Have a blog. Don’t be the “Blogger”.

Let’s accept it – there was a time when bloggers were looked up to as sources of information. With a hundred million people starting their blogs, bloggers have become more of information seekers than providers; failing uniqueness of content and distinctive writing style; trying marketing gimmicks to get visitors that often leave a bad taste in the mouth.

Why would you need to fill your pages with information you scrape from the internet? It is there on the web anyway. What new are you adding to the system? How unique is your presentation from the rest? Is it adding any value to the reader?

You could be more than just being the “blogger” as the world looks at it today.

Your uniqueness of your view, the content and the presentation of it would differentiate you from the crowd. Support your blog content with your social media behaviour and your inter-personal skills. Make your own personal brand.

You might be a computer science engineering student and have a very unique view about travelling or folk culture. You might not want to be a tech blogger in spite being an engineering student. You might not want to be a culture or travel blogger. You might want to be a bit of both. That too is fair enough. The world would know you as the engineer who is also passionate about folk culture. A couple of years later if you build an IT solution for folk culture tourism or related business, your blog becomes the estimate of your knowledge and your passion. Talking to people and collaborating becomes easier.

Scenario 1: A person searches on Google and lands on your blog; later contacts you for a possible business proposition related to folk culture. You would be happy to help the person because you are passionate about it.

Scenario 2: You build a IT solution for folk culture tourism. While confirming your meeting with your prospective client, you mention your blog address in your email signature. The person opens your blog, browses through and understands your passion and your uniqueness. The impression is already made.

Scenario 3:  Another company wants to promote their folk culture tourism event or you need to raise an awareness about something that impacts your field of study / passion, all you need to do is a blog post; your audience is already created.

You could be a voracious reader either or not doing your English graduation. But If you are sure that you would, at some point in life, want to be a book reviewer start your book reviewing blog today. If you could connect to one publisher and review 4 books a month, that would mean 48 books a year, 144 book reviews during your graduation along with a good and relevant social media following. To a magazine or any traditional media house, you would position yourself as a premium resource who not only has an experience of reviewing but also can promote the book, thus increasing the sales. Otherwise, you could always charge a premium for book reviews if you want.

The scenarios could be endless. You do not need to be a techie to blog. You do not need to earn from your Google advertisements to make a living. I’m sure there are better ways of earning money using your blog as a tool for personal branding, a step towards a lucrative start in your career, a collaboration tool. All the best.