To Brag or Not To Brag: Linking Your Blog On A Resume

As Bloggers, we love to toot our own horn as much as we possibly can.

In fact, as I am writing this post I am about 2 weeks from hitting 1 million pageviews (accomplished in less than 20 months) and am averaging between 25 and 30,000 pageviews weekly.

Toot, toot.

Because of this, my blog is ranked about 67,000 in the US for website popularity.  The average small-to-midsize business website is around 300,000-1mil.  The best website in my current industry is at 97,000.

My blog is getting WAY more traffic than the average business website, and I am in the Sales & Marketing business.  I can, mister employer, help take your digital presence to new heights.

I'm not necessarily looking for a new job, but I always like to be prepared in case 'the deal of a lifetime' falls into my lap.  Because of that, I spent part of this weekend redoing my resume.

As I put everything together, the thought of mentioning my blog popped in and out of my head at least a dozen times.

I want to get a job in Marketing, working with Social Media.  I can use my blog as proof of concept...

...but I swear a lot on my blog, and cover a lot of controversial (sometimes offensive) topics.

I was leaning toward leaving it off, when I had an empty space in my left header... I had no idea how to fill it, when the BLOG-thought shouted loudly in my head.

I ended up doing this:

The QR code links to a post where I talk about helping increase the intake of tips at a coffee shop by making the tip jar more fun.  It worked well, got a lot of positive feedback from commenters, and has been viewed over 15,000 times from search engines and word-of-mouth.

Creative, unorthodox marketing.  I specialize in bringing new concepts to the table (things they don't teach you in business school).

This example is a good ice-breaker, but if an employer hits the 'home' button on a day where I talk about sex, mormons, idiots or anything else offensive, I'm done for.

Feedback from twitter says 'don't do it.'

...but I am torn.  Most businesses don't understand Social Media Marketing, and SEO is an unknown abbreviation.  My blog proves I'm damn-good at marketing a brand (in this case, the Brand of Brandon) but the topics covered aren't exactly of a 'professional' nature...

What do you think?  Some people blog about business, some about their social life, some blog about anything and everything.  Would YOU list your blog on a resume, if you thought it showed off one of your unique skills?

Or are you like me, where maybe the writing isn't exactly work appropriate?

Why I Use StumbleUpon (and why you should too...)

Do you stumble?

You should.

If you have a blog, a website, a business, or do any online marketing, stumbleupon is a fantastic way to not only drive traffic to you, but also show you amazing content related to your interests.

My user name is lostinidaho (yeah, original.  I know) and I use stumbleupon to not only promote my blog, but to also see what else is out there.  I have learned web design tips (see that slide show near the top?  It's a jquery slider I discovered whilst stumbling...), as well as found other bloggers and humorous sites.

It is a neat little research tool, and can become highly addictive.

From an optimization standpoint, stumbleupon also helps you build links back to your site, which is SEO gold.  Granted, you ideally want links from multiple sources, but SU is a great source to use.  Every time someone stumbles one of your pages (or you stumble yourself) you get linked.

Links add up.

And you get added to the SU directory in whatever category your pages get tagged in.  Talk about Sexuality?  There's a tag for that.  Hockey?  There's a tag for that.

When people stumble their interests, they can stumble into you.  If they like what they see, they 'like' you.  Like facebook, the more likes the better, and the higher up in the rankings you go.  All of this results in more traffic, fresh faces, and ultimately (if you produce good content) a higher popularity of your site.

As far as social media goes, I would consider stumbleupon one of the top four sites to use for increasing traffic (along with facebook, twitter (if applicable to your site) and youtube).  This handy dandy chart will show you some top social media sites along with their strengths and weaknesses.  Find out what works best for you, and use the corresponding sites.

*from cmo.com*  Click for full-size

As a blogger, if it has 3 or more green fields, I try to use it.  If you learn what to use and when, you'll be able to boost your site into internet immortality.

At least, that's the plan...


Edit:  My day in a sentence asked what kind of results I have seen thanks to stumbleupon.  Well, the proof is in the pudding.  Here is a screenshot of my all-time referral sites.  Yes, google is king, but stumbling works (moreso than twitter...)

Now click that happy 'S' below and stumble this post!  Make sure to follow me as well, so I can find you easily and stumble your posts as well!

