We are pleased to have Pilar Galiana as a guest blogger. She is a digital marketing strategist who has worked with brands like Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Nokia Canada and TD Bank to mention a few. These days she runs her own small business, you can find her mobile site here, www.ellasays.ca.

Almost 3 years ago I decided I needed a change - I had a great job with a great company, but it wasn’t making me happy. I knew I didn’t want another corporate job, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted. I spent a good 6 month investigating starting my own company. I joined workshops for women starting their own businesses, I talked to everyone I could think of, I went to seminars, I read books, I read blogs, I put hours and hours into thinking up what I wanted my business to be and what I wanted my life to feel like as a result.

And despite the fact that I was partially scared out of my mind (I was contemplating quitting my job during a recession), those 6 months were so incredibly amazing for me - they were life changing. And as I looked back on that time I vowed to myself that I would do my best to keep that feeling alive. For me the feeling was the result of asking myself how I wanted to grow and finding ways to make that growth happen.

I let myself enter a world where reinvention is possible every day. A concept that was so different from my corporate world where we are so often defined by our titles and growth is defined by little more than the next title in the hierarchy. Change used to terrify me - now when I see people facing job change I get excited for them - they can reinvent themselves into something new and amazing - how exciting.

Yes, yes, I know I need to connect this to blogging and I will, but I am having so much fun. Here would be a good spot to play a record scratching sound as I get back to the reality of blogging and how all this fits in. I don’t want you to reinvent your blog every day - that would be bad - people would get confused. But, I do want you to push yourselves to grow in new and different ways and I think that blogging is one of the most amazing ways that businesses and business owners can push themselves into new territory and grow into new kinds of marketers and communicators.

There are lot’s of ways to keep growing as a blogger. One of the most amazing blogging learning experience for me came from participating in Social Media Examiner's Blogging Success Summit 2011. And the good news is, starting July 10th, 2012 Social Media Examiner is launching,  Blogging for Business Fundamentals  - I can only imagine that it will be equally as engaging and worth while. Best thing about these programs is that you can dial in from any where in the world, and if you miss a session, you get access to the recordings.

In addition to the web sites that I asked you to start following in week one, I highly recommend you follow a few key people who blog about blogging. It is a great way to ensure you continue to grow as a blogger/marketer/business owner and an invaluable way to ensure you continue to create great content. In no particular order:

Denise Wakeman - Building a better blog

Social Media Today - Blogging

Mashable’s How To section

ProBlogger

And check out ProBlogger’s Build a Better Blog Guide.

Debbie Weil (her site) and also check out her book, Corporate Blogging Book

Wishing you all the best in your blogging and business journey- thank you for following along for the past 7 weeks...what is that? you missed a couple of weeks? Well here they are:

Your Guide to Starting a Blog the right way:

Week 1 - learning from those who have gone before you
Week 2 - setting goals
Week 3 - Content planning
Week 4 - Types of blog posts
Week 5 - Writing for the web
Week 6 - Building traffic through Blogs

The Blog tool is included with YWD’s “Small Biz” and “The Works” packages. It can also be added to the “Basic” package as a separate tool for just $10/month.
Learn more about YWD Blog

Don't have a Your Web Department website? Sign up now or try it for free at www.yourwebdepartment.com

We are pleased to have Pilar Galiana as a guest blogger. She is a digital marketing strategist who has worked with brands like Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Nokia Canada and TD Bank to mention a few. These days she runs her own small business, you can find her mobile site here, www.ellasays.ca.