There are 5 REALLY easy things you MUST do to begin branding yourself
Think about what you are trying to accomplish … as a writer, a blogger, a social media marketer, an Internet marketer or as a seller / crafter / reseller online either through eBay, Etsy or any of the other online sales channels available to you. Consistency is the KEY to selling and branding yourself. But consistency is not just about what you look like OR your voice OR your topics of choice OR your "specialty".
It's about YOU as a BRAND.
Companies spends millions of dollars each year promoting their brand recognition. Without you live under a rock, you know what the Golden Arches mean. You know what the food will taste like and you know what types of food and service you can expect. You even know (approximately) when you can get breakfast type foods and when you will get lunch / dinner fare.
So what are you doing to create a BRAND for yourself?
1. Use a GOOD picture of yourself.
A head & shoulder picture is best. Have the picture really qualify who you are and what message you are trying to convey. Make sure you LOVE this photo, you are going to have to look at it A LOT!
Now use this photo EVERYWHERE. Use it as your Avatar on EVERY site that you are publicizing to. Put it on your blog. Use it whenever you make a blog comment elsewhere (if they allow the use of comment Avatars). Use it on Twitter, Facebook Fan (Business) Pages, You-Tube, Flickr, Linked-In, Slideshare, eZine Articles, newsletters, aWeber marketing emails, EVERYWHERE you can upload a photo or avatar use THIS photo.
2. Make sure you have VISUAL continuity in EVERYTHING you produce AND across ALL the sites that you publicize content to.
You will need to select a few things in designing the look and feel of YOUR BRAND. Then you will incorporate these three elements on any PRINT media (invoices, business cards, letterhead, brochures, etc.) and digital media (your website & blog, other customizable social websites, newsletters, aWeber email templates, eBooks, and other online services and products) that you create or distribute from NOW until eternity.
A. Create a site background.
Do not make this too busy or distracting. You may decide to use a solid color or a muted large image. Maybe you have a logo that you would like to use as your major brand image. Maybe you are looking for a group of images that convey who you are and what you stand for. This is a HUGE decision and should not be taken lightly. This background will FOLLOW you ANYWHERE and EVERYWHERE that you have the ability to customize the background.
B. Pull out some of the major COLORS that are present in the background.
I would suggest trying to find AT LEAST 3 colors ~ one dark, one light and one mid range that coordinate or match EXACTLY to your background. You will also need to decide which color you are going to use as your site defaults. I would suggest the lightest color be the default background color for text boxes, menus, tables, widget areas, sidebars and other call out type display areas. I would suggest the darkest color be used as the default for borders, links and titles. You can select the mid color as text (unless you want to use black OR white for readability), hover colors, alternate highlights, and other less used text and display objects.
C. Pick a FONT or at least a Font-Family.
Your font choice will set the tone and feel for your site. Do not be afraid to pick "non-websafe" fonts, as there ARE ways to embed the font of your choice into your website or blog. If you DO choose a font that is not one of the "websafe" fonts, make sure you choose another font or font-family so that the viewer's browser does not get a chance to choose it for them!
Make sure you LOVE what you absolutely pick, because changing your BRAND IMAGE will be very difficult once you have established yourself and your BRAND in your chosen marketplace.
3. Create a Brand Name for yourself AND a catchy tagline.
Although you are creating a brand of YOURSELF, you also NEED to create a brand NAME that can be used to further define who you are and where you are going. Next you want to create a catchy tagline that further compliments who you are, what your strategic goals are, what you offer to the marketplace and your personality. Again, this is going to require A LOT of thought on your part!
Do not underestimate the power of a tagline.
A tagline, goal or mission statement that is too generic or too broad loses its power and intent.
4. Do not spread yourself too thin ~ SPECIALIZE IN SOMETHING!
Unfortunately, many, many people try to become a "Jack of All Trades" when they first start off. I invite you to recall the SECOND HALF of this saying: "A Master of NONE." If you are trying to brand yourself, stick to what you know, what you are interested in, OR what you want to become. Just because you are NOT an expert NOW, does not mean you can not become one in the FUTURE. There is SO much information out there to be consumed and interpreted, ANYONE can become an expert in ANYTHING if they put enough time and effort into getting there!
When you begin building your list of contacts, customers and followers, these people are doing so based on the information that you are providing. If you are talking about wildly different events, you are going to bore some of the people A LOT of the time AND a lot of the people SOME of the time! As your audience and expertise grows, do not be afraid to branch out to complimentary areas and niches.
Try to start yourself out in a tightly focused direction – making it MUCH easier for you to get started, to be easily easily online and to EARN a following.
5. Use a consistent "voice".
When you start creating content, ANY content, you want to decide how you are going to communicate with your audience. Do you want to be seen as an authority figure with very formal script (AND oral) interaction with your clients and customers? Do you want to be seen as friendly and down to earth? Do you want to ooze sarcasm and maybe even be seen as a little (or A LOT) crass?
These voices are ALL okay!
It is really dependent on who you REALLY ARE.
Your voice will attract the type of people who would like to work with you and follow you. If your voice puts them off, chances are VERY GOOD that these people WOULD NOT end up being successful PAYING clients or customers for YOU anyway.
If you are a person of few words, do not struggle to add fluff or additional commentary. That is who YOU ARE. That is the type of people you will attract and that is absolutely the clientele that will help make YOU successful.
Although each of these steps on the surface seem simple enough (and obvious), they are probably THE MOST IMPORTANT 5 things you can do to start yourself off right and begin developing your own personal, recognizable BRAND of YOU.
This methodology can be used in ANY creative marketing endeavor. If you are creating content of ANY KIND, then you want to create a BRAND of who you are, what you know and what people should expect to get from you ~ not just in the immediate future but in the long run, EACH time you create a new product or promote new content.
Have fun defining YOU …
