How to Grow Your Personal Brand

Today starts an on again, off again series called Branding.  This is not only for branding yourself, but for your business as well, if you have one, or want to start one.  According to the article in Entrepreneur Magazine, “7 ways to grow your personal brand in less than a week”, I need to grow this brand called Patricia L. Logan.  The reasons for improving my brand are:

Photo by PicMonkey.com

               

  1)      I do not want anyone to get the wrong idea about me or my company, P. Lynne Designs.  I want to be a truthful and authentic as possible.  If I did it, I need to own up to it and stay true to myself.  I have nothing to hide nor to prove to anyone how that comes off but to me and me alone.

2)      I want customers. 

3)      I want to connect.   

4)      I want to sell my craft/skills.  We all have them, even if it is nothing more than to be a good leader or a good-hearted person.  I want to say to a person, “you have a problem, I have a solution, and I want to help you solve your problem with skills that God has given me.”

5)      I want to influence people to think about new things, see new things, and find what is beyond their world of scope.

I am not getting anywhere, anymore, and I think, in fact, I know that it has to do with the way I have been marketing myself through my brand lately.

I want you to think back to something you tried for the first time. A product perhaps.  What was your initial reaction to it?  How was the advertising?  What happened when you tried it a second or third time?  Was it different than the first time you tried the product?   This is what I go through every time I look at my brand.  I want people to have a positive feeling about the brand of Patricia L. Logan and P. Lynne Designs.  You may not need me all the time, but each time you come to me for help, I want it to be the best experience I can possibly give to you.

What skills you need from me?

In a nutshell, I am a stationery designer.  This is an all-over-throw-around way of saying I make cards, invitations, scrapbooks, mini-books, graphic designer, and freelance writer, rolled up in an itty-bitty package (I’m 5’ so it cutely fits).  I am also an influencer.  I can mix in a little web design, but I would much rather send you to a true web designer if that is all you want.  Same with blog design. I will do it for my clients if it is part of a package I currently offer, but only if they ask.  I will also advise on what social media platforms they should get on.  (here is a hint:  you only need 2-3 that you get on all the time.)

So here are the recommendations for building your brand:

1. Research yourself:  Sound simple enough, right? Um, no.  To only see what Google says about you only hits the surface.  You have to dig deep.  I looked on PeopleLooker (not sponsored, By the way), and for $18 or so, you can pull up the report you need for yourself, but do not agree to this amount because you can hit the back button, and they will send it to you for $1. (PDF’s are $2.99), so for $3.99, you can see your incriminating bits on yourself.  So far, they have 3 addresses that I have not lived at (such as Naples, FL), an alias name I have never said I was (Who is this Patricia Cole person?) and they spot on with the criminal records, arrest records, judgements, and liens to which I have none.  For any type of credit report, I recommend Credit Karma or Credit Sesame to see where your credit is. I use Credit Karma.  Both services provide a free report.  While you at it, set up a Google alert on your name, so you are aware of any and all reports.
2. Get a website.  I may also add to this article’s recommendation and say a blog site as well.  Both are great and do allow you to set up an “about me” page.  An about me page allows you talk about you, but I have also read recently that does not mean to make it all about you and what you do.  You want to also say what you can do for your potential customer.  In other words, answer the question they have when they first come to your website or blog.  Example: “I need a good, funny Father’s Day Card”. Answer: “I provide cards for all occasions, including humorous holiday cards for Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day.  There you go, you have solved a problem, and they do not have to email you to ask that question.  Use photos on the website and blog that are high-resolution.  Also, engage in your audience.  Have an inviting website or blog.
3. Think about your audience.  Who do you want to attract?  Moms, who skydive?  Dog lovers who live in China?  Disney Vacation Club fans?  Define them now.  What do you have to offer them?  People love to get giveaways.
4. Network, Network, Network.  The more people you meet the better.  More chances of talking about your brand.  Go to local events that cover your topic.  You might reach some influencers.
5. Be you.  This is what I mentioned earlier when I talked about improving my brand.  The more people who see the real you, the true you, and what your morals stand for, the more readers and buyers, repeat readers and buyers you will have.
6. Capture information.  Not sure what this article really means to this statement, but I think what it means is when you build your relationship with a client, customer, or reader, the better that person feels about joining your mailing list and bringing in other people.  They need to trust you that you are not going to scam them out of their money, or use it in other ways, besides what their information was intended for (such as informing them of new products or a cause you are campaigning for).
7. Make Friends with influential people online.  Did you know that in addition to making homemade products, I also am an influencer?  The only thing is I am only a small influencer.  What is an influencer?  An influencer is a person who influences or convince others to buy a product, put money towards a cause, or champion for someone who needs it and gets people to buy into what they are talking about. In order to get more likes, tweets, etc, having an influencer who has a bigger audience can help your business or personal brand.  Do not get any influencer, though.  Get one who knows your industry, and what you are trying to teach to the masses. You will get more viewers to your website. This is why networking is so important.

