PERSONAL BRANDING TOOLKIT How to cultivate a personal brand online.

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Brendan Dennis
7 years ago
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Befre Yu Begin D yu really want t d this? Once yu start, yu will be in the sptlight.

1 PERSONAL BRANDING TOOLKIT Hw t cultivate a persnal brand nline. Everyne has a persnal brand. Whether public r nt, yur persnal brand is an aggregatin f thers perceptins f yu. If yu want t use scial media t harness yur persnal brand, ask yurself whether yu d like t shwcase the entire brand r a specific slice f that brand (i.e. yur humr). Befre Yu Begin D yu really want t d this? Once yu start, yu will be in the sptlight. The sptlight may smeday be a news statin that highlights a cntrversial qute r may be the glitz and glamur f Hllywd cameras; it will always be yur friends, family, c-wrkers, r even enemies. D yu feel cmfrtable subjecting yurself and yur thughts t such scrutiny? Remember that scial media is a tw-way rad. Peple will let yu knw hw they feel abut yu, nt just the material yu publish. If yur answer is a passinate YES!, keep reading Prepare What is yur gal? Every brand needs a gal. The gal can be specific (i.e. write cmedic pst-game cmmentary abut yur favrite baseball team) r the gal can be pen-ended (i.e. make vides based n yur fans input and vtes). Whatever yu chse, yu need a gal t stay n track and be cnsistent s yur fllwers can understand what yur brand stands fr. What d yu want a share f? Chris Flink did nt say this during ur first class because it sunded cl. It s actually imprtant! D yu want a share f yur fllwers minds (i.e. thrugh cmments and vting), d yu want a share f their eyes (i.e. just pay attentin t me and I ll be happy! ), d yu want a share f their muths (i.e. fd blg), r d yu want smething else entirely? Why will smene fllw yu? Seriusly. With s many media utlets vying fr smene s attentin, establishing a lyal fllwer base is nt as easy as getting Bay Area venture capital funding with just a castle in the sky. Inrganic grwth (i.e. making yur family and friends subscribe) will nly get yu s far. Why will a perfect stranger want t fllw yu? Chances are that smene will nt need t fllw yu. Yu have t make that persn want t fllw yu. Remember what Oren Jacbs (Pixar) said: virality is a cnsequence, nt a strategy. A strng persnal brand is nt dependent n hw lng yu ve been building it, but with hw well yu ve been ding it.

2 Launch Which channels will yu use t distribute yur brand? Here are a few thughts t keep in mind: Hme base: mst brands have a central nde. The central nde can be WrdPress, Blgger, Facebk, r anything else. A central nde keeps track f all infrmatin related t yur brand, including an Abut sectin that, at a minimum, tells ptential fllwers wh yu are. All infrmatin psted n nn-central sites feeds back t the hme base. Fr example, yu create an nline persnality n YuTube and pst thse vides n Facebk. YuTube is yur hme base, and, ideally, yu embed YuTube links t yur Facebk feed. All views n Facebk are relayed back t YuTube s yu can track ttal views frm ne lcatin. Where shuld yu launch? Belw is a list f ptential utlets. Chse the nes that appeal t yu, yur gal, and, imprtantly, yur fllwers. Blgger Facebk Pdcast Twitter WrdPress YuTube Send a regular t subscribers. Chances are that yu subscribe t at least ne distributin right nw. What d yu like abut it? What dn t yu like abut it? Benefit: yu have mre cntrl ver yur brand. There is n reply-all r cmmenting sectin fr subscribers t share their thughts with everyne. Subscribers nly share their thughts with yu. Drawback: subscriber grwth may be mre difficult ver . FigDig Free nline prtflis fr thse with sme artistic flare. Carbnmade Free nline prtflis fr thse with sme artistic flare. Remember, that yur audience may nt prefer ne frm f cmmunicatin r may nt even be registered n websites such as Facebk. If yu like t write creative nnfictin pieces fr peple wh are 65+ years ld r anything fr children under 13 years ld, r blgs may be a better ptin than Facebk. (Nte: Facebk users must be at least 13 years ld t register.) Lk at yur cmpetitin. Is there smene with a similar brand already? The brand can be similar in terms f cntent r anther metric. What is that persn ding? Are there any best practices that yu can adpt?

Cntent Remember what the zany guy at OraBrush said? What are the 4 C s? Here is ur take n his 4 C s. Cntent Balance substance with style. Remember the engagement arc. Tell a stry.

Yu cannt g back after the actin. Create tw-way cmmunicatin. Cntent des nt end with yur last sentence. It is cntinuus and includes cmmunicatin frm yur fllwers. Running ut f ideas fr cntent?

