Re-defining Professional Visibility
For Career Progression, Business Networking, and Lead Discovery
ResumeBlog™ Home | FAQ | Why a ResumeBlog™? | ResumeBlog™ Instructions
Why a ResumeBlog™?
Purpose:
Today's new reality â eloquently discussed in the book "Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself" - is that everyone is a small business owner...of their own career.Professionals need an effective way to signal that they are ready for business - and equally important, ARE a business - by "putting out a shingleâ that increases professional visibility and extends career, networking and business opportunities.
A ResumeBlog⢠fills this role:
- To enable SPM members to become the most visibly searchable candidates in their areas of specialty for unposted, hidden jobs and opportunities
- To enable presention of a content- and context-rich, 360-degree view of SPM members as they become candidates for opportunities
- To enable SPM members to position themselves and their knowledge base as any other small, on-line business
- To enhance the on-line ability of SPM members to network amongst each other, with members of other professional guilds, and with third parties
Guiding Principles
- "I Own Me": SPM Members to retain as complete control over their own professional information as possible, and to allow for flexiblility in the display and inclusion of content
- "Zero-Budget": Bootstrap infrastructure using publicly available, free / cheap / open source tools and services as well as establishing desirable alliances and partnerships
- "Absence of Presence": Establish standard mechanisms for evaluating accuracy and strength of SPM members' information
- "Social Networks Work": Drive ResumeBloggers to develop key skills in social networking, virtual collaboration, and social software application / use
Why blog software and tools?
Blogs are more "open" than websites or proprietary social networking sites, which is manifested in numerous ways:- Ingenious bloggers can and do create open source / freely available blog tools, of which we can take advantage (e.g., BlogRolling)
- Blog data can be collected and transferred elsewhere with a relatively small loss of information (contrasted to the current capabilities of Ryze or LinkedIn)
- Blogs can be dynamically linked together, which is hard to do with webpages and data maintained within different tools -- even our development of the ResumeBlog(TM) is done in an "open organization" mode
- Blog sites take advantage of Google's PageRank algorithm and allow things that previously required proprietary software, software engineers AND a pretty big effort on the part of the member. The database of SPM ResumeBloggers we have created is virtually free at the user level - no engineers, no database software, nothing more than free blogs, free blog tools, and Google.
- Blogs are designed to be shared; they are our conversation with each other and the world. Tools that leverage the internet are tools that are designed to be used simultaneously by groups, not just by individuals.
Monday, October 13, 2003
SPM Blogroll, Blogrolling - FAQ
What's a blogroll? - A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks to other web sites and web logs, typically found in the margin of the home page of a blog. The SPM Blogroll is our list of up-to-date SPM ResumeBlogs.
What's "Powered by Blogrolling"? - Blogrolling.com is a blogroll webservice that SPM ResumeBlog uses to collate our list of up-to-date ResumeBlogs.
How does it work? - Blogrolling.com allows bloggers to create and maintain a list of links in the Blogrolling.com database that is spawned dynamically as web pages are loaded into a browser and viewed. A short snippet of code pointing to the SPM Blogroll is contained in the SPM ResumeBlog template - as the names are added to the SPM Blogroll at Blogrolling.com, they show up immediately the next time the list is called from a browser to view a page containing the code.
What's the difference between a dynamic link and a static link? - Dynamic links (like the SPM Blogroll) are created through web page scripting code interacting with browsers and databases - the link list and link content does not exist in the source code of a web page but is maintained elsewhere. Static links are coded directly into a web page - they exist as link content within the source code of a web page.
Is my ResumeBlog still searchable by Google? - The SPM Blogroll dynamic links have nothing to do with the status of Google's crawl of your ResumeBlog. However, recruiters finding other SPM ResumeBlogs will not see your name as they peruse the SPM Blogroll for other possible job candidates. We have had many anecdotes of recruiters using the Blogroll in this way: starting from their initial blind Google keyword search, having discovering one SPM ResumeBlog and later contacting several other SPM ResumeBlog members as their search progresses.
Is my ResumeBlog still searchable through the SPM Member Search in the meantime? - To ensure that you show up correctly in the SPM Member Search, you should always update to the required template rev date (or later), since keywords within the template are used in conjunction with Google to enable this functionality.
