Get More Clients & Build a 6-Figure (or more) Business for Women Entrepreneurs » Personal Branding

Your Blog: Free or Self-Hosted. Which is best for your brand?

Annemarie Cross — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:30:33 +0000

Want to Use Your Blog to Build Your Brand?

Want to build your reputation as an authority in your field while build an audience of ideal clients who are interested in what you have to say?

My advice: Create a blog.

And, not on a free blogging platform (such as Blogger.com or WordPress.com) – but a self-hosted WordPress blog.

That’s the blogging platform that my blog www.annemariecross.com is built on.

The beauty of having a self-hosted WordPress blog is that it’s not just a blog; it’s also a fully functioning website, which I think is pretty cool.

When setting up your own self-hosted WordPress blog – while the WordPress (blogging) software is free (from WordPress.org) there will be some costs involved in setup, hosting and graphic design.

So why should you pay for something you can get for free?

Especially if setting up your blog over at WordPress.com has all hosting and management costs being taken care of by their team?

Well, if you’re serious about making a great lasting impression and money in your business (which I assume you are), then you’ll want to invest in a self-hosted blog. [I’ll share some of my reasons why I believe this so strongly, shortly].

To me, this isn’t an expense, but an investment. An investment in your reputation and overall professionalism – as a self-hosted blog that has been strategically designed and branded will enable you to continue building a professional and memorable online presence.

If you’re still temped to go down the free route and host your blog on WordPress.com, be warned – they frown upon users selling their products/services (or even making reference to their products/services). You may just find your blog being taken down overnight.

Just like two of my colleagues. They lost everything overnight and had to start from scratch after WordPress.com shut down their blogs.

I don’t know about you. To me, it’s just not worth the risk.

So, in answer to the question “Your Blog: Free or Self-Hosted. Which is best for your brand?” Here are my top 5 reasons why I vote for a self-hosted WordPress blog.

1. Build a Consistent Professional Brand

While there are many free great-looking themes available for your self-hosted WordPress blog, once you get some funds behind you, I would strongly recommend you invest in a graphic designer to develop a professional personalised banner.

In fact, I purchased a theme from WooThemes.com, which cost me $70 for two standard yet very professional templates with some great features.

I hired a WordPress programmer who tweaked the theme to my brand colours; added a signup box on the top right hand side of the page (prime real estate) as part of my list-building strategy; and changed some of the formatting/layout to personalize it.

I also worked with a graphic designer to create my banner with the colours and fonts matching my business cards, brochures, images and flyers.

Having your own corporate colours, banners and images on your self-hosted blog will help you build a consistent professional on-brand message and online presence.

To brand your free blog to your corporate colours and images will also cost you money as well. My advice is to invest in your self-hosted WordPress blog from the start.

2. Build Credibility with Your Own Domain Name

Read both of these domain names out loud:

(A) www.[yourdomainname].com

(B) www.[yourdomainname].wordpress.com

Which do you think is easier for people to remember AND looks more professional?

Hopefully you’ve selected A.

It speaks for itself. Yes?

3. YOU maintain full control of your content

Because it can take hours to craft a well-written blog post, and months (if not years) to build a solid repertoire of inspiring, informative articles on your blog, you want to ensure that you retain control of all your content.

With a self-hosted blog you CAN maintain control of your information, whereas with a free option you can’t. If they decide they don’t like what you’re posting – they can shut you down overnight. Period.

I certainly wouldn’t want to take that risk and I’m sure you wouldn’t want to either. Especially considering all of the hard work you’re going to be putting in to building high-quality content for your audience.

Yes, of course having a self-hosted WordPress blog will mean you’re responsible for the security and updating of your blog software; however to me that’s a small price to pay for keeping my information safe and secure.

As one of my colleagues on Facebook so aptly commented:

“If you don’t own it – you don’t own it.”

4. Send traffic to YOUR site

With all of the effort you’re going to put into driving people back to your website through your social media and communications strategies, means YOU’LL benefit from all the traffic.

With a free blog – you’re sending all the traffic back to their site.

Plus, with your self-hosted blog, once you’ve captured their attention and interested they are far more likely to stick around and click through to review some of your product and service offerings.

Another advantage of having a self-hosted WordPress blog is the myriad of free (and paid) plugins available. (A plugin is a customised piece of software that provides specific abilities and functionalities to your WordPress blog.) These are easy to install and use.

Some of my favourite plugins include All in One SEO Pack to help me with SEO (Search Engine Optimisation); Shareaholic, which allows my readers to share my blog posts with their social network; and of course the GoogleAnalytics plugin, which allows me to see how many visitors are reading my posts and where they are coming from.

You can’t add plugins to your free WordPress.com hosted blog (unless of course you pay them.)

And, as I mentioned before, if you’re going to spend money – invest in your own self-hosted blog and reap the benefits.

5. Build Your List

As many marketing gurus state: “The money is in your list”, and having your own self-hosted blog/website will allow you to integrate your list-building strategy into your overall website strategy.

As you can see on my blog, I’ve set up my list-building strategy into the banner and footer and on selected pages throughout the site.

This list-building strategy works for me 24/7, 365 days per year with new contacts being added to my list on a daily basis. They don’t have to click through to another site in order to access it. They can access it directly from my self-hosted WordPress blog.

This is difficult (if not impossible) to do with a free WordPress.com hosted blog, and is going to require some investment costs on your part. As I have recommended before, invest in your own self-hosted blog and continue to enjoy the benefits.

So there are just five reasons why I prefer a self-hosted WordPress blog to the free WordPress.com hosted blog.

I also reached out to my community on Facebook and asked them the same question. Here’s what they said.

Have Your Say!

So, what do you think? Do you believe free or self-hosted is best? Do you have other reasons why you believe this? Please share! It’s always good to hear from you!

Till next time – stay brilliant and inspired

Annemarie Cross

Drawing on her 16+ years' award-winning expertise in branding, personal marketing, personal development and transformation, Annemarie provides 'step-by-step' business- & profit-building processes alongside breakthrough business & money mindset principles so you can stand out, get hired AND paid what you're worth. >>>>>>> IS ONE OF THESE SPOTS YOURS? <<<<<<< Get first-hand breakthrough coaching with Annemarie by booking into one of her powerful Business Breakthrough Strategy Sessions (limited spots available). More information here: http://bit.ly/breakthroughstrategy

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Sell yourself: Personal branding in the age of the Internet

Annemarie Cross — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 07:43:31 +0000

This is a guest post by Murray Newlands.

