Making your Online Presence Professional and Personal

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays!

Before the New Year, take a chance to think about how you're going to improve your online presence, not only for professional reasons, but also to showcase personal achievements as well. Personally, one of my resolutions is to create my own blog. While it may seem like a daunting task, with a little bit of research, I've outlined some tips on how you can get started.

• Figure out which site you want to host your blog. The majority of sites use WordPress, but there are also easy posting sites such as Tumblr and Blogger depending on what your needs are.
  
• Brand yourself through the blog's title. Make it unique, something that can only relate to yourself and will make your stand out. It can be something related to one of your hobbies, your location, etc.
  
• If you are using your blog for purely professional reasons, be sure to include an "About Me" page to give a little background on yourself. You can link back to other social networking sites you are on such as LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.
  
• Put original content in their designated pages on your site. You can include different pages for recommendations, writing samples, your resume, etc. Make sure they are updated and the files work correctly.
  

Do you have your own blog? What are your words of wisdom?