When I Grow Up I want to be a Wri...er... Blogger.

Awkward 15 year old Jenn was plopped into an honors English class in April of her sophomore year at a school 2 hours away from the area she grew up in. The class of seemingly overachievers was in the first stage of writing their autobiographies, a semester long project, and I had to catch up.  By the end, my book was 10 chapters of about 1500 words each or so, full of artwork, prose, and even poetry. Even though I had lived a whopping 15 years so far, it was surprisingly full, and I believe the title was a poorly written, "A Lot Can Change in the Blink of an Eye." Bad name aside, 15 year old me had this lofty, gigantic dream of one day becoming a writer.

Fast forward (almost, but not quite) 15 years later, not only have I taken journalism classes and had a short stint with a newspaper column, we have seen the evolution of the internet from poorly designed geocities websites, to live journaling, to blogging.  We are even currently witnessing the slow downfall of printed books for the ease of ebooks.  I myself have not bought an ereader, but I do own an online publishing company, and the day where I purchase one of these contraptions is quickly approaching.  Newspaper sales are in steep decline, magazines are switching to iPad only issues, and print as we know it is drastically changing.  Is it still a "good" dream to want to become a writer?

The short answer is well, yes.  To be a writer with a published book is still an incredible feat - either printed or in ebook format.  To become a journalist for example, the NY Times, is still a great dream.  However, is this the only way to becoming a famous writer? No. With the progress of the internet, blogging has become something equally as gratifying and just as high in potential of reaching fame for the written word.  While it has leveled the playing field, it does not guarantee success for all - the writer in question must still have that "it" factor to be famous for their craft.

All Blogs are Not Created Equal
Recently at work we crafted a tiered categorization of blogs that fit into 5 areas.  A top tier are your big time blogs on websites with the biggest reach like the NY Times, Washington Post, etc.  A second tier would consist of your TechCrunch, HuffPo, and Mashable online publications.  Then the 3 remaining tiers are levels of average people's blogs with their various levels of influence. Everyone basically starts off on that 5th tier of having a new blog, developing content, creating an audience, and then if they stick with it and make it a priority they can move up through the ranks and increase their reach and begin to even monetize and see where it can grow to.  Plenty of bloggers have transitioned into newspaper columnists and even authors.  The possibility is there if you understand the space, and put hard work into it. A professional blog consists of a steep learning curve, and is not easily done.

To be a blogger, you also do not have to have and maintain a personal blog.  It helps, but you could easily write blogs and shop them around to other bloggers. Ask to write pieces on blogs from all tiers and level of influence and build your online credibility.  Some you can be paid for, some you won't be.  This was done years ago in the writing world when people would write editorials in newspapers, or were freelance writers, but now it's much faster and there is more to choose from.

If you do maintain your own blog, not only do you have to be a skilled writer, but you also must be a visual creature as well.  Content may be king, but the look and feel of your site is prince.  If you're not a graphic artist, or understand coding - get yourself a web developer because all of it goes hand in hand. A beautifully designed site, plus great content, plus having a site that is easily found by search engines like Google will help you in your path to becoming a successful and famed blogger. 

At the end of the day, being a writer is still an incredible goal. I still have the aspirations I did when I was 15 to have a published book under my belt - but for now, I'm quite content with being a blogger, and aspire to be a better one.  For me - being a writer and being a blogger are one in the same.

Women in Technology? Surely, There's No Such Thing.

I've always been at ease standing around a group of guys discussing a variety of topics from politics to sports to their hilarious dating habits.  And.. oh my gawd...even technology.  I know model numbers of gadgets, and  what geeky computer terms mean, and how to put together an OK website (though admittedly, my HTML knowledge is lacking).   I even have a start-up company that's launching online hopefully by the end of 2010.

Am I standing in a crowd of 1?   No.  I can name dozens of girls I've met on Twitter and even a few in real life that are just as geeky, if not geekier than me.  In fact, I love calling them friends because honestly, I don't have much in common with girls who only enjoy shoes, purses and makeup (not to say that I don't dress up, but you see where I'm going).  So I guess that's why I'm a little surprised that Tuesday seemed to provide an avalanche of articles discussing women in technology.  I've never thought about it as an issue.


