Having a blog is a good idea because it enables employers and potential employers to access my work. A blog also acts as a way for me to showcase my talent in a way that a CV wouldn’t be able to. For example, I can put videos on my blog, but I can’t put videos in my CV. Videos enable people looking at my blog to see what I can do. This is different to a CV as in the CV I’m telling them that I can sing whereas in the blog, I’m showing them that I can sing. Blogs can make a lot of difference when apply for a job as it could be the difference between being hired and not being hired.
However, CVs are also as important as it gives the employer a brief insight to who I am as a person and what qualifications and skills I have. It allows employers to quickly eliminate the people who aren’t qualified enough for the job quickly so they can short list the applicants to the role. The CV allows people to showcase who they are where they may not be as confident talking about their qualifications in person.
My blog is very professional; however, it can be seen as quite boring as the posts on my blog are generally black and white with a few pictures. This is to try to help people to read it easier as if I had put white font on a light green background, it would be hard to see it. This would make me not use the providers as I would be wary of what they are hiding. I have both videos and pictures in my blog, this is good as it helps to show the potential employers what I’m like at certain thing, such as singing or playing an instrument. Blog is easy to read and easy to look at which is a good thing as if I was an applicant for a job and I was against one other applicant and theirs’s was hard to read, I would be the most likely candidate to get the job.
I have found the blog of a flautist, flute and singing teacher. Her blog is similar to mine as we are both flautists.
This blog is better than mine because it has rhetorical questions that make the reader think. It is also better as it has phrases in a bolder or bigger text to draw the reader’s attention. The main points are in bolder or bigger text as seen below. The blog also is directed at the reader whereas mine is more about highlighting my strong points rather than drawing the reader in. My blog is stronger than Nikki’s blog because my blog is more focused on playing rather than shoes and coffee. I like shoes and coffee, but it doesn’t need to be mentioned in my blog. My blog is also better than hers because mine doesn’t have a picture of me which can prevent discrimination and prejudice from my readers. In her picture she looks like she is in a bar to me and that would make me be more inclined to find another teacher as I don’t want to be funding a potential alcohol addiction regardless of the standards of her teaching. This is my personal opinion.
Her layout and colors are more user friendly than mine. Her use of colors makes the readers feel that she is more open and friendly whereas mine has minimal amounts of color. My blog has less color because I didn’t know how to, and I didn’t mind not knowing because I like the blog with its basic layout as I feel that it is more forthcoming and honest of me to keep it this way, however, if I were to go back and edit my blog I would add colors as it makes other people want to look at my blog more, even if I don’t like it like this. I also like the way that she has organized her blog into user friendly, easily accessible folders. I would definitely incorporate this if I were to edit my blog or create a new blog.
Nikki Warrington flautist, flute and singing teacher by Nikki Warrington date accessed 29/1/20
Another blog that I have seen is a songwriter’s blog by Tony Conniff. His blog is similar to mine as we are both songwriters.
This blog is better than mine because it has lots of information that can help other people to write songs as well as things that have helped him to write songs better; whereas, I don’t. It is also better as it has phrases in a bolder or bigger text to draw the reader’s attention. The main points are in bolder or bigger text to bring the readers attention to that part of the text. This part of the text will be catchy and tell the reader enough information to get the idea vaguely but still makes them want to know more.
The blog also is directed at the reader whereas mine is more about highlighting my strong points rather than drawing the reader in. My blog is stronger than Tony’s blog because my blog can be suitable for more than one type of musician. This is because I have a post about health and safety which will help other musicians as they may not be aware of the health and safety issues that can be present in a room at any point. My blog can also help people who aren’t musicians as it gives them health and safety tips that can be used in a non-musician’s room.
Another way that Tony’s blog is better than mine, is that he uses colors and it is easy to look at. His layout and colors are more user friendly than mine. His use of colors makes the readers feel that she is more open and friendly whereas mine has minimal amounts of color. If I were to go back and edit my blog, I would add colors as it makes other people want to look at my blog more, even if I don’t like it like this. I also like the way that he has organized his blog into user friendly, easily accessible links. I would definitely incorporate this if I were to edit my blog or create a new blog. Tony’s blog is also more appropriate than mine for songwriters as it tells them how to write a good song and what can go wrong in the process. He is also inspirational as he says that even if you make a mistake it might lead somewhere better than if you hadn’t made the mistake in the first place.
Tony’s blog is in an informal tone. This can make it better or worse than mine at the same time. It is better than mine because sometimes the reader may feel that the informal tone is easier to read, and they feel like the text is directed at them. Mine is better than Tony’s because sometimes, people want the text to sound more formal as it can be seen as mildly patronizing if it is in an informal tone. This just depends on the taste of the reader. In a blog I don’t have a preference of tone as if it helps me in some way for what I’m looking for, I don’t mind what tone it is as long as it’s not confusing me by using technical jargon or patronizing me.
Tony Conniff by Tony Conniff date accessed 31/1/20
My blog is aimed at potential employers. Nikki’s blog is also aimed at employers. This contrasts with Tony’s blog which is aimed at other songwriters. The purpose of both mine and Nikki’s blogs is showcasing our skills. This is different to the purpose of Tony’s blog as his is to inform other people of how to write songs and the problems that he has run into in the process of writing his songs.
All three of our blogs have promotional material. Tony’s blog has a tutorial video of the basics of writing songs. Nikki’s blog has a video of her conducting an ensemble of flautists. In my video I am singing a cover of a song. Both mine and Tony’s blog has educational content whereas, Nikki’s blog is just listing statistics about her lessons and how the students have done after her lessons.
The opportunities that I have had to demonstrate my skills in different environments include performances in primary school where I would perform different pieces of music as part of an ensemble. I carried on participating in these performances in high school. In high school I performed in assemblies and musical theatre productions. I also performed as part of an ensemble for two awards ceremonies. I have also performed at a Christmas party for senior citizens in the local area. In between high school and college I participated in NCS. During this time, I performed in a lecture hall at a university When I went to college, I performed in the acoustic performance called unplugged. I also performed as part of a group for an assignment on ABBA. We performed this twice, once in the school theatre, the second was at a special needs school in the local area as part of their music week celebration. We also did a unit in music where we had to perform a slow song and a fast song. This was performed in the theatre.
Tony has a page dedicated to the things that he has done. Things that he has done include the writing the songs for the Tony Conniff and band album let it drown me.
About Tony
Nikki also has a page on her history of music and her achievements. This includes working with Sir James Galway’s brother George and achieving a grade 8 ABRSM in flute.
About Me
If I were to edit my blog at a later date I would ensure that I have done some more performances as when you compare my experience to Tony or Nikki’s, I wouldn’t pick myself over them if I had to choose who to employ as they have more experience than me because I am younger than them.
Another thing that I would change next time I create a blog or if I were to edit this blog is to add my social media accounts because this allows me to have a larger following which has the possibility to give me more opportunities to work and perform.
Bryony Hare's freelance blog 