Branding, a massive word with many meanings.
Here in this article we want to discover some of the power of branding within the online world and how it can help individuals like you to achieve success with your one and only unique individual touch. Online branding does not only mean to rank your website high in search engines based on the chosen and well selected key words, it also involves activities online within various circles to establish top of mind awareness with your brand and message. In other words, what does it help to get your website into the first result pages within the search engines, but people cannot connect with you or do not have a personal WOW experience once landed on your portal. Therefore the most effective way to brand yourself online is to tell people who you are, what your main purpose online is and how you accomplish your goals.
How to start building a brand
Brand building is happening over time and through repetition. A central hub where the core message of a purpose or goal can be communicated is the first priority of any awareness creation. From this hub subsequently work can be established to carry the brand forward into various other virtual or real areas. As an online marketer an own website or blog would be the first thing which jumps into our minds when we are faced with the task to create a central location. As mentioned above, this site or blog has to carry our message and shall be a place which has the task to create the WOW factor for the visitor. Flashy oversized pictures and unclear slogans without telling the visitor what the company or the person actually does will miss any possibility to start creating awareness. Therefore when starting your personal online branding work make sure you communicate clearly your purpose, understandable through the eyes of a fresh new visitor, and let them know who you are. Why not leave an impression of yourself with the visitor? People like to connect with people.
How to communicate your goals
So, what next? You have your central hub, your website, your blog setup and you are ready to rock and roll. Again the first thought any conventional online marketer will have is to try to get as much exposure and high ranking of his/her site within search engines. That means you can use various SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques to achieve this goal and as well use the strategy of back-linking to your site. These are all vital methods, which I use myself, but not the only ones to communicate a brand. Just imagine a rock concert with 10s of thousands of raving fans. Do you think it will be easy to carry a brand forward by the lead singer when all these people cheering after him? We know this is possible. From this short illustration I want to direct your focus further to build and develop a fan-club mentality around you and your brand. Come up with ideas how you can attract people to your message and have the possibility to communicate with you to find out your expertise in your chosen field. Here starting to build a list of followers and publishing a newsletter is one of the most vital activities. Additionally I hope you came already across the various free social media platforms which attract even the giants of mass industries for the purpose of getting their name out and building brand awareness. And believe me, you can do this too. Another and final method I want to mention here how to communicating your message and brand is teaching people how you accomplish goals in online forums. Online forums are existing like sand on the beach. Chose to become member of a handful of them and show people your expertise. People will start becoming aware of your trademark when you leave positive footprints.
Finally,
Personal online branding is like dancing, a defined two way communication by action. It is indeed a very important aspect of your work to help you to get in touch with thousands or even millions of people and prospects. Branding is a must for every man and woman who is striving for success by building visibility, credibility and trust in any chosen industry. It will allow to open doors to opportunities which can change your life positively.
Myself I became aware of personal branding early in my Internet Marketing career and was able to attract already opportunities, which started to create positive awareness. “Now where must I start?” you probably ask yourself as an affiliate marketer with low knowledge in this field or as someone who has just started to seek success online. I invite you to learn more about this topic and Attraction Marketing by following on here…
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This post was written by...
Alex Paul – who has written 14 posts on Your Online Business With Alexander Paul.
Alexander Paul is a leading expert in the field of attraction marketing, maximising today's available online resources.
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{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
My core activity is actually not online, but to teach marketing off-line.
I also have an online course, primarily aimed at larger companies.
My blogging activity is partly a part of my teaching, and partly an attempt to replace my current activities with some less time consuming.
Not that a life as a one-man business does not require time. It does – even a lot of time!
But I suppose, with a one-man business to better be able to manage especially when I would spend my time, but also how much time.
I have therefore created a small membership site, where I offer people (contra compaies) a course in online marketing at a price, where they should be able to afford to participate.
Furthermore, I have a nice income from a small online multi-level-marketing company, which of course I also do market, whenever I get the chance.
Michael | BuildinganOnline.com recently posted..An SEO agency guide to Facebook for business
Hi Alexander,
A happy New Year to you and yours.
