Blog to Brand Part 2: Just Get Started

I am back with the second installment of going from blogging to personal brand. Last week (https://carlarjenkins.blogspot.com/2017/09/you-can-go-from-blog-to-brand.html ), I have written about why you should consider blogging to elevate your personal brand. Now is the best time to create separation. People have returned from summer vacation and the fourth quarter is two weeks away. You are in a sweet spot to lower the boom on your competition. 

Most people fear spending so much money on something new that’s not guaranteed. However, I am here to tell you that you don’t have to spend any money to get started. You can get started on Blogger.com, Google’s free blogging platform. I have had mine for over 13 years and it’s still up and running. Check it out here https://carlarjenkins.blogspot.com/ . I was on Blogger from 2004 through 2015 when I got my WordPress site. That’s 11 years. During those 11 years, I have relocated from Cleveland to Washington, DC and received 4 promotions. The point is to get started.

                Now I do have a warning for you: DON’T use Wix, Weebly or Wordpress.com to get started. The reason why is because you don’t control these free platforms. Also with Wordpress.com your site becomes yourname.wordpress.com (carlarjenkins.wordpress.com) instead of yourname.com (carlarjenkins.wordpress.com). You don’t want to give Wordpress.com any free advertising en route towards building your brand! Moreover, with Blogger.com being owned by Google, you’re instantly getting SEO traction. You’re getting found by people which is great; plus with Blogger you can republish to different platforms namely LinkedIn and Medium.

                LinkedIn and Medium are the two biggest business-related platforms. They can increase your visibility moving you up to expert level. Once you post on Blogger.com, you import your blog article link on Medium or copy and paste your article onto LinkedIn Pulse to increase your reach. Visit my LinkedIn and Medium  profiles to see how I have republished my blog content onto these two platforms.

You still get to keep your publishing rights because you’ve used Blogger over posting directly into Medium and LinkedIn. Whenever, I republish, I always put my original article as the source article so when people are interested in it, they return back to the Blogger.com site. Remember, while you getting started, you have to start training your audience to return your real estate (Blogger.com) even though they’ve found you on either Medium or LinkedIn (or some other social media platform).

                See how easy this is to simply get started because now you know that you can get started for FREE! Try it out and email me at info@carlarjenkins.com letting me know how you are doing. Next time I will bring to you the final installment where I discuss how to stay consistent once you’ve started. 

You Can Go from Blog to Brand

Whether or not you are new or a longtime reader (thank you by the way!), you know that I always highlight my blogging skills. I firmly believe in using blogging to advance yourself. There are three things that paralyze people: 1) how do I get started; 2) how can I afford to pay for a website? And 3) how do I keep from burning out? I will address each one of these questions in a blogging series.

First: How do I get started? Focus on what you like doing and which blogs you like reading. When I mean blogs, it can be any website. It can be newspapers, magazines. It can even be YouTube or livestream shows. Right now, just focus on what you like seeing currently. That material does something emotionally to you. You want people to feel the same way whenever you write. That’s where you start.

                Next you add your own personality into it. Do not fear being bland or invisible from everyone else. People will flock to you because you have something special to offer. I admit several times in this newsletter that I have horrible tunnel vision. I am still touched whenever someone inboxes me saying that they love my writing. It warms my heart. Someone’s inbox is awaiting your greatness! 

I am giving you this resourcebecause I don’t want YOU to make it hard. No paralysis of analysis! It has taken me 2 years for monetize my blog. Remember, whether or not it is my book or blog, I always want to eliminate the learning curve. Seeing what’s selling in the market will help you advance faster because you are serving an existing market. When people who are already interested in what you’re writing about then you don’t have to work as hard to brand yourself in the marketplace.

If you still feel that you are still unsure about taking on blog, that’s okay. Here’s another story. I was initially fearful of republishing my blog content on LinkedIn because I thought that people would ridicule me and I saw so many stupid things being posted on LinkedIn Pulse. However, that mentality kept me away from my core audience and expanding my brand.

Need more insight and encouragement? Sure! That’s what this newsletter is all about. Here is my new video discussing why you need a blog. I discuss five reasons why inserting my own entrepreneurial expertise as running two online stores. 

