In This Post, We’ll Talk About Steps to Develop Your Personal Brand as a Blogger
No!
It’s not something related to blogging tips and SEO!
In fact, it’s something special.
Come on… You need this. We need this…
I admit…
You love How-to, SEO secrets, and blogging tips articles… Authors at jitendra.co and I will keep on writing such articles.
But
This article is a SPECIAL one…
If you don’t want to BUILD a brand of yours. You can leave now…
Because.. Brands rule this world.
And, I have to tell my readers this at any cost…
From the outfit to coffee, we want brands, at least we know the brand names.
Decide Now…
You want to be a blogger or a famous blogger! If you want to be just a blogger, you will be.
If you want to be a famous blogger, you will a brand.
(This is crazy)
In USA, many of the bloggers came to know about Blogging after Pat Flynn popularity as a blogger.
Darren Rowse is another example. People literally understood ‘Money Making Blogging’ after Problogger‘s success.
Your personal brand is your icon.
You know hundreds of individuals and online entrepreneurs.
You know them because they are good at what they do.
Seth Godin, Brian Clark, Darren Rowse, Pat Flynn, Derek Halpern, Rand Fishkin, and many others you know, watch, listen, and read everywhere…
You follow them.
Because.. They have built their personal brands.
Do you know STARBUCKS?
Of course, you know.
Suppose you’re in the USA, and you have a day off, so you’re walking down the street.
There are a number of coffee shops across the street.
One of them is STARBUCKS.
You’d think, it’s my first time in the Unites States. I’ve heard a lot about Starbucks, so I should try this.
Yummy…
Now come back to the point. The famous STARBUCKS company has built its brands.
For their loyal customers, coffee is just STARBUCKS.
Such companies advertise, sponsor, offer, exhibit, make offers… and do everything in their power to emboss the image of the brand in the customers’ mind.
I will tell you in the steps of building your personal brand.
You’re a blogger.
What have I got for you in this post?
You need an ANSWER.
Okay…
In this article, I’m going to assist you in building your personal brand. No matter what you do, however, you should be doing at least something to qualify…
So, who can read this article?
- Newbie Bloggers
- Web designers
- Online Marketers
- Entrepreneurs
In fact, this is for bloggers who have just stepped in into the blogosphere and looking ahead to build their platforms.
Everything takes time.
You won’t be a six figure earner after a month…
Once you understand the essence of this MESSAGE, you would make it your business strategy.
Wait!
This will blow your mind.
In episode 49 of Problogger Podcast, Darren Rowse emphasized on the blog’s brand. He discussed to take your blog to the next level and make it a brand. It was a precise yet useful episode from him.
I loved it because I want my readers to build their blogs as brands.
These are the three secrets of making a personal brand:
#1. Be good at what you want to do
You can’t go off the ground with your personal brand if you’re not good at what you do. It means you have to prove that whatever you do or make is worth the attention. Whether you’re a graphic designer or a blogger, keep on creating things and get better at work.
#2. Start changing someone’s life
You can’t win alone. You need an audience to help you out. In order to achieve that goal, you have to start helping others with no strings attached. Yes, be original and genuine. Don’t do favors to get something in return. Start changing lives.
Always be there to advise people if you can help them in fixing something. You have to be useful towards everyone on social media as well as offline. Your personal brand demands traction, and all you are doing is getting the momentum.
The next part is the cream.
You need these steps to build your personal brand as a blogger.
Personal brand as a blogger refers to the name which means something to the readers. It is certainly based on the dedicated followers and avid readers. It all begins with the publishing of quality content, giving away life-saving tips and sharing everything possible with the fans.
Give them value. Share stories. Tell them solutions.
Here we go:
Step #1 – Secure your name and domain
First things first. You have to be prepared to be found. In order to do that, you have to have a proper identity on the internet.
Use your original name or at least the same name everywhere (on the internet). It includes:
- Website
- Domain
- Google+
- YouTube
- Emailing
You can’t build a personal brand a different with a separate blog or business name.
It makes things a whole lot different.
A personal brand is something which is directly associated with your name.
Neil Patel is a famous content marketer and SEO expert.
He has been pretty much serious about his personal brand after the success of his Quick Sprout blog.
Now he focuses a lot on his personal brand – and he has launched neilpatel.com.
James Clear does the same. He is an expert on behavior psychology, performance improvement, and habits development. He has a personal website and blog.
No worries.
There isn’t any rocket science going on here.
If you’re new to blogging, website launching, and online business…
We’ve got your back.
Make sure you register your domain with Namecheap or Godaddy.
If you have just started out, make sure you know the basics of blog launching.
One of the perks of making a personal brand is that people know you from your name and recognize you from your face (even from voice – Amy Porterfield is a famous social media expert and podcaster. She has admitted a couple of times in her podcast that listeners meet her like they know her personally and feel so connected)…
The idea is; you don’t have to appear with different names and pictures on the social media networks.
You might observe that many of the top social media experts use the same name (spelling), display pictures, and covers on their social media networks.
There is a science behind this.
They believe in brand positioning.
‘Brand Positioning‘ is a process of creating an image in the customers’ mind by showing them the same thing for a long time or over and over again.
Jay Baer knew this already. He is a popular social media expert and digital marketer. You will find him with the same display picture on the social networks.
If you keep on changing your name’s spelling or even the name, it won’t help you.
