B is for Blogs Blogging

Whatever your interest and passions are, you are likely to find a blog on the topic. Since the early 2000s, there has been an exponential rise of blogs which are now well established within the online space.

Why read?

Blogs from respected authors, industry experts, people are passionate about their field can:

• Provide insights and perspectives
• Keep you up to date with trends
• Stimulate your thinking
• Help you learn from their experiences and expertise
• Help you connect with people who share the same interests

Where to find them?

There are lots of places where you can find content (Linkedin, Huffington Post, Forbes, Google) and tools and platforms you can use to find and curate content. I am no expert in this field and am sharing some of the ones (they are pretty basic) that I use:

• Manually by doing a search (then creating a list of your favourites which you can then later subscribe to)
• When you find content you like, you can save it on apps such as Pocket and use tags to easily find articles/ images later
• Get recommendations from your networks and see who your peers / like-minded people are following
• Use an RSS feed – for example if you find a blogger whose work you like, you can subscribe to their blogs so each time a new blog is published you will automatically receive it
• Create Twitter lists or subscribe to lists created by others
• Subscribe to newsletters, updates, alerts , for example, I subscribe to Strategy & which enables me to stay current with their latest insights
• Use a content curation platform such as Storify, Feedly, Scoop.It which you can have basic use for free

Blogging

I wrote my first blog on 29 Nov 2010 and in the following month sent my first Tweet!

Having a record (whether it is a personal journal or an online blog) enables you to see your progress and the journey that you made…and that’s learning and development in itself!

I find that writing takes time. I am not someone who could just sit and write a blog and post it. I have do several iterations, leave it for while and then come back and look at it with fresh eyes.

Begin by writing for yourself, about things that you are interested in and keep writing. You will soon develop your own style and learn more about the art of writing for the web.

Writing can help you learn by:

• Putting your thoughts and ideas into sentences and paragraphs, means that you have to organise and structure them
• Broadens your knowledge through learning new things, for example, you may need to do some research to find some evidence to support your viewpoint or perspective
• Through refining and editing you are making judgements, evaluating, interpreting, reflecting… and hence enhancing your critical thinking skills
• Building your professional network as you engage with your readers e.g through discussions. You can build followers/ supporters/ a tribe, communities of practice…and learn from each other through sharing perspectives, knowledge, ideas, insights…
• Doing the above helps to build your online presence, brand and establish your authority in that topic/ field. You are seen as the ‘go to’ person for that subject…and to maintain this means keeping updated, writing, sharing, having a voice

Would love you to share your tips with fellow readers on:

1. Which blogs do you read or bloggers do you follow and why?
2. Where do you find content and what tools, apps, platforms do you use?

Read the rest of the #AtoZofLearning series

A is for Action Learning 

I’m an executive coach, leadership facilitator and learning & development consultant working with leaders to develop the skills and behaviours to inspire performance, drive results and achieve career success. Within organisations, I help to facilitate better conversations, designing learning interventions which deliver practical and lasting solutions aligned to business strategy and goals.

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