白領怎樣通過博客打造職業品牌

When a friend suggested that he write a blog, Joel Backaler saw it as a good opportunity to share some of his most interesting stories about working as a consultant in China. One of his clients, for example, was the chief executive officer of a state-owned chemical company who lived in a province renowned for hand-pulled noodles. The CEO had a passion for noodles, so he ended up opening a chain of fast-food noodle houses that would offer jobs to laid-off factory workers.

當一位朋友建議在中國做諮詢師的周樂達(Joel Backaler)開博客時，他將其視爲分享自己工作中一些最有意思的故事的好機會。比方說，周樂達有一位客戶曾是一家國有化工企業的老總，居住在一個因拉麪而聞名的省份。這位老總對面條情有獨鍾，後來他開了一家賣麪條的連鎖快餐店，爲工廠下崗職工提供就業崗位。

'I was surrounded by so many great stories to write about, but I never had an outlet to write about what I was learning through work. It was a passion project,' says Mr. Backaler, who would regularly wake up at 4 a.m. and post new articles to his blog 'The China Observer,' before going to the office. He'd also blog on weekends and on holidays.

周樂達說：“我身邊可寫的精彩故事多極了，但以前沒有地方可以讓我把自己在工作中瞭解到的東西寫下來。寫博客是作爲愛好。”周樂達清晨四點會按時起牀，在他的博客“中國觀察者”(The China Observer)上發佈新文章，然後再去辦公室。他還會利用週末和假日寫博客。

His hard work paid off. Within months, Mr. Backaler became a quoted authority on business in China. His articles were linked to by well-known industry blogs, and he was asked to write on international business topics for Forbes and BusinessWeek. He was also offered a full-time job in 2011 to start up Asian-Pacific operations for the Frontier Strategy Group, a Washington, D.C.-based advisory firm. Mr. Backaler is now working on a book about the rise of Chinese companies in overseas markets for Palgrave Macmillan entitled 'China Goes West.'

他的努力獲得了回報。短短几個月內，周樂達就成爲被廣泛援引的中國商務權威。他的文章被知名行業博客轉載，他還應《福布斯》(Forbes)和《商業週刊》(BusinessWeek)之約撰寫有關國際商務的文章。此外，2011年他獲得了一份全職工作，爲總部位於華盛頓的諮詢公司前沿策略集團(Frontier Strategy Group)開拓亞太業務。周樂達目前在爲帕爾格雷夫麥克米倫出版社(Palgrave Macmillan)寫一本有關中國公司在海外市場崛起的書，書名叫《中國走向西方》(China Goes West)。

In the current competitive job climate, hard work alone doesn't always get noticed, say career experts. Good employees are getting passed up for new opportunities because companies may not be aware of their full capabilities. That's where branding can be used to promote your value to your busy bosses, peers and anybody else that can help you from inside and outside the company. Through a coordinated networking, social-media and blogging effort, you can become the go-to specialist in your field.

職業生涯專家表示，在當前競爭激烈的就業環境中，僅靠努力工作不一定能贏得關注。優秀的員工會與新機遇失之交臂，因爲公司可能不瞭解他們的全部能力。要解決這個問題，可以通過塑造個人品牌向你繁忙的老闆、同儕以及公司內外能助你一臂之力的其他人推介你的價值。通過建立人脈、使用社交媒體和寫博客等手段的協調運用，你可以成爲你所在領域內權威的專家。

First, think strategically. How do you want to be perceived by the world? You should choose a unique specialty to promote that is not based on any other brands, says Dan Schawbel, a workplace expert from Boston and author of 'Promote Yourself: The New Rules of Career Success.' 'Instead of being a LinkedIn expert, you could become a LinkedIn expert for baby boomers. It's important to find your own niche that sets you apart from your peers.'

首先，要戰略性地思考。你希望世界怎樣看待你？波士頓的職場專家、《自我推介：職場成功新規則》(Promote Yourself: The New Rules of Career Success)一書作者丹・施瓦貝爾 (Dan Schawbel)表示，你應該選擇一種不建立在任何其他品牌基礎上的獨特專長來推介。他說：“不要去做LinkedIn專家，你可以做面向嬰兒潮一代的LinkedIn專家。找出讓你與衆不同的獨門專長是非常重要的。”

Fill any knowledge or skill gaps. Especially if you're looking to advance, ask for honest feedback from co-workers. You may find that you need to shift to a different functional area within the company, for example, to get that international assignment that you want, says Dorie Clark, a branding and management consultant from Somerville, Mass., and author of 'Reinventing You.'

