As you strive to become an online entrepreneur, whether you are starting an online business or getting into affiliate marketing, you will need to establish an online brand. In my case, my online brand is the WebCents Blog. That way, if anyone finds my brand very helpful and they would like to share their experience with others, they simply mention my online brand. It’s really that simple, right?
Well, the thing is: an online brand is more than a logo, colors, and design. There is definitely more that goes into online branding. It’s really like planting the seeds of outreach toward others, which results in your own successful brand. That’s why, in this article, I will show you how you can create a good brand in just five simple steps. As long as you follow them, you’re guaranteed to obtain an amazing presence on the Internet. So whenever you’re ready, let’s get going!
1. Find your purpose.
Before you even start reaching out to people, this is an important question that you’ll need to ask yourself: “What is your purpose?” In other words, why are you here and what do you want to do to help out others? Have you even thought of a niche?
If you haven’t even thought of your niche, think of your passion or anything you’re interested in, and go after it! A tech-savvy guy would make computer solutions his niche while a girl obsessed with gardening would make planting her niche. Once you have your niche, now you know what you’ll be talking about.
But there’s more: how are you going to help out those in your niche? Are you going to start a blog or run a YouTube channel? More importantly, though, what is the personality you want to portray to others? Are you going to be a little humorous, very motivational, or maybe a mix of both? These are the kinds of questions that you should ask yourself when finding your purpose on the Internet.
And keep in mind that you’re not here just because of the money. Of course, money is an awesome commodity to earn, but you need to have a heart for others and you must figure out how you want to reach out to them. If you don’t really care about helping people or answering questions like these, chances are you won’t have such a good brand and you’re doomed to fail.
Lastly, nobody else can tell you what your purpose is, because they don’t know everything about you. There is only one who can figure out what your purpose is, and that’s YOU!
2. Be yourself!
This is probably the best advice I can give to you as you establish your online brand: “Be yourself!” You can model after anyone you like, but never copy exactly what they’re doing. Put your own spin on what you’re doing and express yourself openly to others. You are unique and by incorporating that into your brand, people can more easily connect with you.
It’s just like when you’re meeting someone brand-new. You don’t want to act like your favorite TV or movie star to impress them. Why not? Because you won’t come across as real and genuine. By showing who you really are, this new person will value you for just being yourself.
If you find that hard to do, practice believing in yourself and being confident with the impact you can make! If you lack belief, you will be discouraged and you won’t go very far with your brand. Remember that your brand is supposed to represent you and nobody else. And honestly there’s no other quote that sums this all up better than: “Be yourself!”
3. Take responsibility.
Now that you know what you’re destined for, it’s time to put it into action! The first step is to assume responsibility for everything you’re doing in your brand. That means to congratulate yourself for your successes and to accept your mistakes. The latter, of course, is the challenging part. But the truth is: we are human and so we are imperfect.
Striving to be perfect is not the best way to be responsible. Rather, be okay with making mistakes and learning to improve from them. Think of mistakes as tools to help you learn instead of fears to run away from.
Another good way to take responsibility is to find help when you need it. You’re not a know-it-all, so be resourceful. Google up any questions you have, and read blogs or watch YouTube videos that will help resolve your problems. If you have difficulty using a program or service, you can check out its knowledge base or FAQ or contact their customer support, either by email or by phone. You have many ways to get help right at your fingertips, so take advantage of them in order to better yourself and the work that you are putting into your brand.
4. Build good rapport.
Now you’ve worked on yourself, but what about your connection with your audience? For this reason, you need to establish good rapport and resonate with the people you care about. This is crucial if you want to own a successful brand that bears a good reputation for others to see.
As you create your blog or YouTube video, mention your feelings or memories, elements that people can relate to. Don’t act like an encyclopedia where you just state the cold-hard facts. There’s a reason people read books and enjoy watching entertainment. In books, they expect to be encouraged and inspired. By being entertained, they want to uplift their spirits. So if you can provide ways to connect with people, you’ll find that more people will enjoy sticking around with you, and that’s what will make your brand really strong.
If you observe the way I write these articles, notice I use the first person to address myself and the second person to address you. Also, in each of my writings, I want you to feel like I’m your assistant and that you’re listening to me. Don’t you agree that by doing this, I’m showing that I truly want to help you?
This is the kind of attitude you should have when communicating to your audience under your brand. Of course, don’t be too casual with them, either. Be serious and down-to-earth with the topic at hand, but develop a relationship that your audience can cherish. By doing this, your brand becomes reputable and your chances of online success increase dramatically.
5. TAKE ACTION!
Obviously, this article won’t do you any good if you just read and not do anything. So apply all the other steps I’ve shown you, work on each of them, and as long as you stick with them, you and your online brand will be unstoppable!
So what are you waiting for? GET STARTED now!
Final Words
Of course, I’ll have to admit that you are going to need a logo and other designs to visualize your online brand, so for this reason, I would like to recommend a good website to help you out, and that is Canva.com. This site is free to use and they have a fantastic assortment of tools to make your brand look appealing. You can check them out at canva.com/create. I have posted a screenshot of that webpage above.
In another article you’d be interested in, I went over six ways many people fail to make money online. This is a good read if you want to avoid all the traps that stop people from succeeding in their online businesses.
But I hope this article really helped you out in establishing your online brand. It took me quite a while to build up my brand here on the WebCents Blog, but it was certainly worth it! So follow these steps and give your work time to grow. In the end, you will be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor!