If a business does not maintain an active blog, it is out. According to 2015 blogging statistics:

• Business-to-business (B2B) marketers can get 67 percent more leads through blogs than those who do not have them.
• Marketers who blog are 13 times more likely to get positive return on investment (ROI).
• Companies that have blogs receive 97 percent more links to their website.
• Consumers rated blogs as the fifth-most trusted source for online information.

That's why I said a company is missing something big if it does not have a blog. Companies like Marriott, Hyatt and even Google all participate in blogging.

Likewise, if you are a job seeker who is looking for a managerial position or a person who wants to be a leader in your field, you should also maintain an active blog for yourself. Blogging can help a person build a reputable personal brand and thus stand out from the sea of applicants.

In the old times, people could possibly build a strong personal brand through good work ethics, quantifiable results at work, plus a few recommendations by the leaders in the field. Today, however, job seekers can skip the recommendation part because they can get noticed through blogging (note that good work ethics and quantifiable results are still needed).

Here are the steps for building a personal brand through blogging:

1. Answer this question: "What is my personal brand?"

If you do not have a personal brand yet, then ask: "What am I known for?" or "What do I want others to know about me?"

For instance, if you want to become a pastry chef, your personal brand can be a "creative baker," a "precise administrator in a bakery" and the like. Other personal interests, such as fashion and music, may seem irrelevant in this case unless you want to be a fashion guru, a stylist, a DJ or a musician.

2. Set up your blog on a popular platform like Blogger or WordPress

If desired, you can purchase a domain (e.g., dot me or dot com) to host your blog. Regardless what platform you choose, it is important to use a customized URL for the Web address with your name or your brand name. That will help search engines locate the blog easily when others do a search with the keywords associated with you or your brand.

3. Create a well-written bio

When writing a bio, it is important to use as many keywords associated with the desired personal brand as possible. That will help your blog come up to the top of search engine results (through the usage of identifiable keywords). Alternatively, a well-written bio can help other Internet users get to know you better.

4. Post relevant content consistently

Being consistent is critical in blogging for three reasons:

• helps search engines to connect the blog with the "right" personal brand (through the usage of relevant keywords/content)
• demonstrates your true passion
• shows that you can work persistently towards your goal

Think about it, if you do not have a passion about what you are doing, you will not be able to talk about the "same" content again and again. Additionally, if you easily give up on things, you would not be able to post a discussion on a regular basis.

There is not really a magic number of how often you should write, but I consider a blog to be active if it releases three or more posts a week. For most of us, writing a post every week or every other week will work.

5. Be true to yourself

Nobody wants to hear repetitive discussion. So, it is not a good idea to just echo what others have said on the Internet. Rather, bloggers should talk about their true feelings and honest opinions. You can share your "unique" perspectives about an event or a topic.

Remember our earlier discussion — finding a dream job is like dating for the perfect match. In that case, showing a job candidate's true self can actually help him/her find an employer with good organizational fit and job fit.

6. Try Tumblr blog if you do not have time

Blogging is different from writing an update on Facebook or LinkedIn because it gives you the opportunity to thoroughly express your opinions with longer discussion. While there is no word limit or page limit for a blog discussion, a few hundred words will be sufficient because few people love to read long discussion online.

However, if you do not have time to write a few hundred words every week or every other week, you can try to post something shorter on Tumblr.

7. Seek improvement but not perfection

I am not sure if anyone could claim s/he writes flawless discussion online. Most bloggers learn as they blog. The key is to show improvement over time. While perfection is almost impossible to achieve, improvement is observable as you gain more experienced in blogging.

It certainly takes time to build a reputable personal brand through blogging, but the results could be very rewarding. Now, are you ready to start blogging? If you have started, what advice will share with us?