Introduction
Article Sections
Thinking about getting into blogging but need to come up with an idea? There are a lot of things that you can blog about. You can choose from your hobbies, or you can also choose your profession. Whatever your topic is, it should be something that you can write for hours and hours on end. In this article, I discuss the benefits of writing about your profession. Besides, you have spent years on your career and have gathered and learned a lot in that time. So choosing your profession to blog about is a very solid choice.
Why Blog About Your Occupation?
Writing about your occupation is a great choice because it gives people a deep look at what you know and how you think. This allows others to get to know you indirectly through your writing without even having to contact you. This gives you an advantage of being able to be known without you having to share your knowledge with each individual person. You can post your articles online and people can read them at their leisure. You do not have to worry about having to carry out conversations and explain the same thing over and over to so many different people.
If you have your stuff online, people can just read it and formulate their own opinions about you. This saves both you and other people time since you both do not have to actively engage in any real-time communication. This also answers a lot of questions people might have about you since you might have their answers in your writing. This makes blogging a great idea for exploring new opportunities because if people like what you wrote, then they can just contact you to know more.
When people contact you after reading your stuff, the ice is already broken and now people can talk to you knowing a little bit about you and what you do. This helps speed up the process of socializing and networking because you are not starting the first point of contact from scratch. People will know something about you already so that we can move past the introductions and get down to the details.
You Are Very Knowledge About What You Do For A Living
If there is one thing in life that we might know more than anything else, it might just be that one thing that we do day in and day out. When you pour several years into your career, you cannot help but know how to do almost everything for it. After this many years, what do you not know how to do? I know that new stuff is coming out every day.
At least, you have a pretty solid foundation by this time and sharing it with others makes you look very good. Think about this as philanthropy. You are giving back to the same society that taught you everything you know and got you to where you are today. In return for sharing your knowledge, you might get some recognition and make a name for yourself. So I see this as a mutually beneficial relationship with you and your audience.
Think of This As Your Extended Resume or Portfolio
When you blog about your profession, you are pretty much writing an extended portfolio that showcases all of the things that you know that could not possibly fit on a single resume. Also, the projects that you have done before are a part of your experience and past. Blogging will show that you are current and constantly thinking about your career. This impresses people that you are spending even more time on your profession than most people would. So this can only be seen as a benefit to yourself.
Lets People Know That You Are Actively Engaged and Passionate About What You Do
When people see that you spend so much time on your profession writing about it, they are more likely to see you in a positive light. This can only lead to opening more doors of opportunity for you. People like those who remain current in their fields and keep up with the latest trends. As we all know, the web changes every day so that means that anything can happen. Tomorrow is always a new day so seize and learn as much as you can from it.
Increase Your Online Presence Beyond LinkedIn
LinkedIn is great for establishing your professional presence online. Having your own professional website and linking to from LinkedIn is a good idea because it gives you a place where you can post about whatever you want and you have full control over it. You can make your website look however you want and you can make it your own.
Once you get your blog up and running, you might want to consider posting your articles to LinkedIn and leaving a link back to your blog so that people who are connected to you can come to your blog and read more if they are interested.
Look More Professional With Your Own Website
Even though LinkedIn has a lot more users than your new blog, it is still good to have your own blog to write articles. The reason why is because you can write your articles as long as you want. With social media platforms like LinkedIn, you can only write a short post. You cannot write a really long post if you wanted to so you will need to have your own website to do that. This means you look more professional because you took the time to create your own website dedicated to your profession.
You can also share your article on other social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. So you have more options than just having everything on LinkedIn. You could post your LinkedIn posts to other places but it will look confusing since you do not own LinkedIn. That is why it is better to first post on your own website and then broadcast it in other places. Besides, it makes more sense that you send traffic to your own website instead of someone else’s. You should try to build your online presence on your own website while also leveraging existing platforms.
What Can I Do With My Own Occupational Blog?
Having an occupational blog is useful in that you can sell your services in the future. Even if you are not planning on offering any consulting services at the beginning, the amount of knowledge that you will share will impress people. The more that you write and share with the world, the more people will know what you do and what you are capable of. If people find your knowledge impressive, then they might contact you to provide services to them.
So think about writing as much as possible and being as detailed as you can. Even if the details that you provide are for an audience with a higher level of background and experience, just share it anyway. As you gain a loyal readership, you find out that you will have all sorts of people with different levels of experience. This will help you in writing articles that are suited for beginners and those meant for the experienced. Writing articles that satisfy a wide range of experience levels ensure that your content is for everyone.
Not only is your content for everyone, but your readers can slowly graduate as novice to a seasoned veteran, all on your blog. Readers can grow with your blog and feel that they have gained a lot of knowledge just from you alone. When you think about the power that you have to help society become more knowledgeable in your profession, writing about what you do becomes an even better idea.
Sell Your Services in the Future
As long as you spend time on your blog as much as you can, it will grow. If you stop for too long though, then it will languish. If you are ever contacted to provide services to someone, think about the amount of time that it will take to provide a service to someone. Will you still be able to blog and provide this service at the same time? I have some advice to give so that you can provide ample time for everything.
How Do I Manage a Side Business and Still Have Time to Blog?
If you ever decide to render services to someone, you should consider making it clear how much time in hours it will take to render your services. Have clear expectations and know what will be completed in the allotted time. You might have to modify your schedule if you want to work both on the side and on your blog.
Remember that your blog is your tool to connect with the world and open new doors of opportunity. Sometimes you have more opportunities than you can handle. So it is okay if you can only do what you can. We cannot do everything and no matter how much we try to fill our plates with, there is still only ever 24 hours in a day.
So be realistic and what you can provide and be sure to give your blog some attention every now and then. Once you make it, you can slow down a bit. Only a bit, I say. Do not forget about your blog for too long unless it is just casual. Casually blogging can be done as a hobby or pastime to help you do something different so that you are changing things up every now and then.
Place Advertisements for Revenue
You can place advertisements in the future once you get decent traffic. I wrote about just blogging for money or just for fun. These are just ideas if you decide to monetize your occupational blog. You do not have to and you do not have to render services either.
Add Affiliate Links to Make Money
Much like placing ads on your articles, you can place affiliate links to generate some income. Just remember to be upfront and clear if you are writing a sponsored post that can earn you money. Being truthful and clear with your users ensures that they know when you are monetizing since it can be a controversial topic for some. My thoughts are that if you are providing highly valued knowledge to people, they will not mind your monetization. You just have to be tasteful on how many and where you place those ads.
Summary
Blogging about your profession is a good idea if you are looking for a topic to write about. Having an occupational blog is useful for you in the future when you are looking for professional opportunities. People are able to read about what you do for a living and can contact you if there is something of interest that they want.
Having a blog outside LinkedIn means that you can do whatever and talk about whatever you want in great length. Best part, whatever you write belongs to you since it will reside on your own blog and not on anyone else’s website. So consider these points when thinking if you should write for your own blog or another’s website.
If your blog gets noticed and receives a good amount of traffic, you can monetize it in the future. You might consider rendering services, advertisements, and affiliate links. This is your blog and you can do whatever you want with it.
So if you are thinking about blogging, I have a couple of articles that can help. First, I have an article on how to start your own WordPress blog. The other article is a list of activities that you can do to maintain your blog as it grows.
Whatever you decide to do, make sure that you are always having fun and that it is bringing joy, happiness and fulfillment to your life. Otherwise, there is no point in doing any of this if it does not make you happy. So happy blogging and hopefully you reach your dreams!