I stumbled over this post searching for some inspiration for an article about brand building.
Well now I really have a problem, because you’ve almost said it all.
Most people turning to the ‘net for business doesn’t realize business in all aspect of life, is all about branding.
No one want to play with the newcomer, and to build a reputation do take a lot of time and energy.
Business on the Internet, as well as in the “real” world, requires patience, but most people gets disappointed about the lack of fast results – and give up.
Nice blog and good information – I will sure return every now and then.
Regards,
Michael
Michael | BuildinganOnline.com recently posted..An SEO agency guide to Facebook for business
Hi Michael,
The same to you… HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Great that you were able to find this site and got some inspiration for your work. You are right that the brand you build yourself is valid in many aspects in life (not only business). Being able to present a positive image will let people who get in touch with you and your brand have mostly a positive attitude and so the foundation of understanding is prepared.
Thx again for your time popping over and leaving your comment. By the way, what is the core activity of your online presence?
All the best,
Alex
Hi Alex Paul,
This is a very serious and well thought out piece there. I am glad I followed your instructions and followed your link there.
I am just a beginner online who has registered fo PTC and PTR money making sites. What is your take on them? I would like to get your opinion.
I would also like you to take a look at my free website and suggest ways of getting more visitors to the site.
http://osmanwahab.webs.com
Thanks
Osman Wahab
Thanks, Alex! Having been to the Bon Jovi concert last night, I am “fresh” in the visual of a rock star following and the mad raving fans…it was so very hard to beat them all off of me!
Seriously, this is one thing that I needed to keep in focus– (being a person with ADD and dual personalities and all…ha! ) Thanks for all of your good stuff! And, I signed up for your goodies, as well…
God bless!
TK
TK Goforth recently posted..“Russian Rainfall” by Audrey F
Hi Alexander:
Excellent tips on branding. You have given some great ideas and strategies. I especially liked the fact that you mentioned that branding is a two person action. We need to actively be in touch with those who we are serving.
Kevin
Kevin Martineau recently posted..The road to hell is paved with good intentions
Alexander, many thanks for your tips for branding. Social media is a great platform to be able to get our message across. It is simple we like to do business with people we trust and give a professional image. I find social media if a great way to get feed back about a company if I intent to part with my cash. All the best Rosemary
This is very helpful, especially for people like me who is just starting to build their brand. Thank you for such an informative article, Alexander.
Cherrie Bautista
Wellness & Health recently posted..Protect Yourself From Nuclear Fallout
Hi Cherrie, you are welcome. If you have any questins, now you know where to come… the door is open and I think w are connected onFB already. Hope to speak son! Alex
Alex,
You are so right that a blog/website has to become the hub of your online branding. Without being able to direct people towards you, there is no way for people to understand or appreciate what your business or you do. Additionally, people need a call to action, and directing people to a website where they can email you, sign up for your email list, or call you provides them with the structure they need to connect with you.
Andy
You are 100% right, people need to be guided at one stage and especilly when we have good thing in store for them
.
Thx again for returning o my site and leaving valuable comments. Have a great weekend still. Alex
Hi Alexander,
Branding is vital – people want to know who you’re there to help, what’s in it for them, and most importantly, why you want to help which can be presented in the form of your story/experiences. And, consistency with your brand is key as you travel along all of the social media platforms. I love how you cover these points in this post and emphasize that successful branding is not defined by SEO rankings. Rather, it’s ultimately about the strength of your community connections.
Dena
Dena-Lynn recently posted..The Story of the Butterfly and You
Hey Dena-Lynn,
Thank you to add your comment here…
Yes, today many people just try to focus to rank websites purely through SEO, but what about the visitors you send to your site through the connections you make off line and online… Many sales in my online carrier resulted purely through the fact that I pointed people through conversations to my page and they became great friends and followers (and they are on the go to become leaders too).
The online world is an interesting playfield to achieve very much in a short time with the right branding.
Thx again for coming along and have success in all your activities.
Alex
Alexander,
What a great post, especially for someone starting out. Here are the two statements that resonated most with me. “It also involves activities online within various circles to establish top of mind awareness with your brand and message>….Therefore the most effective way to brand yourself online is to tell people who you are, what your main purpose online is and how you accomplish your goals.”
