Why are there No Famous British Bloggers?

uk bloggers where are you

I have sometimes asked myself why there is one country in the English-speaking world that doesn’t have that many prominent bloggers (and blogs). This country is of course Great Britain. When I started out blogging I read lots of blogs written by Americans and Australians, with the odd Canadian ones thrown into the mix. Never ever did I read any UK blogs until I proactively sought out a blogging meetup in London. The two prominent bloggers I got to know there were based in England but one is actually from Denmark and the other one has now moved to California. Based on their international orientation I don’t think they are very representative of the British blogging legion (if indeed there is one).

What type of blogs are we talking here?

In the industry I operate (recruitment and HR) there are a few really good UK bloggers. I assume that’s the case for most industries, there will be subject matter experts writing blogs but these will be aimed at a narrow target audience. What I am after are blogs that are more general and write about universal themes, such as marketing, business and even social media. A few examples would be the blogs of Chris Brogan, Leo Babauta, Penelope Trunk to name but a few. I have yet to find a blog of that calibre in this country.

So what’s stopping Brits from blogging more?

I think there a couple of reasons the British don’t blog as muh as say the Americans. In fact, if you look at how Americans consume news, it’s by reading local newspapers and watching local news (all the television networks do localised news). This of course makes blogs the ideal place to have a location-independent conversation. Some of the best writers in the US have either started as bloggers or are active bloggers alongside their published work.

Newspapers still get more readers online

In the UK we have a different media scenario. There is a very active discourse happening on a national level, thanks to hugely influential newspapers such as The Times, The Guardian and The Telegraph. On top of that we have the BBC which is the number one news and information source for most Brits on the radio, on television and online (that’s their tagline in fact). The best thinkers in the country don’t blog, they have columns in newspapers or they have a radio show.

A different media landscape can to some degree explain the lack of prominent blogs and blogger in this country. The reason I say some degree is that France, a country with a similar media setup to the UK, actually have a very active blogosphere. Across the channel I have been told blogging is popular due to the French love of the written word – everyone wants to be a writer and blogging is the natural place to start.

Please let me know what you reckon

I would really like someone to tell me what they think of the state of UK blogs, this post is written purely based on my perception so if you have another view please share it!

Filed Under: Blogging, Events, UK Tagged With: , ,

LinkedIn? Yes Please, We’re British [UK Facts and Stats]

linkedin in the uk

My great friends at LinkedIn sent me a cool deck of cards yesterday, thought I’d share the trump card of UK LinkedIn statistics here on the blog.

  • 150 million worldwide members of LinkedIn
  • 8 million UK members
  • Almost two thirds of all professionals in Britain are on LinkedIn
  • Almost a third of members use LinkedIn to grow their business
  • 64% year on year membership growth
  • 82% use LinkedIn for business purposes
  • 74% use LinkedIn to network with other professionals
  • 30% use LinkedIn to look for a new job

Conclusion: Brits have taken to LinkedIn in a very big way. Unlike France (Viadeo) and Germany (Xing), this country never really had a professional network contender to LinkedIn and it’s showing in the figures.

I hear on the grapevine that it’s actually closer to 9 million UK users of LinkedIn, most of them are based in London. In fact, London is the no.1 city on LinkedIn in terms of user activity. That means the royal capital has more logins, clicks, comments etc than any other place in the world (including Menlo Park, CA where LinkedIn are based).

Two thirds of all professionals on LinkedIn is very good going, looks like we’re almost on par with the Dutch who have the highest rate of LinkedIn users per professional capita.

It’s no surprise that most users use LinkedIn for business purposes; to grow their companies and network with professionals. If you want to use social networks for that very purpose, LinkedIn is definitely your best bet.

Finally, 30% use LinkedIn to look for a new job. That figure might seem low to you but I believe they mean these people are currently looking for a job. Yes, most folks will use the professional network for job search at some time or another but at any given time about a third are looking for a new opportunity.

The rest of us are known as ‘passive’ candidates – meaning we’re probably open to hearing what jobs are going but will only move for a spectacular opportunity.

LinkedIn is in my book moving away from being about careers and more about giving you a professional identity online. It’s going mainstream and becoming an essential for most people that work in an office. Having said that, remember that there are about 110,000 recruiters on LinkedIn in the UK so there will be plenty of jobs coming your way in future via LinkedIn.

To maximise LinkedIn for your business, check out our LinkedIn training workshops in London.

Filed Under: LinkedIn, Monthly, UK Tagged With: ,

Speed Networking at Manchester Business School

Last month, I did a Personal Branding gig at Manchester Business School and I was also asked to facilitate a speed networking session. Now I have never been to a speed networking event but I imagined it to be similar to speed dating and I was absolutely right. People get four minutes to introduce themselves to a stranger, then the bell goes off and they have to speak to the next stranger.

I am probably not the biggest fan of speed networking (or speed anthing really) as I believe networking is best when you take your time to really get to know people. I suppose it can work well at a big event like this, we had some 300 people wandering around a room and striking up conversations. Most of the networkers were graduates but there were plenty of ‘corporate’ people there as well which made for an interesting mix.

Anyway, on the train up to Manchester I came up with a few wise words on networking and I thought I’d share them right here in the shape of seven tips:

1. Kiss all the frogs

Jason Cobine taught me this term, it basically means that you never know which frog is a prince/princess and you never know which person at a networking event could lead to business. I have had business opportunities from lots of people where I least expected it. As long as you treat everyone the same and take your time to get to know people you are kissing the frogs and hopefully some of them turn into royalty.