In the past, there were very few places you could go to verify what a company said. If Coke said it was refreshing, a lot of people believed it to be true. We weren’t sheep, but there were much fewer information outlets (even though newspapers were more diversified) and those outlets that did exist were dominated by people who could afford to run ads.

The Internet made it so that anybody with a keyboard and a web browser could buy a domain (or get one for free) and start their own website. If they then spend a little time building links to it from other websites, they could show up high on Google and reach out to a targetable audience who wants to hear what they have to say.

Personal branding and social media

Social media transformed Internet marketing by making it even more accessible and by giving advertisers a new avenue to reach potential customers. Perhaps more importantly, at least in terms of how it affects most people’s lives, social media gives us the ability to market ourselves and control our personal branding.

Facebook profile

In 2006, seventy-seven percent of employers look up potential employees on the Internet. Out of that 77%, 35% eliminated candidates based on their search engine results. This was before Facebook was popular so the information employers had on you was limited, but a lot of them still made decisions about who to hire based on what they found online.

A lot of recent college grads fear that their Facebook profiles will be seen by potential employers. Fearing employers finding your social media profiles is the wrong outlook, and I’ll tell you why:

Use social media to promote your personal brand

Most employers will look at your social media profiles after they read your cover letter and resume but before they call you in for an interview. Your resume already has started to shape your personal brand. What school did you go to and what was your major? Do you have a .aol email address? Does your email address have your name in it?

A resume is about whether or not you’re qualified for a job, and what you can bring to a company. You’re selling your experiences and your skills a lot more than you’re selling yourself. Resumes aren’t always very good indicators of things like personality, how well someone performs under pressure, and whether or not they’re a hard and intelligent worker. To a much greater extent than a resume, Facebook profiles and other social media give employers an explicit presentation of who you are as a person.

By building social media profiles to present a good image to prospective employers, you can leverage social media profiles as an opportunity to forge a good personal brand and thus be more hireable before you even walk in the door for your interview.

This is a guest post by Murray Newlands. Murray is the CEO and Founder of Influence People, a San Francisco-based online marketing and blogger outreach consulting firm. Jim Kukral and Murray Newlands recently wrote What is Personal Branding? How to Create a Memorable & Powerful Brand that Sells YOU! to help people learn how to market themselves.

Annemarie Cross

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Is Branding Really Just A Myth?

Annemarie Cross — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 06:22:35 +0000

Is branding really a waste of time and money?

A few weeks back I stumbled across an article that had me shaking my head in disbelief.

The author declared that he believed ‘branding’ (your marketing materials, business cards, slogan, tag lines, advertising and so forth) were a complete waste of time.

What the?!!

He also believed your ‘brand’ was “the emotion that a customer feels when thinking about your product.”

While I agree with the second part of the author’s viewpoint i.e. “your brand is the emotion a client has when thinking about you and your business” – I certainly don’t agree with the first.

Here’s why.

While your ‘brand’ IS the perception other people have of you (i.e. your reputation) to me ‘branding’ are the elements you use to help create, build and maintain your Signature Brand message.

And, as a service-based business since the ‘product’ is very much YOU, this means your ‘branding’ is not only your brochures, slogan and business cards etc, but also how you act. So everything you do and say (both online and offline) has the potential to affect your brand/reputation.

Everything.

We were reminded of that this week, when a few high-profile people did some serious damage to their brand (reputations) due to inappropriate behaviour.

So, if like the author, you think branding is just a myth, read on.

Here are 3 branding mistakes I often see, where individuals expose themselves and their brands through their behaviour and communications.

Hopefully you won’t recognise any:

Branding Mistake 1: Uncensored comments

While I believe it’s important to be honest, there are some things that you just shouldn’t say (or discuss) in a public forum.

Well-known radio presenter – Kyle Sandilands (who has already been in hot water because of his comments) had many industry representatives and many members of the community in an uproar.

A journalist provided some negative feedback on a television show debut that Kyle and his co-host launched. Instead of debating the topic, he resorted to name-calling, using some pretty foul language, which I won’t repeat here.

Have a debate; provide your viewpoint; and/or agree to disagree if you have to. But DON’T resort to name-calling – it’s just plain childish and unnecessary.

I’ve got numerous examples of where people have had contracts terminated because of uncensored commenting.

While Kyle still seems to have his hosting spot on the radio network, he did lose several sponsorships. And, many of the people I’ve spoken to will no longer be tuning in to his show.

Don’t fall into the same trap. Be very careful how you speak about other people.

And while you’re at it, here are a few more uncensored things I’ve seen that you’ll want to avoid.

Don’t complain about just having gotten off the phone from ‘your client from h$ll’. He/she may just read that comment and decide to take his/her business elsewhere. That may be good if they are a difficult client, however more of your clients may just read your post and wonder whether you’ll one day be complaining about them.
Don’t whine that you can’t be bothered doing any work and will be taking the afternoon off. Your prospect (who has given you some initial work which you should be working on today) has just seen that comment and decided you’re not the person they want to invest in.
Don’t openly discuss your relationships or personal things that should be kept just that – personal! While some social media platforms may give you the option of sharing certain things with ‘friends’, that conversation you’ve just posted may be the reason why your ‘friend’ doesn’t recommend you to their extended network.
You know that wild weekend you had? I’m not interested in hearing about it. Nor do I want to see any pictures – even if dancing half-naked on the tabletop seemed hilarious to you at the time. It’s not – sorry.
Speaking of pictures, please don’t post anything that your mother would NOT be proud of. [I’ve personally decided not to invite someone on my show – the Ambitious Entrepreneur because of inappropriate photographs and comments I’ve seen when researching potential guests.]

My advice: Be mindful of what you say, do and write. You just never know who may read, see or hear it.

Wouldn’t want a potential client (sponsor, employer, even your mother) to read your post; view your pictures; or listen to the comment you’ve just made? Then keep them to yourself!

Branding Mistake 2: Exhibiting inappropriate behaviour

Celebrity Apprentice ended last week, and while there were several celebrities that tarnished their brand through inappropriate behaviour, there was one in particular that did everything right.

Right of course if you were on a mission to completely destroy your reputation.

Introducing Ms Deni Hines.

Her behaviour and the way she spoke to her teammates was rude and obnoxious. And, while I’m all for having a healthy level of self-confidence, there is a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Unfortunately Deni erred on the side of arrogance – with a bolded capital A.

Her behaviour was so bad that it had people coming out in droves.

The number of negative comments being shared on several social media sites was proof that people did NOT appreciate her behaviour. And they certainly let their feelings be known.