First it was the Tech Crunch article, Why No Women Want To Be On A “Women In Tech” Panel,
which was a little weird.  My first reaction at reading the title was, "I'd LOVE to be on a Women in Tech Panel!"   But it obviously goes more in depth than what the title suggests.

Then there was the Mashable article, Why We Need to Reframe the "Women in Tech" Debate. And I found this to be 100% refreshing.  It was more positive saying that there are so many women out there but that there needs to be some kind of community where we could go for resources. 

And finally my friend, Kate Holloway, wrote Marginalizing and stereotyping is good marketing strategy… right? Where she discusses a post written poorly by Leslie Sobon about landing the geeky guy.


The funny thing about this all, is I myself wrote a blog post just earlier that morning before seeing all of these about how I won't learn to make coffee to fulfill the gender stereotype that that's what women do in an office.

What's the Solution?
Do I think women need to band together?  Eh.  Do I think we should constantly call attention to not having women in technology?  Eh. I don't think it has anything to do with adult women right now.  I think it has everything to do with how we teach our children. Does little Suzie need to play with a doll?   Ooooor should she play with this fancy new computer and see how it all functions?   Is she taught that it's OK to take business classes in high school?  Is she empowered to run with her idea as an entrepreneur in college?  Does she have the confidence necessary to pull off an idea?

Look, we all know that having intelligent, drama free women involved in anything makes everything better.  I am still convinced if there had been more women involved in the Apple iPad naming decisions that disgusting name never would have gone through - so maybe there is a need for pumping up tech to girls at an early age not to just girls, but to little boys as well for learning to play nice with the girls.

Communities for Women
I get so bored when I go to women only events - girls nights, women's luncheons, networking events.  I feel like I'm being cheated out of an equal dynamic.  Sure, the communities are nice, but they're usually so full of emotions and patting each other on the back that I lose all interest.

Forbes has a section of their website dedicated to women and recently it came up with the Top 100 Blogs for women.  I had high hopes for this, thinking that since it was a business site it would be pretty inclusive. Some of these blogs are Grade A quality Amazingness, but they're so stereotypical with mommy blogs and feelings, and relationships - Oprah, Martha Stewart.   Who needs it? I think out of the list of 100 there might have been 5-10 that were OK?

There's nothing more annoying than solidifying old gender roles.  Stop saying that there aren't any women in technology when there are. And stop pointing them out like it's some kind of magic trick when you find one.

Online You vs Real Life You

I'm on twitter.   I tweet about tons of things - job searching, relocation, social media, networking, Apple, traveling, Asia, South Korea, Syracuse University, College Basketball, my new start up company Eat Your Serial, and current events.    That's a lot of subjects, right?  Right.

I'm on facebook.  You won't receive a blue hyperlink here, sorry.  I have that locked up as tight as I can get it because I joined at that perfect age of 21 and have 1800+ idiotic photos tagged of me doing what 20 somethings do.  Not to mention 50+ videos where I'm making a large fool of myself.  It's a place of inside jokes, funny conversations, poking fun with my closest friends about every topic and mundane detail of our lives.  Even if we are friends on there not everything is going to make sense. 

I'm on Linked In.   I use the wisdom I've accrued in my 27 years to discuss professional topics with other professionals in professional networking groups.  I learn more about my crafts through discussions with other people.   I'm on Brazen Careerist for the same thing.

I'm on You Tube.  It's a mix mash of my videos of concerts, funny nights out, being out in Korea, and most recently a few video web logs. 


What am I getting at?

Well, it's simple.   Each place is a place to exist for different reasons.  They have different purposes, different networks, & different results.  To only exist on one network would be like reading one chapter of a book and knowing how it ends.  There's no way to get a good sense of someone on one network alone.

Anyone who is job searching, or using social media to get ahead, has to have multiple profiles to increase exposure.  Find the specific niche sites that your industry may use as well to get noticed.


