This weekend I surveyed dozens of blogs run by professionals in the music, television and film business to find material for my online course on Personal Brand Blogging.
I saw some blogs being used as living portfolios of work, and attracting a vibrant community of readers. I was even encouraged to see a “I got a job!” announcement on one blog by a recent college graduate who studied animation.
However, over 90% of the blogs I stumbled upon are making one or more critical mistakes, and it’s kneecapping the effectiveness of those sites. I’m sure these creative people are just running these blogs for the the fun of it, but it pains me to know that just a few simple tweaks could make blogging an important part of their career success.
Are you making one of these mistakes with your blogging? See my list below, and use the quick and videos I recorded to make the simple changes you need.
Mistake #1: Not Having Your Own Website, Domain and Email Address
Building a blog though Tumblr and Blogspot is simple and easy. But it also limits your ability to build a reputation through your blog.
If you do the work to make your blog amazing, then you end up promoting the blog service you use more than your own personal brand.
Same goes for having an email address through Gmail, Yahoo, or AOL. If you run email through your own domain, like Hashim@CareerGreenLight.com, your credibility goes through the roof.
Watch the short video below and you’ll see that snagging your own domain name is actually quicker than starting a website on any free service:
Mistake #2: Not Building The Right Audience For Your Blog
The second mistake I saw is from blogs that have absolutely no visitors.
No traffic is a symptom of a blogger failing to create a starter set of “superfans” who will spread the word about the site on their own.
I explain how to find those very important set of fans here:
Mistake #3: Not Having A Career Strategy For Your Blog
The last mistake I saw is from entertainment professionals who obviously lack any cohesive career plan for their blog.
The site is more of a neglected hobby than a true Personal Brand Blog.
In my experience, the low effort is due to the owner having no expectation that the blog will win any job or business leads.
The easy way to correct this mistake is to learn how to use blogging to leap over gatekeepers and connect with anyone you want. From there, you’ll have the motivation you need to sharpen your blog efforts, because it has become a major way you create new opportunities in your career.
I explain more in this video:
(Don’t take the strategy I shared lightly! I was able to cold call a major business in our industry and get them to co-promote one of my webinars using the plan I shared above. It worked for me, and it’ll work for you!)
Want to learn more about Personal Brand Blogging? I’m teaching an online class on how to use a blog in the entertainment industry to become the go-to guy in your field. Click here to learn more.
