Build Your Profile with Blogging 

Standing out from the crowd can be difficult. Whether you are just beginning your career journey, seeking a career change or perhaps beginning your entrepreneurial venture - it can be hard to know how to build your profile and make opportunities happen for yourself.

This is a feeling I experienced when in my final year of university, right in the middle of the pandemic without a placement year under my belt. I felt the pressure of graduation building, with no professional experience to help kickstart my career.

During my time at university, students were encouraged to write blog posts for the Ulster PR Student Blog Page. This was something that I found very intimidating at first, as I have dyslexia and I thought I wouldn’t be able to articulate my writing. It was only in October of 2020 that I was given a blog post assignment. This gave me the opportunity to write my very first blog and in doing so I surprised myself by how much I enjoyed writing it. The positive feedback I received gave me the motivation to continue blogging. I realised writing blogs could give me an edge, allowing me to create a dynamic portfolio and connect with a broader audience, especially professionals in the PR and Marketing industry.

I decided to start up a blog page as well as posting on the Ulster PR Student Blog, so I created my own PR and lifestyle website. Designing and managing my website using WordPress gave me a platform where I could be creative; writing and publishing blogs to further develop my professional learning whilst sharing my opinions and experiences. Creating this blog page taught me how to produce a website, something I had no previous experience in. This presented a huge learning curve, and I definitely learned how to use it more efficiently along the way.
I was privileged to be included in the PR Academy Top 10 PR Student Blogger of the Year Award 2021. My blog page gave me so much confidence and increased my social presence on online platforms, giving me content and even employment opportunities. 

Blogging is a great way for you to build your profile by establishing an online presence and enhancing your personal brand. Blogging is about sharing your knowledge and expertise. You can have a positive impact as we can all learn from each other’s successes… and mistakes.
Blogging is a powerful tool, creating great content resonates with others and boosts your credibility as a professional, whilst simultaneously engaging with a new community. Writing can also be therapeutic, bringing you personal satisfaction and opening many new doors.
 
My blogging journey led me down many paths but most importantly it grew my love of creativity, marketing and comms which led me to my role at Women in Business. I feel so fortunate to be in a role that I love and am passionate about, sharing member content across the network.

Women in Business are beginning a new series of blogs beginning in January 2024. We are looking for contributors to write for us throughout the year, writing to our audience of women across all sectors from companies large and small in a wide range of roles, such as business owners, students, women in the corporate working world and managerial roles.

We love to help raise the profile of our members and provide informative/ educational blogs for our audiences to read. Whether you are a Corporate, Individual, or Young Women's Network member, this is your chance to boost your presence within the network and beyond. If you are interested in becoming a contributor, please contact me via email at ciara@womeninbusinessni.com