Blogging.
It seemed only a few years ago that I started my first blog when I was a teenager. At that time, I thought it would be pretty fun, and since my friends were all getting into it, I tried it too. There weren't any insightful or interesting posts when I first started blogging. All I posted were mostly regular updates about my life or my interests (which usually had something to do with gaming and movies).
But in all honesty, nobody really wants to read a blog that only contains entries about someone's mundane life. There are blogs dedicated to that, of course, but these days, blogs are more than just an online journal. Blogs can be used as a brand, as a platform to publish creative works, or as a tool to get your voice out in the vast internet landscape.
In this post, I list out the five top reasons which I feel a blog can be helpful to journalists, or aspiring journalists (like me) in their career.
1) Unique Voice
When I think of interesting entertainment or gaming news, I think of articles that really stand out and bring a new opinion or angle to a story. Sometimes, these articles even have a unique way of writing or a unique style that puts itself above the rest. For someone like me, who aspires to me a "game journalist", this is really important, and a blog would help me (and others like me) to find my unique voice.
Writing blog posts regularly is basically practicing writing. The more you write, the better you get, and as you continue writing, you start to find a unique style of writing that best suits you, and accurately reflects who you are. This "voice" is crucial in differentiating yourself from others, and is what makes you noteworthy. This will, in turn, hopefully get you noticed just before you step into the industry.
2) Brand Recognition
This second point is somewhat related to the point above. With a proper blog, the articles you write make up the blog's theme. My blog would probably be mostly about gaming news, articles about games, and game reviews from time to time.
Why is this important? Well, in my opinion, having a theme for your blog represents your strengths and your interests. Usually, people would write about what they like or what they're good at writing about in their own blogs. For example, a person who is really interested in writing political news article would probably write everything to do with politics in their blog, instead of sports news. Of course, one can like both of those things. In that case, writing about both in their blog would be good as well.
But if you know that your strengths lie in a certain kind of article, then you should continue to focus on that, in order to create sort of a "brand" for yourself. You want people to visit your blog and go "wow, this person knows what they're talking about". This also makes your posts more credible, a very important factor for journalists. If you were to be writing about something that you dislike or are not interested in, it can reflect in your articles, making them sound dull. And when this happens, it doesn't put yourself in a good light.
3) Awareness
Similar to most jobs, having a portfolio would boost your chances of landing a job as a journalist, or a writing job. Having a blog would be a huge benefit in this case, as you can list your blog in your portfolio.
Writing articles and putting them up on a blog means that you're effectively putting your work online for the world to see. This creates awareness and traffic to your blog, which would mean that your articles are being read by strangers. You reach out to a wider audience, which is a useful tool to have at your disposal as a journalist.
As more people read your posts, some of the readers might leave comments. These comments may be helpful as constructive criticism, or as a healthy discussion topic regarding a certain article. This might, in turn, improve your writing, or it could generate even more traffic to your blog, significantly increasing your reach. Either way, it would help in your future career.
4) Meet industry professionals
As your blog grows and you become more proficient in writing and in your field (be it sports news, gaming news, political news, or anything along those lines), industry professionals may eventually run into your blog and read your articles.
If they like what they see, you may be contacted by them, or have a chance to contact them. This would help immensely in your growing career. For instance, if you're like me and you write about gaming news, you might get to meet people who are considered "famous" in the field. This could be someone from a popular game developer, or someone who plays games for a living, notably YouTubers like Markiplier or Pewdiepie.
And if you're lucky, they might be willing to grant you an interview or give you an insider's scoop about an upcoming game, or just about the industry in general. Such key information and such a golden opportunity is hard to come by, and would definitely aid in your career.
5) Your blog could be your business
Lastly, a blog could turn into a small business if it gets sufficient traffic and awareness. You could get a sponsorship from a big company to write an article for them, and generate revenue through ads on your blog.
In recent years, being a "blogger" can be considered a proper job and can support oneself, if the blog is popular enough. It would probably take some time before you get there, but it can definitely happen. And even if you already have a desk job as a journalist, your blog can generate some side income.
Based on everything above, a blog definitely has the potential to kickstart your career in journalism. However, that's not to say that it only applies to journalism. The benefits of a blog definitely apply to other jobs as well.
So if you haven't started a blog yet, now might be a good time to start!
It seemed only a few years ago that I started my first blog when I was a teenager. At that time, I thought it would be pretty fun, and since my friends were all getting into it, I tried it too. There weren't any insightful or interesting posts when I first started blogging. All I posted were mostly regular updates about my life or my interests (which usually had something to do with gaming and movies).
But in all honesty, nobody really wants to read a blog that only contains entries about someone's mundane life. There are blogs dedicated to that, of course, but these days, blogs are more than just an online journal. Blogs can be used as a brand, as a platform to publish creative works, or as a tool to get your voice out in the vast internet landscape.
In this post, I list out the five top reasons which I feel a blog can be helpful to journalists, or aspiring journalists (like me) in their career.
1) Unique Voice
When I think of interesting entertainment or gaming news, I think of articles that really stand out and bring a new opinion or angle to a story. Sometimes, these articles even have a unique way of writing or a unique style that puts itself above the rest. For someone like me, who aspires to me a "game journalist", this is really important, and a blog would help me (and others like me) to find my unique voice.
Writing blog posts regularly is basically practicing writing. The more you write, the better you get, and as you continue writing, you start to find a unique style of writing that best suits you, and accurately reflects who you are. This "voice" is crucial in differentiating yourself from others, and is what makes you noteworthy. This will, in turn, hopefully get you noticed just before you step into the industry.
2) Brand Recognition
This second point is somewhat related to the point above. With a proper blog, the articles you write make up the blog's theme. My blog would probably be mostly about gaming news, articles about games, and game reviews from time to time.
Why is this important? Well, in my opinion, having a theme for your blog represents your strengths and your interests. Usually, people would write about what they like or what they're good at writing about in their own blogs. For example, a person who is really interested in writing political news article would probably write everything to do with politics in their blog, instead of sports news. Of course, one can like both of those things. In that case, writing about both in their blog would be good as well.
But if you know that your strengths lie in a certain kind of article, then you should continue to focus on that, in order to create sort of a "brand" for yourself. You want people to visit your blog and go "wow, this person knows what they're talking about". This also makes your posts more credible, a very important factor for journalists. If you were to be writing about something that you dislike or are not interested in, it can reflect in your articles, making them sound dull. And when this happens, it doesn't put yourself in a good light.
3) Awareness
Similar to most jobs, having a portfolio would boost your chances of landing a job as a journalist, or a writing job. Having a blog would be a huge benefit in this case, as you can list your blog in your portfolio.
Writing articles and putting them up on a blog means that you're effectively putting your work online for the world to see. This creates awareness and traffic to your blog, which would mean that your articles are being read by strangers. You reach out to a wider audience, which is a useful tool to have at your disposal as a journalist.
As more people read your posts, some of the readers might leave comments. These comments may be helpful as constructive criticism, or as a healthy discussion topic regarding a certain article. This might, in turn, improve your writing, or it could generate even more traffic to your blog, significantly increasing your reach. Either way, it would help in your future career.
4) Meet industry professionals
As your blog grows and you become more proficient in writing and in your field (be it sports news, gaming news, political news, or anything along those lines), industry professionals may eventually run into your blog and read your articles.
If they like what they see, you may be contacted by them, or have a chance to contact them. This would help immensely in your growing career. For instance, if you're like me and you write about gaming news, you might get to meet people who are considered "famous" in the field. This could be someone from a popular game developer, or someone who plays games for a living, notably YouTubers like Markiplier or Pewdiepie.
And if you're lucky, they might be willing to grant you an interview or give you an insider's scoop about an upcoming game, or just about the industry in general. Such key information and such a golden opportunity is hard to come by, and would definitely aid in your career.
5) Your blog could be your business
Lastly, a blog could turn into a small business if it gets sufficient traffic and awareness. You could get a sponsorship from a big company to write an article for them, and generate revenue through ads on your blog.
In recent years, being a "blogger" can be considered a proper job and can support oneself, if the blog is popular enough. It would probably take some time before you get there, but it can definitely happen. And even if you already have a desk job as a journalist, your blog can generate some side income.
Based on everything above, a blog definitely has the potential to kickstart your career in journalism. However, that's not to say that it only applies to journalism. The benefits of a blog definitely apply to other jobs as well.
So if you haven't started a blog yet, now might be a good time to start!
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