Prior to the show I didn’t have an opinion either way about Ms Hines. However I can tell you now, I will never buy any of her albums or ever recommend her to some of my business contacts looking for someone to sing their corporate jingle. And, from the comments I read on Facebook and Twitter – there are many thousands of others that won’t either.

My advice: Be nice to others and treat them how you would like to be treated.

Exhibiting arrogant, rude and obnoxious behaviour is one of the quickest ways to turn people off – both your clients AND prospective clients. Just don’t do it.

Branding Mistake 3: Sending out contradictory messages

I’ve written many articles about the importance of sending out a consistent message in your social media marketing and communication efforts so that people can get to know, like and trust you as an expert in your field.

While it’s important to be on-brand, being the opposite (i.e. off-brand) and sending out a contradictory message can quickly damage your reputation.

In my article To Be or Not To Be On-Brand, I highlight the following examples:

The driving instructor who’s driving is anything but, and certainly doesn’t reflect their business name ‘[Name] Safe Driving School’;
- The Personal Trainer (or other health professional) who is overweight and smokes;
- The Dentist, whose teeth look anything but like the pictures they have hanging in their waiting room;
- The Professional Organizer who arrives late to your appointment with a briefcase and/or handbag that looks anything but organized;
- The Graphic Designer whose own logo looks outdated;
- The Web Designer whose website states ‘Under Construction’ on many of the pages;
- The Image Consultant whose clothing is less than flattering;
- The business who claims “Nothing is too big for us to handle” who has nothing but excuses as to why something can’t be done.

… the list goes on.

I’m sure you have some examples you can share where people and/or businesses have communicated contradictory messages that ended up seriously tarnishing their brand.

Hopefully, your actions (or inactions) will not see you and your business added to this list.

My advice: Be on-brand at all times in everything you do and say. Your brand requires and DEMANDS it!

So, what do you think? Is ‘branding’ unimportant?

I reached out to my community and asked them what they thought. Here are some of the responses I received:

They believe that branding IS important, and as you can tell from the examples of branding mistakes that I listed above – so do I.

In fact I believe that branding – (any vehicle you use to communicate your message) is vital to building and maintaining your reputation, whether you’re speaking to a customer or a prospective customer.

Do you?

I’d love to hear your comments. Leave them in the comment box below – it’s always great to hear from one of my readers.

Till next time, stay inspired.

Annemarie Cross

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Your Signature Brand: Is building it really that important?

Annemarie Cross — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 06:07:50 +0000

How can you capture your ideal clients’ attention? With a powerful Signature Brand!

Today’s the big day – the launch of your new business.

Your website is live; your business cards are printed; all of your social media profiles have been set up; and you’ve even attended a few networking events over the last few weeks to tell people about your exciting launch.

Feeling proud of what you have accomplished, you push a few buttons to send out your tweet to direct people to your sales page, you sit back and wait for the telephone to ring and your inbox to be flooded with emails from prospects wanting to hire you.

But, the opposite happens.

Weeks (or even months) have gone by yet despite all of the social media marketing and networking you’re doing, while there’s interest from the people you’re connecting with – people are just not handing you their credit card details to invest.

Or, they baulk at your prices and are never to be heard from again.

So what’s gone wrong?

You did everything the “Start Your Own Business” manuals told you to do.

Unfortunately this is one of the things I see time and again – service-based business with amazing services and products, struggling to convert prospects into customers.

Here are some of the common reasons why:

Recognise any?

They haven’t distinguished their services from their competitors and are not showing compelling reasons why a prospect should hire them.
Their message is not connecting with the emotions of their ideal clients.
They aren’t positioning themselves as an authority in their field.
They’re attracting the wrong sort of client who expects them to work for free or provide way too much time/resources than what they have paid for.
They struggle to create a powerful introduction/tag line and fail to seize the interest and opportunity to speak further (both in person and online) to their target market.
They’ve introduced themselves however people are still struggling to understand the value they offer because their introduction is too broad, has too many concepts, or includes language that is wishy-washy or filled with jargon. They are confusing their prospects and confused people say ‘no’.

In essence, they haven’t taken the time to identify and build their Signature Brand, which should provide a strong message that speaks to all of these areas.

What about you?

Do you have a Signature Brand that speaks directly to the needs of your niche/target market? A Signature Brand that continues to position you as a specialist in your field, and also incorporates that special element that prospects select ‘you’ rather than your competitors?

Hopefully you’ve answered ‘yes’ and are attracting a steady flow of ideal clients to your door.

However, if you’re not yet at that stage, but would like to be, here are 5 steps you need to take to develop your client-capturing and income-generating Signature Brand:

Step 1 to a powerful Signature Brand:

Define your Brand Attributes; your characteristics, unique qualities; your quirkiness.

Step 2 to a powerful Signature Brand:

Make a list of your Brand Strengths; your gifts and talents. The things you are naturally good at.

Step 3 to a powerful Signature Brand:

Define your Brand Promise; the experience people can expect when working with you. It’s what you guarantee them, time and again when working with you.

Step 4 to a powerful Signature Brand:

[This is my favourite step in the process where you breathe life and soul into your brand]. It’s your Brand Essence; and your Brand Story.

I use the Branding with Archetypes system to define a person’s Brand Essence.

I am the Explorer (Primary Archetype) / Ruler (Influencing Archetype) and continue to weave elements of my brand in all my messages.

Throughout my writing; in the banner at the top of my website; in the way I craft the titles to my packages and programs; and in the way I show up in my events.

I speak more about how and why I do this in my Brand Story.

Step 5 to a powerful Signature Brand:

Put these elements together, tweak and refine until the message and each of the elements you create are authentic and ‘fit’ with who you are.

That’s your Signature Brand.

And remember, make sure you incorporate elements of your Signature Brand throughout all of your marketing and communications so that you speak directly to your target market, and continue to confirm why they should hire you.

What do you think – was this helpful? Do you think it’s important to have a Signature Brand, or not?

Feel free to leave your thoughts. It’s always great to hear from you.

Till next time – stay inspired!!

Annemarie Cross

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Personal branding: is authenticity important?

Annemarie Cross — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 00:57:39 +0000

Is authenticity really that important?

When it comes to personal branding and YOUR personal brand – I think it’s critical.

That’s the reason why you’ll often see me tweet things like:

“Business Owners: nothing stands out more powerfully than an authentic brand. Is the real ‘you’ showing up in your brand?”

Or:

“Building a strong brand? Authenticity and integrity are vital. Don’t try to be something you’re not. It’ll show.”

Authenticity: ‘Keeping it real’ or ‘Acting as if’?

