Blogging4Jobs

One day it happened.  I fell out of love. . . with blogging.

For the past four years, blogging has been a passion, a point of inspiration for me and my business.  But lately blogging has become more of a chore, an action, a requirement, and something that is expected.  Over the last month, I’ve fallen out of love with blogging.

Like folding the laundry, it has become something I avoid, and I’m not alone. . .

Ask any blogger that’s been dedicated to the craft of blogging and you’ll hear about this cycle.  Inspiration, creativity, passion or love is not a constant.  Your level of creativity and commitment ebbs and flows.  About once every 12-18 months, I seem to shift my thinking and sometimes lose some focus around my blog.  Like any commitment or relationship, blogging takes a level of dedication and persistence.  It’s not for the faint of heart.

• Set low expectations. I mean manageable expectations.  Don’t over commit.  Creativity can’t be scheduled and neither should your blog.

• Write what’s easy. Historically, for me a blog post doesn’t take more than 15 minutes because I write about what I know and what I’m passionate about.

• Target your business. (or your personal brand).  The topics I blog about are tailored to my blog audience and prospective clients.  Sometimes I completely bomb on a post and other times I hit a home run.  The point is that I learn from my mistakes and successes driving me to do and be better in business.

• Visual matters. Half the fun in writing a blog post is searching and finding a fantastic photo to go along with it.  Use graphics, photos, and titles that draw the eye in.

• SEO sometimes matters. Everyone talks about links and making your blog search engine optimized.  It really depends on your audience and for whom the blog post is intended.  It only takes one view a blog post to sometimes close the deal.  While I recommend link backs and hyperlinking, it’s not the be all end all solution.

Find your inspiration point or place and bring your intentions and passion with your blog back into focus.  For me, I took a technology time out over the weekend and spent some time writing out my personal and professional goals related to Blogging4Jobs and blogging in general. Having an idea and goal in mind helps me to remember what’s important and stay centered with my goals in mind.  You can too.

As someone who’s been a blogger for four years, I can talk about the amazing benefits personally and professionally.  Blogging is a great way to go beyond 140 characters and share with your readers more about you.  And after being part of the Gotta Love Chevy OK Program, I realized I wanted to bring awareness to this powerful group of people (thousands of us) who live all across the state of Oklahoma.

And after talking with other Oklahoma bloggers who I admire, I thought it would be a great to coordinate a week in Oklahoma to recognize the bloggers from all over the state.  This week will be to network with other bloggers and share best practices and lessons learned along the way.  More information about when and how the week is coming soon.  And if you’d like to be the first to learn about the big announcement and who I am partnering with, please complete the information form (below).  And if you prefer, you are welcome to email me at blogging4jobs@gmail.com.  Please include your first name and last name, your email, and blog or website address.

I will add your name to the distribution list to receive updates BEFORE the announcement hits the internet.

Photo Credit DailyNugget.

I love blogging and writing.  I have said many times that blogging has been the best career decision and differentiator for me personally and professionally.  I’ve always enjoyed writing but working in HR doesn’t typically lend you the opportunity outside of policy and procedure, termination documents, and emails which typically require little creativity or imagination.  Legalese yes but artistry, no.

Blogging has always been more than just a creative outlet and escape from the corporate hum drum, but also a way to provide real numbers and analytics behind what I have known for a long time.  Social Matters. Click throughs, subscribers, comments, and contacts can be measured and shown to directly correlate to my business which four years ago was driving passive candidates to me so that I could fill positions in sales roles and often times at a high volume.  These type of analytics cannot be argued against or ignored especially when you have solid data to support your findings of three years.

And as I have found both personally and professionally, when you put in the hard work and time into something you love, things just have a way of falling into place.  This certainly holds true with this week’s announcement about me blogging for Chevy.  In early June of this year, Chevy announced they were the official vehicle of Bricktown, the downtown area of Oklahoma City.  And since I have an opinion about most things, I tweeted the following upon reading the announcement, “#chevy sponsoring bricktown. they should consider sponsoring my blog #smart.”

Within minutes someone contacted me via direct message on Twitter asking if I was serious about the opportunity.  Of course I said yes and was put in touch with the marketing team who is managing the Gotta Love Chevy Campaign.  Not always but sometimes, when you ask the universe, the universe answers and in my situation, this was certainly the case.