Why isn't my blog searchable through SPM Member Search when I'm updated to the current template rev (or have been for weeks)? - It can take from under one week to over a month or sometimes longer to see your ResumeBlog within Google Search results and the SPM Member Search Box, depending upon the amount and quality of links pointing to your ResumeBlog and the fact that your ResumeBlog is hosted on Blogspot (Blogger is owned by Google, so it has an interest in crawling it's own hosted content sooner than later).
It is not necessary, but you can submit your ResumeBlog URL using Google's AddURL page. Typically, this submission alone for any general web page could take 1-2 months to have Google crawl, but it may (just a guess, not proven to) assist in creating a higher crawl priority in combination with other reference links (like the SPM site static links) and being hosted on Blogspot.
Google crawls web pages based on priority of most common / most traffic'd / most linked pages, so if you do not have many links back to your ResumeBlog initially, it is not uncommon to see some ResumeBlogs show up in Google and the SPM Member Search (powered by Google) within a month, then drop back out (i.e. a "Google Dance") as the remaining Google Search Servers are brought into synch.
What about the static links to ResumeBlogs that I (still) have in my posts or on my template? - Prior to managing our SPM Blogroll of ResumeBlogs using Blogrolling.com, we suggested that ResumeBloggers maintain a list of static links to all members. As our SPM Blogroll now handles this functionality dynamically, please remove bulk lists of SPM ResumeBlogs from your posts and templates.
Static links can and should be used to denote ongoing professional relationships at some level aside from simple affiliation with SPM (and we are developing better ways to standardize this functionality and its use for the non-HTML newbie ResumeBlogger in the near future) For an example see this ResumeBlog, right margin before the SPM Blogroll (SPM Colleagues and Compatriots static links vs. SPM Community Blogroll).
Is my ResumeBlog's PageRank affected by using the template with the SPM Blogroll and removing static links? - Google's PageRank for any web page is determined by the quality, quantity and context of links to web pages, including your ResumeBlog. As such, it is desirable to have more, higher PageRank pages with contextually desirable link content pointing to your ResumeBlog. More ResumeBloggers with higher PageRank linking to your ResumeBlog is a good thing....
But,...You cannot create PageRank out of thin air: Google factors in self-referential, non-original nesting links (used by some web site networks to artificially boost PageRank) by ranking them down (or banning sites, for constant abusers), and
More is Not Necessarily Better, Better is Better: your ResumeBlog PageRank is the weighted average PageRank of all other pages linking to you. Better to have three high PageRank links than three high and three low PageRank links, as the low links will, on average, lower your PageRank compared to the just the high PageRank links alone.
And (this is VERY important to understand) PageRank is NOT the only factor (or even always the major factor) in determining a Search Engine Results Page for a keyword search. Keywords within URL's, and keyword density seem to be as much a factor, if not more, depending on commonality of the keyword (i.e. a search for car .
What's "Powered by Blogrolling"? - Blogrolling.com is a blogroll webservice that SPM ResumeBlog uses to collate our list of up-to-date ResumeBlogs.
How does it work? - Blogrolling.com allows bloggers to create and maintain a list of links in the Blogrolling.com database that is spawned dynamically as web pages are loaded into a browser and viewed. A short snippet of code pointing to the SPM Blogroll is contained in the SPM ResumeBlog template - as the names are added to the SPM Blogroll at Blogrolling.com, they show up immediately the next time the list is called from a browser to view a page containing the code.
What's the difference between a dynamic link and a static link? - Dynamic links (like the SPM Blogroll) are created through web page scripting code interacting with browsers and databases - the link list and link content does not exist in the source code of a web page but is maintained elsewhere. Static links are coded directly into a web page - they exist as link content within the source code of a web page.
Is my ResumeBlog still searchable by Google? - The SPM Blogroll dynamic links have nothing to do with the status of Google's crawl of your ResumeBlog. However, recruiters finding other SPM ResumeBlogs will not see your name as they peruse the SPM Blogroll for other possible job candidates. We have had many anecdotes of recruiters using the Blogroll in this way: starting from their initial blind Google keyword search, having discovering one SPM ResumeBlog and later contacting several other SPM ResumeBlog members as their search progresses.
Is my ResumeBlog still searchable through the SPM Member Search in the meantime? - To ensure that you show up correctly in the SPM Member Search, you should always update to the required template rev date (or later), since keywords within the template are used in conjunction with Google to enable this functionality.