I did a search to see what other people thought about the meaning of ‘authenticity’ and found some interesting opinions.

Brian Clarke – from Copyblogger presented two different scenarios in his article: Do People Really Want Transparency and Authenticity?

The first story was of a loud-mouthed young marketing consultant who was attending a party. She’d had a little too much to drink, was using foul language and insulting others, while also trying to convince people to hire her.

But hey, “she was keeping it real.”

The second story was about a businessman that was loved by everyone. He took the time to listen when others spoke and regularly shared funny jokes, which always made everyone laugh.

Little did these people know that he didn’t have a sense of humour. In fact, he would search for jokes and just repeat them; with no idea why people found them so funny.

And, if the truth be known, he didn’t really care about what people were talking about either.

What he did realise, was the importance of ‘acting as if’ he was interested so that people would like him. It was important for business.

Do either of these scenarios portray the real meaning of authenticity?

Authenticity: Not ‘Who you are’ but ‘Doing what you promise’?

If we look at Seth Godin’s thoughts on Authenticity, he paints a similar picture of the businessman in Brian’s article. Seth believes that authenticity is not being ‘who you are’ but rather – doing what you promise.

This is because we can be quite vague about ‘being’ who we are due to our struggle in being able to see and understand our ‘internal vision’ clearly. So ‘doing’ is an act – a behaviour that others can see. Hence the ‘doing what you promise’.

Interesting.

Authenticity: Being ‘Who you Are’?

Let me present another scenario to you about my understanding of the meaning of authenticity as it relates to you and your personal brand.

Joy Tanksley sums it up perfectly in her article ‘Finding Your Ideal Writing Voice’ as she quotes Dolly Parton:

“Figure out who you are; then do it on purpose. Strive for authenticity instead of popularity. Don’t try to sound like anyone or anything except who you already are.”

Authenticity: ‘Acting as if’ can be exhausting

When working with clients (previously in my role as Career Coach and now as a Business Coach) I see the impact ‘acting as if’ has on my clients. Trying to sound like anyone or anything other than themselves is exhausting. AND, trying to be someone you’re not, especially if it’s the opposite of who you really are (like Brian Clark’s businessman) can often stand out like a sore thumb once people get to know you a little better.

Authenticity isn’t about ‘keeping it real’, especially when the behaviour you are exhibiting is inappropriate. Just because you can get drunk, abusive and offensive, doesn’t mean you should. That’s not being authentic – that’s just being rude and obnoxious.

If you believe being authentic means that you can say what you like, act how you like, whenever you like without any consideration for basic manners – then think again.

Everything you say and do; the photos you share online; the groups you join; the people you associate with, all impact your personal brand. Wouldn’t want a prospective client to read that comment? Don’t post it! It’s as simple as that.

I’ve known colleagues to miss out on lucrative opportunities because of inappropriate behaviour.

Authenticity: Identify your strengths, gifts and talents

According to my Thesaurus, authenticity means: being genuine, not false or copied; trustworthy.

Authenticity is about being true to yourself and who you are.

It’s about identifying your strengths, your gifts and your talents. It’s about working with clients YOU want to work with, doing work that you love and making an impact in the lives of those people you want to serve/support.

Authenticity: Don’t try to be someone you’re not

In my work as a Career Coach, I found that one of the most common reasons people disliked their jobs was because their work did not allow them to use their preferred strengths and skills. The environment they worked in and the tasks they performed did not align with their core values.

Trying to be someone they were not was wearing them down and unfortunately not only impacted negatively on their self-esteem, but was also showing up in their performance levels and in their relationships with their colleagues.

Like the woman who had a bubbly personality, however kept it subdued because she believed it may annoy people around her, who were typically very sombre.

Or the man who had an extremely positive outlook on life, however he conformed to the rest of his team who were constantly criticising other people and looking for reasons to complain. He didn’t want to upset the apple cart, nor did he want to be the next person who became the brunt of their callous jokes.

Or the young girl who had an amazing gift of transforming situations of conflict into calm, bringing people together so that they worked toward the common goal. However, she kept this to herself because it wasn’t something that was valued highly by her supervisors and the corporate culture in general.

Just like these people, are you hiding your strengths, gifts, talents, passions and quirky characteristics.

Embrace them.

Because when harnessed correctly they can become an integral part of your personal brand – the elements that are uniquely ‘you’ and that will differentiate you in a powerful and positive way from other people.

Personal Branding & Authenticity: The Real You

For me personally when it comes to my personal brand, authenticity is very important.

Getting clarity around my desires, passions, strengths and gifts has enabled me to be authentic in everything that I do in my business, from how I show up to an event, the way I interact with people, right through to what I write in my marketing materials.

I can sum up my personal brand and what I stand for in one word: Inspire. This is why I constantly share inspirational and motivational quotes and articles with my community.

Was I always so clear about who I was? Heck no. It’s been quite a journey – but a journey that has been worth each and every step.

Personal Branding & Authenticity: Permission to be you

Because I now know exactly what my brand essence (the heart and soul of my brand) and my brand promise is I can continue to bring this message to the world confidently and authentically.

It’s me. It’s what I stand for.

I don’t need to ‘act’ as if I’m being authentic. I KNOW it’s authentic. It doesn’t feel fake and I’m not draining my energy trying to be someone I’m not.

It’s also what I desire for my clients.

Once the people who hated their jobs (because their career values did not align with their company’s values) were clear about their values, strengths and talents, they were able to find a job they loved.

The business owners and entrepreneurs who struggled to grow their business finally realised that everything they were doing in their business just wasn’t them.The clients they were trying to attract, the marketing messages they were sending out – just didn’t feel right. Once they discovered and gave themselves permission to be themselves (and stopped listening to people telling them what they couldn’t/shouldn’t do) – it felt like a huge weight had been lifted.It felt real. They were being honest with themselves. They embraced what was authentic and real for them.

Staying on-brand and being authentic

When it comes to my business, does that mean I don’t have my down days? Of course I do. BUT, I won’t let loose and openly criticise or complain openly about someone. That’s just not me. Nor would I do something that would jeopardise my brand and reputation.

I know that everything I do and say, the people I associate with etc, impact my brand, so I’m very mindful that I am on-brand all the time.

To me though – that’s just common sense. That’s not about being authentic and real.

Being authentic and real is about having a strong awareness and clarity about one’s self so that you can incorporate that into every element of your life. Your relationships; your work.

Seth Godin ends his article by saying: You could spend your time wondering if what you say you are is really you. Or you could just act like that all the time. That’s good enough, thanks. Save the angst for later.”

