I can’t say whether or not it’ll make you better at what you do if you blog for fun. But I am starting to see that blogging for business certainly improves your work standards and overall competence. In fact over the years, I’ve found it to be quite a powerful exercise in career-improvement.
I think there is a certain psychology at work within a professional who blogs whereby over time that blogger just ends up being better at what they do. When you blog words need to be chosen carefully, the message needs to be clear and the information has to be trustworthy. In essence blogging can be a method of you honing in on your authenticity. And the only thing that keeps on selling is authenticity combined with competence.
I’ve wondered why this may be the case. I think its because blogging is all about content. An empty mind is void of content. So to be a good blogger you first have to fill that head or obtain that experience. Which means you have to be on a learning binge of some sort. Also you have to bring to mind all those experiences relevant to what are going to blog about. Both these exercises increase your professional competency.
This is why I personally spend a good deal of my time reading other people’s blog posts. I would say that for every blog post I write I will have read three other posts. I’m not saying I will have read it on the same topic I’m writing about but certainly within my area of expertise (mortgages). Over time this makes me a better blogger since my head is constantly being filled with good content I am able to churn out good content. This is certainly good for the online world but, guess what, it’s even better for the off line world as well.I have proof of it too. I find that in talking to mortgage folks who do not blog, I’m much better informed about the real estate market and the latest industry news. For example, I was surprised that many of my colleague were not aware of the rate freeze and the mortgage debt forgiveness act as it unfolded, but only until well after the fact. Imagine a well informed borrower asking you about such a topic as the issues are unfolding? I’d hate to be caught uninformed on such consumer relevant topics just because the main stream press hasn’t picked up on the news.
So, blogging is not just about marketing yourself, it’s also about improving yourself and become better at what you do. In a hyper-competitive profession where the biggest players want to reduce you to a commodity, I’m finding that blogging has become a life line in distinguishing myself from the pack. Both online and off line!
