Once we get that blog launched and all prettied up, we’re set for life huh?
Not so much.
What about the functionality of the site, does it lend itself to building your brand? Have you woven together a system that will bring you instant recognition when seen in cyberspace and beyond?
I know, blogging is difficult work and time consuming so there are some things that will just have to wait. And wait they shall, to the detriment of your business growth.
Some things just need to be addressed sooner rather than later. Take it from one who knows.
Here is an example.
I started blogging and concentrated on building my library of articles so that when people arrived on the site, there would be plenty of content for them to read. That’s a great plan and certainly something that should be done.
But I stayed heavily in that mode longer than I should have, which used up my available time each day.
The result: I did not find or make the time to begin the process of building my mailing list until months later. Yeah, time flies and before you know it what you perceived as something that could wait, has become a glaring oversight. When I look at the monthly sign-ups now, I think about what could have been.
Building a brand for you personally or your business is the same. It takes time and you need to begin the process as soon as possible. Let’s face it; blogging without a clear identity is just not the best of circumstances. This makes our blogs just part of the scenery.
So what are some of the reasons we look past this?
- Time limitations
- Lack of understanding the real value and benefits
- Fear of the unknown / fear of failure
- Cost considerations
- See no way to measure results
Let’s look a little closer at a couple of these.
Time limitations
I touched on this a little in my example above, but you can see how easy it is for time to get away from a blogger. Managing time is something that we all have struggled with but it comes down to a matter of discipline.
This may mean that less time is spent on Twitter and Facebook (real time sinks), and more time spent on other strategies that will enhance your business image. Keep in mind that the most time consuming part of the task is the actual implementation, afterward it becomes an issue of maintenance. Readjust your schedule enough to get the ball rolling.
Understanding the value and benefits
There is so much going on with today’s internet that it is impossible to know everything, nor is there the need. But with all of the noise online some things do tend to get drowned out and are not talked about very much.
Building a company brand falls into that category as many focus on the latest shiny new gadgets or other productivity tools that become available on a regular basis. I covered some of the benefits in a previous post but let’s look at a few others.
- Strength of image – A good brand strategy backed up by a good product and reputation will have your company viewed as a strong and quality player in your niche. This alone is invaluable when it comes to doing business.
- Loyalty and trust – You and your company will have cultivated a loyal following of customers who have trust in what you represent.
- Market position – The strong brands always come to mind first and receive a decent share of the overall marketplace. No matter what you are offering, you want your brand to come to mind early and often.
- Reputation – Your brand will be built on reputation as much as visualizations. Delivering what you advertised and solving any issues quickly and without hesitation provides for a great reputation and reinforces all of the points above.
Fear of the unknown / fear of failure
This is one of the natural reactions we sometimes have to things that we are unfamiliar with. We all have our comfort zones and sometimes find it difficult to venture out from that position. There is an uneasiness regarding the unknown, it immediately raises all sorts of questions.
One of those questions will be “what if I fail?”
This alone can often be enough to put off a project or try to find another means of accomplishing a task. There must be an easier way, we may rationalize.
Cost considerations
Always a factor, as well it should be. But one of the major branding tools in use today is social media, which for the most part is next to free. There will be cost associated with being online as long as the globe spins, but these are minimal. Factor in some paid tools and offline ad materials and you are still not talking a fortune. The overall cost for building a great brand can be controlled throughout the process.
Measuring results
Free measuring tools like Google Analytics which tracks the traffic to your site and provides information on where the traffic is coming from is highly detailed and will play a major role in your branding efforts.
Other freebies like Twitter Grader will let you know how you are doing on that platform from an influential standpoint.
While writing this I thought I would check my grade since I had not done so in months. I rated 52,994 out of 6,179, 467.
There are plenty of tools around for measuring your progress but by far, traffic will tell you quite a bit about how things are progressing. There are other business metrics as well but the important thing to keep in mind is the fact that sooner rather than later, you need to establish your brand.
Keep Blogging!
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Jimi Jones Reply:
February 18th, 2010 at 10:29 pm
Hi James.
Time is one of the biggest hurdles and will likely always be to some degree. Hopefully things slow down a bit for you soon.
.-= Jimi Jones´s last blog ..5 Reasons Why Branding May Not Be On Your Radar =-.
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