Tag: Writing

Nope. You aren’t required to write about the media events you go to. There was no obligation to in the first place, but of course it would be nice if you did. I guess in traditional publishing, writing an article or including a press release would have more to do with having real estate space for that sort of thing or it also would have to do with “sucking up” to a client (the sad case in Philippine media) …

In fact, this “non requirement” was reinforced with insights from a publicist friend who finds it an embarrassing practice to follow up TV, radio, and print media companies because it sounds too much like a hard sell, and on a personal level, downright annoying to the editorial team. You end up sounding like a wet market vendor or a stock broker at his game (not that I have anything against stock brokers or vendors). Going this far may even destroy sincere relationships, as they may have been made under false pretenses.

I like writing about the events I attend because it helps in the long tail end of things. Certain keywords are added to my site which I otherwise would not even have if I didn’t go to the event. Since blogs have unlimited real estate anyway and the cost of one post is really more about time spent writing, I say go and write about that fantastic event you went to.

Posting a block quoted press release isn’t the nicest of things to do though. It shows, a least for me, that the event wasn’t so great as it took someone else’s copywriting skills to create a canned writeup of the event. Press releases are tools for information and quality control, especially in print. But this is a blog, and being so, a free-er environment to express your thoughts about events that you attended.

For me it was about ten days ago and boy does it change. I guess when I first “formally” entered the blogosphere in 2003 I didn’t really care much to write an “about me” page as my readers, who were mostly from school + my then girlfriend already knew who I was and what I was doing.

But since one of the purposes of blogging is to help complement your career, especially for those who live prolific online lives, it would be nice to check on your ABOUT ME page every now and then.

Here are a few things that your ABOUT page can have:

1. Your (vague) contact details. I don’t place my cellphone number, but I do place my work email in case people want to reach me. I’ve been getting emails from people here with the first line saying “I’ve been looking for your contact information but could not find it so I searched around and found it on (insert blog title here). Hope you don’t mind.”

2. Some info on who pays your salary. At least vaguely describe what you do for a living. It helps with the whole credibility bit.

3. Links. Not a lot of links, but links nonetheless. On the web, it still helps to see the people and organizations you are connected to.

4. A profile picture. Either you put your face or an avatar that’s consistent to your personality.

ABOUT pages are tricky in a way because its your chance to keep a static page to brag about what you’ve accomplished. So yes it is tricky, trying to ensure that you want to remain credible without blowing up your head. My about page is a little wordy, but I guess its because I love to tell the story of how I fell in love with this industry.

Here’s a question. Would it be too much if you ALWAYS updated your about page, like say once a week? I guess over-updating it can be a bit weird, in the same way how people try to pimp their own Friendster profiles day in and out.