Networking the West with Liz Ryan

Blogging is Networking

By Liz Ryan, 6-17-06

I am very involved with a number of email discussion groups (also known as list-servs), so I was interested to see on one of these list-servs recently, the following question:

"Will blogs replace list-servs as our principal online networking vehicles?"


I don't think this will happen anytime soon, but it's a provocative question. If you blog, and if people spot your blog and follow it, you WILL meet people - mostly other bloggers. But there is good reason to launch a blog, even if you're not looking to amass a readership. Your blog is a great place to point people, when you want to tell them more about yourself than you can squeeze into the typical one- or two-paragraph email message.

Also, a blog shares a lot of what you think about, how you think, and how you write - all good things, assuming you like to write. If writing is very time-consuming for you, or just not fun, you can create audio files instead, and post them on your blog. More about that later!

Lots of novice bloggers use Blogger.com to host their blogs. It's a very simple interface (leave a Comment below if you get stuck somewhere in the process) and it's free. You pick one of the pre-set templates, add your profile, and start posting articles. Pretty simple. I have a Blogger blog, Boulder-Blog.blogspot.com, if you want to get a sense of how your Blogger blog might look. (If you use Blogger, your blog will be called Whateveritscalled.blogspot.com).

Now, you have to cultivate a new habit - when you send someone an email message, add your blog's url to your signature line.
Do it, and tell us what you think!

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