5. To promote your personal brand: blog, blog, blog

"I can't stress enough how important blogging is for your career," says Trunk. Blogging is the way to move ahead even if your company has no intention of letting you grow. "Blogs tell how good you are based on your ideas, independent of your experience, so people with good ideas can get ahead very quickly by blogging about what they're interested in excelling at."

Halamka also believes in the importance of blogs. Blogging is a way to create your own strong brand image. Halamka's blog has allowed him to brand himself as a tech evangelist and innovator.

Since blogs can get people into trouble-both in terms of privacy and your relationship with your employer-Serafin recommends caution. For instance, be very careful not to spill any of your company's secrets, she says. And don't say anything you wouldn't say in other public venues: The Web is not anonymous. Also, "learn first, blog later," she says. Do some research by studying industry publications, blogs and articles that interest you. What topics are already covered? What are the readers' comments? Is your idea still unique and original? Is it newsworthy? "Better to research first before putting yourself out there, and lose credibility right out of the gate," says Serafin.

Trunk has a different take. Since in today's world, there is no such thing as long-term employment, she says, your blog is to promote your brand (i.e., you), your ideas and the things you care about. People change jobs an average of every two to five years, and careers every seven, according to research, Trunk says. This means "you will need to publicize yourself over many career and jobs."

She recommends creating clear goals about where you want to go, then it will be very clear what you should be blogging about. But even if you're not clear on where you want to go, blogging can be a great way to find out, says Trunk. Because of the time commitment (you should be publishing at least three times a week) and because writing rarely flows unless motivated by passion, it's virtually impossible to blog on something you don't care about, she says.

"Be yourself, and don't worry about showing too much of yourself," says Trunk. "That will generally be fine with company and if not and if not, you should ask yourself why you're at or want to be at that company."

Halamka also lets his personal side show through. He says that some of his more personal blogs -- why he wears only black, for example -- are among his most popular. But he does note that the work-personal balance is tough to strike in a blog. The key: "Honor your own comfort level," he says.