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For those outside the marketing realm, let me help define “branding”. Branding is a signature ‘look and feel’ that leverages all of the resources our industry has to offer to make sure that you will be noticed and recognized by consumers and like industry companies.
- Branding is an essential component to any business therefore it’s something you should consistently think about and ensure it evolves on an ongoing basis. Taking time to think about and employ opportunities to promote your brand is both fundamental and key to its success.
- Your brand and marketing materials should precisely detail & sell your product and/or service. If they’re not, they’re wrong. You know the old adage of “if it isn’t broke don’t fix it”…well if it is, it’s time to re-think and re-brand.
- C’mon, get focused! Your view of your product/service can sometimes be narrow and if it’s your “baby”, it can be hard to be a tough critic. So if you can’t afford to pay for a professional focus group, here is a suggestion. Get together a group of professional friends from various industries and present your products/service. Offering hors d’oeuvres and beverages is a nice form of compensation. What’s most important though is getting their feedback in writing and implementing their suggestions (if they are good ideas…) into your brand/marketing strategies and promotions.
- Know your street credibility ~ Your brand image as well as its reputation is vital. It’s super important you know what your client base is saying about you…and even your competition. Being armed with this information will allow you to evolve your branding & marketing strategies to thwart the effects of the good or bad press.
- Promote your brand across all landscapes. This should include at a minimum:
∞ direct marketing via mailers;
∞ email campaigns and promotions;
∞ online & in-store promotions; and last but surely not least…
∞ social media, etc.
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For a modern lesson on a classic fundamental, let’s take it back to elementary school for the 5 W’s (and 1 H) for a moment shall we? Who, What, Where, When, Why & How…although not in that particular order.
WHO…you of course! Don’t think blogging is for you or beneficial to your company? Read on my friend…
WHAT’s the point of business blogging? To communicate clearly to a wide variety of readers (either from your business sector or to one who is interested in acquiring your company’s expertise) and reach them on a virtual yet tangible level that says 
wanna do lunch…via Skype?
HOW can a blog work for your company? Let me pass on what I’ve come to understand. Basically, if you are a small to medium-sized company, more than likely you have a limited advertising/marketing budget if any. This may in turn affect your ability to rub elbows with your industry-related business colleagues and the frequency of networking opportunities. But guess what? If you have a semi-talented employee who can write pretty well or hire a content writer like myself (hint, hint-plug, plug) you can be well on your way to leveraging social media to your advantage and profit margin.
WHY and the WHAT points are somewhat synonymous. You (or your superiors) want to have a corporate blog which elevates you/your company to a WORLDWIDE PRESENCE. This taps you into the local and global business market by creating dialogue via your company website to an UNLIMITED number of people for almost FREE. Need I say more? Ok but just because I can hear the anticipation…
WHERE is Waldo, Jane, Bob or whatever your name is? Where do you pow-wow and have your swank & usually expensive lunch meeting to seal your deals? Your couch if you’re lucky! In 2012, most freelance and small business owners work from home or out of a local Starbucks. You can save time and money with this fantastic networking tool by using a little of Father Time and a smidge of talent to take your business to the next level and into an unlimited marketplace. No expense account required.
WHEN you choose to use social media to your advantage, you win-plain & simple. Oh and today is a great day to start.
Still saying blah, blah, blah?????
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A content writer or business blogger (whether plume or keyboard, or in my case, both) takes on the identity of his/her subject as though they are vicariously living as the CEO or decision maker for that business entity. It is in this forum where jack of all trades requires that you master, at least on some level, all & not none. A good content writer or blogger assumes the identity of employee/employer and advocate for that business.
Taking on a client who is part of an industry in which you’ve never been employed can seem overwhelming or to some impossible. Do you take that client on and fluff your credentials as though you have had a million clients in that same industry…a been there done that so of course you should hire me attitude? Or do you let them know how darn good you are at research and how becoming a student rather than a “know it all” behooves them and your craft? Because any good content writer will tell you it’s about RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH …and yet more RESEARCH. That includes your company client, their area of expertise, their competition and what’s not being said/done/reflected in their own and competitors marketing identity. You have to write it like you live it, in it…their world, their conference rooms and marketing strategy meetings.
