Why is it that the very people who make all that wonderful technology work for your company don’t blog that much? That’s a question I’ve been curious about for the last few years. Yeah there are many technology bloggers, but I’m talking about people who staff the information technology departments around the world. Where are you guys? I find a few here and there, but there aren’t many.
I’ve suggested, recommended, given ideas and supported many of my fellow IT friends to help them find the value that blogging can bring. I’m continually confused at the explanations, or reasoning that people find not to. Answers like, “I can’t talk about work”, or “it’s not secure” and the one that still amazes me for many IT pros, “the Internet isn’t safe”.
Yeah, all those answers (and more) are true, but it shouldn’t keep you from engaging and bringing your expertise to the party. I’ve several friends who could bring a great deal to the blogosphere, some are true gurus on many aspects related to enterprise information technology implementation. The biggest limiting factor for most people really comes down to time.
Time is every bloggers most challenging aspect, but it’s no different than any other endeavor. How to balance, career, home life, and a blog is what we all battle every day as bloggers. However, there is so much reward that the challenge and the cost in time is worth the effort. Many of the IT people I know, are so busy with their current projects, that they can’t even get away from their desks at lunch time. What the heck is that about? Even during the most interesting and challenging projects, you need to allow yourself to think about other things.
If there is one thing I would pass on to fellow IT workers about blogging is that it allows a person to disengage a little bit. Writing about things that are interesting to you lets you exercise a bit of your mind that yearns for attention. It allows you to think in new directions, learning more about your interests as well as yourself.
Back to those excuses… yes they’re true to a certain degree, but their mainly just excuses. Kind of like finding reasons you didn’t do your homework back in high school. Come on, you can find more than the work aspect of IT to talk about – you do in person, why not on a blog? Not secure – talk about security if it’s a passion, make it interesting to the average person so they learn more about it. Don’t think the Internet is a safe place to bare your soul? Use a pseudonym – writers have done it for centuries and blogging is nothing different.
For some reason, IT is not where many bloggers are coming from lately, and I really would like to see that change. Maybe it’s just the circles I run in, or the market here in Minneapolis, MN that is a bit more conservative when it comes to voicing opinions. How about your IT friends? I’m looking for more IT bloggers! 🙂
Good day everyone! I’d like to point everyone to the third issue of Personal Branding Magazine. This third issue is packed with great information on personal branding from all aspects.
With great interviews with Om Malik, Matt Mullenweg, Gina Bianchini, Mark Frauenfelder, Gina Trapani, and David Weekly – publisher Dan Schawbel connects you to the web’s leading brand influencer’s.
Among other articles, there are articles on Recruiting, Online Branding, Social Media Resume, Visionary Thinking, The Relationship Economy, Brand Credibility, SEO, Network Influence Branding for Entrepreneurs, and much more. Below is the promo video for Issue 3 of Personal Branding Magazine.
As I’ve mentioned a few times before, I’ve been struggling through my blogging the last few months. From a bout of “blogger’s block” that really chased me from my keyboard, to coming up with excuses of what keeps me from blogging, I’ve finally come to the realization that I need to write. Period.
The one thing that I want to do is be of value, and that is what’s been keeping me from really getting back “in the groove”. I keep second guessing my topics or the tone, or the wording, or… you name it.
To that end, I’ve begun a daily journal. A place that I can just ramble my thoughts out, not worrying about how it sounds, the structure, the cohesiveness of an idea. Just a place to get those ideas down.
In the past I’ve hated this idea, just ask my 8th grade literature teacher – she had us writing journals every day, and I’d just pick something like “pizza” or “zucchini” or some such thing that I could write a paragraph on and claim to have “participated”. Of course, I was a tech-geek even then, and if it didn’t have LED’s or buttons, it wasn’t interesting.
This is but one more technique that I’ve heard other blogger’s using. I’m all for new ideas and techniques, especially one’s that are time-tested and help in multiple areas.
I’m curious to your experiences though, and would really like to know how a journal has helped or hindered you. Does the additional free-form writing exercise that is personal and kept private helps you write, think or work better?
So here I am, trying to write a post, pondering why anyone would be interested. It’s happened again, and not even a full month since I thought I was through one of my worst cases of writer’s block.
I’ve allowed myself to get distracted and loose focus on why I have been blogging. Of course I can explain a lot of reasons for this, the biggest one being a huge increase in work. You know, that deal that helps put food on the table.
However, I’d be remiss in simply using that as an excuse because it’s more than that. The worst part is that I’ve fallen into that trap of thinking that I’m not adding value. I’ve begun to debate with myself if the topics I always start to write are important to anyone else.
To anyone who’s blogged for awhile, you know these are the tell-tale signs of a number of things – not the least of which is simply procrastination. While I’ve been out reading a lot of blogs, feeds, twitter and such, I’ve not really participated to the level of my liking.
So this post is really just for me. It’s a warning sign to myself, to get me moving along and stop worrying about all the things we worry about when blogging. It’s like stage fright – I’ve literally been too concerned with feedback and I have no real reason for it. I’ve got several things running through me mind lately but haven’t made a real effort to blog about them.
“We are not enemies but friends.” Live your life. Completely. Without fear. Live it with Love, compassion, empathy, tolerance and joy. Treat every person with the kindness, respect and dignity they deserve by the very virtue of being a human being.
Why is it that the very people who make all that wonderful technology work for your company don’t blog that much? That’s a question I’ve been curious about for the last few years. Yeah there are many technology bloggers, but I’m talking about people who staff the information technology departments around the world. Where are you guys? I find a few here and there, but there aren’t many.
As I’ve mentioned a few times before, I’ve been struggling through my blogging the last few months. From a bout of “blogger’s block” that really chased me from my keyboard, to coming up with excuses of what keeps me from blogging, I’ve finally come to the realization that I need to write. Period.
