We're blogging this month and you should too

Today our company just kicked off our June Blog-o-thon.  We've challenged every single person in the company from CEO to intern to write at least one blog post in June and I am challenging you to do the same.  Here are three reasons why you should start (or restart) blogging today:

1. Building your personal/professional brand
2. It gets easier with practice
3. Blogging is the gateway to thought leadership
    

1. Building your "personal-professional" brand

At many points in our professional career we are not in charge of our destiny. We may be working in an industry we love, but aspire to be in a different position. Our day-to-day tasks may not be the things we want to be working on but when we blog we are in charge of every aspect of what we write. This allows us to tap into our passion and build what I refer to as our "personal-professional" brand. That is to say, what we want to be known for in our career.  

Savvy businesses should support this activity of their team members because building an individual brand helps raise the profile of the associated business. Even if this is not the case I would encourage you to create your own blog, or to blog via a platform like LinkedIn or Medium.
 

2. It get easier with practice

One of the biggest reasons people cite why they don't blog is it takes too much time. The good news here is that blogging gets easier — and faster — with practice. This blog post took me less than 30 minutes to write, but my first blog post ever took many hours. Because it gets easier with practice there are two important rules to follow when blogging: 1) don't worry about looking dumb and 2) the most important part of blogging is pushing the publish button.
 

3. Blogging is the gateway to thought leadership

Outside of making yourself a more attractive applicant for many jobs, blogging regularly also helps shape your message and help you to figure out what you really care about. After establishing a regular habit of blogging, themes start to emerge and you develop a body of content that you can reference — complete with user feedback. If you are thinking about writing a book or you'd like to be a speaker, start blogging today to set the stage for your future as a thought leader.

We're blogging this month, you should too.