Posts Tagged ‘brand’

By: Susan Young, President, Get in Front Communications, Inc.

Too many bloggers are suffering from an identity crisis. It’s like those dreaded high school years when you awkwardly try to find your way and be comfortable in your own skin. It’s not much fun.

In business, it’s critical to develop your identity, brand, voice and persona for one reason. Revenue. If you don’t have a clear and crisp voice (through your blog), how can you expect anyone to pay attention to it? Would you give your hard-earned money to someone who is unsure of themselves? Of course not.

The key is to connect with your readers and build rapport with them—through your writing. Your goal is to use your blog to develop your own personality and style. There’s no time for an identity crisis. Be clear in your own mind so you can create your unique online voice.

Here are 10 tips:

1. Get real! Be genuine and be yourself. Don’t write to impress, write to express.
2. Weave in your personality. Sure this is business but give people a peek into your own life. Include a quick story, example or anecdote that reveals a challenge you may have overcome. It could involve your partner, child, neighbor or mechanic. It’s called humanity.
3. Speak directly to your reader. Each person reading your post should feel as though you wrote exclusively for them. Make them feel special. Use words like “you” and “we”.
4. Write the way you speak. Use words and phrases that are genuine and “sound like you.” By doing this and expressing yourself in a congenial and engaging style, you will in essence be inviting people into your world.
5. Avoid stuffy business jargon. Write in short, punchy and easy-to-understand sentences.
6. Understand charisma. People with charisma have a special style and allure that draws others to them, like a magnet. They are engaging and light. This applies to writing and blogging too.
7. Make every word count. Forget about word count and “too long or too short.” Convey your message in a clear and compelling way and be done. Your readers are busy. They’ll appreciate your succinct communication.
8. Go for distinct. Consider your brand, expertise and ideal clients. Why do people hire you and enjoy working with you? What makes you different from your competition? What have people written about you in testimonials and reference letters? Separate yourself from others.
9. Be bold. Don’t be afraid to take a position. Use your voice. Readers will come to respect you.
10. Stick with what you know. When you write about topics and issues that you’re passionate about, it will be evident to your audience. Find your niche and dig deep.

Blogging and branding take time. The best way to get better is to practice and not worry about the number of readers or RSS subscribers you have. That will come—in time.

There’s nothing wrong with using search engine optimization (SEO) techniques. In fact, Twitter recently changed its pages to use more SEO friendly page titles to get better “Google juice.”

But if that’s your only focus then you can end up going down
some unsavory paths.


There are large companies out there that will help your site improve its Google rankings by creating multiple blog sites, each containing blog posts on various random topics (because they serve many different clients), and include links back to your site.

In the long run, this strategy will not serve you.

Sometimes the “SEO-optimized” blog post will end up complete gibberish because it’s main job is to associate a set of keywords back to the main client site.

It might help your Google search rankings for a bit, but it will mostly help damage your brand.

Nowadays, blogging is easier than ever. Use your blog to share your expertise and attract fans. Remember, content is still king.

[Photo courtesy of @Vermyndax via his blog]

There are so many blog templates and so little time.  So it’s understandable why many bloggers stick with “out of the box” template designs.

But here are the top reasons you should have a well-designed custom header image.

A custom header image allows you to:

1. Establish your brand
2. Tell visitors where they are
3. Establish identity

Establish Your Brand

Your customer header image should match your other Web site, print, and offline marketing designs.  This consistency helps to reinforce your overall company and/or personal brand.

Mari Smith, Facebook and Twitter marketing expert, exemplifies this branding concept.  Below, notice that her Twitter profile and “Why Facebook?” blog both use the same colors, background design, similar pictures, and both use her “blinged out” M logo.

Mari Smith’s Twitter profile also reinforces this same brand. Consistency FTW!

Tell visitors where they are

There are over 100 million blogs on the Internet so it is important that your blog visitors know where they are.  The easiest way to do this is to put a big honkin blog title on your header image.  Mari Smith’s blog is named “Why Facebook?”  It’s clear, it’s obvious, and it eschews obfuscation (avoids confusion).

Search engine optimization tip: Make sure you have your blog title as text on other parts of your blog design.  This will help search engines, like Google, index it as a crucial keyword phrase.  That way, if someone searches over your title, it will have a great ranking and hopefully show up towards the top of the search results. This is less likely to happen if you only use the text on the image.

This blog is named “Build Your Fan Base”, so I make sure to have this show up as part of the standard blog template text at the top of the page to take advantage of this optimization.

Establish Identity

If you have several blogs, Web sites, and social networking presences (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Flickr, etc.), it is important to establish your identity early on.  I distinguish between Brand and Identity because you could have a corporate brand for a blog (any many blogs) but a personal identity for the blogger.

How many times have you visited a blog, read through some of its great content then scanned the site only to realize there was no name attached to the blog?  This is a huge lost opportunity.

To establish identity via your blog header, use a photograph of yourself and make sure your name is on the header.  If you do have several Web presences, go the extra step and make sure your photograph matches the other sites.  Having a similar expression and wearing similar color clothing help make things that much more consistent.  I use the same image on my Twitter profile as I do on this blog to keep things easy and so I don’t have to shop for a dozen light grey shirts.

Summary

To maximize your blog, use a customer image header that reflects your brand, tells visitors immediately where they are, and also announces your name and mug to the world.  If you use this trifecta of tips, you will surely be on your way to building a valuable and lasting fan base.