Thankfully, I don’t have to wonder about whether who I say I am is really me. I KNOW I am who I say I am. I know what is authentic and real for me. And I am able to confidently bring my message to the world in everything I do and say, to the people I meet and interact with.

What about you?

What’s your take on authenticity when it comes to your personal brand? Let me know by adding your comment below. I’d love to hear from you!

Till next time, stay inspired!

Annemarie Cross

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Digital Dirt: Are You Protecting Your Online Reputation?

Annemarie Cross — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 09:44:35 +0000

Online Reputation Management

As a business owner – how serious are you about protecting your online reputation? Are you being on-brand in everything you do to avoid creating digital dirt?

Have you ever said something (or done something) you wish you could take back?

I know I have – especially as a teenager.

Whether it was a situation where out of spite I was retaliating to something someone had done; banter in the school yard that went just a little too far; or associating with the wrong crowd and looking a little worse for wear after a night on the town.

Luckily, back then my friends and I didn’t have mobile recording devices. Nor did we have access to the internet and the social media technologies that are so readily available today.

The ease of uploading and sharing on the internet means that embarrassing situations can be recorded, uploaded and shared with dozens (if not hundreds and/or thousands) of people within minutes.

Thankfully, now as an adult I am far more mindful of what I do, say and share online. I’m also careful as to the people I choose to hang out with, which are all things I do to protect my brand and reputation. It’s part of my online reputation management strategies.

How about you?

Because of the technologies we have at our fingertips we have to be careful of everything we do or say, as we could just be creating ‘digital dirt’ – information that can tarnish our reputation and ruin any chance of getting hired by an employer and/or client. In fact, digital dirt (and NOT looking after your online reputation) can even provoke the termination of a lucrative contract for hire.

Like the situation where a freelance journalist was reporting on a major annual event for the acting profession and tweeted something that was totally inappropriate. It caused a terrible stir among the hundreds of people who were following the event’s twitter feed and ended up being mentioned on the late evening news television broadcast.

Those 140 characters also caught the attention of her client (a major Australian newspaper) who was far from impressed. That was the last she ever tweeted as one of their representatives.

She certainly wasn’t protecting her online reputation with that tweet. I’m sure she looks back at that situation and wishes she had been more mindful of that old saying ‘Think before you speak’, or in her case – before she tweeted.

Another situation much closer to home involved a consultant who approached me and asked if he could be a guest on my podcast. Not knowing who he was, I decided to Google him. You can imagine my surprise when the very first link I found was of someone complaining quite strongly about his business and how they felt he was a fraud. This comment had been written a few years prior and was still coming up as the top link.

He certainly hadn’t been monitoring and protecting his online reputation from digital dirt. This information certainly impacted my decision and he was not offered a guest spot on the show.

Do you want to avoid creating digital dirt by ensuring that everything people read should they perform a Google search on you is professional and what you would want them to see?

Then be mindful of everything you say and do. Be selective of the groups you join and the people you associate with, as well as the videos and photos you share. Your online reputation is at stake.

Like the photo that was taken of you dancing on the tabletop after having a few too many champagnes.
The constant barrage of negative comments you continue to post on your Facebook wall.
The colourful language you use (that would make your grandmother’s toes curl up) as you speak about an unpleasant situation.
Commenting ‘that you just can’t be bothered working today’ so you’re going to take the day off.
Or complaining that you just got off the phone from your ‘client from hell’. Let’s hope he/she isn’t one of your online friends and will see your outburst. Whoops!

I could go on…

Just what reaction do you think your current (or future) client would have if they were to stumble across these things?

These are self-inflicted situations of digital dirt – and can easily be prevented.

Don’t put yourself in any situation where you can jeopardize your online reputation by creating material that has the potential to return and bite you in the you-know-what.

Think before you speak and act. It’s as simple as that.

But what happens when someone else shares or says something about you that could potentially tarnish your personal brand and online reputation?

Whether it is a complaint from a client that’s been posted on an open forum; someone has a difference of opinion and openly disagrees with something you’ve said; a colleague has uploaded something that you just don’t want out there in the public domain; or an envious competitor (plagued by the tall poppy syndrome) begins spreading mistruths about you and your services.

How do you handle those situations?

Here are a few suggestions on what to do as well as a link to some tools that will help you monitor and protect your online reputation.

Strategies to Protect Your Online Reputation

Received a complaint from a client?

Unfortunately mistakes can happen.

Deal with it immediately and aim to turn your disgruntled patron into one of your ambassadors. How you deal with and follow up your client will impact their overall opinion of you AND what they will continue to say about your business.

Once it’s dealt with to their satisfaction – you can politely ask them to remove their original comment.

I remember a story that Guy Kawasaki once shared where a patron was flying on American Airlines and had not received his specially ordered meal. His tweet told his followers of his predicament, however was also seen by their customer service department. They immediately informed the flight attendants; and his meal was promptly delivered to him along with a heart-felt apology.

How cool is that!

Are you and your customer service department as responsive as American Airlines were?

A difference of opinion

Has someone openly disagreed with something you have said or the way you approach things?

Don’t come out fighting or try to retaliate by putting them down. There is no excuse for being rude AND this will only reflect negatively on you.

Instead, put forward your thoughts in a respectful manner. And it may just mean that you just have to agree to disagree.

An author of a blog that I frequently read made a comment in one of her posts that she disagreed with an article she had read recently. Her comments were not nasty or derogatory – they were just presenting her thoughts and different approach.

The author of that article commented on her blog and instead of sharing his viewpoint, he made a comment that was rude and offensive and totally uncalled for. I bet he wishes he hadn’t come out with guns blazing, because beneath his outburst were about 100 comments from other blog readers in defence of the blog author. They certainly weren’t as kind as what she had been.

By all means, put forward your opinion but do so in a professional manner. Being rude and offensive just reflects negatively on you.

An embarrassing photo

If someone has shared a photo or something about you that you don’t want out in the public domain, contact them and politely ask them to remove it.

Most people will be happy to oblige.

Dealing with a spiteful competitor

Hopefully you’ll never find yourself in this situation. However, unfortunately the tall poppy syndrome is well and truly alive so as you continue to build brand awareness and attention within the marketplace – people may just come out of the woodwork with negative and spiteful comments.

Should you retaliate? My feeling is not to as you’d only be stooping to their level.

Instead, ensure your actions and interactions are of the highest integrity. Continue to maintain your reputation and credibility as the expert you are by creating and sharing great content on your own blog as well as other platforms.

It won’t be long before those nasty remarks disappear from the front page of Google and their message is overshadowed by the information that can be found online about you to confirm your wealth of knowledge and professionalism.

