A lot of my blogs are inspired/generated by reading other people's. In fact, sometimes they are fashioned out of comments I've made on other people's offerings. This is one such blog. Fellow copywriters Andy Maslen and his Seven reasons why copywriters shouldn’t blog and Tom Albrighton's 7 reasons copywriters should blog were my inspiration on this occasion. Two conflicting views, but is there one right answer? Probably not. See what you think.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to blog mainly on things I feel passionately about, or where I feel I have a valid opinion that will stimulate debate and constructive criticism. I don't do it to win customers, but rather to show that I have a brain that goes beyond thinking just about my stock-in-trade all the time. I do it also hopefully to garner respect in the business world I operate in as someone who has an informed view about the space in which they move.

Interestingly (perhaps), I seldom write about copywriting. Of course, I've done a few 'tips' pieces aimed at trying to put a stop to the plethora of abysmal online job ads that clog up the online airwaves. I’m often found to be banging on about the lack of quality in online job ads too. But, by and large, I'm not here to teach someone else to do my job, otherwise I'd have less of a job to do. I prefer instead to choose a topic that’s close to my heart, I’ve had experience of, or that I feel strongly about, and go on about that.

Is it a waste of my time? I don’t think so. I only do it when I HAVE the time i.e. in between jobs, maybe when there's a lull. Or, if it's something that particularly peeves me, I might do it of an evening or at the weekend. If a paying job comes in while I'm writing it though, the blog will get put on hold. Admittedly, there’s an awful lot of crap out there. For instance, some people have it carved in stone as part of their business plan that they must write, two, three, maybe even four blogs a week so that they can 'engage' via social media. 'Pee off' would probably be a better description than 'engage'.

My rule for blogging? If it’s something I don't feel passionate about or a subject that I don't know enough about or feel is worthy of being debated or brought to light, I won't write about it. Sadly though, we live in a technological world where loads of rubbish articles sit in the background of someone's website as traffic drivers. Hey, I don't make the rules, but nor do I abide by them. I am my own man. I write as I see fit, in the hope that it makes sense and maybe stimulates someone enough to put finger to keyboard and reply. Twitter is my weapon of choice. Facebook, to me, is a hideous invention, only made bearable by being able to keep tabs on far flung family and friends. That’s all I use it for.

I'm fortunate to have enough work to go round at present, but, I'm not foolish enough to not appreciate that may not be the case in the future. Thus the thinking is that, through my blogging, through getting people reading my articles, I hope that sometimes, just sometimes, when they happen to be in the market for a copywriter, they may think "hold on, who was that guy whose blog I enjoyed reading recently?" and take the time to track me down.

In summary, I believe anyone should be allowed to blog if they have something worthwhile to say. If, however, it's a case of just going through the motions or putting another 'top tips' blog out there for the sake of the business plan and some kind of flawed strategy, then I wouldn't do that, ever. The internet’s cluttered full of lame, poorly though through and 'samey' content. The secret to me is to try not to be just the same, but instead to develop your own individual voice, whether that be talking about your business sector, the workplace, quirks in people, redundancy, the economic climate and its affect on you, or just pure life in general. I think if you can be seen to have a valid opinion, an empathy, a certain style and tone that people warm to rather than nod off to, then a blog most definitely has its place to play.

What do you reckon?

This blog was inspired by a piece on Twitter I read earlier entitled "Ignore generational trends at your peril" by @neilmorrison. So blame him if you disagree :-)

When I was growing up as something of a surly youth way back when, I had my own idea of what I wanted and what the world owed me. But, I soon found out that in order to get on in life, and in work, you need a degree of flexibility rather than a set of immovable expectations around which employers need to lightly tread. The difference is of course, back then we didn’t as a generation have a voice as such. There was no such thing as blogging or social networks. We just got on with either conforming or watching from the sidelines. Nowadays however, not a day passes by without reading about how this generation is different and how they need to be treated differently. But are they, and do they?

I’m not just saying it because I am now older and wiser, but the notion that employers need to wise up to the ideal modus operandi of Gen Y is frankly a load of arse! Why? Because every established business has its own unique environment and is made up of a mix of ages ethnicities, cultures and personalities. Getting your foot in the door and your feet under the desk demands the ability to adapt, to say the right things, act the right way and come across as someone they want to employ. Going in with a preconceived idea of what Gen Y are and a wish list in your head about the way you want to work akin to the crazy demands of a kidnapper hostage situation is madness and doomed to failure (although a company helicopter in year 2 should I hit all my targets would be nice).

Back to my surly youth again, and I recall my first experience of work in the real world to be an eye opening experience that required me to ditch my theoretical opinion very quickly and get into line with reality. And the reality is that there’s no room for anyone in a business who thinks the world owes them a living or that conditions have to be just so in order to satisfy the ideology they have read about in a thousand and one blogs on the subject of Gen Y and what they want.