Recently I took on a client in a very interesting and technical industry. And I certainly can admit some hesitation and anxiety prior to the pitch. It was seemingly too technical for a person who spent a good deal of my career in a very white collar legal environment. But I soon realized that this is what it’s all about. What content writers do-we morph. And through many hours of research and allowing my brain to think outside its confines and experience, I soon became intrigued and began to write in such a manner that impressed me (really it did) and my client. This is what allows you to write from a position of “seeming” expertise and authority rather than obvious novice.
So stay encouraged my fellow content writers and bloggers- embrace what you don’t know, learn what you need to and then write like you live it.
Web Design
Anytime you see something with “legal” in it, it normally grabs your attention. I don’t mean to scare you with this one, but it’s something we do need to go over. A lot of websites out there have images on them. A lot of those images may not be approved from the person or company who actually own the images. There are some heavy consequences if you happen to use them without permission or consent. Similar with plagiarized content.
I remember years ago when I was in high school having to do book reports and essays. ( I won’t tell you how long ago that was though, lol.) Come up with a great 3.5 structured essay, then for the cover I’d search the internet for a picture to use below my title. Back then there wasn’t Google so I’d use Netscape to go to Yahoo or Lycos. I’d use the class printer to print out my picture and staple it to my report and I’d be good to go.
Lets fast forward to websites and blogs of today. Sure everyone has a website. If you don’t have a website, your next phone call should be to us because we’d like to know why not. There are many sites and blogs that use pictures they found on Google images that may have been saved and used without the content providers notice. Now most of this content wouldn’t be sold or resold, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Also, just because an image is found on a search engine, doesn’t make it legal for you to use on your own site. Even if the site you found it on wasn’t the originator or royalty free site.
“Royalty-Free, or RF, refers to the right to use copyrighted material or intellectual property without the need to pay royalties for each use or per volume sold, or some time period of use or sales.” (Wikipedia source)
There’s a whole bunch of RF sites out there for you to use. Some free, but most will have a premium to pay for credits to then use to download images. These images can range from people, events, buildings, vectors, logos, and more. To give you a few sites check the list below.
Free RF sites:
Premium RF Sites:
The last thing you want to happen is getting a cease order in the mail or email about some content you have on your website. Similar to website copy, graphics and images are protected too. And just so that you know, there are web programs and bots that troll websites looking for unauthorized content. Similar to like a facial scan or fingerprint recognition system, these applications work around the clock looking for content that may not be authorized in their databases.
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So you’ve got a blog right? You’re on Twitter circulating your links to your followers. You’ve got a Facebook fanpage and personal page to post your blog links on. You’ve posted a similar post on Tumbler and Posterous. I’m sure I’m leaving out some other mediums for linking but you get the point. What else could we be missing? Oh yea, you’re own website right?
Recently I was chatting with some of my colleagues in design and development. One of our main issues is the redundancy of the same content being regurgitated on all of the same platforms. Now I have to admit some guilt and hypocrisy with that because I do the same to some extent. If you follow some industry leaders you’ll see them have profiles and many different platforms. Almost all of which you’ll find the same content when new content is published. This is so that the masses can consume in whatever way they find most convenient. However what if that content wasn’t anything different from what a similar person is saying. It reminds me of that game where you till one person a story, and 7 people down the line will have variations of the main story plus or minus their own input.
How do you know what content is worth consuming? I don’t know of any one answer that blankets all, but I can say you should each really make your own decision on who you decide to hold on a pedestal of worthiness. Not like a monarchy or anything, but more-so for validity. Just because Tom of #1 design dot-com has 1.5 million subscribers and says something key about a subject matter doesn’t mean he’s 100% right for you or your industry. There is a lot of quality insights out there from some well-known people. There are also some great insights from some lessor known people too.
Your website should be your #1 source for your content. Sure your blog should be integrated in that, but people need to be captivated and drawn to your own website. Not consuming your content solely on other mediums and never returning to your site to comment, purchase, or consume more. You should also monitor your outlet mediums. If you find that more of your content is being consumed on a particular outlet AND for a specific subject matter more than others, its time to produce to that demand. Don’t regurgitate that worthy content that works mainly in Linked In, on Tumbler if the audience on Tumbler is obviously different. That could be just lazy tactics, but you’ll grow tired of social media as a whole if you go this route. Especially if you’re doing this yourself outside of using a marketing firm or social media adviser.
Let me know your thoughts on content redundancy in the comments below. I’m intrigued to hear you weigh in.
