Why You Should Blog About Work AND Personal Issues

A friend told me he was getting frustrated with blogging, because he was trying to publish some serious posts about serious issues, while his colleagues were writing posts about their favorite TV shows or weekends with their kids.

“Chin up, little buckaroo,” I told him. (Okay, I didn’t. But I wanted to.) Here’s what I did tell him.

Corporate bloggers should not be afraid to write about issues, but should also include personal posts about your favorite shows, restaurants, crazy things your kids did, etc. And while it is a pain to have your profound thoughts overshadowed by personal reflections on how The Biggest Loser has changed someone else’s life, this is what blogging is.

In fact, it’s what life is: whoever speaks last and/or loudest is heard the best.

Blogging does two things for the average business person, whether you’re a consultant, small business owner, or corporate executive.

1. It adds to your credibility and expertise on your chosen field. Now, anyone who knows you personally already knows you have it. But what about those people who don’t have the chance to meet you or only get to talk to you for a couple minutes at a networking event. Blogging helps you show off your knowledge about a subject.And by publishing your knowledge over and over, you’re going to show people that you know a lot about your chosen subject. Your potential customers are going to realize you know a lot about their issues and their problems (especially if you answer their questions on your blog). As a result, when they have a problem they need to pay to have fixed, they’ll call the person who knows enough to talk about it on a regular basis.
2. 2) Personal blogging — as dreadful as you may think it is — is going to make you more accessible and, well, personal. People will get to know you, and feel a closer connection to you, by reading what you think about personal topics like your favorite TV show, or your adventures in finding a babysitter to watch the kids on a Friday night. While this may not seem as important — because it frankly doesn’t do squat for your credibility and expertise — it lets people know you. When they get to know you, they will trust you. And when they trust you, they’ll want to be a part of what you’re doing.

If you’re not sure about whether you should write about personal issues, read Chris Brogan and Julien Smith’s Trust Agents (affiliate link). In one of the chapters, they talk about people being One Of Us.

If you are One Of Us, we will listen to what you have to say. If you are One Of Us, you understand our struggles and problems. Too many old-school business people I have known were not One Of Us, and held themselves in a higher position than their employees and their customers. They weren’t approachable, and were often not trusted. We still see this now, only executives and politicians are held in lower esteem than they were 30 – 40 years ago. They think they’re too good for the unwashed masses, and then don’t understand it when people don’t like them.

On the other hand, if I know you like 30 Rock and collect beer cans and have issues with raising a kid, that means you’re One Of Us. That means I’m more willing to listen and learn from you.

So, you should be doing both types of blogging, even if the second kind seems stupid. Because it’s those personal connections that are going to bring people in and keep them coming back.

Photo credit: CrystalJingSR (Flickr)

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