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The Internet and sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter have made the need for personal branding more pressing than ever. Personal branding is an absolute necessity for entrepreneurs, executives, small business owners and job seekers alike. Literally hundreds of people are branding themselves as experts in your field every day. Showcasing your talents and positioning yourself as an authority in your industry will go a long way toward helping you reach your professional and personal goals.
I have laid out the following 10 steps that you can take today to get started toward building a brand on the Internet.
- Determine Current Visibility – As with any marketing initiative, it is important to establish a benchmark for measuring your success. Start by performing a Google (Yahoo and Bing) search for your name and any variations of your name. What comes up? Are you there at all? Is there anything negative about you that you don’t want people to see? Take note of how many instances are referring to you on the first 2 pages of results.
- Identify Your Brand Attributes – What makes you unique, authentic, different, relevant and compelling? In other words, why should I listen to you as opposed to the thousands of other “experts” in your industry? What do you promise? What value will I get from working with or hiring you? What are your goals? What is your purpose? What are your passions? I know these are very abstract ideas, but I encourage you to really take some time answering these questions and others like them. It will become your brand message and should be resonated in everything you do.
- Create a Brand Message/Mission Statement – If you have really put some time and thought into step 2, you should have a list of words and ideals that really move you. If you don’t, go back and do step 2 again. You should be able to create a sentence or two that describes why you are unique, relevant and compelling and at the same time motivates you to want to succeed.
- Register Your Domain Name – Do you own your own domain name (e.g. www.yourname.com)? If not, go register the domain right now. I personally like GoDaddy.com. Domains will cost you about $10 for a year. Go with a .com and NOT a .net or .us or .tv or anything else. Register your domain as your first and last name. No middle initials, no hyphens or underscores. If you want to get those domain names too, that is up to you, but make sure you get www.firstnamelastname.com at the very least. If you have a very popular name like John Smith, you may find that www.johnsmith.com it is already taken. In this case, it is best to add something about you professionally to the end as in www.johnsmithartist.com.
- Build a Website – There are many options for creating or having a website developed. Depending on your needs and level of understanding, you may need to outsource this to an interactive marketing consultant. For personal branding purposes, you do not need a lot of functionality, disk space or bandwidth to get started. This website will become the central repository for you to showcase your talents and demonstrate your expertise. At the very least, you will want to have a blog included in the website. Ideally, you will also provide other proof of your past performances such as testimonials, work samples, articles, press releases, pod casts, how to videos, photos etc. The tool that I found that works wonders, and provides all of this functionality without the need to know how to program, is WordPress. WordPress has tons of templates to choose from and hundreds of plug-ins to give your site a unique look and feel with all the functionality of a big corporate site. Best of all, it is free.
- Remember Brand Image – It is important to point out here that your image is a big part of your brand. As such, I would recommend getting a professional portrait taken for use on your website and social networking sites. Pictures of you and the cat just won’t cut it in the business world. I recommend Sears Portrait Studios. They have locations everywhere, take appointments every day and are relatively inexpensive. You may also want to consider creating a logo, or having one created for you. Use the logo everywhere you can.
- Increase Your Visibility – Now that you have a professional portrait, a working value statement/brand message and a presence on the World Wide Web, it is time to increase your visibility. One of the quickest and easiest ways to do so is to register on as many social media networking sites as you can. Start by going to Zoominfo.com and claiming your profile. Chances are they already have a profile of you and that it just needs to be updated. Next, register and create profiles on LinkedIn.com, Twitter.com, Facebook.com and other sites like eCademy.com, Spoke.com, Ryze.com, Ziki.com, and Friendfeed.com. It is important to fill out as much of your profile information on each of these sites as you can, including links back to your website and blog. Once you have created a profile for one of them, (i.e. LinkedIn) it will be easy to create the others by copying and pasting the information from one to the others. I wouldn’t worry too much about maintaining all of these accounts. I actively use Facebook for personal networking and LinkedIn for professional networking. Using a service like ping.fm allows you to post status updates to all your profiles at the same time and even from your cell phone.
- Remove Negatives – If when you performed the Google search in step 1 you found that there were some things out there about you that are less than favorable, you need to do your best to remove them. If the content is on a site or profile that you have control over this is pretty easy – remove it. If the content is on someone else’s site or profile, you can certainly ask them to remove it. If they refuse to do so, then steps 4-7 will help get you on the way to at least pushing that stuff off the first page of results.
- Give to Get – Remember that social networking is all about building relationships. As with any healthy relationship, you get out what you put in. Recommend people that you know or have done business with on LinkedIn. Reference other people’s work in your blog and articles. Digg the stories that you like and bookmark good content on sites like Delicious and StumbleUpon. Remember people’s birthdays and special events using AmericanGreetings.com. You will be surprised how quickly these things find there way back to you.
