Posted by Gretel Going on Fri, Jan 29, 2010 @ 10:52 AM
Dan Waldschmidt's website is a great example of a personal brand site
that embodies the five tips outlined in this post*
Although the concept of transforming yourself into a personal brand isn't a new one, it's more prevalent than ever these days. This is true for many reasons--the influence of Internet/social media, ego, and an ever-evolving definition of what's cool. Not to mention, the following factors:
- It's no longer taboo for public figures to endorse brands or to put their own names on products. In fact, whereas even ten years ago, actors, musicians and other high profile people risked losing all street cred for shilling a product, it's now cooler-and more profitable-than ever.
- In the age of transparency, faceless corporations are, like, so 1998, while having a well-known face that consumers can relate to at the front of your company is totally in vogue.
- Personal brands can charge people more for appearances, books and other opportunities, than they could if they didn't have a solid brand platform. In other words, if there are two people with the exact same expertise and value to offer, the one with the stronger personal brand platform will always 1) be the first choice for most opportunities, and 2) get paid more as a result. Not only do they come with an existing audience, they also offer a certain cachet.
Really, the main tenets of creating a solid personal brand platform are the same as creating any brand platform: good messaging, widespread appeal, finding a way to say the same old thing in a new and exciting way, and smart overall packaging. When it comes to doing this in the online world, you need to start with a website. Here's how to get started:
1. Use your name as the URL. Sounds obvious, right? You'd be surprised how many people don't do this. Even people who have made a conscious decision to transform themselves into brands are often timid or uncomfortable with the idea of, well, transforming themselves into brands. And this usually results in using some seemingly clever URL that encompasses the essence of what they're trying to communicate with their brand, rather than using their name, which is one of the simplest and most effective ways to reinforce and brand your brand.
2. Put yourself at the center of it. Duh. This might sound even more obvious than the above tip, but again, it's not always a given. You have to remember that many personal brands are not expert marketers, so they have a tough time branding themselves. Personal brands are often people who are experts at what they do, thought leaders, or other standouts in their industries. They know that they could be effective as the public face for a particular concept, but that doesn't mean that they're particularly savvy when it comes to implementing a brand strategy. If this is you, make sure that your beautiful mug is front and center on your website.
3. Showcase whatever it is that people know you for or what you want people to know you for. Your personal brand website should not just be a shrine to you and the things you like; it's got to have a very clear objective. As much as your brand is all about you, it's even more so about your audience. Are you known for you great insight into X? For your stunning looks or dazzling sense of humor? Do people gravitate toward you because they can always count on you to do Y? Well then, make sure those are the things people get the moment they land at YourName.com. This will yield a much better response than your list of "100 things you didn't know about me." (Yes, these are fun, but they shouldn't be the centerpiece of your message.)
4. What do you want people to do? So, you've done your due diligence by giving people what they want, and thus given them a reason to come to your site in the first place. Now it's their turn to return the favor and do what you want them to do. Is this inviting you to offer a keynote at their next event? Is this an interview with popular media outlets on your area of expertise? Maybe you want to pitch your own show, become the next Oprah, get a book deal or simply attract more interest in an organization you're associated with. Whatever it is, make it obvious-your being a brand alone is not enough.
attract submissions for a multi-author book project--something
she makes immediately clear to visiitors.*
5. Partner with someone who knows you better than you know yourself. For the same reason that every writer needs an editor, every personal brand needs to partner with someone who can give critical feedback and offer an outside perspective. Because you know yourself so well, it's easy to misinterpret the way you appear to others. In other words, your image of yourself is based on a well of information that other people don't necessarily have access to. For this reason, you must take into consideration an outsider's point of view. And make sure that outsider is qualified to do such-meaning, they must know your industry, understand what you're trying to achieve, and have experience with what you're trying to accomplish. Going back to the writer-needing-an-editor example-your mom and best friend are always going to tell you that they love your book-but at the end of the day, they're not necessarily qualified to give you a credible opinion that matters. Find someone who is.
*What can we say? We practice what we preach: site created by us.
Posted by Erin Ferretti Slattery on Tue, Jan 12, 2010 @ 12:31 PM
Well, here it is, practically the middle of January, and your New Year's resolutions may have already taken a beating. (Chocolate cake, anyone?) If you're searching for a way--any way--to make good on at least one set of resolutions, try making some that you have a powerful incentive to keep-resolutions for your business.
