The internet is certainly the best place to go when desiring to create brand recognition. Often times, it’s believed that in order to start up a company, one must drive themselves into debt, but with the world of today thriving on technology, this couldn’t be any more untrue. In fact, there are numerous options that allow you to create brand recognition online that won’t cost you a coin. This is phenomenal news considering advertisements can cost well into the hundreds of thousands. Brand recognition is absolutely the most vital factor to success, especially for new entrepreneurs such as yourself. With the internet being used around the globe, by millions of potential customers, you certain want to form a reputable brand recognition online specifically, and the ten best ways for an entrepreneur to brand themselves online actually all fall within the category of costing you nothing more than simply investing time and commitment.
1-5: SOCIAL MEDIA
So I decided to add the top five ways to branding yourself online in one because they all pertain to social media. Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube, to be rather specific. You’ve probably heard it time and time again; social media is what sets successful entrepreneurs apart from the unsuccessful ones. Of course, the latter doesn’t sound so desirable, you really want to be using these sites regularly and engage with the top guns on these sites. Keep yourself known to your audience and the people who matter (journalists *cough* are well positioned all over social media) and hold the authority to make a real difference to the strength of your brand.
The very sites that you enjoy in your spare time can also have the enormous possibilities of generating outstanding brand recognition without costing you a cent. These five social media sites are specifically successful to young entrepreneurs such as yourself, simply because its specific to a younger targeted audience, with half of the users on social media being between the ages of 22 and 44. By being actively involved in social media, you’ll be able to get immediate exposure, while also creating a personality to go along with your brand recognition, which is absolutely imperative to social media success since statics show that 82% of customers agree that they are more likely to trust a company who is active on social media sites. It’s also crucial that you remember to always produce content that is relatable, yet unique and engaging. This will prompt your followers to share your content with theirs, ultimately providing you with an increment of brand recognition. The more intriguing your content is, the more shares that it will receive, so get creative! Don’t forget to also interact with your followers by joining in on the conversations. By committing to all aspects of social media sites, you’ll have your name sprouting up on all the feeds as needed. With so many social media websites being readily available at your fingertips, you’re certain to create a phenomenal brand recognition well beyond what you believed to be possible on the entrepreneur budget you’re working with. Not only is this a financial fit for your smart spending desires, but it’s successful.
6: WEBSITE
If you want to brand yourself online, you must have somewhere online for people to see your brand, and it’s highly suggested that even if you’re not planning on conducting business online, you must certainly create a website for one to reference. Doing so will provide a mature, professional appearance to your brand, and people will take you, as an entrepreneur seriously. Plus, what brand doesn’t have a company website, right? With a website link, you’ll also be able to shamelessly promote your brand by adding links to your tweets and social media statuses.
7: BLOGS
You have probably noticed that some of the most odd-niched websites are blogging, such as insurance companies and even your local hydro brand. Now, this may seem odd and unnecessary, but any company who is properly utilizing the ways in which their blogs can provide success are a step of ahead of you within the brand recognition department, because successful brand recognition has a lot to do with traffic. Essentially, the more traffic you receive is a direct result of people learning about your brand. What does this all have to do with blogs, you ask? Well, blogs provide you the opportunity to release engaging content that will bring people to your website that may not have ever heard of you otherwise. For example, if someone searches online for ways to clean their car, a car dealership company who properly utilizes a blogs potential could have that person reading their, on their company website, which essentially provides advertisements. One may not want to buy a car, but they now know of the dealership that is not only knowledgeable, but there if they ever come across the need for a new vehicle.
To really go the step ahead, utilize other peoples blogs (In your niche) through “guest blogging” to use the power of their traffic and their strong brand to bolster your own. The value to offering this even for free and getting your name out on authoritative sites can really go a long way in presenting yourself as an authority within your niche.
8: SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
You’ve probably stumbled across “SEO” before and had no idea what it was, or why everyone was using these acronyms across the web. Search Engine Optimization is a lot more complicated than what I could ever write in this article, but essentially, it’s utilizing your words correctly, to bring in the most traffic. It coincides with search engines such as Google, and with proper use of SEO, you can have your website showing up as the first result for searches pertaining to your brand. SEO places importance on the way you word things, how often you use them, as well as images, links and all sorts of things to determine a website’s ranking. Your ranking plays part in the results that are received when someone searches within Google. Long story short, do you want your website showing up on page 1 of the results of a search engine, or pay 50? Certainly the latter doesn’t sound appealing. Proper use of SEO will ensure that you stay on, or close to the first results of a relevant search.
9: LINK SHARES
Referrals will go a long way, and if you can get other successful entrepreneurs to provide a link share on their website, you’ll have their followers coming to check you out. The trick is to make sure the link goes to somewhere engaging, such as your active Twitter account, company blog or company website. Make sure that the landing page for the link that you give out is engaging, so people don’t immediate click right off of it. That would defeat the purpose of the whole link share, wouldn’t it? This is a free, easily-achievable and simple advertising tool that is a win-win for both parties.
10: GET CREATIVE
The easiest way to get brand exposure is with the most creative of ideas, and I always like to recommend discounts, contests and giveaways. If you’re a local car dealership, you may not be able to give a vehicle away, but you can certainly promote free oil changes for every 50th customer who “likes” your twitter page. Having such promotions will also have your social media rankings increase, while keeping your customers constantly up to date with your brand. So not only are you intriguing people with free stuff, but you’re doing that ever-so-fabulous self promotion of your own Twitter page, which has its own benefits.
Growing your business by generating brand recognition has never been easier, more affordable and most importantly, it’s never been more successful. Take advantage of the millions of people clicking around the internet right now.
The post 10 Ways for an entrepreneur to brand themselves online appeared first on Youngwebbuilder.