Podcasts Enhance Word of Mouth Marketing for Small and Personal Brands

June 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Podcasts improve business and personal brand word of mouth

With the surge in smart phone use, most online activity can be done handily and on the go. Apart from the usual phone calls and text messages, there are a lot of things that you can do like taking notes, capturing photos, playing games, listening to your favorite podcasts or recording your own, among others. The modern customer is on their mobile device more than ever. As a result, a shift is being experienced in how consumers buy certain products or services. This is why entrepreneurs and small business owners have tapped several avenues to take advantage of the mobile internet platform. As it has always been, people like to engage on a personal level with regard to products that interest them in order to ensure it meets their active lifestyle. They want to know information at the most convenient time for them. People continue to multitask. They want to know more about brands even while they're on the treadmill, on the road, or while at work.  Podcasts provide a way for people to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Expressing Your Brand, Personal Branding Trends, Social Media Tagged With: , , ,

Introductions That Make Sense

June 6, 2013 by Leave a Comment
make sense

People today are always on the move, and they love to get hold of any information the fastest way that they can. If you have a potential customer with very limited time to listen to take in a sales pitch, what will you say to make a memorable impression? How are you going to create a lasting impact that can convince them to buy your brand? Elevator pitch An elevator pitch is a powerful marketing tool that tells your story in less than a minute. It is a brief statement about who you are, what your business does, and why it is special. It is an ice-breaker that must have a hook to your audience that will capture their attention to know more about you. However, condensing all your life's achievements in a less-than-60-second speech is a hard task to cover. In creating your elevator pitch, there should be balance on what to include and what to leave out, with the aim that you won't look boring or too pushy. The key here is to adapt your speech to the situation that you … [Read more...]

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Create Effective Content to Market You

May 30, 2013 by 4 Comments
content creation

As a solopreneur or small business owner, you may think that content marketing is a huge undertaking and that there are better things you can do with your time. You should realize, however, that putting out great content is an excellent marketing tool for building your brand and establishing customer loyalty. In recent years, there has been a shift in marketing campaigns. Advertisements have lost their power over customers. Nowadays, people buy from brands they like and trust. But where does this trust come from? Through engaging and building relationships with your consumers using effective content. This is essentially known as content marketing. You want people to subscribe to your blog updates, follow you on Twitter, opt-in to your email campaign, and subscribe to your page in Facebook. Through the repeated exposure of your content to an audience, you effectively build a relationship with them, giving you opportunities to get them to convert. The tricky part though, is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal Branding For Entrepreneurs, Personal Branding Trends, Social Media Tagged With: , , ,

Individuals are Using Pinterest to Showcase their Personal Brands

May 23, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Pinterest

A lot of small business owners use Pinterest mainly as a tool to socialize while getting creative, not realizing that the social media site also offers a lot in terms of positive business exposure that can help them expose their creative talents to the world. Much has been said about the commercial potential of Pinterest for the small business owner. In most cases, business owners use the site as a virtual gallery for products and services. However, Pinterest can also be used on a more personal level, as a way for you to expose your brand to potential customers. It is easy for small business owners to showcase their personal sides through their talents. While these talents may be unrelated to the business, they can reveal a brand’s deeper side that may be attractive to potential customers and even investors. Pinterest serves as a great platform for artwork, crafts, and other interests that reveal to customers another side of your creativity. Marketing in the internet always … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal Branding for Careers, Personal Branding For Entrepreneurs, Social Media Tagged With: , , ,

Market the Solution Called You

May 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Build your personal brand

Reaching people is one thing but what do you say when you have their attention?  Focus on discovering and communicating your personal brand so you’ll know what and how to market yourself as an individual. Your reputation determines what people think about you and whether they like you or not. If you can get people to like you, then eventually they will begin to trust you as a person, and your expertise in a certain area. Build a personal brand The concept of building a personal brand may sound a bit weird at the beginning - after all, people usually frown upon a person who likes to extol his own virtues. Give the matter some deeper thought, and you will recognize that personal branding is an integral part of many influential sectors of society, like politics, show business, sports, and so on. Actors, singers, politicians, and activists are people who have managed to create a phenomenal brand image of themselves. These people play pivotal roles in the affairs of the world and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal Branding Quick Tips, Strong Personal Brands Tagged With: , , ,

