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IBM’s Social Media Strategist, Alex de Carvalho, explains how to create a brand that clearly identifies you and your company and that can grow with you as your company develops. Plus, how to evolve or re-brand when things aren’t working out.
Blog Startup Cheat Sheet Checklist (Part 1) – Instant Download
This cheat sheet and checklist accompanies episodes 052, 056, 058 of the travel freedom podcast.
It outlines the questions and process associated with:
- Choosing your niche / business / product or service
- Getting your self hosted blog / business online
- Creating / integrating a professional design for your website
- Getting your first visitors with SEO
- Engaging with users by email
Take the fast track to setting up your blog and growing your audience: Follow the steps on our free cheat sheet now.
Blog Startup Cheat Sheet Checklist (Part 2) will be Available on release of Episode 060 on November 2nd 2015.
In the Branding episode:
Feature Topics in this episode:
- How important is branding to the success of a company?
- What are the essential elements of a successful brand?
- Your brand is your image as well as your reputation.
- What is the first thing you should consider when developing a brand?
- Is your logo the most important part of your brand?
- How do you choose a brand starting point that can evolve as you learn more about your audience
- What elements are most important to connect with an audience.
- Rookie Mistakes first time entrepreneurs make with their brand
- Why the consistency and positioning of your brand’s message is essential to getting noticed.
- A timeline for choosing and constructing your brand.
- 4 Steps to rebranding successfully
Core Concepts Presented in the this episode
Tips for Choosing / Fixing Your Brand
Your brand is much more than just a logo
It’s more than just how you look. Your brand is 50% image and 50% reputation. Having the best looking product design branding is not going to make you a success if the content of the product does not gain a reputation for quality and consistency.
Modern Online branding is more about being present socially than about logos and colours. It’s about telling your story and sharing it in a way your audience can connect with.
Your story is not like a movie. It’s like a documentary about the making of the movie. Share the real you and be authentic.
How can you help people?
Identify specifically the need you are trying to fulfil before you work on a brand that can represent and connect with that audience.
Make sure you are choosing the right brand
Survey everyone you know – even strangers – to try and get feedback on your brand and direction before you even start coming up with a name or a domain URL.
Unless you have some super secret technology you have to patent, you shouldn’t worry too much about sharing your business plan with other people. Generally you will have unique skills that can build that business, which the people you discuss the idea with, won’t. So it would be hard for them to succeed if they stole your business plan.
What Elements are needed to connect your brand to your audience
Testing – What sort of content that you share gets the best response. Focus more on that.
Don’t just talk about your business, share real life and inspiration too.
Modern branding is more of an evolution than a decision. You should always be listening to feedback and developing a dynamic brand that reflects the needs of your audience.
Be in the right place, and focus.
Choose the social media channel that you are most comfortable with and that best fits your target demographic. Don’t spread yourself to thinly across every platform, just focus on the one or two that are right for you.
Don’t rush into branding…
Do so much research before you go all in on your brand. There are likely other people already in a community that believe in your core message. Connect with and learn about there needs before you establish your brand.
An initial timeline for choosing your brand:
- Research. Who is already doing what I want to do. How are they doing it. What is their focus. What is their brand.
- Connection. Learn from your target demographic and other people in your target niche about what they are doing, how you could do it better or differently. Make friends with influencers before you even launch your brand.
- Domain names. Research a name that could work for you based on feedback and ideas for your company name that you have discussed with the community. You don’t have to get a .com name. There are a lot of new and interesting domain options.
- Design Your look and tag line. Focus on making your brand easy to understand within 5 seconds of visitor arriving on your site. Clear and simple message to connect to your target audience.
- Launch. Use the connections you have made during the research stage to help create buzz about your launch.
How to Rebrand, fix or improve your brand.
- Connect and share your ideas for your r e-brand with your community in order to get feedback on how best to transition your brand in a way your audience will be happy with.
- Over communicate. Make your re-brand an event and make sure everyone who follows you knows it is going to happen.
- Take a lot of time to let the upcoming changes sink in and reach your whole audience.
- Make the re-brand an opportunity to re-connect with your audience on your new dreams, goals and direction
Blog Startup Cheat Sheet Checklist (Part 1)
This cheat sheet and checklist accompanies episodes 052, 056, 058 of the travel freedom podcast.
It outlines the questions and process associated with:
- Choosing your niche / business / product or service
- Getting your self hosted blog / business online
- Creating / integrating a professional design for your website
- Getting your first visitors with SEO
- Engaging with users by email
Take the fast track to setting up your blog and growing your audience: Follow the steps on our free cheat sheet now.
Blog Startup Cheat Sheet Checklist (Part 2) will be Available on release of Episode 060 on November 2nd 2015.
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Weblinks from Branding Episode
World Nomads Insurance – Specifically designed for digital nomads, flashpackers, adventure & long term Travellers – Get a 5% Discount with our coupon code: FOOD5
Our Guest today Alex de Carvalho Website or find him on Social Media at – @Alexdc
Constant Contact – Marketing company
Photos From The Branding Episode
Our guest IBM’s Social Media Strategist, Alex de Carvalho
Pepsi original and new logo.
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DISCLAIMER: We are affiliated with, World nomads, – a company we love and support. Some other links may also be affiliate link – these links help support the podcast financially. All our opinions, as always, are our own.
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