Today's post might seem a bit unrelated to the topic of starting a blog or website, but I assure you, this is an ideal time to talk about your brand. Whether you know it or not, as soon as you get involved online you start building a brand.
1. What is my personal brand?
Simply put, your brand is what comes to mind when someone hears or sees your name. It's not just a logo or an ebook cover; it includes everything associated with you, from your status updates to your site design to your social media profiles. The internet is about individuals (not big companies or products) and has blurred the line between our personal and professional lives. So we should be thoughtful about what types of thoughts our name conjures up.
2. Why are we talking about my personal brand even before I start?
Jumping into the online fray without thinking about how you want to be perceived by others will, at best, limit your focus & effectiveness and at worst, cause you to dig yourself into an unpleasant social hole that could take months or years to dig out of.
3. What if I'm already online?
Well, today is the first day of the rest of your life, as they say. If your personal brand is strong, you're ahead of the game. If it's a little shaky, it's not the end of the world; simply commit to strengthening it from this point forward. If you've never thought about it before, now you have no excuse. 
4. How do I develop a strong personal brand?
- Give serious thought to how you want others to see you. What words, images or feelings do you want to pop into someone's head when they hear or see your name? Thoughtful? Professional? Intelligent? Authentic? Helpful? Fun? Friendly? You might write them down. Whenever you post, comment, update, pin, tweet or otherwise interact online, make sure it's congruent with the qualities you'd like to portray. Be authentic and consistent. Related: Get a Gravatar.
- Figure out practical ways you can embody those characteristics. As we move along in the process of setting up our blogs, filter your decisions through the lens of "How can I enhance my personal brand here?" For example, if professionalism is important to you, when we talk about what to name our blogs, you probably wouldn't choose the name Casual Clothing Just for Fun. If healthfulness is important to you, when we talk about monetization (making money), you probably wouldn't choose to promote a fried chicken joint in your ads. Don't be rigid about it, just aware.
- Be consistent with who you are online and in real life. Don't try to portray yourself one way online when in real life you are completely the opposite. Talk about crazy making! Conversely, if you've chosen to exemplify a particular quality online, find ways to enhance that quality in real life.
- Understand that projects come and go, but your personal brand sticks with you. The blog you're about to start might very possibly morph into something totally different, die completely or launch you into something unexpected. For that reason, I would agree with Skellie in Rockstar Personal Branding (a free e-book on the subject; sign up required) when she said, "a good personal brand is the single most valuable investment you can make."
- Assume that if you put something online, it'll be there forever and it will be found. In other words, be careful and thoughtful about what you post online. Things have an uncanny way of coming back to get you. It's shockingly easy to find all kinds of information about you or things you said–even the stuff you thought was anonymous or private. So, post carefully and be aware of the character you exhibit.
- More practical tips: 5 Simple Ways to Start Building Your Platform Today. And here are all my posts about branding.
I'll close with another quote from Rockstar Personal Branding that I love and sums it up beautifully: "Your personal brand is the ladder you use to escape the average."
Other posts in this series
- How to Start a Blog or Website: Intro & FAQ
- How to Start a Blog or Website: Cheat Sheet
- How to Find (or Refind) Your Passion
- How to Decide What to Blog About: What Works for Readers?
- How to Decide What to Blog About: What Works for You?
- Understand Branding: 4 Tips
- Understand Keywords: Increase the Odds of Getting Found
- Writing Great Content: 3 Tips
- How to Write a Killer About Page
- 12 Blog Organization Tips
- How to Choose a Domain Name: 12 Tips
- How to Register a Domain Name
- How to Set Up Hosting and WordPress
- How to Change Your Nameservers
- How to Add a New User in WordPress
- How to Optimize Your WordPress Settings
- How to Install a Plugin
- My Favorite Plugins
- How to Get & Optimize a Feedburner Feed
- How to Choose a WordPress Theme
- How to Install a WordPress Theme
- Elegant Themes for WordPress
- How to Install Google Analytics
- How to Use WordPress: Tips & Tricks
- How to Start a Blog or Website: 10 Tips for New Bloggers
Great ideas, Amy! I have been sort of developing my "brand" as I go along, and it is definitely better if you take some time before you start, figure out "who" you are and what you want to be known for in the beginning.
