Enhancing my profile as a technical person Jul16 '07

Lately I feel I need to associate this blog with a category or "genre" of classification, such as "tech news," "mac nerdery," etc.

This goes back to my ideas for blog slogans. The site name is almost not enough - you need to have a brief description as well, to let viewers know what you're site is about.

Funny thing is - when I stop to think of it, I can't really decide exactly what category this site would fall under.

It's a personal blog. I write about anything that comes to mind. I don't want to "classify" my site under a specific category, because then I feel that limits what I can write about in the future.

But I do tend to write more about certain things. Here is a short list of various topics I discuss:

• Web apps that change the way we communicate, work, or live.
• Desktop and web-based software that helps eliminate redundancy in our daily workflow.
• Tips and tutorials on web development techniques, unique software tricks, or general reviews on a service or application.
• Organizational skills that are needed in a digital world of databases, files, folders, etc.
• Metaphorical posts about achieving the right balance of "work" and "life."
• Musical tastes, interests, and personal instrumental recordings.
• Sports!

I'm sure there are dozens more topics, but this is what pops in my head at the moment.

As you can see, trying to narrow down my posts into one category is quite difficult.

This is why I've never had a description associated with this site.

Generic descriptions

I could add a generic, or broad description, such as:

"Open ended discussion about anything that pops into my head."

... but that's just lame. It's too broad. To the average viewer coming from Google, what does that description mean? Would that description make them want to subscribe to my RSS feeds for future updates? Probably not.

But "matthom" is arbitrary too. What does "matthom" mean? Absolutely nothing to the occasional visitor.

My personal profile as a technical person

This is why I've focused much of my energy on sites that I contribute to, such as Pain in the Tech. There, I have a defined role, and people coming to the site know that, as a contributing author, I write about technical things. Therefore, I'm enhancing my "personal profile" as a technical person - a technical writer. A "guru."

My blog doesn't really enhance that personal profile. It's kind of just a brain dump of thoughts and ideas.

I'm almost considering applying for a world-renowned technical site like ZDNet. There, as a contributing writer, I'd have a strong profile to others in the industry. If they see my name, they may think: "Oh, that's the guy who writes for ZDNet about Apple iPhones." (That's just an example. I don't want to write about iPhones.)

Either that, or we push Pain in the Tech to a more notable status, hire some new writers, and really make a strong impression in the tech industry.

My blog provides utmost freedom

Overall, I like my personal blog because it gives me the utmost freedom with:

• The topics I write about.
• The design and functionality of the site.

I wouldn't get this freedom as a contributing author on most sites. I'd be stuck in a template that behaves the way it was built. Future enhancements would require "upgrading" the template, and still you're stuck with what they give you.

Seems like I'm running in circles...

Categories: Blogging , Industry , Personal

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