Here’s a riddle: What’s easy to create, costs nothing (but a little time), and can have a serious impact on your administrative job and career?
The answer: a blog.
Born in the early 90s, blogging started off as a hobby – something a small group of people did to self-publish their thoughts and ideas. However, over the past two decades, it’s evolved into a valuable job and career resource for professionals in all industries.
Ironically, not everyone is taking advantage of it.
The benefits of blogging for admins are numerous and far-reaching, and, thanks to free blog sites, such as WordPress and Weebly, all it requires is a little time to set-up the blog and write posts. Sure, time is a precious and scarce commodity, especially for busy admins. However, before you pass on blogging because of time constraints or because you’re not “tech-savvy,” give some of these perks a chance to sink in.
- Positions you as an information resource/expert in your field. A blog is your tiny piece of cyberspace to show people what you know best – whether its file organization, meeting planning, or project management. No matter what your area of expertise or specialty, a blog gives you the opportunity to shine.
- Keeps you engaged in your industry and profession. With so much information available online, it’s easy to get overwhelmed or distracted by all the digital noise and forget to keep tabs on your industry and profession. Regularly writing a blog post forces you to focus on topics that are relevant to you and your career. In researching and writing your posts, you not only learn about relevant news, developments, and studies, you also get an opportunity to express your opinion on current industry events.
- Improves your writing skills. You might never be as prolific as Chaucer or Austen, but writing posts for your blog on a regular basis will help refine your writing abilities. Like most skills, practice makes perfect and a blog is a great place to do just that.
- Provide work samples for your professional portfolio. Do you work at a company that doesn’t let you share your work samples for proprietary reasons? If so, a blog is a great way to showcase your writing abilities without breaking any company rules. It’s also a great addition to your professional portfolio, which is important to have when asking for a promotion or looking for a new career opportunity.
Blogging offers a wealth of benefits for admins. Overlooking this opportunity, or passing on it because of time or technology constraints, could hinder your job prospects and put you behind your blogging colleagues for promotions. Whether you choose to blog a little or blog a lot, a blog can help you stay competitive and relevant in your profession for years to come!
© 2014 Julie Perrine International, LLC
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Julie Perrine, CAP-OM, is the founder and CEO of All Things Admin, providing training, mentoring and resources for administrative professionals worldwide. Julie applies her administrative expertise and passion for lifelong learning to serving as an enthusiastic mentor, speaker and author who educates admins around the world on how to be more effective every day. Learn more about Julie’s books — The Innovative Admin: Unleash the Power of Innovation in Your Administrative Career and The Organized Admin: Leverage Your Unique Organizing Style to Create Systems, Reduce Overwhelm, and Increase Productivity. And request your free copy of our special report “From Reactive to Proactive: Creating Your Strategic Administrative Career Plan” at www.AllThingsAdmin.com.