I've come a long way, baby

Recently I have felt like super blogger man.  I am averaging about 300 page views daily now, which feels monumental.  My follower list keeps growing, my viewership is rising, and I consistently get a good amount of comments from my readers.

(Although, it seems like I get more comments when I post more controversial topics.  Maybe a little more pot-stirring in the near future?)

I am happy with my stats.  I started blogging in late January, and hit 25k viewers this morning.  My stats tell me I'm averaging about 8,000 viewers over a 30 day period now, and that average increases by about 50 a day.

Yes, I am finally feeling like a 'big boy.'

And then, I found a way to burst my own bubble.

I was on a blog that I follow almost every day.  I'm not going to name her, because I don't want to come across as resentful.  (I don't think she reads my lil blog anyway, so meh...)  I came across her page for people who want to advertise on her blog, and she starts rattling off stats.

She gets about 400k viewers a month.  That equates to over 13k a day.  She gets more people looking at her blog in a day than I do in a month.

Instant deflation of erection.  I think it may have even turtled...

Granted, she's been doing it for years.  She is an amazing writer.  She hosts multiple sites.  She is, quite literally, an internet rockstar.

And I want that.

one day, I will wear this shirt with pride...

I am happy with where I am so far.  With the right SEO, and with the right motivation, I will grow into a beast of a blogger.  And that's the plan.  I want to have 1,000's of people reading what I have to say.  I'm an entertainer, and I love to entertain.  Those 580+ following me right now are following me for a reason (I hope).

For those 'heavy hitters' out there that read my blog, are there any tips you can give me?  This is where I open myself up for criticism.

What am I doing right?
What am I doing wrong?
What can I do better?
What will help keep me growing?

This post is like a report card.  A performance review.  And all of you are the teachers.

Critique me.  Let me know what you do (and do not) like.  Help me.

Sunday Silliness: SEO and Super Mario

I didn't even have a lot of time to celebrate hitting my 400th follower, because all of a sudden I blinked and was at 403.  This latest milestone made me smile.

A few people ask how I do it.  Simple, I network, and I make sure my blog can easily be found.

I have had dozens find me through google alone.  If you look at my traffic referrals, google is easily my overall #1 source.

One thing that helps a lot are my images.  I make sure to name my image files with clear and easy to find names now.   It took me a while to start doing this.  If you look at my first post, the image files are names 'images' or 'idaho2newlarger.jpeg.'  Not exactly things people search for.

Now, if people look for Charlie Sheen pictures with his army of assassins, or funny meth pictures, or 'derp' faces, I'm there.  Taco trucks, dj's, evil kittehs, I'm there.  And every little bit helps. If you look at more recent stats, you can see specific images that people find, and the broad keyword searches they use to find me.

To my first 400+, I thank you.  I look forward to growing with you, and hope to grow to 1,000 and beyond with your support.

Almost as an afterthought, here is the mandatory goofiness for the weekend.  The song seems appropriate, and this vid combines one of my favorite bands with one of my favorite video games.  Enjoy the show!

Thanks again.  Much love.

SEO

So I google'd myself yesterday.  I do this from time to time, because I know a little about Search Engine Optimization, and want to see if my blog is gaining any popularity on the search engine charts.

It doesn't help that I have a common name.  My Own Private Idaho is a song from the B-52's, the name of a movie, and a lot of people use it.  I have dabbled with more unique names (Spuds and Meth came to mind) but haven't found anything I really liked yet.

Yesterday was the first day I actually found positive results from google.  I typed in "Mormon Discrimination in Idaho" and I was on the first page, like 5 results down.  I typed in "Idaho Coffee Culture" and I was #1.   Granted, these aren't major searches, but it's nice to see your name in a list of search results, especially on the #1 slot.

That's when I noticed that my Valentine's blog helped get me google results as well.  People were searching for the Steve Irwin val:  "Crickey, you got me in the heart" and 2 people were referred to my blog because of it.  Woo!

I'm close to 275 followers now.  I was averaging 250-300 views a day last week, and now I'm down to 175-225.  I want to inject some life into this blog, and keep it climbing....

I ask you, my audience... What do you think of a name change?  I like MOPI, but something more original would help me climb the google ladder...  And do you work on improving your blog's search engine results?  I'd love to hear from you.