Want to build your personal brand? Start blogging!
Blogging is a great way to share your thoughts, ideas, and expertise with the world. It can also help you build a strong personal brand that will make you stand out from the competition. In this post, I’ll share how you can build your personal brand using blogging as well as give some tips on how to blog better.
I would assume that you’re a brand owner or aspiring to become one, and you’re looking for ways to improve or become better.
If you own a personal brand, you should know that blogging is one way of solving some of the issues you might encounter.
I guess you’re wondering how blogging comes to play.
Allow me to give you some in-depth insight through a story.
There’s a brand owner called Jessie. She’s always had the issue of visibility and increasing her reach but didn’t know how to go about it.
She shared her worries with a friend Tammy. And Tammy asks her why she isn’t blogging. She explained that owning a blog would allow Jessie to express more about her products and give her access to people worldwide. You can never tell who will stumble on your blog when you’re doing it right.
That was all Jessie needed to hear. She started a blog and gave her friend’s advice a try. And just like Tammy said, her brand image grew significantly.
If you don’t know how to set up a blog, it’s no worry. It’s easy and you’ll get tons of free tutorials on how to go about it on Google.
The point of the story is really simple: blogging will help you build a strong personal brand online and make your company, business, or brand more visible.
What Is A Personal Brand & Why You Need One?
A brand is a concept that helps people understand what differentiates your products or services from others in your market. A personal brand is no different. It’s the sum total of all your experiences and interactions with people, both offline and online.
So, what are some reasons why you need a personal brand?
1. Increased Visibility: When you have a personal brand, you become more visible to the world. This is because people will start to see you as an expert in your field and will want to learn more about what you have to offer.
2. Increased Credibility: A personal brand can help you establish credibility and trust with your target audience. When people know who you are and what you stand for, they’ll be more likely to do business with you.
3. Increased Opportunities: A strong personal brand can help you land better jobs, contracts, and business deals. It can also help you attract more clients and customers to your business.
4. Greater Influence: When you have a personal brand, you can wield greater influence over your target market. This is because you’ll be seen as an authority figure and people will look to you for advice and guidance.
5. More Engaged Audience: A personal brand can help you build a more engaged audience. This is because your followers will be more interested in what you have to say and will be more likely to take action based on your recommendations.
Now that you know the benefits of personal branding, I guess it’s time to learn how you can go about building one.
There are a few things you can do to build a personal brand using blogging:
1. Content Building
The essence of a blog is to put out content.
However, it must be content that’s related to your product. You should understand that your blog is not a playground where anyone can put anything, because you don’t want to confuse your audience.
If your products are fashion items, you should only post articles and content that talks about fashion. If you’re a business consultant, your blog posts should only be about business-related topics.
The way to go about this is to use the 80/20 principle.
For instance, if you’re running a fashion blog, 80 percent of your content should be about fashion, and only 20 percent can be about other things.
The creative journey isn’t easy, and you may find it hard to know what you can post. But before you publish any content, you must ensure that it has keywords relating to your niche because it’s the only way it’ll rank high on search engines.
You should position these keywords in a way that ensures when your audience searches for anything relating to your niche, your blog would be among the first to pop up. It wouldn’t make sense for your blog to come out when people search for accounting terminologies, and you are fashion-focused.
If this happens, you’ll miss out on your target audience, and your brand isn’t going to grow. If you effectively use keywords when writing your content, you’ll get the right target audience and your brand will become famous.
2. Consistency
I always advocate that you should not feel things will always go smoothly or that your brand will skyrocket immediately as you start blogging. You should expect some resistance because that’s what happens in the beginning.
You shouldn’t be afraid, but rather understand it to be part of the process.
It’s like weight loss, where you must understand that there will be some setbacks before you start to see progress.
The same applies to blogging; you must be consistent with your posts if you want to see any progress. This means you should post at least once a week, and I recommend you post twice a week. Anything less than that, and you won’t be able to build a successful personal brand.
Frankly, if you want to build your brand using blogging, you must ensure you stay consistent. It doesn’t make sense for anyone to go on your blog and notice that the last time you put out content was two weeks ago.
Consistency doesn’t mean you should publish content every day, although you can do that if it works for you. However, you should ensure that you put out content regularly. When you do this, your blog will rank higher, and people will know more about your brand.
Before starting your brand, you had a problem you wanted to solve. You should focus on that problem to get content. Also, if you follow trends in your niche, you’ll always have ideas on things to publish. As a creative and someone who aspires to grow their brand, you should always be ready to brainstorm.
You should know that little drops of water make an ocean, and your consistency would pay off in the long run. Blogging is a long-term investment, and you must be patient if you want to see results.
It may not seem like it in the beginning, but do not give up. If you’re still reading this, it means you’re still motivated to build your personal brand. And, that’s great!
3. Originality
Your blog’s power lies in your hands, and you are the deciding factor to prove if blogging would help you build your brand. One major mistake that many people make is to copy other blogs.
If your blog lacks originality, it won’t rank high on search engines, and people will lose interest. When people get on your blog, they are expecting to see something unique and different.
Understandably, you may share the same idea with other people who blog in the same niche. However, it is your responsibility as a creative to coin it in a unique way that stands out from others. There’s no use blogging if you and five other blogs will be posting the same content.
Make a name for yourself as a blog and brand where people will always see things from a unique perspective. Nobody’s going to come back to your blog once they notice that you lack originality, and this will reduce your traffic.
Asides from losing readers and target audience, plagiarizing content can also put you in trouble with the law. You don’t want to face a lawsuit, trust me.
So, be original, and you’ll be fine.
