There’s much more to us than dipes and wipes
Lindsay at Suburban Turmoil wrote an excellent post yesterday about blogger outreach - and I use that term loosely - by marketing and PR firms. Likewise, Liz weighed in shortly after BlogHer on the same topic, along with several others.
As Kristen commented at It’s Not A Lecture, we talk to marketing and PR firms via the Parent Bloggers Network every day. Some of them understand the points that Lindsay, Liz, Stefania, and Kelly have made. A lot of them still don’t. We’re working on it.
But in Lindsay’s list of Do’s and Don’ts for blogger outreach, one point jumped out at me:
Many of us don’t talk much about our current or past careers. Some bloggers don’t discuss their employers at all, some are fairly vague, and very few are completely open about what they do and for whom. We’ve seen what can happen.
Even with respect to past careers, many of us keep mum. Sometimes it’s because what we once did would probably be of little interest to our readers. Sometimes it’s because what we once did might be of great interest to our readers (and to online gossip sites). And for a few of us, we really can’t tell you or else we’d have to kill you. Really.
But let’s talk about it anyway. Leave a comment - anonymously if you like - and talk about what you did or what you still do. What makes you proud of your work? What are your accomplishments that you’ve not divulged on your blog? What makes you much more than the person you are on your blog? Who cares if it sounds like you’re bragging; I’m betting that you’ve got a right to do so!
For my part, I’ve written a lot already about my work as a project manager, but I’ll summarize here.
I spent four years as an Air Force communications officer, assigned to the Pentagon. I had a TS/SCI clearance, and I worked with nuclear command and control systems - basically, the communications systems that all four branches of the military use during a nuclear emergency. In my last year, I held a position previously reserved for mid-level captains (with at least four years more experience than I had), supervised more than 80 people, and was the Company Grade Officer of the Year in our agency.
I spent five years as an IT infrastructure project manager at the record company with the largest global market share. I had my own office with a view of the Hudson. I managed IT build-outs in New York, LA, Miami, Atlanta, and a six-story townhouse owned by a label president. I oversaw web site migrations into and out of our data centers. I tried to help labels use emerging technology to minimize opportunities for piracy. I walked job sites, ignored leers, and settled skirmishes between Local 3 electricians and my Communications Workers of America cable pullers. I told a very imposing woman, who worked for even more imposing men with guns, that her label would have to find a new email provider.
How about you? Let’s hear it.
October 16th, 2007 at 6:20 am
I worked for a federal agency whose name EVERYONE recognizes, coordinating their e-government activities. Prior to that I was responsible for that agency’s multi-location library automated system. In my last job I was responsible for producing IT policy documents for another high-profile government agency. I currently do IT management lite (not implementations like you did, but coordination of budget and milestone activities for a third federal agency’s IT initiatives). And, you know, I’m a MOM too — that’s the hardest job I’ll ever have, no lie. So I am not all about the condescending approach.
I don’t include advertising or conduct product reviews on my personal blog, but I’ve experienced a spike in the number of solicitations I get (please link to my commercial blog, please talk about my product, please recommend my service.) It’s interesting to me because it feels like the people soliciting just haven’t done their homework about my site — or maybe they’re just hoping their offer will be SO GOOD that I’ll change the nature of my site and posts.
Let me tell ya, marketers: I’ve not gotten any offer that’s remotely interesting enough to make me reconsider my approach. When there are misspellings in your solicitation, when it’s obvious you know nothing about me or my blog, when I don’t get any follow up to my polite e-mail response — I’m not impressed. Work on it.
October 16th, 2007 at 6:53 am
I loved Linday’s post (and yours!). I allude to my “past,” but here it is — ten years as a radio and TV journalist, law school, eight years practicing law at a large law firm, seven years at a large government agency practicing law and as Deputy Director of Public Affairs at that agency. I’ve covered political conventions and tried large cases in front of judges and juries.
Yup, been in the “high-powered” office with the nice furniture. But I guess with many of these marketers, it doesn’t even matter what we did last week, let alone years ago.
October 16th, 2007 at 7:11 am
Most recently, I spent six years at a popular educational toy company managing direct marketing programs. This means that if I were still there, I’d probably have hired an intern to do blogger outreach
We started our blog to inspire rookie moms to get out of the house with their babies and have more fun. We’re still committed to that, so pitches about movies starring The Rock simply get deleted. Honestly, it’s hard not to feel obligated to respond to these folks, but I force myself to remember that their outreach is just like direct mail. If they get a 2% response, they should be really happy, and I don’t have to be that 2%.