彌補信息和能力空白。請向你的同事徵詢誠實的反饋意見，這一點在你尋求職業發展時尤爲重要。馬薩諸塞州薩默維爾(Somerville)的品牌和管理顧問、《自我再投資》(Reinventing You)一書作者多裏・克拉克(Dorie Clark)稱，比方說，你也許會發現，要想得到你想望的那個派駐海外的機會，你需要轉到公司的另一個職能部門。

Don't be self-conscious. It's OK to promote your accomplishments. Bragging can be a good way to increase visibility. Just don't make self-promotion the only thing that you tweet or blog about, says Mr. Schawbel. You want to attract new readers by becoming a resource or mentor for colleagues and by reaching out and participating in online discussions in company forums or in LinkedIn groups.

不要難爲情。推介你取得的成就是合情合理的。自誇是一種讓你更受關注的好辦法。施瓦貝爾說，只要不讓自我推銷成爲你微博或博客的唯一內容就可以了。要想吸引新讀者，你可以做同事們的信息源或導師，還可以伸出觸角，加入公司論壇或LinkedIn小組的在線討論。

Blog regularly. It may seem old-fashioned when compared with Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, but blogging is the best way to showcase what you do and how you think-especially if you are a knowledge worker known for your ideas.

定期寫博客。與Facebook、推特(Twitter)和Pinterest相比，博客也許顯得有點過時，但寫博客是展示你做了些什麼以及你如何思考的最佳方式──如果你是以一位創意見長的腦力勞動者更是尤其適合。

If you make the effort to blog, you are setting yourself apart and showing that you are a thought leader in your company or your field, as opposed to being just a commodity, says Ms. Clark. 'You don't want to be a commodity, since there's somebody out there, literally, that's willing to do your job for $3 an hour. You have to provide a compelling reason why you're worth the money. Otherwise, it's a race to the bottom.'

克拉克說，如果你努力去寫博客，你就會讓自己與衆不同，顯示出你是你所在公司或業內一位有思想的領導者，而不僅僅是一件花錢就可買到的商品。她說：“你不能成爲一件花錢就可買到的商品，因爲真的會有人願意以每小時三美元的價錢做你的工作。你必須要給出有力的理由，證明你爲什麼值這個錢。否則你就會陷入競次的困局。”

It's important to establish your brand outside of your company since that can help you get recognized from within, says Ms. Clark. 'So if you're being asked to speak as an expert by media and winning awards for your blog, that may compel the powers that be at your company to re-evaluate you.'

克拉克說，在你所在的公司外部建立個人品牌是很重要的，因爲這能夠幫助你獲得內部的認可。他表示：“如果你受媒體之邀作爲專家講話，或者博客獲了獎，這就有可能會促使你所在公司的管理者重新評估你的價值。”

Writing credibly takes research which keeps you on top of trends. It's also is an opportunity to mention blogging to your boss at key moments. If something that you blogged about is mentioned in a meeting, you can drop in that you wrote about that topic, which would highlight mastery of the strategic elements of a job that you want.

要想把博客寫得令人信服，就需要做研究，確保自己處於行業的前沿。這也是一個在關鍵時刻向你的老闆提及你寫博客這件事的機會。如果你在博客中寫過的某件事在會議上被提及，你可以順便說說你寫過這個問題，這會凸顯出你對於自己想做的那項工作中的戰略元素是有把握的。

Don't stagnate. Be proactive with your brand. You may need to reinvent yourself multiple times to keep up with shifting industry trends and changes to your career fortunes, like recovering from a layoff.

不要止步不前。要積極推廣你的品牌。要想跟上不斷變化的行業趨勢，適應職業命運的變化（比如從裁員中恢復），你可能需要多次對自己進行再投資。

Make the best of your situation. Even if you're in a job that you don't like, you can continue to broadcast your expertise through social media and your blog and use that experience to flush out new opportunities.

儘可能地利用現有條件。即使你在做一份自己不喜歡的工作，你也可以通過社交媒體和博客不斷展示你的專長，並利用這一工作經歷來創造新的機會。

No surprises. Tell your boss what you plan to do. You don't want him or her to stumble on your blog accidentally and find that you've been posting 1,000-word stories throughout the day when you should be working, says Mr. Schawbel. It helps to get your boss's sanction. He or she may even make it part of your job. Otherwise, do it outside of work.

與老闆適時溝通。讓老闆瞭解你的計劃。施瓦貝爾稱，不要讓老闆無意中讀到你的博客，發現你花了一整天時間寫了一篇1,000字的博文，而這個時間你本應該在工作。得到老闆的認可會有所助益。老闆甚至有可能讓寫博客成爲你的工作內容。否則的話，就還在工作之餘寫博客吧。