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Who Are You? Make More Money with Personal Branding

Who Are You? Make More Money with Personal Branding

by | Feb 8, 2018

Company brands and personal brands don’t have to be two separate identities.

Elon Musk and Tesla are a great example of this relationship. Elon Musk is known for taking customer service inquiries on Twitter and putting them into action days later.

If you trust Elon Musk, you trust Tesla. That is the power of building a strong personal brand.

In this article I will go over how to drive revenue to your small business through your personal brand.

1) Define a bold, unique and clear message and stick with it.

Can you imagine if Hubspot called their annual conference the outbound conference? Hubspot built a brand around inbound marketing and isn’t going to change their marketing message any time soon.

Jason Fried from 37Signals has been an advocate for remote working and bootstrapping for as long as I remember. Tony Hsieh has been speaking about customer service since the first day of creating Zappos. Steve Jobs focused on simplicity in his products and presentations.

Figure out what you believe in and stick to that message. The longer you keep the same message, the bigger impact it will create.

If you are the owner of a business, your personal brand should match the values and messaging of your company. Your personal brand is the face of your company.

2) Market to your customers, not your industry colleagues.

The goal is to make money from your personal brand.

So, why do so many marketers waste their time marketing to people who don’t buy from them? It’s not a popularity contest. It’s about marketing to a customer base that needs what you’re selling.

It’s ok to build respect among your industry colleagues, but don’t lose focus on what your end goal is.

3) Embrace YouTube and LinkedIn Video – It drives results.

LinkedIn recently opened up the platform to allow for native video. If you’re a B2B service provider, then this is right down your alley.

To make the most impact, LinkedIn and YouTube users expect to see your face in front of the camera. Customers crave authentic relationships and video is a great way to embrace it.

Talk about topics that are relevant for your customers.

Also – You don’t need fancy video equipment or top of the line microphones because many smartphones have caught up in terms of quality. You would be amazed at the video and audio quality of the latest phones.

Here’s a quick tip: Do video interviews with customers or counterparts. Not only do you build a stronger relationship with your customer, but you also give an inside look into your business.

4) Make it clear what service or product you are selling.

You have a clear and memorable message for your personal brand? Great.

The next step is to make sure that people not only know who you are, but they know what your company does. You will be surprised by how many people don’t know what you do for a living or how you can help them.

When Jason Fried blogs, he blogs under his company’s blog. That drives attention to his brand plus Basecamp and other 37signals products.

Some of the best marketers have strong calls to actions in their videos and blogs. It’s ok to push your company as long as the content you are creating is valuable.

5) Focus your efforts on only one social media channel.

Here is a time management tip for you: You’re not going to master all the social channels. One is hard enough, and honestly, it’s great to start with one before you move on.

The platform you choose depends on your business. If you’re a B2B business, use LinkedIn. If you’re a fashion business, use Instagram, and so on. Master one platform at a time and interact with your customers

In conclusion, if you follow these five steps you will find yourself making consistently making more revenue.

How to Develop a Mobile Strategy in 7 Steps

How to Develop a Mobile Strategy in 7 Steps

by | Feb 7, 2018

Quick question: how much time has passed since you last checked your phone? If you’re like me, it was probably a few minutes ago. Mobile devices are a norm and there’s nowhere you can go without seeing someone consumed by their cell phone – waiting in line, on the train, eating lunch and more.

Today’s consumers are constantly mobile and demand on-the-go access to everything they care about. And that means everything is mobile.

So if you don’t have a strong mobile presence, it’s time you start thinking seriously about this. Here are seven steps to help you develop a mobile strategy.

Step 1 – Start with Your Website

Although it may sound basic, many businesses and organizations forget that their mobile presence begins with their website. To help you determine if your website needs help becoming mobile-friendly, put your site to the test with Google’s Mobile Friendly Test. Review the results and if they’re anything less than stellar, work with a developer to make your website mobile-friendly.

Step 2 – Take Stock of Your Content

While many may think that writing is writing, the platform you write for matters a lot. If your site’s content is lengthy and looks overwhelming to read, chances are that it is. Take stock of your content and analyze it for mobile friendliness. Content for mobile devices should be structured so that it’s easy to read and digest. This means short paragraphs, lots of headers, bullet lists and engaging elements like video or images. If your content doesn’t look like that, it’s time to revamp your content for consumption on mobile devices.

Step 3 – Test Your Mobile Search Friendliness

From Google My Business to other local directories, it’s critical that your business be front and center when people are doing searches for your business or organization. If you search your business name and you can’t easily find your phone number, address and hours of operation, you really need to work on your mobile visibility.

Step 4 – Check Your Social Engagement

People spend hours and hours on their mobile devices. Many of these hours are spent on social apps like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. So if you’re not fully engaging your audience on these platforms, it’s time you get started. Start by checking out your social profiles. Are they up-to-date? Are you engaging with your audience on a consistent basis? If the answer is no, you know what you have to do.

Step 5 – Plan for Mobile Content

While the traditional definition of content may refer to text, content in today’s context involves video, images, social posts and text. Did you know that over 8 billion videos or 100 million hours of videos are watched on Facebook every day? If your only content today is in the form of blogs, it’s time to expand your content repertoire. This can be a tall order for many businesses and organizations, but a necessary one.

Step 6 – Embrace Live and Mobile

Another aspect of being mobile friendly is being able to deliver content straight into consumers’ hands. That means embracing popular mobile micro-content like Facebook Live videos, Instagram stories or Snapchat videos. This will help you reach your audience in the apps that they enjoy.

Step 7 – Don’t Be Afraid to Try

There’s something to be said about those that embrace new things before anyone else. Maybe it’s a risk. Maybe it’s a big win. Either way, you need to stay on top of changes and be open to trying anything and everything.

Developing a mobile strategy requires discipline and fearlessness. As marketers or business owners, delving into a world where mobile rules can be daunting and overwhelming. However, the sooner you embrace your journey towards being mobile ready, the easier things will be.