Me? A Blogger? I didn’t read blogs, why would anybody want to read what is coming out of my head? Several months later I am still blogging and people are enjoying what I write about whether the story, data analytics or even my rants. Hopefully, I can keep this up and the sentences do not stop flowing out of my head. Does this surprise me? Very much so. This person who does not like words has strung together nearly 20 posts and has a small following which I never thought I would have, ever, so thank you again for all of your support. I must admit though, it has not been smooth sailing through this part of the journey but very rewarding.
I had problems from the very beginning with social media and I needed a good kick on the bum to get myself motivated to start (Online Presence). I had struggled with social networking and I had been an extremely private person. Blogging meant that I would be losing more of my privacy to the public domain. I would have to be really out there to promote my blog so eventually that job will be mine.
I had read a few blogs and most of the posts were less than 500 words. I can’t fit what I want to say in 500 words or less, what can I tell people? I write The Story Begins and I make it fit on an A4 size, 500 odd words. That was my benchmark, fit on an A4 size and it won’t be too long, those are the rules.
I was ready to post in all my groups and my networks. I was nervous. I timidly post onto my networks then to my groups. I had installed a flag counter on the website, I had my 4 friends in Australia and my connection from the US who knew about the site. I was looking at the flag counter and saying to myself, “This is going to depress me watching these flags not move”. As I login to delete the script, the flags start moving with additional flags! My first post and people are hitting my site, unbelievable! Though the data from the flag counter does not compare to the data coming from GA but from my understanding different analytics packs calculate data differently.
You have to post every week, I had been told. Every week! I don’t have that much to say, let alone write! I post the next 2 parts of my story in a very feverish state. Then I decide to build my own website, (Online Presence) it takes 3 weeks, which means something I suppose in social media circles, a long time between postings. This is my first posting in more than 6 weeks 
.
The next posting is JobCAMP, I also post my first rant, After Sales Service…. I only post details of the rant on my wall in FB, my one friend knew how I felt about hanging on the phone forever. I had not posted in the LI network, it was sitting there on my blog so I could get it off my chest. I receive my first comment for a rant on the blog then the comment from Sheryar, I could not believe my little rant had stirred someone to write such a conscientious comment. I was extremely flattered.
I’ve reached my 500 words, that’s it, no more words 
.
The next couple of posts, not much was happening, I was losing my engaged audience 
then The Campaign. I post in my groups, titled, “Social Networking and the faux pas of a Beginner”. I had just finished my postings and the visitors to my LI profile and my blog were incredible. My blog visits had surpassed any other posting by more than 10 fold, an overwhelming response. Yeah, I had 2 before, now I have 20 . When I woke in the morning, my mailbox was bombarded with comments from groups. I had never seen so many! 
Since blogging, I have received online and offline comments giving me a pat on the back, saying I was brave for telling my story. This is all really nice but not what I am blogging for. I am not brave, I only assume everybody else would feel the same way if they were in my position. I just want to increase my chances of finding that job, if people can get a smile out of my story then all the better 
. I have also received notes from others who said that I had encouraged them to get their act together. This is always heartening. But all comments I receive, online or offline, make it all worthwhile as I have been able to reach out to someone who I would not have touched before blogging 
.
Where are the rough waters? Blog is running smoothly and I have all this attention. The Campaign ends with “But what now?”. I had arrived at another “but what now” moment, not only in the story but also in real life. I was not enjoying blogging at all. Communicatons had stopped from the first posting. I struggled from then on as I just did not know what I was doing. I was not enjoying the self promoting and I was not enjoying writing about myself as said before I had been an extremely private person.
I reached out because of my confusion as to what to do with the blog. Advice was given and I decided to stop blogging. I did not feel I had the passion. I started to write my final post, introduction, draft of the body and conclusion when I received one of these heartening notes. Which made me stop and think again, always dangerous . There is a reason why I am blogging, to increase my profile so I can find that job. I cannot stop, I haven’t found that job!
When I first started blogging, I did the Wikipedia lookup,
The personal blog, an ongoing diary or commentary by an individual, is the traditional, most common blog. Personal bloggers usually take pride in their blog posts, even if their blog is never read.
I wanted to take pride of my blog. I was not happy with some of my postings. I could see that I was not holding my new visitors so I went back and rewrote the one’s I had feverishly posted including the first one, more than 500 words now . After another 3 week hiatus, I wrote Online Presence and managed to keep the following I had achieved with the previous posting.
I have this sense of renewed energy and passion for my blog. I start writing my data analytics posts, same response but a different group people reading my posts. I said I was not going to rant but I am and another different crowd. With this new energy, my blog and I are now in harmony and my readership continues to grow with every posting. The blog is also recieving new visitors via direct entries, don’t know where these people are coming from as I only promote my blog in the LI network. I also decided that I was not going to post every week and not have a limit on my words as I would prefer to produce quality over quantity. Why don’t you subscribe to the blog using the above FeedBurner just enter your email addresss so you don’t miss out on any posts .
The blog has three channels to increase my profile and find that job. I now call myself a blogger and even have a business card noting that I blog . I have received leads and many more leads since I started posting data analytics on the blog. I am really, really enjoying reaching out to people and knowing people are enjoying my blog. I am now at the stage of my story where I am today, a business analyst and blogger, still looking for that job. I know there will be more stories to tell of my journey and hopefully, soon, I will be posting the day I got that job .
Next post in The Story -> The Search
. Mind you it was not the only time I had been fooled by spam, I had also gone into depth about my friends to a new connection as the spam said this person is new so introduce your friends. Duh! I basically ignore everything now, I don’t know where I might end up. FarmVille?!
.
You are digitally distinct!
Recent Comments