Why isn't my blog searchable through SPM Member Search when I'm updated to the current template rev (or have been for weeks)? - It can take from under one week to over a month or sometimes longer to see your ResumeBlog within Google Search results and the SPM Member Search Box, depending upon the amount and quality of links pointing to your ResumeBlog and the fact that your ResumeBlog is hosted on Blogspot (Blogger is owned by Google, so it has an interest in crawling it's own hosted content sooner than later).
It is not necessary, but you can submit your ResumeBlog URL using Google's AddURL page. Typically, this submission alone for any general web page could take 1-2 months to have Google crawl, but it may (just a guess, not proven to) assist in creating a higher crawl priority in combination with other reference links (like the SPM site static links) and being hosted on Blogspot.
Google crawls web pages based on priority of most common / most traffic'd / most linked pages, so if you do not have many links back to your ResumeBlog initially, it is not uncommon to see some ResumeBlogs show up in Google and the SPM Member Search (powered by Google) within a month, then drop back out (i.e. a "Google Dance") as the remaining Google Search Servers are brought into synch.
What about the static links to ResumeBlogs that I (still) have in my posts or on my template? - Prior to managing our SPM Blogroll of ResumeBlogs using Blogrolling.com, we suggested that ResumeBloggers maintain a list of static links to all members. As our SPM Blogroll now handles this functionality dynamically, please remove bulk lists of SPM ResumeBlogs from your posts and templates.
Static links can and should be used to denote ongoing professional relationships at some level aside from simple affiliation with SPM (and we are developing better ways to standardize this functionality and its use for the non-HTML newbie ResumeBlogger in the near future) For an example see this ResumeBlog, right margin before the SPM Blogroll (SPM Colleagues and Compatriots static links vs. SPM Community Blogroll).
Is my ResumeBlog's PageRank affected by using the template with the SPM Blogroll and removing static links? - Google's PageRank for any web page is determined by the quality, quantity and context of links to web pages, including your ResumeBlog. As such, it is desirable to have more, higher PageRank pages with contextually desirable link content pointing to your ResumeBlog. More ResumeBloggers with higher PageRank linking to your ResumeBlog is a good thing....
But,...
And (this is VERY important to understand) PageRank is NOT the only factor (or even always the major factor) in determining a Search Engine Results Page for a keyword search. Keywords within URL's, and keyword density seem to be as much a factor, if not more, depending on commonality of the keyword (i.e. a search for car .
Friday, September 12, 2003
ResumeBlog™ Instructions
Please follow the outline of these instructions and you will be on your way to creating your "business presence" on the Net. Check out our sample ResumeBlog™ - http://first-last.blogspot.com
1. Take the ResumeBlog™ Quiz. This quiz will help you determine whether you meet the criteria we have established for ResumeBlog(TM) beta users. While the production version of ResumeBlog will be available to everyone, during this beta testing phase our *volunteer* ResumeBlog team can only provide very limited user support.
- Go to the quiz website. You have to sign up as a student (there is no way out of this) and then you have to register for the “class”. To register search for the keyword “resumeblog”. Then take the quiz which takes about 5 minutes.
- If you get 8 of 12 answers correct, go to step 2 below.
- If you get less than 8 questions right, you probably aren't a good beta candidate for this beta version of the ResumeBlog. Don't be discouraged - as we continue to improve the ResumeBlog interface, we will again sending out a call for users here.
- Please note that the quiz instructions require you to "join" the "class" in order to take the quiz. If you wish to be anonymous, simply register without using a pseudonym instead of your real name.
- When you join, use your Yahoo ID, and complete the profile submission. If you do not have a Yahoo ID, you will need to create one.
- Make sure you select "Individual Emails" under the "Message Delivery" options in your profile. This will get you responses immediately.
- We will be posting enhancements and additional features to the ResumeBlog to this eGroup. So, it is important that you join.
- If for some reason they are not, you can find them by signing in to the SpmResumeBlog™ Yahoo eGroup. The"Baseline Instructions.doc" file can be downloaded to your local machine from the following folder: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spmresumeblog/files/Instructions/
Baseline - These are the instructions for creating a simple ResumeBlog. We have several enhancements in the works to create a vibrant ResumeBlog you will be proud of.
Tuesday, May 06, 2003
