Blogger Appreciation Day on LinkedIn April 14, 2008
Posted by Andy Roberts in : blog action day , trackbackHere’s a suggestion from Scott Allen for Blogger Appreciation Day ( cf: Problogger) which might make sense if being a blogger is an important part of one’s identity:
Put your blog down as a separate job on your LinkedIn profile
I’m going to do that today.
Blogger Appreciation Day April 14
Here are a couple of ideas on how to implement this with LinkedIn:1. Connect with the bloggers you know. Now just because you read someone’s blog doesn’t mean they know you well enough to feel comfortable connecting on LinkedIn. If you do know each other well, just send a LinkedIn invitation (remember to personalize it — make it your thank-you message). If you’re not sure about it, contact them via email first and ask them if they’d like to connect.
2. Give them a recommendation. Show your appreciation publicly — put it on their profile. Be specific and relevant — don’t just gush. Be sure to read Naina Redhu’s LinkedIn recommendation tips first. Also, I generally recommend that people put their blog as a separate position on their profile, unless it’s an integral part of their primary job. If the bloggers you’re connected to haven’t done that, you might like to suggest that to them so that you can make a recommendation in the context of their blog rather than their primary job.
Possible objections might be that it might not look right to potential employers or that it’s bending the rules of LinkedIn, but then I would retort that most bloggers would have a prominent link on their profile anyway and that maintaining a blog is indeed an important part, if not THE most important part of the modern ‘portfolio career’ way of life which spans a number of different positions and income streams at any one time.
Will you be putting your blog down as a separate position on LinkedIn? Do let me know if you think it’s a good idea or otherwise, similarly for blogger appreciation day itself 
update:
Here is a list of other fine blogs which are spreading the blogger appreciation day:
- Soho Life
- Des Walsh
- LinkedIntelligence
- Thinking Home Business
- RapProject
- Abundance Highway
- GalaDarling
- WordPress Philippines
- Chrisg.com
- The WWW Blog
- Dr Platypus
- RubyLearning
- Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe
- Problogger
- Room 237
- Left the Box
- Josh Anstey
- Andy Roberts
- Syed Balkhi
- Alex Cristache
- fertile healthy
- Sailu’s Kitchen
- The Core
- The Beta News
- Roni
- Blogsessive
- Ronald Huereca
- Connected Internet
- couchslobs
- websitespeopleread
- davidgiesberg
- Mike Allan
- Tony Kummer
- Punctuality Rules!
- David Cheong
- Thinkjayant
- infodoodads
is an online professional who initiated DARnet 
Thanks for the roundup (and inclusion) Andy.
Your question is really valuable and seems to me to require a “depends” response: e.g. depends on whether what one blogs about and how is appropriate for one’s industry/career aspirations and whether the blogger is reasonably intelligent and has a grasp of what s/he claims to have a grasp of, relevant to the particular industry/ prospective career path. Assuming the answer to those questions are yes, yes and yes, then I would think a smart employer would find the link invaluable.
In my experience a couple of the hardest things to figure out from a cv and/or interview are questions such as: ‘does this person’s value framework/attitude/approach to work and people and responsiblity fit for us?” and ‘can this person communicate effectively?’ With any halfway decent blog an employer should be able to get at least the basis of an answer to each of those questions, well before the interview.
I think having an annual blogging day is a great idea. Not a member at LinkedIn and wouldn’t personally class myself as a professional blogger as I’m just starting out.
I’ve never heard of LinkedIn, I’ll have to check it out. Thanks for the post, and Happy Blogger Appreciation Day!
Thank you very much for the link love. It’s good to see that the initiative is spreading so fast!
I never thought of the linkedin angle though, but it’s a great idea.
I definitely don’t think everyone should list their blog as a separate position. I agree with Des’s criteria, but I’d also add the caveat that if you blog for the company as part of your job, then you probably shouldn’t list it as a separate position.
But if your blog is a personally owned venture, separate from your job, even if complementary, then yes, list it. And by all means, those of us who are portfolio entrepreneurs should list it.
Thanks for the inclusion Andy!
Maybe on the next Unofficial Blogger Appreciation Day you will find your name on my list!
Thanks for the mention
Thank you very much for the inclusion and also for the time spent to build this list. I’m sure everyone appreciates your effort, myself included!
Cheers!