Confessions of a Six Figure Professional Blogger

The Importance of Branding And Why You Might Be Screwing It Up Badly

December 24, 2008 | Feature, Marketing

In my mastermind group last week, we talked quite a bit about branding. It is an extremely important concept that every serious blogger needs to pay attention to. Unfortunately, many bloggers don’t and are therefore wasting SO much opportunity. Are you one of them?

First off, what do I mean by branding?

When somebody thinks of you, do people immediately know what it is you represent? How are you positioning yourself? Your brand is that concept that people think of when they think of you. If somebody doesn’t already know who you are, then that brand should be immediately obvious when one comes to your blog.

A Look At Blog Design

When you come to this site, the very top of the site has my name and “Confessions of a Six Figure Blogger”. There are images of myself that rotate directly beneath that. And to the right is a short, pithy description of who I am. Now, even if you read this post 2 years from now and the site looks different, I would still have a very obvious BRAND sitting right at the top of the site. When a person comes here, they immediately know what I do.

You may also notice the title bar of this blog’s homepage has more than just my name in it. It also contains descriptive words of what this site is about. If anybody ever searches for my name in Google, they’re going to find me with those words right next to my name. Immediate branding.

On the flip side of the equation, and ONLY in the spirit of trying to help, I had the blogger from Funky Space Monkey email me with a question. When I went to the site, I had no idea at all what the site was about. Only when I scan his latest posts (lots of scrolling needed) did I conclude that it is about the Iphone. But, I don’t really know if that is correct. So, this blog has the potential to be a cool brand (it certainly is memorable), but it isn’t positioned with anything. The brand doesn’t represent anything (even now) in my mind.

Importance of Consistency

Immediate recognition of your brand is important when setting up your blog. After you’ve done that, you need to remain consistent in stay true to the brand you’ve created.

This is THE reason why personal blogs don’t make any money (most of the time). Personal blogs are usually all over the place (topic-wise) because it reads more like an online journal. While it may be fun, it isn’t a business. If I decided to start blogging on David Risley dot com about taking my dog to the vet, or why I like sushi, I’d be getting so off message that it would dilute the brand.

It is VITALLY important, in my opinion, that if you have any ambitions to make money (directly or indirectly) with your blog, you need to stay on topic. If you do go off topic, then the subject matter should in some way back up your brand.

For example, a while ago I posted a video of my mastermind meeting. Obviously, we were doing a lot of fooling around in that particular video and it may have been fun (for some) to watch. However, it still backed up the brand. I was at a mastermind meeting – something I always recommend that others do.

Are You Screwing It Up?

When somebody thinks of your internet activities or visits your blog, can they immediately tell what you’re all about? Or if you’ve had a blog for some time, does your name position itself with any particular concept?

If not, you might want to pay a little more attention to your brand.

Branding isn’t only important for big corporations. The most successful bloggers out there have an unmistakable brand. When you think of them, you know what they stand for.

David’s Action Points

I wanted to give you a few pointers for moving forward. Little pieces of advice I’ve learned:

  1. If your name is available as a dot-com, grab it RIGHT NOW. If not, perhaps explore other domain extensions, but dot-com is obviously preferable.
  2. Evaluate your blog theme and title. Does it immediately define you? If not, change it.
  3. Evaluate your blog content. Is it consistent? If not, you need to decide whether you want to continue to write about whatever you want for the fun of it or whether you want to persue anything in business. The simple, hard truth is that personal blogs don’t make money UNLESS they are branded to something marketable.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...

  1. 10 Branding and Marketing Tips For Any Website
  2. The Importance of Story-Telling For Bloggers
  3. Importance of Mastermind Groups [#11]
  4. 9 Simple Tips For Personal Branding
  5. Importance of Your Log Files

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  • I think this is a great article. You look at all the big business and how much branding they do. I guess it is common sense to most. But a good reminder.
  • As usual - great article David. And I agree with Kenny's comment about the style of branding that emphasizes the blog's appearance and feel as well. I think it helps to have others take a look and tell you what they think or notice about your blog and brand. I will make it a point to ask a few buddies about mine. :)
  • And if I might add, your style of branding emphasizes your blog such a personal level that it really puts visitors on more of an 'eye to eye' level if you will. You're not coming across as a guru but as a normal, transparent fella that's got some profitable blogging info.
  • David,

    I have read through some of your post, and I see that your blog is one that adds real value to people who are seeking to capture, "The Wealth within Their Web." Thanks so much for sharing. You have inspired me to continue to develop my concept web concepts and blogging efforts.
  • I agree 100% after being an internet marketer for 4 years I finally took the plunge and branded myself a few months back...Professionally It was the best thing I could have done, I just wish I had done it earlier.
  • By stand for, you mean values right?

    I like the idea that values are more durable, although your mission might change.
  • Great read, if you're in it for the money, best to let the reader know what they can get out of your blog right away. Check your analytics.. if your bounce rate is above 50% it's worth taking a look at your blog and figuring out why half the readers are leaving as soon as they get to your site. Also, if you are trying to make money out of your site, and using Adsense for content, all the more reason to make it obvious what your site is about so you can get more targeted ads.
  • Thanx for the Branding Tips. I know for a fact I'm going against the grain on my site. I guess I'm "tacking" sailing-wise because I'm trying to bring a historically "internet slow" demographic up to speed. I don't mind My website Name not fitting in with the A-List Bloggers. I certainly know they can't deny the contributions i do make to the blogasphere...
  • Thank you David for writing this Blog. I think it contains great advice for newbie bloggers like myself. Gave me food for thought on how to improve my blog.
  • dude, first of all thank you for all your help. but i really got something that bothers me.

    ok, i got a different design, im not really out there with the rest of the iPhone blogs. and i can understand that it might be confusing.

    But i also got 10 posts on the front page. So i got 10 titles. 8 out of 10 titles contain the word "iPhone" in them. And you still arent sure if my blog is about iPhone? Plus the categories.....Thats the only thing i dont understand.

    Anyway, dont get me wrong, i really appreciate your email reply and this post. :D

    PS : Merry Christmas and all the best to you and your family :)

    much love,
    murda the funky space monkey
  • This was great advice for someone like myself who is just starting out. I've also noticed that I don't read personal blogs as much because they are all over the place. I never know what I'm going to read about when I visit them and sometimes I feel like I just wasted my time. Like you mentioned, it's best to stick to a topic so others know what to expect.

    Thanks for the help. Now I've got to go make sure I'm branding myself correctly.
  • i some time call it Webli Street ;) i think it works both sides!! personally its a challenge for me in 2009, i hope i can make it work :)
  • Firas: My first thought is just that it might be hard to say the domain word of mouth, because you'd need to tell them where the period is. Other than that, creative. Others make it work, so there's no reason you can't.
  • David, what do you think about hacked domain names? as mine?

    www.webli.st (weblist)

    Thanks,

    Regards,
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