You feel destined for a career in business. Maybe you have your dream job all picked out, or maybe you’re still deciding whether your calling is in finance, accounting, international relations or human resources. You’ve either started or you’re considering a business education to boost your resume and qualify you for more jobs and promotions, and now you want to know what else you can do to advance your career. Social networking and blogging can be excellent strategies for giving yourself a head start when you graduate.

Networking is the Name of the Game

Your degree, experience and skills are important in landing a job, and you need to extensively search through databases, write and revise your cover letter and review your resume. Ultimately, though, your contacts are most likely to lead you to jobs. Traditionally, professional networking happened during conferences and meetings. Now, the playing field for the game of networking is virtual. Online professional networking sites, such as LinkedIn, let you connect with real-life acquaintances and contacts that you meet online.

Social Media to Boost Your Brand

Social media provide additional opportunities to increase your network and make yourself a known quantity. Twitter is an easy tool for frequent updates on your accomplishments and endeavors. Conversely, you can also use Twitter to follow leaders in the business industry and keep up with the latest developments. Blogs, or web logs, are like online journals. They are excellent choices for communicating thoughts that do not fit into the 140-character limit of tweets on Twitter.

Benefits of Blogging

A good blog can put you ahead. Here are a few ideas to consider.

Well-written blog posts demonstrate that you are a literate person who knows how to communicate clearly and effectively. This should impress your readers, who hopefully include potential future employers.

The content of your blog can turn out to be an advantage. For example, you can write about your experiences while pursuing your online bachelor degree. Readers will admire your tenacity and can suggest advice if they have had similar experiences.

Readers can post public comments to your blog and stimulate discussion. This gives you the opportunity to answer their questions and to ask your own questions.

Tips for Your Blog

Anyone can start a blog, and these tips can make your blog more readable and popular.

Network: Search for bloggers who have similar goals and topics as you, and introduce yourself. Exchange blog posts with other bloggers, and seek additional guest bloggers, such as company employees or experts in your field, to contribute to your blog.

Improve the Layout: Your blog needs to be physically easy to read. Nobody wants to strain to read small print or navy blue font on a black background. Make the font large and distinctive, and archive your posts in sensible categories so that readers can find them.

Use keywords. Think about what your posts are about, and use keywords instead of obscure terms when possible. Avoid keyword stuffing, or the use of keywords solely for the sake of using them.

A bachelor degree is a tremendous step in a business career because it represents your training and work ethic. While working toward your degree, you can enhance your own image in the business world by using social media and blogging about your experiences. These efforts can increase your professional connections and provide opportunities to exchange advice with your colleagues.