Time to Define Your Personal Brand

I just started writing for the Forbes.com Work in Progress blog, and I wanted to share my first article here with the KeySplash Creative Conversations audience since it’s related to marketing.

The article is called Define Your Personal Brand and discusses the importance of developing your personal brand image, message and promise online.

Follow the link above to learn both the why’s and how’s of online personal brand building.

Building the Perfect Website

I’ve been giving a lot of thought about online content lately.  One of the terms I often use when discussing online content and marketing with my clients is the shift that happened many years ago with the birth of the social Web that is at the forefront of the online environment today and still growing — that is moving from destination-centric to audience-centric in web design, web development, online brand building, and web usability.

No longer can websites exist simply as an online destination.  Instead, they must be 100% audience-focused and deliver the information consumers are looking for — and they must do it fast!

So what’s the first step to building a perfect business website in the early years of the 21st century?  Make sure every page, every sentence, every image, and everything else on your website is audience-centric.  Focus on the consumer, not you.  That’s one of the core rules of social media marketing success, but truth be told, it has become the core rule for online marketing as a whole. I even discuss that rule in my book, Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps, as it relates to copywriting.

For example, a website like YouTube is great as a destination for online video.  However, it can be challenging to find the specific content you’re looking for on YouTube.  In 2009, highly targeted niche sites are all the rage, and the trend from creating destination sites to audience-focused sites makes sense — consumers have neither the time nor the desire to sift through page after page of useless information.  They want specific information and they want it fast.  Deliver it to them on your website by developing the structure and content with your audience’s needs and wants ranked as the top priority.  Be audience-centric, not destination-centric.

Your thoughts?

Image:

The Evolution of CONsumers to PROsumers

The term “prosumer” isn’t a new one.  It’s been around the marketing world for years, but in today’s world of the social web, it has taken on a new importance that marketers can’t ignore.

The term “prosumer” has transformed from “professional consumer” to “product and brand advocate”.  Rather than simply “consuming” products, people are becoming the voices of those products and significantly impacting the success or failure of companies, products, and brands, particularly thorugh their involvement on the social web.

In simplest terms, no longer are businesses completely in control of their products, brands and messages.  Today, consumers are in control.  The leaders of this shift are the members of the social web — bloggers, microbloggers, forum posters, social networking participants, and so on, who spread messages, influence people around the world, and drive demand.  Prosumers are the online influencers that marketers must not just identify but also acknowledge, respect and develop relationships with in order for their products and brands to thrive.  The high level steps to leveraging the power of prosumers are as follows:

1. Identify the key online influencers for your product, brand, business or industry (i.e., the prosumers).
2. Acknowledge those people (e.g., send product samples, ask opinions, etc.).
3. Join the online conversation where those people already spend time.
4. Develop relationships with those people by interacting with them, providing useful information, and being accessible and human.
5. Leverage the opportunities of the social web by creating your own branded destinations such as a blog, YouTube channel, Twitter profile, Facebook group or fan page, LinkedIn group, podcast, etc.

The bottom line to connecting with prosumers and to get them talking about and advocating your brand, products and business is to deliver content that adds value to their experience with your brand.  Then, don’t be afraid to let them take control and spread your messages.  That’s where the power of the social web and online influencers to drive word-of-mouth marketing farther than ever comes into the picture, and that’s the ultimate goal for marketers.

Top 10 Viral Videos of 2008

Want to see the top 10 viral videos of 2008?  Check out the list compiled by Truveo.  It’s interesting that not one of the videos is part of a formal marketing or brand-building campaign.  Food for thought for marketers to keep in mind as they develop and implement onine strategies for 2009.

I will post my two favorite viral videos from Truveo’s top 10 list here though, because there is a reason why they went viral and were viewed by so many people – they’re great.

Branding Lessons from the 2008 Presidential Election

The 2008 Presidential Election has finally ended, and the results provide a valuable lesson in branding.  In simplest terms, people are changing – quickly.  The social web has certainly played a part in making that change move so fast.  Never before has the exchange of information and ideas been easier or faster.  With the power of the social web and the word-of-mouth marketing it fosters, people have chosen a brand promise of “inclusion” over one of “exclusion”. 

In other words, President-elect Barack Obama ran a campaign based on an inclusive brand promise, while Senator John McCain’s campaign focused primarily on his core supporters, conservative Americans, with many people outside of that demographic feeling excluded.  While Barack Obama spoke of wanting to meet with world leaders regardless of the United States’ current relationship with them in order to start a dialogue and move forward, John McCain repeatedly stated that he would not sit down and converse with these same leaders.  At the end of the day, the majority of Americans supported the brand promise of inclusion and cast their votes for Barack Obama. [Read more]