My biggest tip with that is use the same name on your blog, twitter, and all other social media outlets. MAke it easy for people to find you.
I totally agree with you, Sarah. I'm also a fan of using the same avatar.
Keep it coming Amy! This is great thought provoking stuff!
I have a question. What if you have more than one blog that you want to build. I currently have my family travel blog that I have built for a while and now I start this new blog because I feel that there is a need to provide more information about blog conference. So what's your suggestion? I use my real name on both blog but I have separate twitter/facebook page for each of the blog.
Do you develop your brand per blog?
Your personal brand is all about you. So, in that sense, it never changes. However, if I understand your question, I would definitely keep your two blogs separate. As far as Twitter goes, I tweet as myself only (and just use my name @amylynnandrews).
I have a question about branding…
I have been blogging since 2002. It is mostly personal ramblings, nothing very specific. I want to start a new blog with a more specific focus and message, but I want to retain my "history" and presence online. How should I do that? Should I incorporate my archived posts into the new blog even if they are not related, or let them all go and perhaps pull out key older posts to republish?
Any thoughts?
Wow! I'm glad I found your site-and personal branding has now been explained to me, which I never really understood! Thank you for such a helpful site! Looking forward to reading and visiting over and over again!
So glad it was helpful, Josanne!
My personal brand: genuine, honest, candid (hence the name), lighthearted, helpful, positive-amidst-the-negative, open.
Wow, and now I sound very granola. =D
Hi Amy,
I started blogging in 2009 inconsistently to date. Before really leaping back into the blogging world, I'm thinking about revamping my blog and/or where I want to take it. My name "Traditional Simplicity" is one of my struggles. What does it portray? Is it possible to build a brand around such a title? I do have a presence on FB and Twitter with TS, so I'm wondering if I have more of a brand than I realize. Is there a way to know or find out how others portray you/your brand?
http://www.traditionalsimplicity.com is my blog as it stands today.
Oh I think you can build a brand around just about anything! I think the better question would be to ask if it's something you can see yourself writing about for the long haul. Is it too broad, too narrow, etc? That would be where I'd start.
I want to write about natural living, natural health that my family has been learning about and benefiting from over the last 3 years. This would include meal plans, some recipes, herbal information, aromatherapy, non-toxic personal care, etc. Too broad or too many subjects or can that be a brand? I went with traditional simplicity thinking of going back to the way my great grandmothers lived – food, medication, home remedies, etc.
I love your website and have been going through it since last two days.I am what you call a quintessential 'jack of all trades master of none'. I love cooking, making crafts, counselling people and social networking. I am also a Cosmetologist. I have been writing on the internet for 8 years now. I helped launch a Start up blog into a multimillion media company that is based in India (india-forums.com). The company has grown massive, most of the work I did was volunteer, and much later I found out that they the owner does not have any intention of paying for the hard work put in, soI have moved on.
I write on a regular basis for Examiner.com (Beauty Examiner). I want to start my own blog now, and I am at a cross roads where to start. I want to write about Beauty, but I feel I can't create a niche market there as it's all over the place. Same thing with cooking – I specalise in North Indian cooking and take a lot of delight in fusion cooking, but again,it's saturated. So how do I resolve this? Would having a website with multiple interest work? Can I put them under one banner – say "Life Made Simple"….something like that?
. I need advise in two things: How much money does it cost to open a website and if there is a monthly maintenance I will have to pay; Would investing in Google Search Engine a good idea in the beginning?
Thanks so much!
Minnie
Hi Minnie! Your monthly costs for running a website with a self-hosted WordPress blog (as I outline in my steps) will cost about $10 a month which is ongoing, although you can pay in annual installments if you'd like. What do you mean by investing in Google Search Engine?
