A couple of months ago I wrote a blog piece ‘Blogging the Seth Godin way…’ .  Effectively, it was a post about what I was learning about blogging from Seth Godin – focusing on the range of subjects he included – the different sized posts (some very long, others just a paragraph) and frequency levels – keeping under my nose at least daily!  

Whilst I enjoyed reading Seth’s musings (which came in thick and fast for a period of time) – I have to say that the ‘Seth’ folder in my inbox is now stacked with stuff I need to read.  And being the type of person who likes to keep on top of things and keep my inbox as up to date as possible – I’m afraid I find myself hitting the ‘delete’ button when that folder gets too full.  So all of Seth’s wise and wonderful advice is zapped from my view in a click!

Dosh Dosh.com however, the other blogger I follow, writes a long piece probably once perhaps twice a month.  And I always read it.

So what does this tell me – great advice from both – one coming in thick and fast and the other coming in relatively slowly…

Whilst I value what Seth has to say – I consider it quite ‘samey’ and so I am happy to delete this.  Why?  Because I know that I’ll be getting other stuff through soon enough and when I pick it up it will be just as relevant – and so it doesn’t really matter if I miss a few.

With Dosh Dosh (http://www.doshdosh.com) – I value what he has to say, but his posts are more ‘meaningful’ and practical to my work and so there’s no way I’d miss a post.

Of course – these views are clearly only my perception.  I’m sure that Seth’s posts are just as ‘meaningful’ as Dosh Dosh’s – but my perception is different.  Seth by being the prolific blogger is making me behave in a more disposable way with his messages – whilst Dosh Dosh being ‘rarer’ I consider more precious!

Blogging the Seth Godin way is I suppose  like following a soap – I used to watch Eastenders (much to my husbands utter disbelief) and even now – as a not so regular watcher, when I do catch the odd program, I can pretty much work out where things are up to in about 3 minutes.  The soap is on pretty much most evenings – and so if I miss it – it’s not a big deal!   Is that how I now view Seth’s blog posts…!

So what do I take from taking a step back and analysing my own online behaviour – and how will this influence my blogging:

Well, I will continue to blog once a week – and I will ensure that my posts ‘mean’ something – make a difference, give a key message, offer practical advice.

Soaps are hugely popular – but they don’t give much do they (sorry Seth!).  I’d rather be a ‘Grand Designs’ – something I look forward to once a week – and record so as not to miss it.

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Michelle Carvill is owner and Marketing Director at Carvill Creative – a graphic design and marketing services agency based in Maidenhead, Berkshire.  The agency covers all aspects of graphic design and marketing – covering social media marketing and website planning and website design.

I subscribe to just a few blogs – one of them is Seth Godin’s – I’ve enjoyed most of Seth’s many books – and whilst I don’t agree with everything he has to say, much of what he says, I concur with.  I’m learning a lot about blogging from Seth – not from the advice he provides, but by observing how he blogs.  Often it’s just short snippets – observational ‘marketing’ advice/lessons/views/thoughts.

Being a ‘marketer’ out there in the field providing practical advice and working directly with a range of clients – it’s difficult to switch the ‘marketing’ channel off.  And, quite frustratingly in many situations of terrible customer service, or poor promotion, difficult websites and such like, I tend to proffer advice – (whether the recipient wants to hear it or not!). And so, I am going to start building these more everyday occurrences into my blog posts.

It’s ok for a post to be just a couple of paragraphs long.  I’ve read that so many times, but it still feels a little light to me.  But hey – I’m all up for mixing things up a bit.

Meanwhile – I particularly liked this recent short snippet from Seth’s blog.  In fact, if you Google my name, Michelle Carvill, you’ll see that I am controlling what comes up top – a Bizzbug profile which clearly promotes who I am, what I do – so I am taking control of the ‘candid camera’ scenario to a degree.  You can too – Bizzbug is free.  Any pointers required, give me a shout.

Personal branding in the age of Google

A friend advertised on Craigslist for a housekeeper.

Three interesting resumes came to the top. She googled each person’s name.

The first search turned up a MySpace page. There was a picture of the applicant, drinking beer from a funnel. Under hobbies, the first entry was, “binge drinking.”

The second search turned up a personal blog (a good one, actually). The most recent entry said something like, “I am applying for some menial jobs that are below me, and I’m annoyed by it. I’ll certainly quit the minute I sell a few paintings.”

And the third? There were only six matches, and the sixth was from the local police department, indicating that the applicant had been arrested for shoplifting two years earlier.

Three for three.

Google never forgets.

Of course, you don’t have to be a drunk, a thief or a bitter failure for this to backfire. Everything you do now ends up in your permanent record. The best plan is to overload Google with a long tail of good stuff and to always act as if you’re on Candid Camera, because you are.

Why not subscribe to my blog and keep up to date with marketing news, view, ideas, ‘observations’ and advice…

Michelle

Michelle Carvill is owner and Marketing Director at Carvill Creative – a graphic design and marketing services agency based in Maidenhead, Berkshire.  The agency covers all aspects of graphic design and marketing – covering social media marketing and website planning and website design.