So over the course of the next four weeks, I will be blogging and tweeting about my Chevy blogging adventure.  I will have some assigned tasks to complete along the way.  You can follow my tweets via the #ggok (hash tag) as well as blog posts on Blogging4Jobs and JMsquared.  Blogging4Jobs will provide focus on business posts (like always) while the JMsquared site will focus on things outside of scope like family, baby, and other randomness.  I also encourage you to participate in the contest to win a weekend getaway.  The site will officially be launched next week with details about the contest.  Follow the twitter stream, @chevyok or their Facebook Fan Page.

FTC Disclosure:  The Gotta Love Chevy Blogger Promotion is being sponsored by the Oklahoma Chevy Team Dealers.  Three women bloggers (including me) have been provided a Chevy Malibu vehicle to test drive for four weeks.  The program includes weekly fun activities or projects for us to complete and  have been provided gift cards in which to complete these assignments.

Photo Credit Popwuping.

Jessica Miller-Merrell participates in 4 week Gotta Love Chevy Program

07.13.2010 – OKLAHOMA CITY — — A prominent Oklahoma City blogger is among those selected to test-drive a Chevy for the next four weeks. Jessica Miller-Merrell, an author, HR executive and business blogger at Blogging4Jobs.com will pick up her 2011 Chevy Malibu at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow, July 14, at Mark Heitz, Exit 108 and I-35, Norman, Oklahoma.
The program is an indication of the growing role of bloggers in marketing and advertising. According to Miller-Merrell whose book, Tweet This! Twitter for Business was released earlier this year, the connection is growing between influential bloggers who command the attention of niche markets and companies with products to sell.
“Chevy decided to do something different,” Miller-Merrell said. “Advertising is very expensive and this is one way they figured out they could connect their brand with women for less.
“Research shows they are the primary decision makers when it comes to large purchases.”
Miller-Merrell, who began blogging 2007, will write twice a week about her experience driving the Chevy Malibu. “Anyone can start a blog,” she said. “Good blogging, however, takes a lot of time. I have worked hard to grow the community that has built up around my blog, but this is the first time I’ve entertained the idea of representing products.”
Chevy’s blogger program has previously selected bloggers in cities like Dallas and Houston, but this is the first time bloggers the program has come to Oklahoma.
“I’m really looking forward to this opportunity,” said Miller-Merrell. “It’s very exciting and a privilege to have been selected by Chevy.”
For more details, visit the Gotta Love Chevy OKC website, www.gottalovechevyokc.com and be sure to check out Jessica’s bio for the Gotta Love Chevy program below.
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CONTACT: Jennifer James, APR 405.401.1354 ■

■zenobiapr@cox.net zenobia, llc ■ zenobiapr.org

Jessica’s Bio from Jessica Miller-Merrell on Vimeo.

Last week I presented to a group of Restaurant Human Resources Professionals as part of the People Report Summer Camp Symposium in Dallas, Texas.  The event was hands down the best conference I have ever presented at or attended.  I led a session titled,  ”Blogging for Dummies.”

Blogging is an interesting topic for Human Resources and Corporate Recruiting Teams.  An amazing corporate blog can help effectively communicate change to your current employee base while also providing potential candidates a look inside your company and corporate culture.  Recruitment and HR blogs should be managed by their respective departments and not marketing.  Marketing should work hand in hand with their talent team and serve as a consultant or advisor.

For the individual, blogging in my opinion is an absolute must to help define and control your personal brand.  Blogs are a great way for companies and clients to learn more about you outside of your professional resume or social profiles like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.  Blogs can be the difference maker for job seekers and are the Resume 2.0.

My talk’s foundation started with what I call the 5 P’s of Blogging.  Although similar, the 5 P’s of Blogging are different from the 5 P’s of Marketing you might remember from your undergrad marketing class.

• Purpose. Your blog as a corporation, collaboration, or person must have a purpose.  Similar to a corporate mission statement, your blog’s goal must be defined and like any marketing or branding tool must be developed to attract and inform a particular segment of your audience or market that you have defined.  Too often, we start a blog without the proper research or understanding of what we want to write about or who we want to engage.  Developing and defining your purpose is by far the most important step.

• Platform. The decision to create a blog starts with the decision to use a blogging platform or service.  I encourage you to play with some of the platforms before you make this decision.  I say this from my own experience.  My first blog, BloggingforJobs was on a free platform called Blogger before I moved it to its own domain and transferred my blog to another platform called WordPress.  A third and very common blog platform is TypePad which my good friend Kay Stout uses.

