While Internet branding offers huge opportunities for business, in order for it to be effective one needs to attract and engage its customers.  This isn’t easy on the internet. Branding is not as easy as putting up a website and adding your company logo and slogan. Your internet branding strategy should make your online brand noticeable and apparent.

Branding utilizes hi-tech tools to create an online presence for your business. Graphics and animation, a compelling web copy, and overall website design that reflect your company are some of the important elements that will bring your online brand alive. An attractive website that helps customers easily and quickly find the information they need is the key to getting customer interaction and eventually, business. Your branding plan should include good design elements and ease of use to create an effective overall impression.

A strong online image will make the difference between a customer who buys from you online or switches to your competitors. Remember, that online customers can just leave your site and go to your competitors at the click of a mouse. A lot depends on the impression they get from your site. Branding seeks to convey an immediate unique message about your business to your target clients.

As you can see, there are many requirements for a successful branding strategy. Hiring a branding specialist might be helpful to give you focus on your efforts in creating an online presence that will become a valuable asset to your business

Branding Yourself  is much more than just a thoughtful logo or slogan and it’s more than just a unique color scheme. Below are the initial steps that need to be taken in order to start your successful brand image.

Step 1: Examine the Competition

One of the keys to creating a successful brand image is to separate yourself from your competition. You will need to know how consumers see your competition. You need to recognize how your competitors differentiate themselves from others. Also, you should know your competitor’s strengths and weaknesses. Your business can benefit from knowing this information by learning from their weaknesses, and learning how to differentiate your company from the competition.

Step 2: Identify Your Strengths

Now that you know your competition’s weaknesses you can begin to focus on your company’s strengths. Perform a target market analysis, learn from it, and use it to your advantage. This is a useful tool to confirm your company’s strengths are in fact important to your target market. Once you’ve realized your strengths, and what strengths are important to customers, you can think about ways to successfully market these to the public and involve them in your branding campaign.

Step 3: Know Your Customer

Learn more about the customer. Know their purchasing behavior. How often do they buy? Do they buy only during sales or promotions? Do they buy an array of products or services or just a select few? These are questions you should ask to better market to your customers. Also, know your customer’s lifestyles, needs, mindsets, and attitudes. Knowing and working with these personality traits are also key to marketing success.

Step 4: Be Your Brand

Make sure your company truly represents what your brand identifies you with. For example, if one of the traits your brand identifies your company with is politeness, be polite. This means every employee from the receptionist all the way up to the CEO needs to live your brand.

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Does an image of a red can with words Coca Cola written in white display in your mind’s eye, or perhaps a coke bottle?

Likewise we must pick our niche on the internet and brand our name accordingly. Be known for doing good in 1 area before moving on to the next project.

Here are the things we need:

1) A website that belongs to you.

2) Auto Responder and Opt In box. Your visitors will most likely not make a purchase on the 1st attempt and when they leave your site, you will not see them again. So do capture your visitors details with an auto responder opt in box and follow up with a series of emails. Follow up emails reinforces your brand name in the mind of your readers. Respectful persistence wins sales.

3) Photograph & Signature. Scan a groomed, smiling photo of yourself and your a penned signature. This adds that personal touch to let your audience know you are a real person.

4) Audio. Do you have a nice speaking voice? If so, combine this with your photograph and signature to humanize your website and establish rapport with your audience.

5) Blog. A blog can be an add-on to your main website or be used as a free alternative to a website, at least until you are generating profits. You can combine every aspect of name branding mentioned in the above points into your free blog. Update your blog at regular consistent intervals with content specific to your vision. Refrain from writing about off topic content so as to keep your message and theme consistent. One way to keep your readers posted about your content is to use RSS feeds.

6) A Domain name. You can register a domain name and forward it to point at your Blog. Use the domain masking feature that allows your website to have a professional look.

If your online marketing material stimulates an image in your mind that is just not you, likely you’ve been trying to model your approach after someone else or you’ve been using work produced by someone else without giving them the benefit of knowing you, learning your approach, sharing your ideas and interjecting your personality into the material.

So, what’s the solution?

The solution to this dilemma is to be yourself and let your personality show through in your online marketing materials.

If you are writing a blog entry in the midst of a snowstorm and it is “a bit nippy outside” don’t hesitate to say so. When you let your personality shine your image will be your own, not one you have crafted that will change from day to day depending upon what you have read most recently.

There’s lots of talk about branding in regard to online marketing. The basic principles of branding are to decide on the image you wish to portray and what message you want to drive home.

While some people could write a book on how to brand your business, there are really only a handful of factors to consider – your image, your purpose and your message. The purpose of a brand is to craft something that will stick in the minds of people and help them to remember your business.

Creating and building a strong brand does not have to compromise your personality. The only real decision is whether you want to be casual or professional. In the world of online marketing, retaining your personality and your identity will go far in branding your business. You’ll be much happier with the long-term effects of your online marketing if you don’t try to be someone you are not. Be yourself and have fun.

1. Personal branding and marketing is NOT pretending to be someone you’re not

This is probably the number one myth I come across in my work. There’s an incorrect perception that personal branding and marketing means pretending to be somebody else – the funnier, cleverer, more charming version of you. This couldn’t be further from the truth! Pretending to be someone you’re not is likely to cause you trouble in business as the truth always comes out. Personal branding is about taking a long, hard look at yourself, finding your strengths and weaknesses and identifying what makes you different from others in your industry. Personal marketing is about learning to highlight your uniqueness and your best talents to get noticed and stand out from the clutter. The best personal brands are those that are authentic. People see through a ‘fake’ and are attracted to those who are genuine.