4. Assertiveness
People love a situation where they can build personal relationships with bloggers as they read their content. It doesn’t mean that they have to know you physically, but they should be able to form an emotional bond as they read.
If you’re confused about what that means, it means that there should be power in your words that give your content a more personal feel and helps your readers form a connection.
It’s not about being the loudest person in the room but speaking with authority and knowing what you’re talking about. People who are knowledgeable about their content always have an upper hand.
When you speak with authority, people will trust you, and they’ll want to hear more from you. As a blogger, this is what you want because it’ll help you build your personal brand.
In order to make your blog more personal, you must ensure that you write with passion. People can feel it when you’re not being genuine, and your blog will lose its power.
If readers can establish such a connection, they will be compelled to come back and read more. It would be best if you never lose your personal touch when writing because it would make it more believable.
There should be assertiveness in your words. When people read through your content, it should have the power that makes it convincing. If, as a blogger, you don’t believe whatever you publish, how do you expect your readers to be convinced?
If you go on some blogs, you will find the nonchalance of the blogger in the content, and it’ll discourage you from visiting their blog again. Ensure that you are void of nonchalance when writing if you want to build your brand through blogging.
5. Have an Email List
When you decide to build your brand through blogging, you should keep in mind that others are doing the same thing. So, it would be best if you always think of ways to be a step ahead of others.
Above, I talked about establishing a connection with your audience even if you don’t know them physically. One way of doing this is by having an email list. If you pay attention to many blogs, you’ll notice that they have a place where readers can input their email addresses to subscribe to their email list on their website.
You should also include this feature on your blog.
If your audience likes your content, they’ll always want to stay up-to-date, so they’ll hastily subscribe to your blog. This will increase your chances of making a sale since you can always notify them about any new post or product through your email list. It’s smart marketing, and you should use it to your advantage.
They say that the money is on the list, and I believe this because it’s so true. If you don’t have an email list, then you are at a disadvantage because you don’t know how to reach your audience.
An email list is perhaps the best way of building your brand by blogging because it allows you to connect with people on another level. So, I encourage you to set up one on your blog if you don’t have one yet.
With an email list, you can always send your product to them without them coming to your blog, and they can share it with the people around them.
It is a way of showing they are special as you also can send some personalized messages, and it would keep your brand in their hearts in a unique way.
6. Networking
There is the saying that two heads are better than one, and this is why networking is important. Networking is a way of collaborating with people to ensure that your blog is perfect for building a personal brand.
If you’re wondering ways to network and collaborate, you can do this with a fellow brand owner. It may be a collaboration with a writer or a graphics designer. For a writer, it could be that you are experiencing a creativity block or you need to take a break. You could give the writer details so that the person can write it in a way that portrays what you feel.
This way, you wouldn’t feel the constant stress that comes with content creation. You should never feel scared to outsource your job because it’s natural, but be sure of who you’re working with.
Also, visuals are essential when running a blog. You need to network with a graphics designer who knows how to translate thoughts to images effectively. The person must understand coloring and all that entails graphics design. Once all these are in place, you are on the right track to building your brand using blogging.
7. Utilize Social Media Platforms
Many social media platforms can help you on the quest to build your brand through blogging. You should know that blogging goes further than owning a website, especially when you want to raise the bar higher.
So, you should start engaging with people on different social media platforms. Apart from the website, there are many other ways of building your brand. You could be on Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram.
The mistake that most bloggers make is they think that they are limited to just one platform. This is not true because you can start sharing your blog on different social media websites, and they are bound to pick up.
Yes, you can use any desired social media platform to gain more audience and build personal grounds with your audience. With these platforms, there is a smooth flow of communication, and people will trust you more.
Some people would never patronize a brand that doesn’t own any social media account. If you ever want to do something, don’t stop halfway; always ensure you do it excellently. If you do not have a social media page, it’s time to create one!
Conclusion
Blogging might not be easy, but it is achievable! If you ever feel like quitting, know that many people out there have been in your shoes, but they held fast, and they are now reaping the fruits of their labor. So, always stay focused and committed to your vision. It might take time, but you will get there if you never give up!
Keep the tips in mind, and you will be on the right track to building your personal brand through blogging. In no time, you will be the one advising people.
In short, stick to the tips I highlighted, and you will be delighted.
So there you have it – seven tips to building your personal brand through blogging. This is not the end; you can always find ways to improve your brand and audience outreach. You can do this by using different social media platforms, collaborating with people, and networking.
Never forget that the sky is the limit! With hard work, consistency, and dedication, you will get to the pinnacle of success.
Thank you for reading!
If you enjoyed this article, please do me a favor and share it on your social media profiles! It really helps me out a lot! 🙂
Hi, Vishwajeet,
Building personal branding through blogging is achievable and something one should consider from the onset. As you rightly said, blogging allows you to demonstrate your expertise to millions of people you wouldn’t have reached through the traditional marketing methods (radio, TV ads, newspapers, etc).
Also, with blogging, it’s easier to get the word out, get more followers, increase sales, get international recognition, expand the workforce with a limited budget, etc.
Besides, I found your new home through a comment you left on the blog, nice reading your content here.
Thanks for sharing, Vishwajeet.
Hello Shamsudeen,
Perfectly Said! I am glad you like the content. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Regards,
Vishwajeet Kumar
Hello Vishwajeet,
I like the 80/20 rule.
All of these are great points to consider when you are building your personal brand.
I think that it is important that you point out that blogging isn’t easy, because it’s not. Not when you first start out. But like anything the more you practice and work at it the easier it becomes.
SharlaAnn