• Planning. Hands down your first 10 blog posts are the hardest so it is important for you to plan, research, and prepare for these first few articles.  This is an important part of defining your blog’s writing style, your own style, and setting up the structure surrounding how often, who, and when your blog will release its posts.  If you have a collaborative, corporate blog, I encourage you to work with at least 4 bloggers who will commit to writing at least one blog post every two weeks.  Personally, I commit to no less than 8 blog posts a month myself for Blogging4Jobs and have for the past four years.

• People. Second to Purpose, this is the most important step.  People are the social aspect of blogging.  Ask your entire company to help you promote leveraging their own networks.  Setting up a simple RSS feed or newletter can help leverage your contacts both inside and outside the company as well.  Both these tools allow persons to subscribe to your blog updates while keeping your brand and company at the top of their mind.  Blogging should be a two way conversation and I encourage you to keep the comments open both good and bad.  Candidates realize that companies aren’t perfect and its the conversation and culture that sets companies apart.

• Promotion. Promoting my blog on social networks is a huge part of my blog’s success.  I recommend using social bookmarketing sites to promote your blog like Digg, Stumbleupon, Technorati, and LinkedIn Groups in addition to popular social platforms like Twitter and Facebook.  Your marketing department is key in helping your blog gain momentum and popularity as they are experienced in online press releases with services like Pitch Engine.

Want to bring an corporate, personal, or professional blog to myself and the reader’s attention?  Leave a comment below and recognize them for a job well done.

Photo Credit Farm3.

Earlier today, SHRM announced their Blog Squad for the 2010 National SHRM Conference, and I was humbled to be included along with four other savvy, experienced, and influential Human Resource bloggers.  They are pretty awesome and I highly recommend you check ‘em out.

• David Bowles, Ph.D., co-author of Employee Morale: Driving Performance in Challenging Times and blogger at Morale at Work.

• Rachel Salley, SPHR, an HR consultant and blogger with Musings From the Career Anarchist.

• Matthew Stollak, Ph.D., SPHR, assistant professor of business administration at St. Norbert College and blogger at True Faith HR.

• April Dowling, SPHR, HR Generalist, active member of the Birmingham SHRM Chapter and blogger at PseudoHR.

Most of you are probably aware of some of my very public and recent opinions, feelings, and thoughts surrounding SHRM, the professional organization with whom I have been a member for almost 10 years. (and if you don’t, please read “I Dare You, SHRM. Convince Me.”)  After the blog post, I had a lot of phone calls and conversations with people both for and against.  And because of that and my own personal reflection about change, leadership, the future of the HR industry, and my own voice, I made what I felt was an important decision.  So when I heard about the opportunity to participate in the blog squad, I was skeptical and curious.  Curious enough to renew my lapsed membership to apply for the Blog Squad opportunity.

And so here I am.  SHRM had the guts to look past the snarky comments, strong words, and social media square dance to invite me along for the ride, and I can’t wait.

Photo Credit Wikipedia.

Original content that you’ve created or written on your website is in fact your own.  Just last week I came upon a website that was using an article I wrote without giving me proper credit.   During a phone call with one of my clients last week, they mentioned a media company’s website and video interview in our course of conversation, and I decided to take a look.  There beneath her video interview was a copy (including picture) of my blog post word for word with the exception of one sentence.

While this isn’t the first time I’ve had this situation happen before, I was upset.  I work hard to provide interesting and relevant content on my blog and website.  It’s my passion and something I enjoy doing.  Copying someone else’s work without verifying and citing them for the content at the very least or asking to reproduce is like putting pictures of someone else’s children in your office and calling them your own.

• Calm Down. I’m glad I took a moment to breath, calm down, and get my bearings on the situation.  I took ten minutes to clear my head and look at the situation objectively.  This company is someone my client knows and trusts.  I don’t want to jeopardize that.  I have less clients than I do blog posts and for me blog posts are easier to come by than clients.

• Just Ask. That’s in fact what I did.  I choose to call the company and leave a message directly with the contact person listed on the website before following up via email.  Asking them to site you or credit you for the article first is the best way for me to play nice in this type of situation.  I provided them my phone number, full name, and website address.

• Play Nice. Decide whether calling someone out on the carpet outside of a friendly email and phone call is worth jeopardizing your reputation or brand.  How will this one situation impact you financially and also be sure to consider the cost and time if you make the decision to legally pursue the culprit if they choose not to do as you ask.