2. Personal branding is NOT image consulting

Although image plays a part in your personal brand, it’s not the only aspect of personal branding and marketing. Yes, it’s important to make a good first impression visually. For example, if you’re looking to hire an employee for a professional position and you’re faced with two candidates who have the same skills, experience and strengths, but one dress like an office worker and the other dresses like she’s on her way back from a run, you’ll probably pick the former over the latter. Nobody will deny that image counts. But, but if you can’t back up an awesome image with great performance, your style won’t get you anywhere.

Personal branding and marketing recognizes the importance of everything – the way you look, the way you communicate, your individual talents and how you differentiate yourself in the workplace. Strong personal brands are consistent across all areas, from what they wear to how they behave at functions and even how they respond to emails – everything counts.

3. Personal branding and marketing is NOT just about networking

Once again, networking is a valuable tool in your personal branding and marketing arsenal, but it’s not the alpha and the omega. You might be the world’s best networker, but if you don’t know how to communicate what differentiates you from the crowd, you’ll just be another business card in your contacts’ rolodex. Networking is most effective as part of a structured personal branding and marketing plan. First you need to define your personal brand and then find out what sort of networking will work best for you and think about how to market yourself authentically as you network.

4. Personal branding and marketing is NOT for celebs only

Personal branding and marketing is not just for the likes of Oprah and Richard Branson. It’s for anyone who wants to grow their personal profile and business opportunities in the workplace.

In Branding & Marketing YOU, I interviewed nine successful South Africans who shared their thoughts and experiences of building and marketing an authentic and powerful personal brand. These people are from industries as varied as accounting, politics and broadcasting. Some are introverts, others are extroverts. They are a mix of ages, races, backgrounds, genders and personalities, but each person has learnt to pinpoint their unique skills and traits and market these in an authentic manner. You don’t have to be famous to develop a powerful personal brand.

What IS personal branding and marketing?

Now that we’ve looked at what is isn’t, let me share a few thoughts on what personal branding and marketing is. Personal branding focuses on your USP (unique selling proposition), how you position yourself relative to colleagues and competitors and how you are able to ‘package’ yourself in an authentic and noticeable way that makes you stand out. Personal branding and marketing is about knowing yourself and understanding what differentiates you from others with similar qualifications and experience. Powerful personal brands have a deep sense of purpose and a desire to make an impact.

Much like branding a product or service, personal branding and marketing is an ongoing process that requires consistent attention. Remember, your personal brand is your greatest asset. Look after it; protect it and grow it.

By: Donna Rachelson

Al Diaz Jr.

Humans think with their eyes. A UCLA study proves that 85% of all decisions are made with our eyes. That’s right: the visual you have has the most impact

Branding Yourself is not professional and congruent, attractive and attracting you will be passed over – guaranteed. To be competitive, to have a greater influence on others, to attract more business and be more successful it’s essential that you develop a well-thought-out personal brand.

Before you sell anything — your product, company or service — you sell yourself first. Shift the balance of power in your favor. When you Brand Yourself correctly, you are seen as more desirable and in demand.

Now take large, successful companies for instance. They understand the power of “Branding Yourself ” a product. They spend a lot of time, money and energy to create a “brand” that is eye catching and appealing enough to sell their product through to market. They want to make sure that the buyer has a strong connection with that brand.

Now think of yourself as a company with one employee — you. How much time, money and energy have you spent in developing a “Personal Brand” that is unique enough to sell through to your market? An individual who has a well-defined of Branding Yourself has more status and a tremendous advantage over the competition in the market place. With a great personal brand, you are already half sold and thus far above the competition.

Brand Yourself To Success

Al Diaz Jr.

“Excellence is an art won through training and habituation. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” – Aristotle

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” – Zig Ziglar

Branding Yourself is about honing your skills, narrowing your focus, and getting clear on what you’re passionate about.

Branding Yourself is not just about you being better than your competition. It’s about getting your prospects to choose you as the ONLY solution to their problem.

Here are five great benefits of creating a strong Branding for Yourself:

1. One of the greatest benefits to you of having a strong in Branding Yourself is that it creates a sense of individuality and “separateness” in the marketplace so that your clients are able to easily differentiate your company from your competitors.
2. The goal of Branding Yourself is to be known for who you are as a person and what you stand for. Branding yourself is a reflection of who you are, your opinions, values, and beliefs that are visibly expressed by what you say and do, and how you do it.
3. The Branding Yourself process allows you to take control of your identity and influence the perception others will have about you and the services you offer.
4. A strong Branding Yourself will enable you to effortlessly attract clients and opportunities. You will position yourself in the mind of your marketplace as the service provider of choice to dominate your market and command higher fees – work less and make more!
5. Establish yourself as an expert and become a celebrity in your area of specialty. Gain name recognition in your area of expertise where it counts the most – in your customer’s mind. Make a lasting impression and be super-rewarded for your individuality.

Trust, respect, and admiration will follow when your name and message are embedded repeatedly into the consciousness of your target market. Branding Yourself will be perceived as an expert the more you are visible to your target audience. Branding Yourself will propel you to the top in your marketplace.

Al Diaz Jr.