You don’t want to waste the effort you will put into developing your identity.
The slight change in your name’s spelling might diversify your NAME’s value.
People search on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other platforms to connect with friends and experts.
For instance, if your name is ‘Mike’ and you use both Mike and Myke on social media platforms… that would be confusing for people (looking to follow you).
Step #3 – Create a certain type of content for targeted audience
At step 3, you have to be targeting the specific audience. You can’t be a jack of all trades.
It means you don’t have to focus on the multiple types of the audience at the same time, on the same blog.
For instance, if your niche is ‘money making online’, then don’t try to add copywriter, entrepreneurship, and e-commerce into your content strategy… just focus on money making strategies, tips, and tricks.
Targeting the specific audience helps you to become an authority (in the niche).
Susan Chritton also discussed this in her article. She believes that one of the mistakes budding personal branders make is trying to appeal everyone in the market. She means you are not clear about your audience.
There are four elements to be focused while targeting the specific audience:
1. Clarity of niche
You should be very clear about your niche in order to serve the right audience. When there is a shadow of doubt on the clarity of niche, bloggers start focusing on the different niches at the same time, and the chances of becoming an authority just get vanished.
2. Setting up the targets
In order to develop a personal brand as a blogger, you have set your targets. You can’t defy from your own pre-defined rules in terms of niche, targeting, and topics.
3. Define the content strategy
The content strategy is part of the same chain that we are discussing in the making of a personal brand. A ProBlogger knows what his/her targets are, what the readers want, and what he/she has to deliver.
4. Hangout with the relevant people
You have to meet with the like-minded people. Join meetups, conferences, and webinars. Try to build relationships with the people who appeal you. Your friends circle and followers’ company will definitely matter in building your personal brand.
Syed Balkhi, the founder of WPBeginner.com, runs his personal website and even the blog. This shows that he knows the importance of a personal brand. The WordPress community knows him very well.
Step #4 – Discuss and mention influencers in your content
Ah. That’s a secret.
I’m giving it away. You know blogging is more about giving than receiving.
You give knowledge, skills, and experience.
And get appreciation, following, and love.
You will always find us on jitendra.co mentioning top blogs, SEOs, content marketers, and brands.
We do this because it helps our readers.
These shout outs help you in building your relations with the influencers, and hence contribute to your personal brand.
Don’t just mention their names. Instead, link to them. Not only just does it help the readers, but it also gives (influencers) a hint that you linked them.
There are a number of ways of finding that. These tools might help you:
- SEMrush
- SEO Powersuite
You’re establishing your personal brand.
You can’t just make a website and sit tight waiting for clients to land on your site.
You have to be on the ground.
You have to be running, finding, building, and developing relationships.
Step #5 – Build a community of readers and responders
At step #5, you need to develop a recognition.
One of the most important elements of making a successful personal brand is building a community. A loyal followership can help you in building your personal brand faster.
It doesn’t necessarily mean you have to have a forums site along with your personal website or blog. You can create one, however. bbPress is one of the solutions to do that.
You can use a popular commenting system Disqus as well.
The purpose is to develop an engaging echo-system with your followers and readers. Disqus is a commenting tool which has turned into a social commenting and communication platform. You can create profiles, have followers, and interact with others via comments.
Jim Joseph knows the importance of an engaged audience. He gave the example of big brands and their followers engagement in his article on Entrepreneur.com.
John Lee Dumas is a popular podcaster. His podcast ‘EOFire‘ is one of the famous podcasts on Entrepreneurship.
He always uses a phrase ‘Fire Nation’ to describe his podcast’s listeners and fans.
Similarly, a well-known YouTuber and Vlogger Roman Atwood uses the name ‘Roman Soldiers‘ to describe his fans following.
If you watch his vlogs, you would know that he often calls his fans and subscribers as ‘Roman Soldiers’.
These examples tell us the power of building a community of dedicated fans and followers. If building a strong community wouldn’t be important enough, these successful people wouldn’t be doing that.
They do this and it makes them prominent.
It helps them in building their personal brands.
At step 6, you would have to admit that tools and resources help the readers.
When you need to grasp the audience and convert them to loyal followers, you have to empower them.
Help them succeed.
Change their lives.
Of course, you must be working hard to share your useful content.
Remember, content isn’t enough. The content (means useful content) will only work if the readers understand it and digest it without leaving the blog.
It shows that you have made them glued to your blog.
The best way to do is create attractive, meaningful, and appealing content.
Offer useful tools and resources in your content.
The readers won’t like to copy and paste the URL on the browser. So, provide them the URL along with the tools, websites, and blog posts.
Create screenshots using Nimbus Chrome extension or make graphics using Canva.
The readers will fall in love with your blog when you offer them value. The value that would change their lives. The value that will make their work easier.
At jitendra.co, you’ll always find us sharing useful tools and resources with you people.
We want you to succeed.
You’re important to us.
Wrapping this up
You’re a blogger. You might have been rejected and refused.
Probably you didn’t know that “You will succeed when you will help others”…
You don’t need an online advertising budget of hundreds of thousands of dollars every month.
You need a heart.
You need a passion of helping others.
You can’t build your personal brand alone.
And don’t think that building a brand is a matter of weeks.
No, it’s not.
I’d rather say keep working for next five years.
The secret is here: Build others’ brands, people will build yours.
What would you do special to build your personal brand as a blogger?
