As an ambitious, service-based business owner it’s important to recognise that YOU are the face of your business.
Every comment, post and interaction you have online and offline continues to exude your brand’s voice and can have an impact on your reputation in either a positive or a negative way.
Here are 20 vital strategies (that I’ve shared with all my Twitter followers) to help you build your brand and reputation.
- A strong personal brand should position you as an expert in your field – NOT a master of none or jack of all trades. How focused are you?
- Service-based biz? Your clients invest in ‘you’. Ensure you put the human factor – your authentic voice into your online communications.
- A memorable brand always sends a consistent message. Are you strengthening or weakening your brand through your communications?
- Have a Twitter profile? Ensure you bio & website link are consistent with the brand message & reputation you want to build.
- Build interest in your services by creating a 140-character bio that is results-focused and benefit driven. Is yours?
- A strong personal brand clearly communicates value to its target market. Do your online/offline communications speak clearly to your niche?
- A savvy business owner monitors online conversation about their brand. Are you tracking what people are saying about you?
- It takes consistent action & commitment to build a strong brand, which can be destroyed by one off-brand Tweet. Mind your Tweets.
- Negative information (digital dirt) can weaken your brand & put off a client from hiring you. Remain on-brand in all your interactions.
- A confused client says ‘no’. Don’t send ambiguous brand messages when promoting your services/programs.
- Savvy biz owners know it takes planning & consistent action to position their brand ahead of their competition. Are you doing this?
- Ensure you can state your brand’s value & benefits in less than 30 seconds or inΒ 140 characters.
- Using social media as part of your marketing? Ensure your bio & message is consistent across all platforms.
- Business owners: nothing stands out more powerfully than an authentic brand. Is the real ‘you’ showing up in your brand?
- Service-based business owners: want to increase your expert status? Continue to build a powerful brand that showcases your expertise.
- What’s 1 positive characteristic that people often use to describe you? Is this incorporated into your brand?
- People do business with brands they know, like and trust. How does your brand measure up against these things?
- Describe your ideal client. Are these the people that you and your brand’s message are attracting to your business?
- Have you Googled yourself lately? What shows up online can impact your reputation. Ensure it’s on brand!
- Actions speak louder than words. Are you maintaining your brand’s voice in what you do by walking the talk?
- Want your brand to become irresistible? Continue sharing valuable info specific to your niche’s needs to keep them coming back.
So, how many of these are you implementing within your business? Which is your favourite? Do you have any you’d like to share? Please pop your comments in the area below. I love getting your feedback!
If you found these helpful please click the Like button and share with your friends and followers by clicking the buttons below. Thank you – I really appreciate it!
Here’s to YOU building a powerful, irresistible, client-capturing brand. Want to know more about our branding programs?
Have an awesome day!
Your brand should reflect who you really are. I must say that these are wonderful tips on the building of brands which will help a lot of your readers. I like the point on trust because without the trust of your customers then things will not go very well for you.
Absolutely – your brand should be authentic, otherwise it will be quite difficult to maintain, especially if you are a service-based business.
Great tips! Thanks for sharing. π
You’re welcome. Glad you found them helpful.
Is it possible ti add a Tweet this link after each of the strategies mentioned so if we wanted to tweet each we can? Just a thought to get others to really digest this stuff and not feel overwhelmed by the long list.
Hi Michelle, hope all is well!!
Let me look into this – I’ve seen this used before so there must be an app out there that does that. Thank you for offering to tweet and share these with your community – I appreciate it!! In the meantime feel free to bookmark the page and come back often as you move through each of the steps. Or, use the Print Friendly tool so you can print out and use as a checklist as you work through them. Best!
A great list Annemarie! You have hit the nail on the head with all of them! And I love Michelle’s idea above to add a “Tweet this” link to each one of these.
Thanks Peter! Appreciate your comments. Yes, I love Michelle’s idea too and have put that on my ‘to do’ list!
Good point about what shows up if you Google yourself. A bad online footprint leading back to something you wish you hadn’t done or said is hard to undo. Everything gets cached.
The same goes for what you say in idle conversation with clients. To come across as a gossip, for example, will only make people wonder what you say about THEM when it is they who are not present.
There’s a great book by Dale Carnegie called “How to win friends and influence people” which I expect you have read. A lot of the tips in that book are about being a better, more likeable, grounded and effective person; The essence of a brand for certain.