Should You Put it all Out There?

No.
 


Why? 
There's a few common sentiments/sayings out there that work well:

1) Don't reveal too much, there's fun in the mysterious
2) If I can get the milk for free, why should I buy the cow?  

And there's a lot to be said for both.   If you give out 15 bullet points on one job, or if you have gigantic long paragraphs detailing your experiences on LinkedIn you'll hold the attention of no one.  Or if you offer your services to everyone for free, you'll never get paid for your work.  

There are perfect balances.  Be short and succinct where you need to be... offer tips and suggestions, but don't outline an entire project for someone without being a consultant.   Obviously this differs from case to case, but overall you don't ever want to come on too strong or with too much because it will never end well for you. 


Does Being on Every Platform = The Real You?

No.  You should have some consistency across all of your platforms, especially if you're job searching.  Make sure that you're looking for the same things on each site, your keywords all match up, and that your resumes are perfectly related to the description.  

For everything else, your online profiles may help you keep your different networks up to date and provide ways for you to showcase your work.   But never mistake an online persona for a real life persona.   What I mean by that - is just because you write well, and post pictures, and discuss a few topics does not mean that is who you are.   You exist in the real world and you should keep some things to yourself.  Anything that could get you fired, or anything you have to think twice about updating is probably a good thing to just leave off of any profile at any time. 

Also don't entirely take everything you read seriously from a twitter friend or a new on line acquaintance.  You need to develop relationships the old fashioned way too, with plenty of face to face time.  Non-verbal communication is very important to any relationship on any level.

Every hobby, sporting event, and minute of our lives can be tweeted about, posted around, and shared in some digital space. However none of that replaces good regular communication.  The age old phrase behind assume goes well here too - "Never Assume anything... it makes an Ass out of U and ME."  So don't always go by what you read - engage in conversations.

Eat Your Serial.

I rarely plug anything on this blog.  I like to think of this as a space more of my commentary and advice about goings on in the job searching world, Gen Y circles, and social media stuffs. You know - that whole "branding" thing that's all the rage these days.  But as this is my personal blog afterall, from time to time I think it would be ok to actually let you know about something I'm actually doing.  And if it isn't... well, not sure what to tell ya.   What's the thing I really need to share with you?   It's the little start-up that could called Eat Your Serial.



Did you click on that link?  Were you curious?  Could you NOT wait for me to explain?  Excellent. 

Were you hedging your bets and expecting me to explain it here first?   You lazy sonofa.... 

Well, the lazy ones win - because that link only brings you to a giant "COMING SOON!" sign.  And that doesn't necessarily help you, does it?


What IS it?
Eat Your Serial is a new web start-up company, that will be launched this fall.  The overall goal of the site is to promote authors - and do it at no cost to the author themselves.  Yes, we're talking free promotion for anyone that can write a coherent and entertaining story in any genre - fiction or non-fiction.

We recently held our first public event in New York City at Paladar on the Lower East Side, and it was a raging success.  It was a bit of a fundraiser for us as we are a startup, but mostly we just held a party to tell people about what we were.  We gave away door prizes, had two kegs of Brooklyn Ale, and about 60 people showed up to show their support.

How Do You Become Involved?
If you're a writer we want you.  Always and Forever.   Anyone who has a book that they're trying to promote, or if they want deadlines to get their book finished - we're perfect for you.  Each week a new chapter gets published on line, and by the end of 12 weeks, or 20 weeks, or whenever you finish - you have this finished book with a built in audience who will want to buy your book from EYS' site.  AND the best part is, you're free to shop it around to publishers after that!

I'm pretty stoked about this project.  Has potential to really launch some amazing writers that might not have had a shot otherwise.  We're pretty active on the blog, twitter, and facebook, so get at us there too.

Want to Support This Idea?  (The Answer is YES!)
The BIG thing, is that we ARE on kickstarter.com and providing some pretty nifty rewards if you donate to us and get us... um... started.   But don't take my word for it... our video explains it all, and kickstarter.com is the ONLY place you can see it and it's awesomeness.