To become more than a fly-by-night, struggling, online entrepreneur, it is important to build a brand. Building a brand will help you attain longevity, help you gain respect and result in you being able to create joint ventures with other successful, branded marketers.
Most people are familiar with brands. If you live in the United States, you have likely heard of Tide, BMW and Lexus. Why, because these companies have done an excellent job branding their product. They have spent millions and millions of dollars to pound their product, their logo and their positive attributes into your head. Luckily, the internet has evened the playing field a bit. You don’t have to spend that much money to brand yourself. In fact, if you have just a little bit of money and a lot of time upfront, you can brand yourself to the people in your field. Read below to find out how.
Create A Logo: You can easily create your own logo using inexpensive software or you can have one created for you pretty cheaply. Visit marketing forums such as Digital Point or the Warrior’s Forum and you will be able to find someone to do it for you. A logo makes your business look more professional. People would rather spend their money or listen to people who own websites that don’t look amateurish.
Become An Expert: Becoming an expert in your field will definitely help you brand your business. How do you accomplish this? Visit the websites and forums that your target market visits and then contribute. Make informative posts, write white papers and advertise on these sites. If your target audience always sees your name or logo, they will begin to see you as an expert in that field.
Help Others: Help others by giving away free advice or ebooks. If you give away something free that a competitor may charge for, you automatically develop credibility. So give liberally, it will come back to you.
Offer Value: Whether you offer something for free or are selling it, be sure that it is of high quality. In fact, be sure to over deliver. If you do, your customers will always come back because they know that will give them more than they expect.
Reward Referrals: Build your brand by allowing others to spread the word about your company themselves. Offer a free gift or a discount if your customers refer business to you. You won’t make as much money initially, but you won’t have to spend as much in advertising either and if those new customers become repeat customers, the discount upfront, will be of little consequence.
Building your brand will help give you ‘staying power.” Avoid being a fly-by-night entrepreneur. Be in it for the long haul. Effective ways to accomplish this include creating an attractive image and logo for your company, becoming an expert in your field, helping others by giving away free information and advice, offering valuable products and rewarding referrals. If you commit to this and are consistent, you will see yourself getting more business then you can handle.
