A personal website is the universal passport of the knowledge society
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Written by admin on August 11, 2008 – 9:08 am
In the past, many people gave their loyalty to an organization in the hope that it would give them lifelong employment and fulfillment. That’s rarely the case anymore, and the implication is that you will need to publish outside the organization so that others will become aware of your abilities.
You must look after yourself today, and your blog or other type of website is a way of saying that you are always open to new opportunities. You should never be too busy to look after your long-term interests.
Get your own URL (website address), because your website should be one of the most permanent things you carry with you throughout your life. You may change careers, houses, or even countries, but your website address and its associated e-mail address shouldn’t change.
E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS
It’s not just Web publishing you should focus on, of course. The more places you can get your name published, the better; so if there are offline magazines or newspapers that will take your copy, so much the better.
Personally, I don’t blog but I’ve been writing a weekly e-mail newsletter called New Thinking for ten years, which I also publish on my website. I follow the same schedule every week and I have never missed an issue. People ask me how I manage to do that. I ask them how they manage to get up on a Monday morning. Do I always feel excited by writing? No. Am I always brimming with ideas? No. I just tell my brain – in a very determined manner – that I must write my newsletter every week. And somehow, regardless of all sorts of problems, I manage to get it published.
Despite the huge increase in spam, I would estimate that 85% of my business results from subscribers to my newsletter. It’s like this: people come to my website; they might read a bit of content; they might think it’s good; and they might intend to come back – but most never do. Now, if I can get them to join a newsletter, well then I can regularly reach them.
Most of my clients spend an average of 12 months as subscribers to my newsletter first before they make an initial contact. That way, they get to know what I’m about and what my particular angle is. Often, what happens is that I get hired by people who are of a like mind to me. They’ve been saying the same things within their organizations and believe that, if they can bring in an outside voice, it will add momentum and credibility to their views.
My e-mail newsletter is a perfect way for me to find the right client. It is a very simple text-only newsletter, as you can see from the image opposite, but it helps me get to work with some of the world’s best organizations, allowing me to charge high fees and deliver real value.
