This week I was contacted by National Public Radio (NPR) to do an interview on one of their programs next week to be part of a roundtable discussion on the baby boomer generation. Following the pre-interview, I asked the Producer how she found me. She said she “googled” me and found my blogs.

The same thing happened in 2009 when a writer for Newsweek contacted me as well as in October of 2007 when I was one of 7 bloggers from around the country to receive an all-expenses paid trip to a Bloggers Conference hosted by Hallmark in Kansas City. We were invited to the one-day conference to give some feedback on their new line of Journeys cards. When asked why we were chosen, the Company told us we were selected for two reasons:

1) We have a visible online presence.

2) We’re writing about subjects they’re interested in and we’re doing it in a non-offensive way.

Why am I sharing this? Because if you’re a baby boomer with a message or are starting a new career at midlife, blogging is a great way to get it out there.

1) If you like to write and have something relevant to say, then say it. Just because you don’t get any responses to your post doesn’t mean no one is reading them.

2) You don’t have to write much. A couple of paragraphs will do. Besides research has shown that most blog readers are not interested in reading long posts.

3) Be consistent. You don’t have to write something 24/7 but try to maintain a routine of at least two times a week. That’s how you start to develop a following.

4) Share your blog with others. Let your friends, family members and email contact list know what you’re writing about and where they can find what you’ve written. I’ve discovered that my email friends will pass on my blog link to “their” friends if it’s a subject matter they think they’d be interested in.

5) Maintain separate blogs for separate trains of thought (optional). If you’re an author, devote one blog to your work and use other blogs to express different subject matters. You may want to use one blog to give your reaction to the news of the day and another to talk about your business and other business-related matters.

6) Visit other blogs and comment on them. Find other blogs that interest you and offer a comment from time to time. Also, invite the blogger to visit your site sometime.

7) Finally, don’t be afraid to express yourself. It’s okay to be controversial. After all, you have the right to your own opinion and as a baby boomer, we’ve got plenty of opinions and a history to go with them.