I’m not shy to admit that blogging has been the single most important and defining career move for me. Not because I’ve made millions of dollars because of blogging but because of the opportunities I’ve had and the great people and friends I’ve made a long the way. Blogging has opened up another world for me. I now think of my relationships and projects in a global context not limited by state boundaries or oceans.
Branding & the Story of Blogging4Jobs
Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that when I first started my blog, BloggingforJobs almost four years ago did I think that it would lead to me starting my own business and becoming a thought leader in the HR & Recruiting community. I created the blog as a way to differentiate myself from other Oklahoma Human Resource professionals while also engaging passive job seekers by providing them job search advice and tips. Honestly, I was looking for a cost effective way to fill my candidate pipeline. The name BloggingforJobs was purely a spur of the moment decision.
I wrote for over two years with a small, regular readership taking the time to build my brand. Finally, in early 2009 while on maternity leave, things began to change. Glamour Magazine called me to interview me which led to several other new opportunities. I had arrived. Around the same time Twitter began accounting for 30% of my total website traffic and I made the decision to move to my own domain, Blogging4Jobs. I wanted to be able to better control my content and design especially since my brand was becoming so important in my personal branding and differentiation strategy. When I finally made the move, I had to shortened my new name to Blogging4Jobs only because the domain, bloggingforjobs.com was not available for purchase. (I’m glad I did!)
I’ve been feverishly working on new logos for both Blogging4Jobs & Xceptional HR (my consulting company) that is streamlined and helps people identify that the two are really one in the same. Building and launching a brand that is consistent and covers all your bases and sends a consistent message is a lot of work. Most companies look to hire an outside agency to help them with this process but being the ambitious budding entrepreneur that I am, I am always up for a challenge especially when it saves me some green.
In addition to creating several new logos that are consistent with my new message and brand, I’ve had to update newsletter templates, twitter profile pages, and three separate websites that I currently manage as part of the Xceptional HR family (Blogging4Jobs, Tweeting my Business, & JessicaMillerMerrell.com). And although the re-branding process has only just begun, I’m excited to announce the new logos.
In the coming days and months look for other both large and subtle changes to the Blogging4Jobs and Xceptional HR brands. I’m thankful for your readership and look forward to having you along for the ride.
