Executive Blogging in 8 Minutes or Less. It is Foolproof!

_You are busy being pulled in all directions from pillar to post. The only quiet time you get is on trans Atlantic flights. And, I ask you to write a blog to help build and promote your thought leadership online? You tell me you have no time; that you will get around to it. You never do.

How can you find the time to write when you don't have time to update your resume, add connections to your Linkedin profile or have dinner with your family?  How could you ever keep up with daily or even weekly posts?

You use excuses that your company would has privacy requirements; that the PR department would want to approve all postings. Of course there are the issues of non-disclosure and protection of intellectual property that your company likes you to follow.

Not to mention the issue of coming up with something to write about.  A total brain freeze arises when you try to think of a topic. What really is the point of starting a blog that ends up an embarrassment, when not updated, left floundering in the Socialweb?  Finally, you wonder, exactly what is the point really when nobody will read it anyhow?

Most professionals mistakenly believe that have to actually write something if they post blogs. They also mistakenly believe that all they have to write about their company's products and services. In addition they think that somebody has to actually read their blog posts.

The point of blogging is to establish in advance an ongoing base of credibility and demonstrated expertise. Thus, when you need it, you will have it. For example, if you are down to being one of the final two candidates for a job, your blog may and its content may just be the tipping point for you.

There is a foolproof way to write a highly successful blog that is no hassle, no time, and non-interfering with your daily life. Taking 8 minutes to do this will help to brand, position, and market you. The secret is to not write much as that takes time. It's that simple.

Here are the steps in 8 minutes or less:

1. Do a Google search on a topic, find an article on a publication's website or other kind of news, statistics, data, etc. (it is very helpful if you lay out a homepage on your browser using iGoogle or My Yahoo with RSS links to 10 major business news sites, publications and journals. Then you have it all on one place to look for something interesting.)
   
2. Copy the title and beginning part of the article, press release, news announcement to your blog posting.
3. Put a link back to the full article at the end of the excerpt to enable reading the rest it on the site and providing attribution at the same time.
   
4. Write an acerbic, witty, insightful, pithy comment, or critique of the article in less than 75 words (this does not mean you have to read the whole article, just skim it) 
5. Last tip: you don't have to date your blogs. That way, if you post once a month or more infrequently, it won't look dated.
6. That's it. Wash, rinse, repeat every month or so. 

You will look like a knowledge leader by basking in the glory of the writing of others when you simply add a small but observant comment, opinion or viewpoint preceding the article.

I have a client who started with great zeal to write, long tomes for blogs. With every promotion and new position his blogs grew shorter and shorter. I suggested he try the article approach and he did. Now he is a Senior Vice President and his blog posts says "here read this great article".  That is the extent of his blogging but they are all great articles that he posts.

What's the ROI you may ask?

• Well if you set up all your links correctly, you blog posts will be viewed by your Linkedin connections, twitter followers and other social media sites.
  
• You can continue to have a high profile and remain highly visible with little effort.
• You will look current and even at the leading edge in your field.
  
• You may end up on the radar of search consultants without even trying through their keyword searches.
• In addition, telling about your accomplishments on a resume or Linkedin doesn't make nearly the impression as demonstrating your knowledge.
  

In the near term none of this may matter to you, but there could come a day when it will. Picture yourself in the final round of interviews for a position you dearly want and the only difference between you and the other candidate is all the blog posting you have done. That could be the tipping point in your favor.

For examples of what I am talking about, read my previous 3-4 blog posts prior to this one.

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