1. Make 2010 the year you and your company master the art of social media and mobile marketing. Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and iPhone apps can be powerful ways to reach your audience--as long as you have good indications that your audience exists on each. If you're not yet active in social media, don't dive in headfirst. Figure out why you want to be on each site, and what distinct strategies and goals you have for each.* Another element to consider: whether you'll have the time and resources to devote to these, long-term. Not every company and brand needs an iPhone app. Where will you get the most bang for your social-media buck?
* May we recommend: "Going Social: 12 Key Things You Must Consider When Developing a Social Media Program for Your Business, Brands, or Clients"?
2. A corollary of #1: If you're using multi-channel marketing, make sure the content is varied and compelling on each channel. Die-hard fans will follow you to the ends of the earth (or at least to both Twitter and Facebook), but no one wants to read Twitter updates that end in "#fb." Determine who your target audiences are for each site and offer them solutions that fit their needs. United Airlines, for example, interacts with customers regularly on Twitter via special offers and air-travel advice--but United doesn't seem to have figured out what it's doing on Facebook: despite having over 13,000 fans, the company has not posted anything since setting up the fan page.
3. Social media listening. So you're on Facebook and Twitter, updating, retweeting, interacting, and generally being a rock star. Congratulations. Guess what? If you plan to treat your online activity as more than an echo chamber, you're also going to need to listen to how people respond to what you're putting out there. Monitoring what people are saying (tweeting, blogging) about your company, and tracking your company's reputation online, can be critical in positioning your business and its brands. You can do this via real-time search results from Twitter (now featured alongside Google search results), or--if you need more complex feedback--via a web-based application like Scout Labs. (Previously on CVMonologues: "Have You Searched Your Brand Recently?")
4. Online video. Take a good look at whether online video could offer a significant return on your marketing investment. One advantage? It's cheap. A Flip cam and basic editing software aren't going to break your budget. (Bloggers, take note.) Hip publishing house HarperStudio issues each of its authors a Flipcam and sends them off into the frozen tundra of the writing life with the expectation that the authors will send back video epistles chronicling their progress on that 80,000-word novel. For HarperStudio, this decision was a marketing bonanza. Whether you're an author, yacht manufacturer, or power-broker CEO, giving your customers a behind-the-scenes look at the creative processes at the heart of your business can be a serious (not to mention fun) way of connecting. Sites like Viddler and Vimeo offer a good idea of what you can accomplish.
5. Switching from website front-end matters to back-end ones: vow to take a hard look at your web analytics. Dig into yours to see what works. What content encourages visitors to visit--and linger--on your site? Which sites drive the most traffic to yours? (What's that? You don't have any web analytics, you say? Get thee to Google.)
6. Make sure your website encourages interaction with visitors--and that you're set up to support that interaction. Is your site the 2010 online equivalent of your great-aunt's living room, complete with plastic-covered lampshades? Does it say, "Look, but don't touch"? (If you're interested in changing your site from a brochure-style presentation to one that generates visits, have we got a blog post for you.)
7. Trim down. (Not you, your company.) When building a brand strategy, companies often throw everything at the wall to see what sticks. While this may work if you have endless funds and infinite hours in a day, you're probably better off honing the strongest and most cost-effective aspects of your strategy.
8. Put yourself in your customer's shoes. Since nearly every company has a presence online, the only way to distinguish your brand is through its quality (and let's assume yours is top-notch) and--perhaps more importantly--the way you treat people interested in it. Put in writing your commitment to customer service, and live it. There's a reason why the first five pages of hundreds of Google results for Zappos are full of adoring prose.
9. But that's not enough--you've got to be authentic in every interaction with customers. Could the last five people who interacted with your product or service identify what your company stands for? If not, it's time to close the gap between what you say you are, and how customers perceive you.
10. Become a trusted source of recommendations. Customers expect you to recommend your own product, of course, but demonstrating your awareness of the market can also be advantageous. Maybe the question to ask is not "How can I help my customer buy my product/service?," but "How can I help my customer?"
There you have it: 10 ways your company can kick off 2010 in smart-marketing style. Put one of these on the calendar for the next 10 business days and at the end of two weeks, you'll have formulated a clear set of online strategies that will help your business strengthen its relationships with customers and clients. Let us know what worked best for you...and, hey, are you going to eat the rest of that slice of cake?