5 Free Ways to Build Your Brand

admin — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 18:05:22 +0000

5 Free Ways to Build Your Brand

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

If you own a small business, you may have already given up on the notion of branding yourself. After all, that’s something that only big companies with big budgets can afford, right? Not so fast. Here are 5 ways to brand yourself for free, and maybe even make a little bit of money in the process:

1. Develop for Display. If you can create visual brand that stands out from the crowd and looks hip and edgy, you can actually get people to pay you for the privilege of displaying it. Extreme sports companies like surfing, skating, and snowboarding companies have been doing this for years. The challenge is in creating something striking enough that people not only want to buy it, but also want to display it so that others will see it as well. You’ll find that people will gladly display something that looks cool, and that others will even pay you a small fee to display your brand for you.

2. Label Everything. Add your logo to the things that your customers already buy from you. If you’re a café owner and you provide boxes for patrons who want to take food home with them, brand the packaging in which they’ll be carrying their items. Include contact information on the brand. Add logos to everything you can think of. People carrying your items will be doing your advertising for you all day long!

3. Wear It! People will pay to wear a T-shirt with a cool logo. Just look at the souvenir stands after any concert and see how much money people are willing to part with just so they can wear their favorite band’s logo. But don’t be fooled into thinking that you have to charge an arm and a leg for a T-shirt or pair of shorts with your logo. Charge just a little more than cost. The real profit comes from the publicity you get as your loyal customers advertise you on their clothing.

4. Use Everyday Items. Think about the number of reusable shopping bags you see every day. Conscientious consumers are willing to pay a small price to do the right thing, including using a shopping bag that has information about the business that sold them the bag all over it. People feel good about acting responsibly, in this case by cutting down on plastic bags, and they’ll pay you for the opportunity to do so.

5. Give Away A Little to Make a Lot. This is the idea of giving away a free sample, although it can also apply to those who are selling services as well as products. If you own a massage studio, offer free five-minute massages in a public, highly-trafficked area. If you own an inflatables company, set up your wares in a place where children will be present and invite them to play for free for several minutes. While you’re giving away your “free sample,” let potential customers know more about your business and what you can do for them.

It all boils down to two major questions that you need to ask yourself: Can you turn your logo into something that people would be willing display or even be willing to pay you to display? And can you offer a sample of your product or service for a small fee in a high-traffic area? These two questions are the basis of a great brand-building campaign that is not only free for you, but could also be the source of a small profit.

Let’s face it, you’re not a multinational company with an endless marketing budget, but you do have plenty of opportunities to make yourself known on a local level, and that’s really where it counts. And if your business is mostly online, you can focus on your own little niche.

5 Brand-Building Secrets Through Blogging

admin — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 14:17:17 +0000

5 Brand-Building Secrets Through Blogging

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

Technorati.com recently completed its 2008 State of the Blogosphere report, which contains some interesting information about the correlation between blogs and brand building. The report shows that bloggers are interested in talking about brands. So if you’re looking for ways to build your brand, make friends with some bloggers!

Blogging is, at its heart, a place for people to share information about themselves and about their lives. If people have good experiences, they blog about them. If they have bad experiences, they blog about those, too. This includes experiences with businesses both online and in real life. If bloggers encounter a product or service that they find phenomenal, they’ll blog about it. Same goes for products or services that they find abysmal. In fact, nearly 80% of bloggers talk about brands and/or products that they love or hate, and 37% of them do so on a frequent basis. Many businesses have taken advantage of this publicity. In fact, one-third of all bloggers have been asked to act as brand advocates.

This may seem silly given that anyone can maintain a blog. Why should internet users trust a blog over any other source of information? Why are bloggers any more credible that anyone else? The truth is that bloggers primarily look to blogs for information rather than to other sources. In fact, 49% of bloggers believe that blogs are just as reliable as mainstream media for getting information.

The point here is that blogs are a great resource to explore when you’re trying to build your brand. Here are 5 things to keep in mind regarding blogs and brand-building.

1. Blogs are Credible. Some marketers are concerned about the possibility of having their brand show up on a blog because they’re afraid that the blog might not be credible. Rest assured that, although they are often informal, blogs are often seen as legitimate sources of good information. In fact, many large corporations include blog-mentions among the press included on their websites.

2. Blog Discussions are Natural. If a brand or product makes an impact on a blogger, he or she will probably mention it on a blog. Some companies even ask bloggers to review products and introduce new products. Many bloggers already include ads on their blogs, so they will probably be happy to include information about your product or service as well, given that they find it worth mentioning.

3. Bloggers are Bright. As a whole, bloggers are both educated and affluent. In fact, 75% of bloggers also graduated from college and 42% have attended at least some graduate school. More than half of them are part of a household than brings in over $75,000. These are good people to know from a marketing standpoint. They’re savvy and they have a lot of money to spend. These are people you want on your team.

4. Bloggers Read Other Blogs. Bloggers get most of their information from other bloggers; so if you want to get noticed, you need to make sure that you become visible on a blog. Keep in mind that, not only do bloggers read other blogs regularly, bloggers also use blogs as their primary source of information about brands and products. This is obviously a great way to make yourself visible and to attract the attention of potential customers.

5. Your Competitors are Doing It! Since so many companies are already asking bloggers to act as brand advocates, chances are that your competitors are already among those taking advantage of blogs as brand builders. Do yourself a favor and start using blogs to build your brand or you could find yourself out in the cold!

If your image of a blogger is a pimply-faced teenager sitting in his basement writing about his latest conspiracy theory, you need to update your perceptions. Bloggers are a bright group who look to each for information. Use them in your brand-building efforts and you’ll see results!

Moe Tamani's Internet Marketing and SEO Blog, Articles and Search Engine Optimization Tips » branding

5 Free Ways to Build Your Brand

5 Brand-Building Secrets Through Blogging