Thank you so very much Amy! I took the plunge
I registered a domain with Go Daddy – thelady8home.com.
I am hosting with Bluehost, and I followed your blog step by step (you are brilliant, thank you). Right now I am waiting for the servers to connect, and then I will go for designing my website.
By Google Search Engine, I meant Googe Ad words. Are they worth the investment? I ran a website for my Beauty business (it was completely managed by my friend, including hosting and designing). I bought Google Adwords, but didn't feel much of a difference then. So I was wondering if it a worthy investment.
Ah, I see. I have only a teeny tiny experience with AdWords. I prefer to create good content and try to get the word out that way before investing money.
This is anothor great tips, I've learned so much from it, I'll follow your tips to build my brand online
Glad it's helpful, Trung.
Hi Amy, love your site. I need to know if the Tell Your Time book is just for kindle and nook or can I download it to my computer, as I do not have a kindle or nook.
Thank you,
Sue
Hi Sue, yes you can absolutely download it as a PDF. Just go here and click "Add to Cart." After you go through the payment process, you'll be sent a link which will let you download the ebook. Hope that helps! Thank you!
Oh Amy, I'm learning a lot from your website. This is the first time I learnt about building my brand online. Thank you!
You're welcome! Glad it's helpful!
Wow! I never thought about my brand. You think of everything and the comment about keeping the same user name for tweeter was great advise too. Thanks!
I started out with an idea of writing about one thing, but it seems that the more I sit to write the more my posts, go in a very different direction… I know that it is God who is pulling me in a different direction, so my plan is to change the site now while it is still SUPER early…. Like less than 200 views early.
Thanks for the extra encouragement!!!
Yes, great idea! That's why I recommend you write 10 posts even before you start. It's amazing how sometimes your direction can change.
Amy, thanks for sharing, very informative
Great article Amy! I remember when I first started my blog..of course I followed you step by step and you had mentioned personal branding. I really thought and prayed about that…but at one point I found myself drifting off my personal brand. So I quickly got back on track. It's so easy with all the fun stuff in the blogging world to get totally sidetracked isn't it. Thank you for the great reminder!
Blessings!
I admit, the term "branding" sort of put me off at first because it seemed to self-focused. But after a while, I realized it's just a way of reminding myself of my real purpose and not that I'm so wonderful, but that I want others to feel positive and encouraged when they interact with me.
Yes it's kind of an awkward term, but I guess it's shorter and more to the point than saying.."I'm just being who God created me to be" LOL
Exactly.
I know this is an old topic, but your posts on adding google+ made me think about my email address….which led me to think about branding more….which made me question everything!
Anyway, I feel like I've worked hard to put the name of my blog (Gospel Homemaking) out there. I wanted it to be recognized with hopes of driving traffic. Now, I'm wondering if I should start using my name more. I LOVE my blog name, blog topic, and logo. I don't see myself wanting to change the name of my blog or stopping my blog ever (although I'm plenty old enough to know that "ever" is a long time!), but I would like to add ebooks, speaking, etc. Those extras would likely revolve around the Gospel Homemaking topics, but I assume that I will use my personal name for them (duh!).
I'm struggling to know how far to go with changing my "Gospel Homemaking" name to my own personal name (I've settled on Amy Clark Scheren). If I change my email, FB, Pinterest, and Twitter to my personal name, will people lose the connection to my blog? Is that important? Should my email, Pinterest, and FB accts drop "Gospel Homemaking"? Should my Twitter handle be myname @myname (instead of @domainname)? After days of debating with myself, I'm starting to go a little crazy….so I decided I might as well drive you a little crazy, too!
I don't think there's one answer for everyone on this. I do recommend you at least register your name as a domain so you have the option to use it in the future, or, you can at least forward it to your current blog. If you're settled where you are and plan on sticking with it, I don't think I'd go through the hassle of changing at this point.