Scrum Journal : Day 5

Thursday, March 24, 2016, I awoke at 6am because I had the routine down pat. I nearly forgot my laptop so I had to return after getting to the basement level. At least I wasn’t on the metro. I still managed to board the earlier orange line train to Vienna station. Creating a buffer was essential since this was the metro. I transferred to the 2B and this time remembered to pull the bell in the right spot to avoid walking over the bridge. I was the fourth person there. I just prayed that there was over with so that I could take the test and pass it.

                The instructor started discussing technical debt which was because of my questions. I was validated because I did not think that I was learning a whole lot the day before. However, I did admit that doing the user stories, spring and product backlog activities taught me something. I would give the training that. During the morning break, I crossed the bridge to the PNC to get Uber driver tip money. During lunch, I dined on Uncle Julio’s patio (I fell for the trip of eating all of the chips and salsa. I filled up so much that I couldn’t finish the fajitas. Hey, I was starving. That chocolate bar wasn’t enough.).

                I returned to training still nursing a headache with no Aleve. I managed to survive more tangents and rumblings. I went to use the bathroom and boom I was shut out of the ScrumAlliance CSM exam page. That poor website said that it was busy. I packed my stuff, ordered an Uber and went on my way. Or so I thought…The Uber driver missed the Vienna exit. He asked me. I told her that I lived in DC. I did not know anything about Virginia. We managed to get to Dunn Loring metro. I did not recognize this Dunn Loring. I stopped going there ever since the silver line opened because it had Tysons Corner stops. A Smashburger franchise was built where the old parking lot was. It looked like all of those other planning communities for middle-middle class people (You would not find a Smashburger or other franchises in DuPont so that was a couple rungs below but still). I boarded the orange line returning home. I dropped my bags, reconfigured my laptop and took the test.

                My test was harder than the questions that my classmates received. Immediately I started surfing the Internet for scrum help. I found two sites which helped. Also I grabbed the Scrum Guide. It was written by scrum’s cofounders so I knew that I was good. I scored 94.3% (33/35) passing the exam. Immediately I photographed my certificate posting it on Instagram. I tried uploading it to LinkedIn, but the photo was upside down. Therefore, I found my digital camera in my black oversized Kate Spade purse and re-photographed it. LinkedIn liked that one. Afterward, I typed my CSM announcement posting it on my site. I then copied that to Medium.

                I thought that passing the CSM would be different, at least dinner. In my mind, I thought I would be dining at Bourbon Steak at the Four Seasons. I dined at Morton’s steakhouse right after passing the PMP. Nope! Combined the headache, the misfit Uber driver and the ScrumAlliance’s crashed website, I settled for a frozen macaroni and cheese dinner from CVS. Hey, at least I was certified! No one can take CSM away from me! My biggest epiphany was my emotional intelligence. I did not flip out against the Uber driver. I just got home and carried on. I did not let that affect my certification exam performance. Now that was maturity!

I fulfilled this week’s goal of earning my CSM because I was sick and tired of being sick and tired in my job search. Immediately after passing, I created a scrum job alert. There were no less than 20-25 jobs. Also I emailed the three LinkedIn connections who helped me privately and highlighted their names publicly on my LinkedIn status. Giving credit and being gracious were essential. I changed my LinkedIn profile uploading my certificate and adding it to my certifications list. It was like Christmas and I was opening up a present. After 5 days, I was finally certified! Next I told my career coach because we had to start working on integrating this new certification into my personal brand. We had work to do. I had to write a new story.

Finally, I email someone who had impacted me. I was telling him that dipping into a specific fund felt like lack. He said to view this as a business investment since I filed my LLC. That CC Pace training cost $1295. I viewed it as an investment instead of a cost. I started this Sunday sick and tired of being sick and tired. Five days later, I was now a certified Scrum Master. That was an investment indeed!

Protecting Myself One Idea at a Time

                Today I have received my US Copyright Office papers for my book. Protecting my intellectual property is indispensable in a knowledge economy. You must protect your ideas at all costs. I feel so much safer knowing that my upcoming book is protected and that no one can rip me off. Below is the official paperwork:

I am way more motivated to keep at it and finish my book’s revision this month.

I am doing intellectual property protection beyond just my ideas. I have protected my name by buying the carlarjenkins.live because I must control my media and content. If you don’t control it, someone else will. Here is the official US Copyright Office site: http://www.copyright.gov/