- Monitor Your Brand – Once you have all these pieces in place, it is a good idea to continue to monitor your brand’s reach and visibility. Perform routine Google searches to see how well you are showing up over time. Another cool tool is Addictomatic.com which will allow you to create a dashboard on any given topic to see where and how it is showing up online. Enter your name in there and see how your word is starting to spread.
This is a shortened and simplified social media branding strategy, but this will work as a great head start for personal branding and as a corporate branding strategy. There is obviously a lot more that can be done and a lot more that will be revealed as you move along this path. If you follow these 10 steps, you will be well on your way to owning your brand on the Internet and mastering the World Wide Web 2.0.
Email is the number one online activity and the effectiveness of a well executed email marketing campaign cannot be disputed. As an email marketing consultant, clients are surprised to find out how quickly and inexpensively a campaign can be set up and how much return they can get on their time and investment. There is simply no better way to build and maintain relationships with your customers and prospects.
Of course, all of the above statements are true if, and only if, your email marketing campaign is set up, executed, and managed properly. Following these email marketing tips and suggestions will help ensure your campaign is on its way to success.
1. Avoid the Spam Filters – Most Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) employ pretty rigorous SPAM filters. One sure fire way to impede the success of an email marketing campaign is for your emails to be flagged as SPAM and deleted before they even get to the intended recipient. To make sure that your emails aren’t immediately flagged as SPAM, avoid using gimmicky words like “FREE”, “$$$”, “SAVE”, “DISCOUNT”, etc in both the subject line and in the content of the email.
2. Remember the Preview Pane – Most email clients, like MS Outlook and Thunderbird, give users the option of turning the preview pane on or off. This is the function that allows users to see what is in the email message without having to double-click and open the message. Most people have this turned on. When writing the copy for your email, keep this in mind. Put your most compelling offer and exciting information at the top of the email where it will be visible in the preview pane. It is this information, combined with the subject line (See Tip #8) and the “from name”, that most people will evaluate to determine whether or not to read the email or delete it immediately.
3. Create a Clear Call to Action – I know this sounds obvious, but you would be surprised at how many emails I get that simply don’t tell me what it is they want me to do next. The content may be great, and the design may be beautiful, but if your reader doesn’t know what you want them to do or how you want them to do it, then it is all for nothing and will be deleted. As such, a clear call to action should include exactly what it is you want the reader to do and what they will get in return. For example “Click here for 20% off your next visit.” Be careful not to distract readers with too many offers. Having too many calls to action can be just as confusing as not having any call to action. If you have more great offers, save them for another email.
4. Be Consistent – If you are running a newsletter or sending out frequent emails, you want to make sure that your message is consistent. Create an email template that closely matches the look and feel of your website so that people automatically associate the two. Use this template every time you send an email. This will help strengthen the image of both the email and the website. If you are sending out a monthly or weekly newsletter, make sure you send it out on the same day and time every time (i.e. Third Tuesday at 4:30PM EST). Your readers will come to expect and recognize your emails.
5. Personalize the Email – Instead of using the boring and generic “Dear Sir/Madam” (I hope no one uses that), use your recipients name whenever possible. You will most likely be sending emails out in bulk and not individually typing them to each subscriber. An email that addresses your customer by name feels less bulky and makes them feel less like a number. Using your customer’s name helps establish that you already have a relationship and, as such they will be more likely to look at your email and click through to your offer.
6. Make Unsubscribing Easy – The only thing worse than no subscribers are unhappy subscribers. Subscribers who are not interested in your emails are worth nothing to you and the resources for mailing to them are wasted. If someone no longer wants to receive emails from you, it is imperative that you make it easy and painless for them to unsubscribe. Always include a personalized unsubscribe link that takes recipients to a short form that politely and immediately removes them from your mailing list.
7. Send on Tuesday or Wednesday – Studies have shown that afternoons on Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the best days to send your email marketing messages. People are more receptive on these days and are more likely to read your email. Mondays are no good because people are trying to get caught up and organized from the weekend and are typically looking to quickly purge their inboxes of unnecessary emails. Thursdays and Fridays are difficult because many people are already thinking about the weekend and are just trying to wrap things up.
8. Use a Compelling Subject Line – It is said that when an emails arrives in someone’s inbox, they usually decide in less than a second whether or not they will read it, save it for later, or delete it. Tip #2 already mentioned the preview pane. In addition to that, the subject line is probably the most crucial component of any email campaign. Don’t use boring or generic subjects like “XYZ Company Newsletter.” Instead try thinking of a benefit that your offer provides that makes the offer compelling “10 Ways to Increase Email ROI.” You can also search Google News (or any news search engine) for topics that relate to your offer. Take note of the headlines that grab your attention and tailor your subject line accordingly.
9. Always Include a Signature – Always include a signature at the bottom of every email you send out that includes your name, your web address, your email address and maybe even your phone number. This gives people a few other ways to connect with you should they be interested in your offer but for whatever reason do not want to click through the email. It also helps make the email feel more personal as it is coming from a real person and not just some automated system.