I will keep that in mind and check out my sites to see if I am doing that.
Warmly,
Erica
Dr. Erica Goodstone recently posted..Is She Crazy- Is It Him- or Is It Menopause
Hi Erica,
Thx for popping in and I feel humble to be able to give you some substance with this post to review your own blog creation. I wish you with this new view all the best.
Wishing a great week ahead.
All the best,
Alex
Hey Alex,
Great to meet you through the TSA. Personal Branding is so important not just for affiliate marketing but for anyone who wishes to have a long lasting successful business online. I find keeping it simple, current and familiar will help build that brand over time.
Stick to the same niches, keep the same pics and be true to yourself.
Thanks for sharing,
Beth
Beth Hewitt recently posted..Never Give Up
Hi Beth,
Great to have your comment here and TSA seems to be a wonderful place to connect. I’m getting more and more excited to meet lots of new people.
You are completly right… Branding shall be simple and to the point. When I started out online I was thinking complicated and couldn’t make me a picture how this works, but now I understand the process and it’s not only a logo you drop on websites it is an 360degrees view from yourself with your whole personality.
Wishing you much success in your activities.
Alex
Hi Alex,
Yes a great question to ask and you have provided lots of food for thought. Thank you for sharing your insights.
I think branding is a challenging matter though. It’s not that easy to stand out and be different when we copy others and just change the wrapping slightly. I can’t say I know for sure what the answer is although I do know that maximizing your personality which is totally unique is a great first step to take.
~Marcus
Hello Alex!
We uses heaps of Social Media tools as you can image in our office. Current favourites are http:/marketmesuite.biz and http://easyvideoplayer2.eu both are fantastic. For use with local business we are her happy with http://gpscraper.net too. I see you are living in England, but which country are you from Alex?
Wishing you a sunny week! Sadie
Hi Sadie-Michaela, thank you for the resources you mention here and they are definitely worth looking into. Myself I’m Austrian and grow up in the capital VIENNA. So my mother tounge is German. Thx for the sunny greetings and they are well received, although a freezing morning at the start of this day. What’s your position at ilocalsearch?
Hello Alex,
I completely echo your point about Social Media and I would even go as far as saying that Social Media enables the majority to have a voice which they never had before. This in turn enables them to build a brand and gain a tribe for themselves. In times gone by before Social Media this would have been unthinkable for the majority to achieve without a company hired to do the ‘branding’. These days many people are enjoying do this for themselves, as a result there is far more noise across digital media and it can make being heard more difficult but what a fantastically interesting time we live in! Sadie
Dear Sadie, sunny greetings from the UK (yeah… we have some sun-rays coming through
)! Thx for your comment and you are so true about the value of branding through social media today, which is a very powerful tool when used correctly. What are you major tools in the social media world which brought you great results? And additionally go and setup your AVATAR via http://en.gravatar.com/ (a free service), so that you can have a picture of yourself next to your comments.
Hi Alex,
you hit “the nail on the head” there, branding is the most important thing you can do also align your self up with a mentor, someone who will help you avoid the pitfalls Not to go down.
Hi David!
Thank’s a lot for your great input and yes I 100% agree that with the right Mentor the seeking person can achieve wonders. And as you pointed out a shortcut into success can be achieved, too by avoiding the pitfalls. Look forward to chat soon…
Alex you are so nice iwill read this article and post a feed back to you iam sure it si going to help me a lot
Tank you for your kind help
Hello Alex,
I found your article right on point. When marketing your main goal is to attract people to your offer, but if they do not know you they are less likely to follow you. I have been marketing for over 2 years with limited success until now. The reason is simply you must market yourself first and your opportunity second witha mentality that helping others to acheive will get you where you want to be. Keep up the great articles I am joining you as a follower
Murray Ostashev
Hi Murray, thanks for your comment and it is a pleasure to assist with valuable information. Yes, it took me as well a little more than 12 months to understand the concept and I learned a lot in the process. And THANKS for becoming a follower…
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