitely add this blog to the bookmark tab. Im not quite sure my contact info will be appended to this comment so if it isn't you can email me at: alexander@firstandorange.com

    We started our photo business in July so we're a little new to the game but we would love to make a blog post or something of that sort down the road in an effort to try and get some traffic going your way. Do give our current blog a look too and, if it's not too much of an inconvenience, shoot some critiques back our way!

    Thank you!

    Alexander Lange

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Alexander,

    Thanks for checking out my blog! You hit the nail on the head when you were suggesting that there is probably a market out there for helping start-ups to fashion an online presence. That is exactly the kind of work I would like to do professionally. The problem is, I am not quite sure how best to get my foot in the door. There are many agencies out there that offer consulting services for small businesses (agencies I wish would hire me... if only it weren't a requirement to have 1+ years industry experience for an entry level position), but I can see where that might not be something an individual could afford. In that case, hopefully as I continue my blog, it could be a resource for someone like that.

    I would love to check out your photography blog and let you know if I have any helpful suggestions. I will be emailing you soon with more information.

    Thanks again!
    Rachael-

    ReplyDelete