The rise of blogging and social networks has certainly led to an increase in these types of situations because of the ease of access to information as well as led to an increased awareness of copyright, plagiarism, and content theft.  Blogging typically has zero cost and barrier to entry because of sites like Blogger, Posterous, and Wordpress.  Many internet bloggers, writers or webmasters are not classically trained to cite, list, or credit authors, ideas, or articles as well as blogs appropriately.  It’s the bloggers responsibility to educate and train themselves on the rules surrounding this process.  The best defense is a good offense, so it is important for bloggers and writers who publish online to protect themselves as well.  Either way–here are some resources to get you started.

• Copyright, Blogging, and Content Theft from ProBlogger.
• Blog Plagiarism Q & A from Daily Blog Tips.
• How to Defend Your Blogs Copyright from ProBlogger.
• The 20 Best Free Anti-Plagiarism Tools from The Blog Herald

I’m optimistic that my blogging story will have a somewhat happy ending.  The company representative left me a message over the weekend apologizing and asking that I confirm the correct spelling of my last name.  The jury is still out but look for a part two blog entry to keep you posted.

Photo Credit Pendleton Panther.

I have often said that being a blogger has been the best and most important career decision I have made, and it’s true.  I enjoy writing and being a thought leader in my industry.  Bloggers who are serious about putting out quality and interesting content often before major publications and newspapers do, work very hard to write and produce good information.  It requires a lot of research, preparation, and creativity.  For me, blogging it not about making money.  It’s about building relationships and growing your personal and professional brand.  Because I have worked hard to build my name and brand, blogging affords me a lot of benefits.

• Networking. Blogging is a great way to meet with authors and speakers with whom you admire.  You are able to connect with them and establish a relationship while interviewing them for a blog or website.  I have been able to make and build relationships with some very influential people in my professional career as a result of blogging.  Their insight and mentoring has changed my career path.

• Media Access. As a blogger who has worked hard to build my brand, I have the ability to attend conferences and special events as media where I can blog, network, and interview presenters, attendees, and vendors.  Of course, I have to put out articles and content as a result from attending the conference.  It’s nice to be seen at events as a relevant and viable form of media.

• Client Testimonials and Work Examples. A good blog post with comments and conversation aims to make a potential client or customer’s decision to hire you much easier.  I am able to lead a prospective client to my site allowing them to view my work, my thought process, and insight into me and what I value.  It’s a living resume or profile that goes beyond the usual work experience into your passions and revelations.

• Special Blogger Access. I was able to plug in at SXSW and charge my labtop, iphone, and other electronics in a lounge specifically for bloggers at the South by Southwest Interactive Conference.  The folks there treated the bloggers very well with live music, beer, breakfast, and some free goodies.  I met and connected with some amazing folks while I was there while getting some work done at the same time.

• Cool Stuff. There are times as a blogger that I have access to new technologies, products, and articles and publications.  People want to know your opinion and will send you iphone apps, pokens, and other gadets to review or write about if you so choose.  Before writing that review, consider how reviewing the newest gadget or book you received will impact your overall brand and image in the marketplace.  And don’t forget to research and understand the FTC’s view on receiving and reviewing product as a blogger.

With blogging growing in popularity each day, your personal brand and your blog’s message is even more important.  Building your following and relationships takes time, but the payoff can be more than what you expected.

Photo Credit k-12 Online Teachers

Finito. Done. Over. Caput.  Resumes are so 2009.

It’s Friday night.  With the baby in bed early, Greg and I watched Angels & Demons on Pay per View while I added blog tags to old posts from 2007 & 2008 working to update and perfect my blog and website.  I’m the master of the multi-task.

And while I spent almost two hours of my life movie watching, tagging and saving, I was reminded again about the power personal branding using blogs as a resume alternative, I mean replacement.  In the next 12-18 months, resumes will no longer be an acceptable type of professional representation or profile.

Your Resume is Dead.

Blogs and professional websites are a great representation of a person’s interests both professional and personal, and in my opinion are a form of a more organic and fluid resume.  One can view my first ever blog post in September 2007 while also watching my professional progression as I made my way to entrepreneur.  You can see who my influences are by reading my posts or by visiting my blog roll.  Your blog is the way for employers, clients, and other professionals to learn more about you, your beliefs, and what is important to you.