Permission Marketing and Building a Band of Supporters

May 9, 2013 by Leave a Comment
email marketing

First off, permission marketing pertains to delivering relevant and personal messages to people who actually wish to receive them. Marketers realize that getting an individual’s close attention is a rare and precious opportunity, and thus when it happens should not be wasted. Permission is usually not obtained easily and takes time as the target person has to be won over bit by bit. Once a business has the attention of its target audience, one thing that the business will notice is that permission is cost effective. You can use email and RSS feeds to deliver your message to the people who have agreed to listen to you. Subscriptions ensure you have a loyal and valuable audience. However, getting to such a level where you have an audience of loyal customers takes patience and humility. If you’re an entrepreneur, how you conduct your business will reflect even more so on your personal brand. Permission Email Marketing Tips to Help Exude Your Personal Brand The … [Read more...]

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The F-Bomb Loses More than it Gains

May 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment
How profanity affects your personal brand

Have you ever been tempted to use the “f” word in the office, a meeting, or in a presentation? Even if a select few think you're cool or entertaining because you dropped the f-bomb, it’s guaranteed that the majority of onlookers will judge you harshly. Here are just four reasons why you should never use the f-bomb in a business environment. You come across as inarticulate A good number people use profane words when they can't think of a suitable word or sentence to express their point. When you drop the f-bomb, people may assume that you cussed because you have a limited vocabulary. If your colleagues or boss label you as inarticulate, they'll be unlikely to trust higher level work to you or let you give important presentations. People label you as immature If you think dropping the f-bomb is cool, people will think that you have an immature sense of humor and don't take your career seriously. Remember, you're not a teenager anymore and swearing in a business … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Expressing Your Brand, Personal Branding for Careers, Personal Branding For Entrepreneurs, Personal Branding Quick Tips Tagged With: , , ,

Turning Negatives into Positives

April 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment
negatives to positives

Experience negative situations is a challenge for all of us. We focus on what could go wrong rather than looking at what will go right. This tends to break the focus from working to achieve a goal to trying to avoid failure. Unfortunately, this is exactly what leads to failure. Consider yourself driving down the road. Off to the side, a plastic bag floats by and offers a distraction from the road. More often than not if you follow the plastic bag, you start subconsciously drifting towards it rather than keeping your eyes on the road ahead. The same applies to life and business; focusing on what could go wrong will lead you off the road to success. Negative thinking Seeing or anticipating the worst in every situation, leads you to focus on what needs to happen for a project to fail. Small issues that lie ahead could pose a threat, but how you handle them makes all the difference. Often, a negative individual will complain about the problem. Perhaps there’s too much to do and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal Branding for Careers, Personal Branding Quick Tips Tagged With: , , ,

Keeping Yourself Top of Mind

April 18, 2013 by 2 Comments
no1

One of the greatest challenges faced is constantly being able to keep yourself top of mind to those you would like to connect with, work with or do business with. Due to the vastness of the online world, keeping your personal brand on the minds of your audience takes great skill and employing the right techniques. Get under the spotlight First of all, you need to know where the limelight is at the moment, because that’s where you want to be. The ideal method is to utilize keyword searches to uncover new trends, primarily through social sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Google+. These sites constantly update the latest information and the hottest topics being discussed. You’ll have to do a round-up of the news from around the web. After that, consider what topics the industry leaders are covering at the moment and how you fit into those emerging trends. Consider what unique experiences you have that would blend with such trends. Can you apply your brand to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal Branding for Careers, Personal Branding For Entrepreneurs, Personal Branding Trends, Social Media Tagged With: , , ,

People Do Business with People – Still

April 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
IMG_3591

With all the technological advances the modern world has to offer (mobile Internet, social networking, and even the classic email list), brands often find themselves focused on a power screen, working to improve their online statistic numbers- rather than the people and individuals that make up those statistics. What businesses should realize though, is that each one of those individuals in the online world is a person, and it is with people that you do business with, regardless of the medium chosen to deliver the message to them. Connecting with business relationships First of all, it’s essential that any brand focus its efforts on making connections with the right networks. With social and other online networking tools, it’s easy to get caught up talking with just about everyone. However, most of those conversations don’t offer the valuable connections your brand needs to succeed. Focusing your efforts on specific groups and individuals will allow you to develop … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal Branding Trends, Social Media Tagged With: , , , ,
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