October 16th, 2007 at 8:14 am
Thanks for bringing Lindsay’s post to my attention. As the resident PR flack who routinely reads this blog, I can tell you that many marketing folks are stuck treating moms who write online as a “demographic” and not what they truly are - “opinion elites.”
Even if moms haven’t had distinguished careers outside the home, we know that moms who write and read and participate in discussions online tend to be leaders in their own communities and tend to be more active in the marketplace - both for products and ideas.
But it’s an incredibly important point - many, many women have distinguished themselves in the home, in their communities, AND in the boardroom. And they bring some impressive and important perspectives to the discussions they lead. I think of the bloggers I talk with frequently - you worked in the pentagon, another is a hotshot exec at an ad firm, another two either are or were college faculty, another was a high-ranking government official. Others are moms who haven’t chosen that path, but are nonetheless really smart and have strong opinions.
And ALL of them are entrepreneurial. That’s SO IMPORTANT to stress. Entrepreneurs are discussion drivers and opinion leaders. When I look for bloggers to contact, one of the first questions I ask is, “do they seem like self-starters?”
It goes back to “show me the respect of reading my blog,” I think. You can’t know if someone’s a self-starter or a leader without reading quite a bit, and seeing who comments there, and seeing who they link to, and getting a feel for the larger discussion.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
gosh, I feel another “blogger relations” post coming on…
October 16th, 2007 at 8:52 am
I was an IT project manager for several years based out of Washington, DC. I traveled extensively, including living in LA for 6 months. I worked for a huge consulting firm on projects for large, well known clients. After I left that job, I worked for the phone company, implementing a new billing system. I supervised several layers of programmers and designers and interfaced with the Vice President on a regular basis. I also had to hire and fire people.
I liked the managerial aspects of my job, but never really felt fulfilled. I am often shocked at how people assume that if you stay home with you children you must have never done anything significant prior to that.
I actually left all that several years before I got married and worked with my family at their Day Care Center. This was a rare opportunity to completely change my environment.
I am proud of the work I used to do, but don’t miss it one bit. I know my next career will be very different. I love how my life continues to evolve as I gain insight from each experience.
I agree with David Wescott, because even though I have done these things, I think whether someone has or not, they should be treated respectfully. We all bring our own unique perspective which is a mix of our experiences and opinions.
October 16th, 2007 at 9:46 am
I’m project managing the merger of two national nonprofit organizations.
October 16th, 2007 at 11:13 am
I am a Speech-Language Pathologist who practiced in several different school systems. I worked with children age 3 to 21, with mild to severe disabilties. I’m incredibly proud of my profession, which I have made reference to on my blog. My most important accomplishments, those of which I’m most proud, are the work I did with several non-verbal students with Autism. When I eventually enter the working world again one day, I hope to devote the majority of my time to children with Autism.
Thanks for asking, nobody has asked me about what I used to do for a long time.
October 16th, 2007 at 11:31 am
You know my story (and I have told some of my tales on my blog), but it’s nice to be asked
I spent 8 years as a magazine editor, working up to a senior editor role where I controlled budgets, worked on marquee stories, and ghostwrote a book. Then I became a website producer and editor, developing a brand-new channel (then reinventing it a few more times) for a highly respected company’s site. I still work as an editor for that site and write, as a freelancer, for major magazines and web sites.
October 16th, 2007 at 11:44 am
I was a Managing Editor at a top 25 publisher who began releasing five books to market a year and built up to at least 20 books to market each year. That’s big. I also had good sales, good relations with my authors, and a team of topnotch copyeditors and proofreaders to work with. So it’s not like it was all me LOL.
I was always really proud of the quality of product (book) even often in spite of really unbelievable circumstances sometimes (often, usually).
I maintained my technical and efficiency skills from my old technical days and often was able to improve the process, too.
Not for nothing, I had a pretty good professional reputation.
I’ve been high-powered in an office. Now I am in my own way, still.
But always, always I have a brain between my ears and a great ongoing education.
So yeah to this, “Treat us as though we’re just as special as you consider yourself to be and you’ll get a much better response.”
Julie
Using My Words
October 16th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
I’ve never had a profession the way the previous women have, but I spent my last two years before settling down to SAH as a nanny.
As a stay at home mom I run our home, finances, and all that goes with 3 children.
I am a PTA board member, room mom for my daughter’s class, team mom for her soccer team, and substitute teacher at my sons’ preschool.
In my free time I run my blog, contribute to several others, am a co-host of a BlogTalkRadio show, and am working on launching a tech news and review site geared towards moms.
October 16th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
I worked in Oral Surgery with three different surgeons. I don’t think I need to go into detail here, I’m sure you want your readers to return! Lol!
October 16th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
Campaign manager, legislative analyst, and now a new attorney.