2. Find out how you can help

As Kennedy said, ask not what you country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. Instead of chasing business from everyone, see how you can help them with their business and you know it will come back to you. This is giver’s gain or networking karma and it really does work.

3. Find common ground

Networking with new people is much easier once you have found some common ground. This may be that you went to the same high school, support the same football club or you both listen to the same type of music. Common ground is a great ice-breaker and it puts both parties at ease.

4. Tell people what you do, not your title

Can’t stress this one enough. Nobody cares about your fancy shmancy title, they want to know what you can do for them and their network. So instead of saying you are the founder of X, a consultant at Y or a partner at Z, tell them how you add value to others.

5. Find out passions

Scott Gainsburg talks about how not to ask people what they do, where they live, how they find the event or any of the usual questions that everyone else asks. Instead, try to find out what the other person is passionate about and let them elaborate on that. This way you will be remembered as the person they had that great conversation with. Let’s face it, people like to talk and they love to talk about their passions – let them do it and they will remember you for it.

6. Take quick notes

Some of the best networkers I know will always put down a few notes about new people they meet. Some will write this on your business card, others in their notebook or even add it on LinkedIn. The point is that you will meet plenty of people at events and to remember them properly you may want to take notes.

7. Follow up

You have to strike while the iron’s hot. Whether you want to send a social media invite, have a phone call or a meeting you have to get in touch in the next seven days.

Those were my tips that day, I think they helped people connect better and hopefully they got some business as a result. Here is the presentation I delivered later in the day:

Filed Under: Events, Monthly, Networking Tagged With: , , , , ,

Great Britain, Great Personal Brands from Yesteryear

In comparison to America and Australia, the UK has been slower on the uptake for personal branding. Is it the British less-is-more approach that’s in the way or are Britons shying away from yet another American fad? This article will look at the history of personal brands in Britain and what the state of play is today.

The best personal brands came out of the UK

If you think about it, this country has arguably churned out more great personal brands than any other throughout history. Sure, other countries have done well but none can match the brands of William Shakespeare, Isaac Newton, Horatio Nelson, Charles Darwin and Winston Churchill. These people did great things and always knew the value of having a strong brand.

Shakespeare was a playwright, always having to brand himself and being unique is his marketplace. Newton was a scientist, the only way to make a name for oneself in science is to do great research and then publish it. Nelson started his brand journey as a young boy on a navy vessel, his brand was fuelled by the fact that he wore an eye patch and never showed any fear.

Darwin chose the difficult path in life and he fought the clergy and establishment by proving the Evolution of Species theory. Churchill was an officer and a reporter, promoting his brand in London newspaper columns. On top of that he published more books than some people have read in a lifetime, eventually earning him the Nobel Prize for literature.

So to sum up, great personal brands by people achieving great things. Did they actively work on their personal brand as we know it today? Obviously not, but they did their utmost to promote themselves using the means of the time.

What is the state of affairs for personal branding in now?

The act of consciously thinking about one’s brand hasn’t quite firmly landed these shores yet. Unless you are a celebrity and represented by the likes of Max Clifford, there is precious little knowledge out there on how to build and promote a personal brand online.

There is some confusion about the term personal branding; some coaches use it for career or business training. Others will offer colour coding and personal shopping under the personal branding umbrella. This is fine, the term is whatever the beholder wants it to be, however the main use of personal branding is in the online space where an individual can gain maximum exposure in the shortest amount of time.

Not keen on being online?

You may now think that Brits aren’t into technology; that they prefer to have tea and biscuits, knit woolly jumpers and occasionally watch the X-Factor. Au contraire, the fact is that this country has really taken to social media, the UK usage of Facebook and Twitter is apparently proportionately higher than that of the US. Blogging is fairly big, although nowhere near as big as in North America. Few people have personal websites, typically when they trade under their own names and know that they will be Googled often.

One thing I have noticed when comparing the online presence of Brits vs. other nationalities is that for some reason we people here tend to prefer hiding behind pseudonyms or company names. If I were to ask you to list the top bloggers of the UK, I bet you wouldn’t be able to list their real names, only their blogs.

In spite of the stiff upper lip and less-is-more stereotypes, British people are definitely not introverts. Go down to any local pub on a Friday night and you will see a collection of extroverts that crave attention – perfect for social media in other words. So the seeds for personal branding are there, time will tell how long it will take to break through.

Call to action right now!

As the need to stand out from the competition in one’s market increases, so will the need for personal branding. Customers have little loyalty nowadays and technology makes it simple to shop around for commodity goods and services. The only way you will succeed is to carve out a niche with your personal brand.

Anyone looking to create a strong personal brand online should go through a process whereby they ask themselves why they are doing it. Come up with the purpose, the target group, what makes you unique and other pieces of the clarity puzzle and you can begin to establish an online presence. What and how that presence should look like is very much down to the individual and what you are looking to project. Personal branding is there to bring the best out of you online, you deserve to have just as strong a brand online as you do offline.

Interested in learning more? Check out Personal Branding from the Inside Out, a series of workshops in the Greatest Britain of them all.

Image credit Brett Jordan

Filed Under: Monthly, Personal Branding, UK Tagged With: ,