You can have direct influence over what people read about you by continuing to create articles and blog posts on a regular basis. It’s also important to continue building social proof by listing testimonials and comments from happy clients that have had the pleasure of working with you.

Additional Online Reputation Management Tools

Building, managing and protecting your online reputation is critical and something you should be doing on a daily basis. It’s not something that you can just set and forget.

Here are some tools to help you monitor, manage and protect your online profile and reputation.

Was this helpful? What steps are you going to take that will allow you to continue building a strong online reputation?

Let me know in the comment box below. It’s always nice to hear from my readers!

Till next time, stay inspired!

Annemarie Cross

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Rejected? Keep in touch strategies to turn prospects into clients

Annemarie Cross — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 20:12:22 +0000

You’ve spent countless hours preparing your program launch.

Everything is moving forward like clockwork and the last email is just about to go out. With the special offer you’ve included you’re expecting to generate some real interest from your list.

Then it happens – the thing you dread the most.

No signups.

Has this happened to you? You’re certainly not alone.

I’m sure we all have a sad story to share about a program launch that didn’t get any (or many) signups. Or a time when a prospect has just replied ‘no thanks’ to your offer despite the amazing presentation you’ve just delivered.

While this may feel like a blow to the stomach, it’s important NOT to take this personally. Doing so can lead to feelings of inadequacy in launching another program or presenting your offer to another prospect.

Just because he/she has decided not to hire you, doesn’t mean you’re unworthy of being hired.

One of my recent tweets said: “Received a ‘no’ to your pitch? Don’t take it personally. They may not yet be ready. Be there when they are.”

Notice how I’ve bolded the words ‘be there when they are’? I’ve done that for a reason.

Why you may feel like giving up on that prospect (or worse case – you feel like giving up altogether) it’s important NOT to walk away, but to maintain contact with him/her.

Here’s why.

In my recent interview with Meridith Elliot Powell – Author of “42 Rules to Turn Prospects into Customers” she stressed the importance of keeping in touch with your prospect, especially after receiving a no.

She states: “It can take between 8-12 touches (communications) with a prospect during a healthy economy before they say ‘yes’. However, in a shifting economy it can take double that amount of time.”

This is something we all need to be mindful of.

Are you regularly keeping in contact with your prospects? Do you have a keep-in-touch strategy in place that allows you to reach out to each of your prospects up to 20 times?

Many entrepreneurs don’t, and therefore end up doing nothing. Or their keep-in-touch strategy is completely ineffective and comes across as being too pushy or annoying.

Here are several ways you can remain top of mind with your prospect that won’t seem too aggressive or frustrating, so that you’re the first person they think of when they’re finally ready to move forward.

Seen an article that would be of interest to your prospect? Send them a copy along with a friendly note that you’re thinking of them and believe this article may be helpful.
Have you written an article recently that relates to something they are struggling with? Send them a copy (or link to your blog). This will not only keep you top of mind, but will also continue to confirm your expertise and credibility.
Are you connected to this person through your social media connections and continuing to position yourself as an authority in your field through articles and posts?
The more your name shows up in conversations and the more your articles get shared and Liked by your extended community, the more your expertise is confirmed as you show up on their social media feeds.
Has one of your clients recently completed your program and generated some amazing results and written an amazing testimonial?
Send a copy of this to your prospect and let them know that your goal would be to support them in achieving the same outcome (success) as your client when they are ready to move forward.
Have you recently won an award? Drop your prospect a note stating that your commitment to delivering outstanding outcomes is paramount and confirmed through the recent award.
Are you going to be speaking at a networking/business event? Sometimes organisers will give you some free tickets which you could then send to your prospect along with an invitation to join you.
If organisers don’t do this, why don’t you invest in a ticket (or two) for your prospect and invite them along as your special guest. They are going to benefit from the networking opportunities plus get the chance to hear your speak – thus allowing you to confirm your expertise and credibility in your field.
Keep an eye out to see what your prospect is doing in their business. Have they won an award? Written an article? Been mentioned by the press? Send them a card to congratulate them on their recent achievement.
Have you been interviewed on a podcast/radio show and have shared some tips that you know your prospect will find helpful? Burn a copy of the audio to CD and send it to them.
Alternatively you can send them a link to the recording, which they can download to their iPod or listen from their computer. Again, this is a great way to provide value to your prospect while confirm you are an authority in your field.

These are just a few of the ideas that I have come up with in the space of a few minutes.

Remember, your prospect may not be ready to invest in you yet. However by ensuring you have a strategic keep-in-touch system in place, incorporating some of the above suggestions will ensure they think of YOU when they’re ready to move forward.

Was this helpful? Which are you going to take action on today to allow you to reach out and connect with a prospect? Have you used other ways to keep in touch that you can share with other readers? Please leave your comments below. It’s always great to hear from you!

Till next time, stay inspired!

Annemarie Cross

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Help! People are unsubscribing from my list – what am I doing wrong?

Annemarie Cross — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:23:08 +0000

As a service-based entrepreneur, I’m sure you know that one of the most important business building strategies you should be doing in your business is building your list.

As it can often take several messages (or more) before someone decides to invest in your services, regular communication with your subscribers through your blog and newsletter so that they get to ‘know, like and trust’ you – is essential.

Seeing your list number increase on a daily basis is certainly exciting and rewarding, but receiving an email to let you know that someone has unsubscribed can be discouraging.

However, receiving notification that dozens of people have unsubscribed from your list after a recent mail out is much worse. In fact, for an ambitious entrepreneur who genuinely cares about being of great value and service to your prospects and clients it can be soul destroying – right?!

So, what happened?

Firstly, you need to realise that there will always be people who will unsubscribe just as soon as they’ve received your free report/offer. Expect that to happen. And if it does – it’s probably a good thing. Why? These people were just there to get whatever information they could, and as soon as they did – were off to find the next offer.

Let’s call them ‘list hoppers’. A list hopper will probably never invest in your services so by leaving your list, they’ve made room for someone who is interested in what you have to say and may very well become one of your best clients.

On the other hand, if there are more people leaving your list than there are new subscribers OR you have a large percentage of your list unsubscribing each time you email them – there are probably some things going on that you need to address.

Cloud Social recently surveyed their list and they found that there were four common reasons that prompted people to unsubscribe.

