I found your blog a while ago and was intrigued by your generational perspective from a youngin'. You are always on target but especially right in saying that one can and should build your brand online proactively. You are what you blog!

Congrats on your new job offer.

Tyler,

Congrats on your new opportunity, it seems that your hard work has paid off. I can see you were excited about your new opportunity and that's a good thing. Please keep in mind that the best sites are found organically, and not by spamming networks (i.e. Brazen Careerist). You have a good writing voice and people will enjoy your content, just don't drive others away by over hyping. Good luck in your journey.

Chris

Chris-

Thanks for your comment!

I'll have to slightly disagree with your “organically” comment. Coca Cola isnt one of the most widely known brands in the world by being organic. If the best of the best was found organically, then we wouldn't have social networks, you could just type people's names into google and you would magically have an awesome network.

If I wouldn't have promoted my blog on Brazen, Linkedin, Twitter my only hope of landing this unbeliveable opportunity would be that the hiring people went to google, typed in “rockstar young professional with sales experience who lives in Columbus and is open to new opportunities” and hope that my name came up.

With that said, there is a fine line between promotion and spam. Thanks for letting me know that I'm walking that fine line!

Marjii-

I appreciate your support and insights! Please keep sharing your perspectives and feel free to correct me when I'm off target! That's the whole point of GenYJourney.com!!

Coca Cola wasn't a blog though. They have tasty soft drinks to offer. And given that they were started over a century ago and have had time to grow, I don't think that's a fair example.

As tough as it is, I think you need to have the back and forth with people on a personal (even if it's digital) level. This means lots of emails and conversations. I don't think the broadcast model works because humans have been trained to tune it all out. I think that personal level (the emotional connection) is what will get others talking about you. I only have that with a few blog friends, but I tell lots of people about their writing.

I think how this really manifests itself is the legwork of commenting on sites with bigger communities and making your presence known through responding to others. If you offer good advice to others based on your own experiences, I think they will gravitate towards your content and begin to help promote it. Then, in turn, you try to create a community on your own site where those connections can grow. The connections can also be done on facebook, twitter, other social sites, but not so much as a “hey look at this link” but as a “hey here's some advice oh and by the way here's some more ideas to back it up”.

In the end, I'm small potatoes, so I'd say you have to take my advice with a grain of salt. However, when I look at my favorite blogs (getrichslowly.org comes to mind), the comments sections are the most rich part of the site; there are lots of sites with good content, but content + community = success.

Tyler,

It is good to see someone actually spell out how they made the transition. So often bloggers/social media folks will give great advice, but no actual examples of how it has helped them get to where they today.
To answer your question, I once received a job offer as a full-time blogger/copywriter but I had to turn it down because it offered no flexibility with my school schedule, which is very important to me. It's amazing what kinds of things can be sent your way just through networking and voicing your ideas!

I need to work harder to share more of the little things that result from my blog. I should have started blogging about the relationship I was building with the person that referred me for the job instead of waiting until something huge happened.

I've met so many of the people I admire, been asked to do speaking engagements, to join panels, to write for other blogs, and so many other things. I need to share more about that!

Always happy to hear your comments, David!

Can't resist that chance to jump in on this discussion. Both of you have good points here. One one had from a personal branding perspective, if you are not proactive with distribution of your content, no one will see it. The old adage is true: “if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around…”. Tyler's use of social networks and micro-blogs to distribute content makes all the difference (and that's coming from someone who was blogging before that practice was the norm).

One the other hand, there is a very delicate balance that one needs to consider so as not to SPAM your networks with personally branded content. Doing so will damage your reputation.

One might also consider that while social media distribution tends to be linear (i.e. time-line centric) in nature, not everyone is looking at Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, et al, every second of the day. Consider this – if you only put one mention of your content out per day, how much potential audience are you missing while they are at meetings, getting coffee or even in the john? Snippets of content disappear and get buried in the streams much faster than they used to.

In the end, I believe that answer to finding the balance lies in the data. Examples would be tracking click through on links via Bit.ly or even looking at referral URL's on Google Analytics.

If you dial up content distribution too much and border on SPAM, the traffic results will tell you by showing lack of interest in a specific post. You can also look at more qualitative information in terms of the sentiment of blog comments and even the structure of RT's on Twitter. If people are taking time to write a short comment on your post in a tweet (as an example), that might be a sign that they are engaged and happy with what you've shared.

Just some thoughts. Good discussion, gentleman…

Tyler,
What a delight to read of your experience. I am inspired by it and I hope to pass this on to my network. Yes I agree that blogs work. Congratulations about the job. But then that is the beginning.
Cheers!

When I started my current job last month (http://bit.ly/93sPua) I don't think I emphasized enough how social networking and blogging landed me the position.

I made friends with a local blogger and a year after we met she referred me to HR when I saw a job at her office was opening. The firm was a top social media agency so my years of blogging and social networking helped established my knowledge and proficiency.

Tyler you hit the formula on the head- I tell everyone that's looking that networking is just as important as surfing the listings!

Congrats Tyler. Success stories like your own will continue to be more prevalent and employers realize the value and the nature of people who blog. They're separating themselves from the countless people who would rather watch countless hours of television than to learn, to grow and to network with professionals in their industry. Best of luck in your new gig!

Posts like this remind me that it's not all a waste of time. Congrats and thanks for the post.

Congrats! No stories of success for me like that yet, but I'm in it for the long run :)

Always do your research. Facebook and linkedin helps.

I too have been helped by my blog. The main reason I got my very first job out of college (which I just quit actually) was mainly because of my blog. Not because of my degree, resume, or experiences, but my blog. I wrote about my experience of course on my blog: http://www.econapps.com/2010/05/this-blog-got-m…

Like your experience with blogging that led to meeting a great contact that led to the job, I'm finding that blogging is opening a lot of doors that wouldn't have been there otherwise. Blogging seems to increase serendipity and makes you seem “lucky” to other that do not take the time to blog.

Hey Tyler, congrats on the job and for the breezily professional yet personal tone you set on the blog. Maybe it's too obvious to state, but I'll take a chance and comment that because you never really know who's reading your blog (potential/current employers and other “connectors” like Dave) so it need to be polished, professional and focused on topics relevant to its purpose. It's no place to bitch about your acquaintances and coworkers, get too personal with details of your dating escapades or leisure-time pursuits. It's a fine line to walk, but from some of the blogs I've seen, lots of folks simply don't know how to edit themselves to present the online persona that is authentic yet hireworthy. Thoughts?

Victoria-

I completely agree with you that blogs should be “focused on topics relevant to its purpose”. Every blog and social network has a different purpose, though. I'll use this blog as an example: I started this blog to help young people understand what it takes to build a successful life and career. Does that mean I have to be polished and professional? No. It means I need to be real, honest and candid with my audience. What do I feel is the best way to engage my audience? By being passionate & communicating to the best of my ability the emotions of my experiences. Sometimes that requires a rant to wake people up, sometimes it involves profanity, sometimes it requires me to shut up and listen. Is it in appropriate for me to talk about my family, my girlfriend, my leisure activities? I dont think so, that's all part of the mission to help young people build successful lives. Those are aspects of people's lives.

Don't get me wrong, I still completely agree with your statement! But let me share something I've learned about personal branding. Yes, this blog creates a certain personal brand for me because I'm the person that is directly related to the content. So from my writing you're going to find that I'm very intense and passionate about certain topics, I care a great deal about development of people and organizations, I love where I live (Columbus), and I enjoy being with others (whether it is online or offline).
My blog helped land me a job with an organization that is intense, fillied with passionate people who really enjoy being with each other in and outside of the office, that is focused on the development of both large corporations and individual business owners in the Columbus region. Do you see how those correlate?

Hi there,
Definitely see your point and again wish to commend you for creating a site that achieves its purpose and stays personal without embarrassing, overly intimate TMI … My point – perhaps too obvious – is if one wishes to create a personal brand in an online blog that gets noticed by potential employers, clients, and connectors, then, in my opinion, it's best to put the hysterical melt-downs, raging fits, personal attacks and bathetic/pathetic navel gazing on a different blog for only your buddies to see. Before posting anything, it would be helpful if bloggers would ask themselves if their post gives the impression that they intend. We all love a good “trainwreck” basketcase blog entry that attract lots of hits, for sure, but by exercising some restraint and judgment, one can – like you – be passionate and intense and gain the respect of readers! Well done, Tyler. Setting a good example for us all.

Definitely! We are on the same page!

Because meltdowns, fits, attacks and embarasing moments happen in everyone's life, do you think there are any appropriate channels to share them? …or should we keep all of this stuff to our self?

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[...] can be used for just that purpose. Your blog at the right time and the right place could land you a job. It has happened and there is just one [...]

Nice story Tyler, I am also blogging about various things that I am interested in like Programming, WordPress and video games.

[...] How My Blog Got Me A Job [...]

Tyler, great story.

Your blog didn’t quite “get you a job,” but it helped you meet someone in your alumni association.

You developed an in-person friendship with that person, and then he referred you to a company.

And I think that’s a more realistic guide for people: Write content that makes people want to connect with you. Then connect with those people, and good things can happen.

Well done!

Kevin, you’re absolutely right! Thanks for clarifying.