Blogging for Executive Jobs: Build Your Personal Brand and Get Smarter

blogging for executive jobs makes you smarter

Since I began blogging in 2007, I’ve been recommending blogging to help land executive jobs.

Blogging is a very smart way to:

become highly visible,
build credibility as an industry thought leader,
showcase your unique value to the employers you’re targeting, and
communicate your personal brand.

I’ve blogged about blogging many times over the years. Often, I’ve compared the way it impacts my own business marketing efforts, to the way it will similarly benefit executive job seekers.

In fact, if you’re at the top executive level, you should be blogging in some way:

on your own blog,
as a guest blogger on someone else’s blog, or
by commenting on relevant blogs.

The wider your visibility online, the more likely you are to be found by people sourcing and assessing talent through social recruiting.

Blogging for executive jobs also makes you smarter

Blogging, if done well, makes you smarter, therefore an even more valuable potential asset to the companies and organizations you’re targeting.

Through my own 10+ years of blogging, I’ve learned so much more about my field than I ever could have without blogging.

To keep my content fresh and interesting, I’ve been forced to do considerable research. I need to stay up to date on various trends, better ways to use social media, new job search methods and strategies, and other things to help my clients better position themselves as good-fit candidates.

I’ve become smarter about executive job search, personal branding, online visibility, social media, networking, and so much more.

Likewise, job seekers who blog well become smarter about their target employers and their industries, and are better prepared to speak intelligently about these things when they network and interview.

And, of course, since blogging is writing, it helps improve your communication skills.

Writing about things new to me makes the blogging experience ever-energizing and pleasurable. At any given time, I have about a dozen ideas for new posts I can’t wait to find the time to write.

Tips for blogging well

Write about a wide range of topics relevant to your industry and areas of expertise. In this way, you’ll be using plenty of the keyword phrases people Google to find information and job candidates.

Blog regularly. The more times you post something, the more web pages you’ll be creating, bumping up the number of search results for “your name”.

Make a habit of blogging about your target employers, and their leaders, products and services. They probably have Google Alerts set up for these names and terms and will be led to your posts.

Set up your own Google Alerts for the same names and keywords relevant to your target employers, plus your other relevant keyword phrases. See what other people are writing about these things.

Write posts that spotlight other bloggers in your niche, with links to their sites.

For further reach, post your blog posts on your social networks – LinkedIn updates, LinkedIn Groups, Twitter, Facebook, etc. If you’re not active on any of them, this is a good reason to start. Include hashtags and tag any relevant people when you post.

Create a blogging strategy you can realistically manage. Even a few times a month will be of great benefit.

It’s okay (even advisable) to also blog about non-relevant topics from time to time. Write about your passions away from work – the things you can’t wait to get out of bed to do. These all reinforce your personal brand.

Keep up with the latest trends in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), to keep your blogsite SEO-friendly and more visible.