3 Cntent Remember what the zany guy at OraBrush said? What are the 4 C s? Here is ur take n his 4 C s. Cntent Balance substance with style. Remember the engagement arc. Tell a stry. Remember what Oren Jacbs (Pixar) said. Peple remember stries, nt a list f facts. Smething becmes a stry when there is a struggle, a decisin, and a subsequent actin that advances the plt. Yu cannt g back after the actin. Create tw-way cmmunicatin. Cntent des nt end with yur last sentence. It is cntinuus and includes cmmunicatin frm yur fllwers. Running ut f ideas fr cntent? Ask yur fllwers what they d like t see r hear. Peple lve sharing their pinins and will feel mre attached t yur brand, even if yu dn t g with smene s specific suggestin. Or have a guest pst an article, vide, etc. Have an easy-t-find Abut sectin n yur site t help ptential fllwers understand wh yu are and why yu re brand exists. Include a mini-bi at the end f each pst if yur brand will appear n ther sites. Call t Actin Be specific. Tell peple what yu d like them t d. Dn t leave them guessing. Remember OraBrush? Every vide tld viewers t leave a cmment belw and subscribe by clicking the buttn abve. Cllabratin Engage yur users. Easy and effective tactic: thank peple subscribers, peple wh cmment, guests, etc. Yu want peple t feel like they are a part f yur brand. Respnd t fllwers cmments and cmmunicatins. Yu will gain their trust and learn a lt abut them and hw yur brand is perceived. Remember, peple cnnect with peple, nt websites, blgs, r vides. Cnsistency Yur brand shuld have a cnsistent theme. This theme will resnate with yur fllwers and keep them cming back even when there are n incentives. Hwever, yu will nt earn repeat business by simply meeting expectatins. Every pst needs t innvate arund yur theme and g beynd expectatins.

4 Analyze A critical cmpnent t building yur nline persnal brand is cllecting data and understanding that data. Unlike traditinal media, infrmatin and flw f infrmatin can be measured and understd withut much effrt r cst. Here are sme ways t measure and understand yur persnal brand: Survey fllwers t find ut mre abut them. Yu will learn wh they are and why they are fllwing yu. Smething as simple as vte if yu like cake tells yu mre abut yur users. Facebk Page: Facebk ffers free tls t mnitr weekly traffic t and frm a Facebk page that yu create. Ggle Analytics: Feature rich tls that help yu understand yur persnal brand. Klut: Measures the nline influence f yur Facebk r Twitter prfile. Alexa.cm/siteinf: Ranks websites and tells yu infrmatin abut site visitrs (lcatin, search engine queries, etc). Nte: this will nly wrk if yu have a registered dmain (i.e. It will nt wrk if yu have a subdmain (i.e. Cmpete.cm: Measures daily uniques t yur site and gives infrmatin abut yur visitrs (age, lcatin, etc). Nte: this will nly wrk if yu have a registered dmain (i.e. It will nt wrk if yu have a sub-dmain (i.e. Ggle Adwrds Keywrd Tl: Tells yu hw many times peple search fr a keywrd every mnth. This can be useful if yu d like t drive rganic grwth thrugh search engines. ( r Ggle adwrds targeting keywrd ideas ) Need mre? There are several additinal services ut there that can help yu understand yur persnal brand and its effectiveness. Try a quick Ggle search t find additinal services.

Are they cming frm Facebk r are they cming frm anther blgger? Get smene s cntact inf and add them t yur blg, email chain, Facebk Page, etc.

5 Grw Yur mst pwerful marketing tl is yur current fllwers. Encurage yur fllwers t tell their friends abut yur brand if they like what yu re ding. Make it very easy t cmment r subscribe. Peple d nt want t search fr subscriptin buttn. If yu use Blgger r Wrdpress, yu can add an pt-in buttn t yur Facebk page. Als, create specific links t understand hw users are getting t yu. Are they cming frm Facebk r are they cming frm anther blgger? Get smene s cntact inf and add them t yur blg, chain, Facebk Page, etc. Many peple frget t fllw up and subscribe after an initial cnversatin. Help them by taking care f the final step. Experiment with hw t grw subscriber base and target strategies that wrk. Examples include: Cntests Giveaways Cmments Likes (a favrite f Avinash Kaushik) Swap PR with ther blggers r sites Write-ups in magazines Celebrity/nde endrsements Advertise Turn This Int A Business D yu want t earn incme frm yur persnal brand? Similar t Befre Yu Begin, ask yurself is it wrth it? Will yu lse the trust f yur fllwers? Will yu have t change yur brand? Advertisements. A cmmn frm f earning incme frm yur persnal brand is hsting advertisements. A typical business earns $0.20-$0.40 per fllwer per mnth fr advertisements. Again, ask yurself if advertising will nt create cnflicts with yur persnal brand.

DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY CHECKLIST

DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY CHECKLIST [CAMPAIGN NAME HERE] 1. SET CAMPAIGN GOALS What is yur mtivatin fr running this campaign? (e.g. sell 20,000 wrth f gift vuchers in x number f mnths) Are yur gals SMART?