October 16th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
I started out in publishing. Got to the level of Associate Director before returning to grad school.
I’m now an instructional designer, developing e-learning programs for a variety of industries. I freelanced on and off after starting a family, just accepted a full-time position for the first time in four years.
I’ve also been an elected official.
Being a mother is a heck of a lot harder than any of the rest of it.
October 16th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
I was a broadcast engineer for our local NBC affiliate. I was the behind the scenes guy/gal for newscasts… and everything else on television. It was fast-paced, it was thrilling and I loved every minute of it. All through my pregnancy, I talked about how I would stay in that career until I retired.
And then motherhood changed my priorities.
But I still watch my old station and keep in contact with my old boss(es). I’ll go back when the boys are in school. Until then, I’ll do this fast-paced job that challenges me in so many different ways.
And no, it wasn’t ever talked about on our blog because our employer FROWNS upon it, severely.
October 16th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
I worked in the news and public affairs office for Vanderbilt University for nearly seven years right out of college so I actually was on the other side of the PR pitching fence at that time. I hated PR!
One thing that annoys me about pitches sent to my blog e-mail address is that PR firms are sending me letters addressed “to the editor.” I am much more likely to respond to a letter sent to my attention and if they mention a specific post. Even if I know the likelihood that they actually read it is pretty slim, it gets my attention. I’m a sucker for the personal touch.
Today I am a managing editor for special projects for a small business publishing company that works with corporate and bank boards. I work 32 hours a week (16 from home and 16 in the office, which I LOVE.) Our clients include very large corporate law firms and consulting firms. I interview a lot of attorneys and investment bankers. I rarely ever mention my career on my blog, though.
October 16th, 2007 at 8:33 pm
I’m the public relations manager for a publicly-traded international software company. I’ve been lucky enough to work part-time and from home since my daughter was born two years ago. Prior to that I was a marketing manager for 12 years which included managing campaigns for a symphony orchestra, an architecture firm and a software company.
And I agree with Lisse. Being a mother is more difficult than anything I’ve ever faced professionally.
October 17th, 2007 at 7:30 am
I was the product and operations manager for a company that patented and produced voltage regulator and static exciters for industrial generators. I ran everything from customer service to shipping in between.
I have started and sold 3 online businesses, the last of which was a successful web hosting and e-commerce business.
I now design websites for small to large companies and wrap designs around the WordPress blogging platform.
October 17th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
In the job I just quit, I was an academic adviser for a local university. It was part-time, and it involved helping a lot of older students get back into school again to complete their degrees.
Before that, I was an instructional designer and course developer for online courses. It was a private company that sold technical and soft-skills course packages to businesses. I designed on all types of courses - from interviewing skills and personal finance, to Microsoft Office certification, XML and SQL. I worked from home for much of my time there, and loved it.
Before that I was a web designer for one department of The Ohio State University’s libraries.
At the moment, I’m writing for Disney’s Family.com and going back to school for nursing. Motherhood kinda changed my outlook on career entirely. Now I really do want to find that perfect work-life balance.
October 18th, 2007 at 10:53 am
I’ve been a paralegal for over 10 years, working in NC, SC and now MA. I worked at a top 5 firm in Boston (think A Civil Action with John Travolta) before I had my boyz.
Now I’m working at a small family-friendly firm near my home part-time. I’m choosing the lifestyle over the money for now.
October 18th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
WOW. These comments are inspiring.
I was a music therapist, working mostly with children with autism. Became a college music professor and started the first music therapy bachelor’s program at a public university in Mississippi. Wrote and self-published two popular textbooks, just finished a third that I wrote for a publisher in Austin. Paid and sought after public speaker and instructor in music therapy assessment.
Now? I’m a mom with a blog.
Okay, a lot of blogs.
October 18th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
At one point, I was certified to teach high school English, although I never did.
Instead, I was a working actress for 10 years - commercials, industrials, stage, and some extra work in film.
I co-wrote and co-produced a live sketch comedy show, and I’ve worked live improv comedy.
Now, I am mom to three, Girl Scout leader, bookstore employee extraordinaire currently heading-up a book discussion group for 6-10 yo girls at the store, and I organize low-cost foreign language classes in my home for neighborhood children (since our elementary school does not offer foreign language instruction.) I’m also active in our school district in advocating for gifted education - right now, the district is trying to squeeze it out.
In my spare time, I write a blog. Kinda sorta.
October 19th, 2007 at 9:45 am
Fascinating.
I’ve been in non-profit arts administration for twenty years, the past eleven at the same place. I’m Director of Operations, which means Director of Everything Else - a little of this, a little of that, everything but go on stage or teach.