Branding your products is serious business.
But if you are branding yourself, it comes off as comparatively easier.
What you can do is:
DEFINE YOURSELF
KNOW THYSELF
- Make an exhaustive list of your PLUS’s and MINUS’s
- Ask your close ones [friends, family, relatives, professors etc.]
- SWOT Analysis might also do the trick
FOCUS ON THE MONETIZERS
- Once the list is done, choose values which can bring you moolah
- It can be:
-Public speaking -Creative mindset -Sports freak -Marketing -Poetry -Copywriting!
HACK A NICHE
- Go deep; find that one unique value
- Value must be in sync with market needs
- Weave a vision around that idea
- Plan a niche market around it
- Finalize it
OPEN A BLOG / WEBSITE
- Hire a web designer
- Or else design yourself
- Hire a professional bio writer
- Go for full website optimization
- Fasten your webpage loading speed
CREATE A LOGO
- Get in touch with a Logo Designer
- Or else design yourself
HQ DISPLAY PICTURE
- Hire a professional photographer
- HQ [High Quality] display pictures brings a sense of professionalism
- Smile, for it attracts more customers than SEO!
- Post positive pictures in your website gallery
INVEST IN YOUR WARDROBE
- Talk to a fashion designer
- Consulting your fashion freak friends is the economical way out
- Study latest fashion trends
- Helps you stay out of the clutter
- Men can style it out at Real Men Real Style
- Women can go for Beauty Tips, Celebrity Style and Fashion Advice from InStyle
LASTLY, BE YOURSELF
- Stay true to your value system
- Your brand starts from you
- Be proud of yourself
- Use your strengths and conquer your flaws
- NEVER FAKE YOUR PERSONAL VALUES!
PLAY WITH CONTENT
TRADITIONAL ARTICLES
- Old age sutra for copywriting: Long form content
- If you are writing long, aim for 3000 – 5000 words
- Go for:
-Guides -How to’s -Tutorials
These sell like hot cakes!
- Brings authority to your website
Or else you can go for
QUICKIES
- Quickies can be in the 700 – 1500 word range
- But this requires more frequent postings than long form
- Bombard articles around your niche idea
- Monopolizes your position in the niche market
CASE STUDIES
- Can be added to your articles / published separately
- Use data from:
-official websites -newspapers -expert opinions -comparison of financial statements
You can get raw data from a simple…
SURVEY
- Prepare a questionnaire with your idea as the central theme
- Mail to well known personalities in your field
- Open ended surveys, though descriptive, does work
- Based on the replies, pen articles
- This can aptly describe the market’s pain areas
VLOGS
- Innovation is the modern swag
- The content avatars mentioned above are the unsaid norms
- Break these norms
- Regularly put out videos
- Visuals have more impact than words
- Saves readers’ energy and writing costs
MY TAKE
- Put forth your opinions strongly
- Tease the touchy issues
- Take an unconventional stand from the industry’s approach
- Show the other side of the coin to the public
- Stand out from the majority
- Gets you instant attention and quick followers
- Strengthens your personal brand
HQ CONTENT IMAGES
- Post high quality images in articles
- Avoid copyright issues while Googling for images
- You can refer to:
-Unsplash -Pexels -Pixabay
SOCIAL MEDIA
- Create your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn Accounts
- Post Social Media photos and Videos regularly
- Hootsuite can help in managing multiple profiles
- Hire a Social Media Manager to deal with your online postings
- Or else design yourself with:
-Canva -PicMonkey -BeFunky
- Market your website everywhere
NETWORK
SOCIAL MEDIA
- Share your content links
- Unpopular method in today’s times but works if content is credible
- Like and Follow the Big Daddies in your industry
- Trace their:
-Posting topics -writing styles -content mix
You will find a pattern.
- Emulate that pattern and see if it works for you
- Write a good bio for LinkedIn [Hire a bio writer if needed]
- Not to forget, have a HQ display picture in your SM accounts
- Follow influential people related to your niche
- Participate in forums
- Have a say
- For formal discussions:
-Quora -Reddit -Ask.fm
are the best ones of the lot.
GET A BUSINESS CARD
- Common tactic by businessmen
- Make your biz card unique and innovative
- Again, hire a biz card designer
- Carry a bunch everywhere
- Every new person you meet is an opportunity in disguise
- Hand your card to everyone you meet
ATTEND
- Conferences of people who made it to the top
- Listen to their life stories and learn from it
- Ask questions
- Mix with the audience there
- Share your contacts
- Bring out your biz cards!
STAY UPDATED
- Read articles relating to your niche daily
- For business news, you can tune into:
-Entrepreneur -Bloomberg -CNBC -Reuters -Financial Times
- See what your rivals are up to
- Scan for current news in:
-Newspapers -Rival Ads -News websites -Apps etc.
INVITE
- Get into the inner Elite circles
- Invite them via email for guest posting
- Request for a quote to start off your article
- Or send them a questionnaire
- Thank them when they agree to your request.
CONTENT
- Observe the comments section
- Laud any accurate observations or a good suggestion
- Regular postings are preferred
- Ally with another blogger
- This doubles / triples your blog post audience
THINK LONG TERM
- Always remember: Ideals may sink but an idea lives on
- Believe that your brand shall live forever
- Have a bird’s eye view of your vision
- Dejection due to rejection shouldn’t defeat your grit
- Know that your ideas can change the world for good
- Don’t chase short term money for long term loss
- Strong leaders serve the world, not money
