10 Tips to Developing a Cohesive Brand Online - {As shared on Jacqueline Whitmore’s call 1/18/2011}

I had the honor of hosting a social media call with Jacqueline Whitmore this week. What a wonderful group of talented folks!  During the call, I walked through my “10 Tips to Developing a Cohesive Brand Online”.  I’m sharing these tips with you below for our "Be Inspired Wednesday" together.  If you joined us on the call, don’t hesitate to contact me with any additional questions.  You'll notice my Twitter and Facebook info is found on the right-hand side of this blog (and on my contact page). I look forward to connecting!

10 Tips to Developing a Cohesive Brand Online

1.Carefully name your business and include your company logo where possible.  Your business name and logo will help brand you online. Work hard on these two things!

2. Develop a compelling and concise branding statement that clearly states who you are / what you do.  It will come in handy (big time) across many social sites, such as Facebook/Twitter/Blogger/Wordpress/Flickr/etc.

Your branding statement (think of it as your slogan) should identify what you do / what your work is about. I especially love Jacqueline’s:
Author ~ Etiquette Expert  ~ Certified Speaking Professional
Founder, The Protocol School of Palm Beach, Inc.

Jacqueline's Email Signature
Notice that it’s short enough to work just about anywhere, and truly describes who she is/ what she does.

3. Select a photograph of yourself that people will come to know you by. This will be used for your profile pictures. It’s ok to move away from a singular photo as you continue to build your brand online, but having one strong photo that showcases you is very helpful in the beginning. Use this photo on Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, Wordpress, Youtube, etc.

Have you seen a profile photo like the one above?
It may be fun, but it won't get you nearly as far as a quality headshot or photo!
Photo credit.
Shy away from the more elusive photographs. I’m sure you’ve seen them around.  A woman in the shadows, a photo of a woman taking a photo of herself, a person’s child being used as their profile photo, or something random and lovely like a rose or beach photo.  These don’t do your business or brand justice!

4. Be consistent in your online identity/name and design. For example, try your best to make your blog address, twitter profile, facebook shortened URL, identical when it comes to your portion of the URL. If you are “BestySmithArt” on twitter, your Facebook Business page should also be facebook.com/bestysmithart. Likewise, your blog header, website, facebook biz page profile, and various other online spaces should look like they belong together and were designed by the same person. It is an extension of your brand. Everything from the color choices, fonts, and photos are all important. This is something I am working on, personally, too.

5. Develop a website for your brand/biz.  There are so many affordable website-building solutions and companies online today.  No matter your budget (big or small), you can have a professional-looking website! Here are a few helpful website-building tools:
http://drupal.com/
Wordpress.com (read my post about WordPress)
Squarespace.com (read my post about SquareSpace)

A website I designed using Wordpress.com.
It's easier than you may think! 
You can even develop a blog with blogger.com or wordpress.com and add up to 10 pages, making it appear like a true website. A great example of a blogger site modified to look like a true “website”: www.kellyraeroberts.com.  Another great example (and a previous post of mine) is www.thecharlestonrealestateconnection.com.
If you already have a website and aren’t happy with it, consider asking for a “complete content management system” as you approach new web designers.  This will give you full-access to update website copy on your own.  

6. Quite simply: BLOG.  I can’t say enough how helpful blogging has been in my design business.  Blogs help people FIND you/your biz, help you ENGAGE with others, and help GROW your online community and ultimately, your bottom line.  Consider using the blogger or wordpress SCHEDULER to schedule your blog posts.  I like to write my blog posts on Saturday morning for the following week. It usually takes me 2 -3 hours.  I then schedule away and enjoy my posts working harder for me during the week!

Visit my tutorial on using the blog “scheduler”

7. Follow other blogs. Consider using “igoogle” to follow multiple blogs, all in one handy place! www.igoogle.com.  Create an account, sign in, and click on “add stuff” to add the blog addresses of your favorite blogs.  Look for the orange “RSS” button on your favorite blogs to add them to igoogle with one-click ease.

8. TWEET.  Twitter is more than a place to update people on what you’re doing.  I talk about Twitter each and every Tuesday on this blog.  Here are a few links to those just getting started:
Getting started with Twitter
Finding like-minded professionals on Twitter
Twitter background design tips
How to create a list in Twitter
You'd be amazed at the network you can grow with Tweeting! Photo credit.
9. Create a Facebook business page and post 1X/day.  Suggest it to friends/family.  Promote it across all channels. 

Helpful links:
How to Create a Facebook business page
How to Create a Facebook “like box” or “badge” for your blog or website

10. Grow your e-newsletter list.  There are several inexpensive, great companies offering email marketing.  They offer everything from handy sign-up forms for your visitors to professionally-designed, ready-to-go templates. Even if you are not ready to begin email marketing, start growing your list today.  This way, when you’re ready to send your email newsletters, you have a great list ready to go! Overwhelmed? Consider a quarterly newsletter, then grow to a monthly and perhaps even a bi-weekly.  One step at a time!

I recommend www.ConstantContact.com and www.MailChimp.com.  

BONUS TIP:
11. Sign up with www.HootSuite.com to manage all your social media accounts in one place.  Here are a few helpful Hootsuite links to get started from previous blog posts:
How to set up your Hootsuite account
How to schedule tweets in Hootsuite
How to add your Facebook account(s) to Hootsuite
Laura Catherine Otero is a marketing professional and blogger in Charleston, SC who has been active in social media since 2005.  If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to this blog via Email or  RSS. Laura can also be found on Twitter (@LauraCatherineO), Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

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