Obviously someone who reads this blog post realizes how important it is for me to have my blog be professional, organized, and polished while on display to the world.  Especially since I spent my Friday night at home in front of the laptop crafting and updating my brand.  One might assume that I might also be the same in person as a professional who values things like work ethic, my personal and professional brand, and technology, gadgets, and information.  Depending on the position or contract, these type of things are important to a potential employer or client.

I recommend most all clients, businesses, and candidates develop some sort of organic online profile or resume to present to employers in addition to your resume and LinkedIn profile.  While hiring manager’s only spend 15 seconds viewing your resume to determine whether or not you receive an interview, employers will spend a substantial amount of time checking references, verifying employment, and viewing your online profiles to determine how you stack up to your competition.  This is certainly the case when the hiring decision comes down between you and another candidate.  Having a blog or other online profile, depending on your position and industry, is the future of how to stand out and differentiate yourself from the competition.

And for now, I still recommend maintaining a professionally crafted resume to use along with a blog and professional website as a way to expand on your skills, qualifications, interests, and experience.  I do, however, strongly encourage you to start crafting and developing your professional blog to find your angle, voice, and niche.

In the next next year to 18 months, blogs and other online profiles will become more important and will replace a traditional resumes.  I’ve already started to see this shift.  Your social influence both online and offline which includes your blog will become more powerful and representative that any piece of traditional personal or professional marketing we use today in the job search.

So RIP resume.  You will not be missed.

Photo Credit WaterMan99

Earlier today I came across an outstanding YouTube video featuring Patrick Schwerdtfeger.  He discusses social media intergration from Blogs, to Facebook, to LinkedIn, to Twitter and even Utterli.  Patrick does a nice job of engaging the audience and grabbing their attention.  His website, www.tactialexecution.com has some interesting tools and tips for people and businesses interested in building their online brand.

The response from my recent post about blogging and how it can land you a job has created a great deal of excitement and conversation. A couple days ago I came across a great blog that includes testimonials from job seekers who have found a job as a result of blogging. It’s called Blog for Jobs.

The site is great! Check is out a http://www.blogforjobs.com/.

A recent post is from Andrew. See an excerpt below:

A few weeks ago, I was reading Jeremiah Owyang’s blog and saw a post on people who were “on the move” in the social media industry. I thought, well what is wrong with a little bit of self-promotion? So I left a comment, which you are free to go check out for yourself, basically saying “Hey, I haven’t been on the move…but I would like to be!” And as a result of this, Lisa Young from Outrider reached out to me with some information about the company and the industry as a whole..then I spent a day and a half pouring through Google and every other internet tool I could think of to absorb as much information as I could about the company. Well over the past few weeks, about 97.4 emails, and dozens of hours spent researching different aspects of the company and industry I decided that I really wanted to come on board with the firm and so…here I go!

The stigma surrounding blogging is fast becoming no more. Blogging is now being seen as a career move and a development opportunity, a chance for you to become an expert in a field. Blogging is the perfect way for a candidate to give an employer a more detailed sales pitch — to show the employer they can ‘talk the talk’ (as opposed to just filingl a resume with buzzwords).” Many recruiters are considering the blog as a “resume alternative” similar to the video resume.

Another website is promoting my site & post promoting it as one of the posts of the week. See below:

As the hunt for talented professionals gets more challenging, recruiters and creative head hunters are turning to blogs and blog comments to connect with passive candidates. Do a google search on the internet for “Jobs and Blogs” and you’ll find testimonial after testimonial from job seekers who have landed jobs or been contacted by recruiters from a blog or blog comment post.

To get in on the action, create your own blog using sites like blogspot. Pick a topic that is relevant to your job search and be professional. There are blogs devotedto information and tidbits on how to create and manage a successful blog. Do your research and pick a topic that will generate interest from the blog community or blogosphere. Blog frequently and you’re on your way! While I can’t provide any testimonials myself to landing a job or receiving an offer as a result of this blog, there are many others who can. If you are one of these lucky individuals, I’d love to connect with you!!

Blog comments are another way to generate interest in recruiters and other hiring managers while you are in the job search. To leave a blog comment for a post, click on the comment link below the blog. Leave an insightful yet professional comment regarding the blog post and include your email or other contact information so that recruiters or the blog author are able to contact you. With blog comments, the recruiter who contacts you is often not the author of the blog where you posted your comment but someone who visits the blog frequently. It might be a needle in a haystack, but hey 30 seconds of your time might be well worth the small amount of effort.

Happy Blogging!

Jessica