Emails come too frequently
Content has become boring or repetitive
Overwhelmed by the total amount of email they receive
Content in your emails was irrelevant from the start

[Source: Cloud Social – 2011]

Here are three of the most common reasons why I have unsubscribed from lists, as well as some suggestions to avoid falling into these traps so that you can prevent people unsubscribing from your list in droves:

1. The follow up information in their newsletter (and other emails) is irrelevant

When joining someone’s list it’s because I believe they have the expertise to help me overcome a problem. I’m interested in what they have to say so I provide them with my email address in exchange for a report (or other product) to learn more about them and the work they do.

However, in their follow up emails (or newsletter) the information they send me has no relevance to why I signed up with them in the first place.

Action Step: Review the content you are sending out to your list.

Is it relevant to your prospect’s needs and interests? Does it continue to add value and speak to the issue/problem that prompted them to sign up with you in the first place?

If not, it’s going to be difficult to build your profile and reputation as an authority in your field. Get focused and continue to provide relevant information that your subscribers are interested in.

2. They’re bombarding me with sales messages (or affiliate sales messages)

While I anticipate that I’ll get a few sales messages in subsequent newsletters, what I don’t expect is to receive ONLY sales messages. Or, promotional material about a product or service they believe: “I may just find helpful”, and which they represent as an affiliate.

When I gave them my email address I didn’t give them permission to bombard me with their products/services, or their affiliate products/services. I gave them my email so that I could continue to learn more about them, benefit from the information they continued to share, with the goal of one day hiring them, after I’ve gotten to know them a little better.

Action Step: Compare the amount of sales materials versus valuable content you are sending out to your list.

Is the information you are sending your list of value to them or are you constantly sending out sales and promotional material?

Use the 9 to 1 rule; being 90% of your email/newsletter is providing informative content your list can benefit from and 10% of the content can be used to promote your products/services.

3. They’re flooding me with emails

After many of my colleagues speaking highly of a particular person, I decided to sign up for his newsletter. What a mistake that was. He and his team sent me so many follow up emails on a daily basis that it flooded my inbox. Talk about email overwhelm.

Recommendations as to the frequency you should be sending out emails to your list can vary depending on who you speak to. Some people send out emails on a daily basis; others twice a week.

Personally, I believe that receiving an email (or more) each day is too much or even twice per week is just too much. I prefer to receive one email per week with some hints and tips to help me in my business.

Action Step: Count the amount of times you are contacting your list.

Are you flooding your list with emails? If so, try cutting back on the frequency to once per week and see if that makes a difference.

Remember, when it comes to building your list think quality, not quantity. While it is nice to think you have thousands of people on your list, it’s pointless if the majority of people have no interest in the information you share.

Aim to attract and build your list with people who are interested in what you have to say and continue to provide them with useful, informative content so that they begin to know, like and trust you as an authority in your field. They’ll be far more likely to hire and recommend you if you do.

And, above all make sure that the information you send your list is relevant, informative and continues to showcase your knowledge and expertise.

What about you? Have you recently unsubscribed from a list? What was the reason? Please share – it’s always great to hear from you!

Till next time, stay inspired!

Annemarie Cross

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Building Your Credibility: Are you following these 8 habits of a highly effective blogger?

Annemarie Cross — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 01:05:37 +0000

Do you dream about building your reputation as an expert so that people automatically think of you when they’re in need of the services you offer?

As a service-based business owner – you should be.

One of the best ways to build your credibility (and your client list) is to create a blog/website where you can continue to add valuable resources and articles that you know your ideal client will love, will want to share, and will want to keep coming back to, in order to learn more!

Even though this is something you know you should be doing, life happens. You get busy and before you know it – a week turns into multiple weeks (or even months) since you posted your last article. Sound familiar?

I came across a fantastic article this week: “The 8 Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers” that touched on some very important behaviours that when followed, can help you build a successful blog.

Author, Annabel Candy came up with these habits after spending considerable time researching some of the top bloggers, such as Brian Clark, Darren Rowse and Leo Babaita – and pinpointing the habits and behaviours that these (and other) successful bloggers had adopted.

Habit 1: Effective bloggers are prolific
Habit 2: Effective bloggers are concise
Habit 3: Effective bloggers are analytical
Habit 4: Effective bloggers are lifelong learners
Habit 5: Effective bloggers are focused and consistent
Habit 6: Effective bloggers plan ahead
Habit 7: Effective bloggers are persistent
Habit 8: Effective bloggers are self-starters

Do you recognise these habits in the way you approach your blog?

I’m off to measure myself to see how I stack up against each of these habits.

In the meantime, here are my thoughts around four of the habits that really stood out for me.

1. Be Prolific

Writing regular articles on your blog to build brand awareness is crucial. Some bloggers write multiple articles each week, however if this seems overwhelming and almost impossible, at a minimum you should look at creating one informative blog post each week.

If like some people, you find it difficult to put words on paper, why not consider spicing up your blog by including video or audio posts.

Here’s an audio biz tip I shared with my Twitter followers, which was later turned into a blog post. I also got my assistant to transcribe the audio and include the words underneath the audio so that people who were in a hurry and didn’t have time to listen to the audio, could take away the main points through reading the post.

Don’t be put off blogging if you find it difficult to write. Think about creating an audio or video post and having the content you discuss transcribed in order to share your message with your readers (and prospective clients).

2. Be Organised

Do you find it difficult to find time to blog/write? My advice – is to MAKE time.

If you don’t block out time in your diary to research, write and edit your weekly article, then you’ll continue to struggle to find time to dedicate to this process.

And, if you’re serious about building a strong brand and reputation as an expert through developing a successful blog, you need to set aside quality time to work on it.

Monday’s are typically my writing day where I will sit down and put pen to paper (or keystrokes to paper).

However through the week I am always scouring the internet for inspiration from other bloggers.

A great plugin I use to get organised is WordPress Editorial Calendar. This plugin enables me to compile information, articles of interest and other notes as I am doing my research, so that everything I need to create my post is in one place.

3. Be Analytical

Trying to come up with topics to write about each week can become quite a challenge. I’ve often found myself sitting at a blank screen wondering what my next article is going to be about.

One of the ways I’ve been able to overcome this challenge is to constantly be on the lookout for what my ideal client is talking about, and ensuring these are the topics I write about in my articles/blog posts.

So what are your ideal clients struggling with? What keeps them stuck? What answers are they looking for which fit in perfectly with the services and value you offer? Pick one topic and write about it in your next blog post, ensuring you provide some tips and strategies that they can use to help them overcome their issue.

Here are a few resources I use regularly to help me get my creative juices flowing that I’m sure you’ll find helpful. At the moment, one of my favourite is Google Reader.

4. Be Focused

If I were to visit your blog, would I be able to understand exactly what it was that you could do for me within a few seconds of landing on your site?

