Elvis Montero

Me 2.0: I blog, therefore I am

After much thought and anticipation, I finally decided to buy my own domain and fully embrace web 2.0 in all its wondrous splendor. I was a little bit reluctant at first. Why would anyone pay for hosting and a domain name if free blogging services abound? Moreover, why would anyone waste time ranting about nugatory subjects and crowd the web with more needless junk? Do we really need all this pettifogging?

But then, it hit me. It became clearer and clearer as I weighed both the pros and cons of having a full-fledged blog. If I wanted to move forward professionally, I simply had to have my own domain. I had to start blogging seriously.

Before I dwell on and dissuade you from reading my blog ever again, let me just cut to the chase and say: you must have a blog. Simple. It does not matter who you are or what you do for a living. If you are not blogging already, you are in serious trouble.

“What a presumptuous little rat!” It is Ok if you think I am. Nevertheless, I’m going to make a very compelling argument for you to jump on the bandwagon and start your own blogging fest once and for all: if you don’t blog, you belittle your brand. Yes, that’s right. You are, either consciously or unknowingly, damaging your own brand because there’s no easy way for other folks to find you, whoever you are. In this day and age, we are all brands. You. Me. The world. You want folks to find you and do it quickly. You want them to recognize your name and attach a meaning to it.

If I asked you, what is the single most important trait that others come to think of when they hear your name, what would you say? If I Google’d your name today, could I easily find you? I mean, YOU, not another dude with the same name across the globe.

I’m not advocating the expenditure of thousand and thousand of dollars in a PR campaign. Other than companies, who has the time and money to do so? There is, however, a very easy way for you to reach a lot of people with a very low investment: a blog. The importance of blogging has been stated so many times by now (e.g. here, here and here) that it’s just perplexing to see people, regardless of their professional field, not doing it on a regular basis. What are they waiting for?

Ask yourself: do I need a blog? Ponder the question. I think you do.