Send to KindleFor a lot of people, writing a personal blog is a brilliant way to brand yourself and be known for what you stand for. For me, writing this post is tough because I’ve never really branded Sark eMedia or my personal blogsite. The world needs to know about your unique and special talents, as well as what value you bring to the table.
6 reasons why your personal blog is important.
- It’s Your Social CV (Resume in the US).
Your personal blog is what shows people what you can do and what value you bring. In other words, a personal blog showcases your strengths.
- You Stay Relevant.
Part of your personal brand is surrounded in establishing you expertise, or demonstrating your capability as I call it. When you have a personal blog you can show you are up to date with what’s going on in your industry, that your knowledge is current and that you are informed.
- Blogging Builds Trust.
Having a branded personal blog shows what you stand for and it enables you to build trust, faster. People want to know who you are before they buy from you or hire you, blogging pre-sells them Your consistency in your blog posts helps to build this trust.
- It Gives You an Avenue of Communication.
For me blogging has always been about connecting the outside world my interests and thoughts. When you have a personal blog you attract like-minded people. You can build relationships with other bloggers, with your readers and with your subscribers.
- Image Control.
Your blog is your ‘home on the Web.’ That’s why I talk about blog-centric social media. It’s where you send people back from all the other sites to get to know you better.
- You Can Tell Your Story.
An important aspect of branding is storytelling. Your story shows who you are and where you came from, and what you stand for. Your blog gives you a chance to tell yours.
How to name your personal blog
The best domian name for your personal blog is simply your own name. When you use your name for your personal blog, you should be the only person writing content. It’s okay to accept guest blog posts every now and then, but the purpose of the blog is to sell you, not other writers.
You shouldn’t use your own name if the purpose of your blog is to sell products or services. It’s harder to sell a site that is branded to you, you become the business, and that’s the toughest thing to sell to another buyer. I’ve learned from my mistake, my sandpit site was named after me. Which was fine until I started getting subscribers… and then the people who are publishing my book decided that my personal site wasn’t enough, and that’s when Sark eMedia was born. Your personal blog focuses only on you. If you’re using your blog to sell unrelated products, it will cause a disconnect for your readers.
One more thing to keep in mind is that you should only use your name if you plan to blog long-term. If you think you may someday sell the blog, use something else. It’s nearly impossible to sell a website named with a person’s name.
What Should You Write About On your Personal Blog?
As with all blogs, personal blogs are no different when it comes to writing blog posts – you write for your audience, your readers. What would help them the most?
- Answer their questions
- Offer tips to help them with their problems
- Share your thoughts and experience
- Share niche and industry news
Try to focus your blog posts on getting a conversation going. Ask questions or present arguments and encourage your readers to voice their opinions. You want to get as many people commenting as possible, not to brag or boast about but to show that your message is heard.
Remember that your personal touch is what really sets a brand apart. This means that it’s alright to sometimes write purely personal blog posts. You don’t want your blog to be all about what you did today or how you feel about something you saw on TV, unless it’s directly related to your business but it’s good to let your human side come out. Your readers want your helpful advice, but they also like to know more about you as well and a branded personal blog is an excellent way of doing this.
Sarah Arrow
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Hello Sarah,
Great advice
Deciding our objectives ie why we want to blog and what we want to achieve are important …
If we can think and then focus on those thoughts as we write on our blogs and those of other it will help keep us on track
Sadie-Michaela Harris recently posted..SMBs and Social Media in 2012
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Hi Sadie-Michaela, blogging is so much more effective when you know your objectives, and when you blog about something you love you can easily get off track.
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Sarah Arrow recently posted..Replacing Feedburner
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Hi Sarah,
That is great advice. I have a personal blog of my own but I hadn’t thought of all of the reasons you mentioned. Thank you for sharing.
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Thanks Gary
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Sarah Arrow recently posted..Should I choose Facebook or a blog for my online business?
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Hi Sarah. I’m glad that I found your blog. There are lots of neat ideas here, and I’m looking forward to my free copy of “Successful Business Blogging”. I enjoy blogging, and I’m working to fine-tune my blog.
All the best,
Leslie
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I hope you enjoy it Leslie
fine tuning is a never ending job though 
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Sarah Arrow recently posted..Blogging and offline market research
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Sarah,
I think everyone needs a personal blog because everyone is their own personal brand at the end of the day. Everyone has their own uniqueness outside of their employer or groups.
The world needs their unique perspectives in order to continue to change for the better.
Just my two cents!
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Sarah Arrow recently posted..4 ways your blog’s ruining your content
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Hi Sarah,
I think having a personal blog is a great idea, like you said it shows people who you are and that your a real person and if they are buying products from you it gives them a sense of trust in you because they know a little about your personal life, what your like etc.
I don’t know if it’s just me but is it hard to write personal blogs about yourself telling everyone personal information and then after that coming up with new things to discuss?
Anyway, thank you for your inspiring notes =)
Regards, Jessica
Jessica vanZyl recently posted..Are You Using Your Company Branded Website At The Right Time?
Writing really personal stuff is hard,so it’s not just you. And if you bare your soul what happens if the post doesn’t get any comments? You’d feel worse. Infuse your personality into the posts but really personal ones are not for me.
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Sarah Arrow recently posted..[Video] Can you master Facebook marketing?
Twitter: saraharrow
I used my name for my domain and run a personal blog in a subdomain. I love the idea of keeping a personal blog associated to my name. However, when you are trying to discover/define your niche, finding fresh topics to write about can be challenging, especially if your are new to the field.
Twitter: melaniedyoung1
Hi Melanie, thanks for stopping by. Yes it can be challenging to define your niche and find fresh topics, I find there are plenty of resources to help when you are stuck. A quick google for “Blogging prompts” will help you get started when you are stuck.
The personal blog off the subdomain is a great idea
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