Are you building a consistent message with the content you are sharing? Or are you blogging about so many diverse and unrelated topics that it would be difficult for me to understand exactly what it is you do.

Your website header, your tag line/slogan, the categories and keywords you blog about and your blog posts should all speak a consistent message that showcases you are an authority in your field.

Does yours?

It’s important to remember that your website/blog is your shop front; it’s where prospects can learn more about you and the expertise you offer.

By following these 8 important habits and behaviours you will continue to build your online presence as an expert. You will continue to build trust and respect with your community so that readers (prospects) think of YOU once they’re ready to take action and invest.

What do you think about the 8 effective habits of a highly effective blogger? Is there another habit you’d add? Let me know in the comments below. It’s always nice to hear from you!

Till next time, stay inspired!

Annemarie Cross

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How to build a powerful client-capturing and income-generating Signature Brand – Part Two

Annemarie Cross — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 21:16:57 +0000

Steps to a client-capturing and income-generating Signature Brand

A few week’s ago I had the privilege of being interviewed by Melinda Emerson (aka @SmallBizLady) on her #SmallBizChat tweet chat. It certainly was a jam-packed hour with lots of interaction.

We spoke about the very important topic of how to build a powerful Signature Brand – a vital step towards getting you noticed and hired by your ideal client!

You can read Part One on how you can attract your clients and increase your weekly, monthly and annual income through building a powerful Signature Brand by clicking here

Here’s part two.

I get pretty personal and reveal my Brand Archetypes (the heart and soul of my brand) as well as my Brand Story.

You’ll also want to look out for one of the biggest mistakes I see small businesses make, which weakens their brand so they never quite reach expert status. Be careful that you don’t fall into this common trap!

How to build a powerful client-capturing and income-generating Signature Brand – Part Two

[@SmallBizLady asks]:

1. What’s the third step in the branding process?

[@AnnemarieCoach responds]:

The next two steps are my favourites as you are really getting to the core of your brand.

The third step is all about your Brand Promise:

Your brand promise is what you guarantee people will receive when working with you.

While this may be something we do already think about, people don’t give it the attention it deserves. This is where we start tapping into the emotions – the experience that other people have when they think about your brand (your business).

Here are some things to think about when defining your brand promise:

What are you committed to delivering time and time again to each and every client you work with?
When dealing with people – what can they expect in terms of how you interact with them and make them feel throughout your relationship?
If you were to ask several of your clients about their experience working with you – what would they say?

2. So what is the final step we need to do to define our brand?

The last step is really where I believe you breathe life into brand. It’s defining the heart and soul of your brand – your Brand Essence, your brand story.

I use the Branding with ArchetypesTM system in my Unearth Your Brilliance Branding program to uncover a person’s brand essence. This system has 12 different archetypes – each with their own set of gifts, purpose, characteristics and qualities. Once you know what your Primary and Influencing Archetypes are it’s quite incredible how this can allow you to breathe a life and soul into your brand and create a powerful brand story.

To give you a brief example, my brand story is all about a gem hunter who searches for precious gems. However when she first finds this gem it is in its natural form, so very much looks like a jagged dull rock. She then starts the process of carefully chipping and cutting away the rough edges of this rock, and uses a special cloth and other equipment to shine and polish this stone. After she has finished, what is left in her hand is a beautiful gem that sparkles brilliantly in the sun.

My Primary Archetype is the Explorer, which is all about discovery. They have a deep need for self-expression and individuality and are a positive role model for helping other people to discover their own unique brilliance, individuality and originality.

It’s no surprise then that my passion is to help other entrepreneurs in identifying and building their unique authentic brands – hence why I am a Brand Strategist. My clients are in effect the stones that the gem hunter uncovers on her journey. Through going through various steps, I help them to chip away at the rough edges and polish and shine until they are left with a beautiful sparkling gem – their unique brilliance – their brands.

By the way, my Influencing Archetype is Ruler – which fits in perfectly with my brand story of a gem hunter. After all a Queen loves her gems doesn’t she?

For people here today, they can start to ask themselves the following questions to identify very important elements that can start them on their way to defining the heart and soul of their brand.

List 3-6 brand values?
How does your brand make people feel?
If your brand were a character, describe what that would look, sound and be like?

3. Once people have identified these things, how can they start to put it all together?

After you have defined each of the above elements, you have your Brand Story; you now understand your core Brand Message; etc and all of these things should be incorporated into your branding elements.

Those were the things we spoke about earlier – your website, business cards, the fonts you use, the colours you choose, your equipment, your office, your clothing. In fact, everything!

Everything that you create continues to exude and portray your core brand elements.

4. Once we have defined our brands, what else can we do to continue building our brands?

Once you have defined your signature brand there are a few things you need to be mindful of when building your brand, credibility and reputation.

It’s important to on-brand in everything that you do. When I talk about being on-brand, I’m talking about being consistent in the information you are sharing to ensure it continues to build your profile in the industry/field you want to become known as an expert in. It’s also important to remain on-brand in how you deliver your message as well.

Some people weaken their brands and never reach expert status because they are involved in too many areas in their business and prospects become confused as to how they can help them. Remember the old saying “a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none”? You don’t want to become known as a master of none, especially if you want to have a thriving business with prospects coming to you for your support because they know the value you offer.

So, be consistent in the message you are portraying. Get focused and stay focused.

Secondly it’s important to be constantly taking action to promote and communicate your brand. This could involve writing, speaking, audio, video – a myriad of different ways you can get your message out there and continue to build your profile and reputation as someone who is knowledgeable in your field.

Writing one article and sitting back hoping that this will attract a steady flow of clients to your door is not effective. You need to be constantly communicating your brand.

Pick which method(s) of communication that best suits your style and strength and continue to leverage that medium to get your message out to your target market.

5. Are there any other things that people should be aware of when it comes to their brand?

Yes, absolutely.

It’s important to recognise that it can takes months – years even to build a strong brand, to become known as an expert in your field. However, this can all be tarnished (or weakened) by one inappropriate comment or action.

As I mentioned earlier, everything you do and say, the people you associate with, the pictures you upload and share, the groups you join – everything, can impact your brand. So, be mindful of everything you do and say – especially online.

Be on-brand in everything you do!

Was this helpful? If you’ve already got a basic idea of your brand – how can these questions allow you to strengthen what you are already doing so that you can really make an impression with your ideal client?

Share your comment below! And, if you think these tips were helpful, please Like, Tweet and Share with your network. As always, I’d really appreciate it.

Till next time, stay inspired!

Annemarie Cross

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