10. Monitor the Statistics – Most email services provide statistics that can be used in conjunction with your website analytics to measure the effectiveness of your email campaigns. Monitoring stats like open rates (percentage of people that opened the email), click-through rates (percentage of people that clicked-through to your offer), and conversion rates (percentage of people that completed the sales process) will allow you to more effectively tweak your campaigns for maximum performance. Test things like the subject line, the offer, the placement of images and text in the email, the placement of images and text on the landing page, the day you send it, the time you send it, etc. Over time, you will find a system that works for you and maximizes the effectiveness of your email marketing campaign.
These 10 tips will help you strengthen the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns and increase the return on your email marketing investment. Keeping these suggestions in mind will bring your email campaign to a whole new level and help you build and maintain loyal customer relationships.
Back in 2001, shortly after 9/11, I was taking a business trip from Phoenix to New York. Because of the heightened security procedures at the airport, my arrival one hour before take-off landed me at the end of a line of hundreds of other passengers waiting to check their bags and get their boarding passes. As I stood in that slow moving line, glancing around anxiously, I noticed a sign all the way down on the other end of the concourse. It read “Self Check-In.” I could see two airline employees standing behind a counter next to a bank of several computer monitors. But, there were no passengers in that line.
I was of course curious and intrigued by this, but I didn’t want to walk down there and risk losing my place in the line I had already invested in. In my head, I quickly came up with a variety of reasons as to why the self check-in didn’t apply to me – it probably cost more, it was probably only for first class travelers, it was probably too complicated etc. In the end, I wound up missing my flight and had to book a later departure.
With time to kill, I decided to go over to the employees at the self check-in station and ask them what it was all about. They explained to me that all I needed was some form of ID and my confirmation number, and that I could print my boarding pass and check my bags right there. There was no extra charge or secret handshake required.
There are many morals to this story. The obvious one is how people, and businesses, will avoid risk and fear of the unknown by not wanting to deviate from what they have already invested in and just continue doing what everyone else is doing. How many opportunities are missed with this type of thinking? How many chances to get ahead are lost?
The real question that I have is, “Why didn’t someone from the airline educate and empower their customers by explaining the benefits of the self check-in kiosk?”
A while back I woke up in the middle of the night with an excruciating tooth-ache. That morning it became obvious that I was going to need a dentist. I didn’t have a regular dentist because I hadn’t been to one in a couple of years. So, I sat down at my computer, navigated to Google.com and searched for ‘dentist in Chandler.’
The first result that came up was a dentist that was less than a mile away from my home. Listed right next to a map to his office was his address and phone number. I called and got an appointment for later that morning.
 Google Local Screen Shot While sitting in the dentist’s chair a couple hours later, he asked how I had found his office. I told him about my internet search and he replied, “I don’t even pay for that listing.” The interesting thing is that there are 3 other dentists in that same plaza – none of which ever showed up on my radar.
How exactly was this dentist able to position himself, at no cost, above his competition and generate new business that was ultimately up-for-grabs? The answer is simple. He utilized Google’s simple and effective local search feature, and you can too.
To get your site listed in Google’s Local Search, simply follow these simple steps:
1. First perform a search of your companies name on Google to make sure that you are not already listed.
2. Visit www.google.com/local/add
3. If you do not already have a Google account (gmail, blogger, ad words etc.) then you can create one for free.
4. Once you are logged in, click on ‘Add New Business.’
5. Fill out the requested company information and make sure to pick as many relevant categories as you can (up to 5) that describe your business, product and/or services.
6. On the next page you will have the ability to enter additional information including operating hours, payment methods, and even videos and photos (highly recommended).
7. The final step is for Google to verify your information either by calling the phone number you provided or by sending a postcard to the address you listed.
Once the verification process is complete, your listing will be up and appearing in the search results when your customers search for the products and services you offer. With a few minutes of your time, you too can be driving additional customers to your business and out-pacing your competitors – all for free.
Benefits of pay-per-click search engine marketing include, but are not limited to:
1. An immediate response. Your ads will show within minutes.
2. Great for launching time sensitive campaigns and for testing new/different offers.
3. Can find low hanging fruit in the form of “Long Tail Keywords” that are cheap and highly converting, but would otherwise be too specific to build an SEO strategy around.
4. Alternatively, pay-per-click might be the only way to rank for some of the more competitive and general keywords. I don’t typically advocate this strategy, but there are some cases where the best keyword phrase is very popular, converts well, and is extremely difficult to rank for naturally.
5. Analyzing the effectiveness of a pay-per-click campaign (landing pages, ad copy etc.) will help determine what will be effective in a natural search campaign saving you the time and resources required in a long term SEO strategy.
What other benefits have you found from pay-per-click?
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