The Business Blog at Intuitive.com

Dave Taylor has been involved with the online world since 1980 and is recognized globally as an expert on both technical and business issues. He has been published over a thousand times, launched four Internet-related startup companies, has written twenty business and technical books and holds both an MBA and MS Ed. He's a columnist for the Boulder Daily Camera and Linux Journal and frequently appears in other publications both online and in print. Additionally, Dave maintains four weblogs: The Business Blog at Intuitive.com, Ask Dave Taylor, Dave On Film, and GoFatherhood. Based in beautiful Boulder, Colorado, Dave is an award-winning speaker, sought after conference and workshop participant and frequent guest on radio and podcast programs, as well as active member of his community and busy single father to three children.

Journey to Boulder: Job Hunting the Blogger Way

In years past, people relocated because companies moved them, or because word of mouth led to an opportunity across the state or country. My family relocated from England to New York because my Dad wanted to try his luck in America, then we relocated from New York to California when a new assignment pulled him across the country.

Everything changes in the online world, however, and IBM staffer Alan Cheslow's Weblog Journey to Boulder shows just how different the search for employment has become. Cheslow, based in Marietta, Georgia, is sharing the entire sequence of his planned relocation to Boulder, Colorado, from selling his home in Georgia to finding a job and home in Colorado.

He offers two explanations for why he's doing this: "my motivations for creating the blog were because after looking for resources and advice from others and coming up empty-handed I decided I would document my experiences along the way, and from a purely self-serving standpoint I realized that I needed to market both my myself and my home in order to find a new job and sell my house"

When you consider just how many job seekers have a resume as a one-page Web site, then wait and hope that somehow, someone will bump into them and send a query note, this blog-centric approach to a job search(because that's really what Journey to Boulder is all about) is ingenious and by itself should guarantee Cheslow a number of interesting job opportunities.

Alan's not just looking for a job, though, but planning the relocation of his family - and his wife is pregnant too, as he shares on the site. If you haven't moved while pregnant, well, it's a whole 'nother experience and the
logistics (and ability to weather hassles) is dramatically affected. He explains that "part of the approach that I took in my job search was to market myself just as I would market a product in a "real" job. So I took a look at what kinds of tools and techniques I use in my professional life and applied those same things towards my job search. I posted in my blog about the use of CRM tools, but I also used tools like Google Adwords, SEO, banner exchanges, and RSS directories to raise my "personal brand" awareness; and tools like LinkedIn for professional networking."

If you're looking for a product manager or marketing person with lots of online savvy and expertise in Internet and digital media, then do Alan a favor, justify the time he's spending blogging, and check out Journey to Boulder for yourself.

It's no coincidence that AP is running a story this week about how blogging can boost your career; that's what Alan Cheslow has already figured out. If you're doing something interesting business-wise with your own weblog, do let me know about it.

This article was written for New West Network, where it was titled A New Way to Boost Your Career. It is reprinted with permission.

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