Last Thursday night, PHLBloggers got together at Good Karma Café to learn about how to Boost Your Brand: Use Your Current Platform to Find New Opportunities with Jessica Lawlor. The girl knows her stuff. She worked in PR for 5 years, quit her job in January, started working for herself in February, and in March she made more money than she would have at her day job. Yeah, I think we call that winning.
I wanted to take this chance to recap 10 tips that I took away from her presentation, tips that I hope you are able to take with you to boost your own brand. Also, if you happen to be in Philadelphia, we’d love to have you at a PHLBloggers event – actually, even if you’re just stopping by. Without further ado –
Boosting your brand requires you to become a storyteller.
Not only that, but you need to know what story your brand is trying to tell right now. Your story can change, but whatever your story is right now needs to be consistent across all platforms. Maybe life right now is about your new apartment, finding a house, or learning how to build your business. Whatever it is, make sure to pull your readers into the story with you.
You need an email list.
That is all. Even if you’re not using it, collect the email addresses. You never know when you’ll need them in the future.
Share other people’s content.
I used to know this one. And then life got really busy. And then I forgot. The worst part is that I still am taking in a lot of content, I just stopped sharing the parts I love. That’s something I need to get better at again.
Remember that bloggers are not normal people.
Bloggers read their blogs in RSS feeds, they “right click, open in new tab” all of the links in the post before leaving the page, they pin things for later – this is not normal behavior of the usual population. You need to find a way to get people back to your site, you need to find a way to keep them there, and you need to make everything really pretty so they’re inspired while they’re there.
Track your network.
I actually can’t believe I’m not doing this already. Write down a list of everybody in your personal network that you’ve ever met. Yes, it’s kind of daunting, but think about how useful that would be if you’re starting a new venture and need some help with it. Your network wants to help you. Let them help you.
Create a content round-up.
This is a great way to share other people’s content and ideas. It’s a great way to have them link back to your site. You can just share links, or share interview questions, or ask opinions about things – whatever works for you.
Create a “notice me” list and a “community list” on twitter.
Never thought of this one before. “Notice me” is a list of influencers in your life. “Community list” is a list of people who are active on your blog. Emily of Her Philly pointed out that she sometimes uses that list to come up with blog ideas. So useful!
Create a blog media kit and work with me page.
Make sure to include who you are, who your followers are, how many followers you have, what types of campaigns you could run, and consider including the logos of other brands you’ve worked with. The goal is to get other people just as excited about working with you as you are with them.
Pitch yourself to the media.
Because why not? If you have an idea or big thing coming up, tell the media about it yourself. Especially if you live in a small town and you’re doing something nobody has ever done before. Who knows, somebody might want to write a story about you?
Reach out to a brand with your own partnership ideas.
Step one: brainstorm partnership ideas. Step two: email the company about them and include your media kit. That’s it. Go for it. You have nothing to lose yet again.
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And that’s it. Definitely some great content in there – and some content I haven’t heard before, which is always great inspiration. (That said, even the content I have heard before doesn’t always sink in the first time… or the second.)
What tips do you have for boosting your brand?
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