With more than a billion websites on the internet, it’s going to take a lot for your brand to stand out from the crowd. At the same time, even if someone does visit your site, it’s likely they will only spend a few seconds scrolling through your content before moving onto the next site. This doesn’t leave very much time to make a great first impression or to brand your site or service.
In this post, we are going to highlight some of the best ways to take advantage of the short amount of time we all have to create a better blog, brand, and business on the internet today.
1. Create a name, logo, and identity for your brand
Before doing any type of marketing or branding for your business, you are going to want to have a logo. This is something every successful business and brand in the world has today. Just take a look at names like Nike, McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Target. Some of these logos are so well-known, people know what they are without having to see the company name.
When it comes to creating a logo for your brand, you can go a few different directions—creating your own logo, hiring a designer, or using the some of the best tools the internet has to offer. Since most new businesses are working on a budget, I would recommend going with one of the many free logo making tools out there to see if they can get the job done for you. If not, see what you can create, and then pass them along to a professional designer to refine them.
In addition to creating a logo design and identity for your brand, you may still be trying to decide on the right name. If that’s the case, you can refer to any of these name generators to get the job done. From brand names, domains, products, and more, there are plenty of free logo and name generators to take advantage of, which will save you a lot of money in the process.
2. Make the most of social media
As we all know, social media works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. With the number of people accessible through platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram in the billions, it’s important to make sure your brand is working for you as well.
Here are a few simple steps to get the most out of your social media marketing efforts, even when you aren’t actually working:
- Secure your brand name as your social profile username or URL.
- Update your social profile photo with your brand logo.
- Create a custom background on Twitter and Facebook.
- Set up and schedule social updates on your brand.
Also, just creating a social presence and uploading generic content isn’t enough—you also need to be interesting and engaging in the process. You can see some good examples of how this is being done by Neil Patel through his massive online social followings.
By following these tips and making sure your social profiles match your brand image, it will be much easier for your audience to find you and get more familiar with what you have to offer.
3. Take advantage of a customized email signature
While many brands and businesses are focused solely on their websites and online marketing, they might be missing out on one source of exposure that gets thousands of one-on-one impressions daily: This resource is your email!
Take a moment to think about how many emails you receive and send out per day. At the same time, are you effectively branding these emails in the best way possible?
A few years back, I made the change to include a custom email signature within my emails, which include my name, a profile picture, links to my social profiles, and also my latest blog post, and the results have been amazing. It’s a great way to not only make a first impression, but to also show you are a real person and not just a random business or brand.
You can follow these simple steps to get started with a custom email signature of your own.
4. Become the authority within your niche market
As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, the internet is more saturated than ever before. With so many websites and blogs creating new content daily, it’s almost impossible to rank at the top of Google and reach new audiences daily.
One method that continues to work extremely well for getting your name and expertise out in front of new audiences, is guest blogging and article contribution. This article you are reading right now is a perfect example of this method in action.
To get the most of out of your expertise and writing time, find other authority sites and blogs within your niche that are looking for guest bloggers or experts willing to contribute content. Once you build a relationship with these sites and submit content, be sure to promote what you’ve written. Not only will you be reaching a whole new audience through the site you’re getting exposure on, you are helping the site owner increase their own reach as well—both ultimately helping with the continual reach and branding of yourself and your business.
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5. Give video and audio a try
Another area where way too many businesses and brands are focusing on is text content. As we continue to see more users access the internet through their mobile devices, and rely on social platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram to consume content, shouldn’t businesses and brands be doing the same?
We aren’t recommending you give up writing website or blog content; we are simply offering the suggestion to expand into different areas and convert your existing content in the process. These new areas of content creation that are performing extremely well are video and audio.
It’s a no-brainer that YouTube continues to grow in size daily, and the power of gaining new subscribers through the platform is priceless. With audio, it’s all about podcasting. Not just creating your own content or even a show, but also the power of getting interviewed or profiled with other shows as well. Think guest blogging, but with audio.
Each of these methods of content creation are extremely effective for brand building and showing off your expertise. Gone are the days when one should focus on starting their own brand and relying just on SEO and traditional traffic sources to grow their business. Leverage platforms and audiences that are already built, and put in the time and effort to make sure your message and services are being seen by the right people.
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