Takeaway moment: 

If you follow these steps in building your brand, you will have more sales and more people who can be in your corner to help your brand. 

Again, I got this article from Entrepreneur Magazine because I am also build up my brand. I found this information helpful when makes me an influencer.  I want you to succeed in whatever business you desire to be in. When placed in the right position, your personal and business brand will grow and draw in new people every day.    

Random post: claiming Bloglovin

google.com

I did a boo-boo.  The only reason for writing this post today is followers.  I screwed up Bloglovin.  What is Blogloving?  For those of you not familiar with the site or what it does.  Blovlovin to me is like a newspaper for bloggers.  Bloggers write a post as normal on their blog.  Simple, right?  what happens next is more or less behind the scenes work.  A code in HTML sends a copy of this blog post to Bloglovin's website, and it allows readers to read this blog.  You do not have to go to that person's website, in order to read that blog post.
Does it work?  Sure it does, or Bloglovin would have shut down by now.  It does not take much to close a website these days.  The whole point of this website in the first place is to streamline your reading.  
How do I go about getting new readers for my blog?
Well, first thing is you need a blog.  It does not have to be an exiting blog, although, it would not hurt.  You do not need a ton of followers (readers) either.  Next, sign up for an account.  Go to www.bloglovin,com and sign up.  It is free, and it is free to list your blog.  This next part is a little technical, but easy.  Once approved, you want to go to claim your blog.   (sorry for the lack of photos, as I am in a hurry, and I want to reclaim this blog.) So you go to:

•         Search for your blog's URL
•         Highlight it
•         and hit Claim It 

What will come up is a HTML string, and you copy it.  Next, write a new blog post.  You only have to do it once, not every time you write a blog post.  You would do that in you blog program, and do not worry, WordPress, Blogger, and Tumblr all allow it.  One thing:  before you write anything, make sure you turm on your blog's HTML writer, and paste the code FIRST.  Now you are ready to write you blog post.  Write something random like I am doing, or write your planned post.   Now hit publish on your platform.
 It is easy, fast, and takes no longer than to write a blog post.  Just some techie stuff.
Well, I need to publish this, and I will catch you next time.  Oh and subscribe to this blog, while you are at it.  You can subscribe to other blogs through Bloglovin.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

It is a Dog eat Dog World. A word on writing, niche, and business growth.

Not what you think.  Two months ago, nephew #1’s dog had puppies.  Strype has 2 sons, 5 daughters.  Some of the names are:  Cayman, Duchess, Princess, Penelope or Venelope (not sure what niece (7) named her), not sure with the other names are.  Great nephew called them all Scripy (he is 14 months, and trying to say Strype’s name, and cannot say the other names). 

I met all puppies but 2 of them yesterday.  When I first met Strype, she was about the size these new little ones were.  I was also glad she was named for the stripe down her nose, and a great tribute to a previously-owned dog also named Stripe.  We had this Stripe, who was a Beagle mixed with German Shepard for 18 years.  He was family, not saying that Strype and the puppies are not part of our family.  I am a dog lover (more dog than cat).  Other family dogs were PJ (Puppy Junior) a Beagle, who lived with us only a few months, and Victoria, a German Shepard, who lived with us for 4 years in California.   All of them resided with my parents.  I personally have not owned any dogs in my home. 

Now you are wondering what do dogs and puppies have to do with writing.  Dogs are exciting to watch, and if you notice how they react to something new, they get excited, and they are excited about everything, and they want to know about that new thing to the point knocking over anything that gets in the way.  Today, I was at parent’s house, and I went outside to the dogs.  Strype jumped all over me, while Cayman, Duchess, and a puppy’s name I could not remember was grabbing and pulling at my left pant leg.  I never had that experience since Victoria kept knocking me over when I was 4 (she was much taller than me standing up on two legs).  I am sure part of Strype’s jumping were to make sure her puppies are safe from my feet, (she I also a little jealous) while the puppies wanted something to chew on (they are teething after all).  Princess wanted to do her own thing by trying to climb onto the deck through an opening in the railing, which she failed at and gave up.

As new writers, we are excited when anything new comes our way.  We jump at the chance to get noticed and we chew and claw our way to the top.  That goes for Freelancing as well as Journalism.  As we get older in our craft, new people come in and feel the same way.  We fight our way to stay at the top of our game.  For freelancers, client come to see the “pick of the litter” writers, and when they find one they like, it is a match made in heaven or not.  Sometimes, we are like Princess, who finds a different way of getting to where she is want to go, by different means.  Instead of climbing the one step to get onto the deck, Princess chose to go between the wood bars.  As proven, you can either fail and give up, or try something different another day.

If you try doing it your way, just like Princess, do not give up.  In fact, it that does not help, try yet a different way but never sell yourself short.  There are many different ways to achieve the same end goal.  This is how human babies learn to do things when no one is helping them.  It does not have to be the traditional method.

Also, be like the puppies who were chewing at the leg of my pants.  This represents a person who is thirsty for knowledge.  Always want to learn more.  Never settle for less. “The more you learn, the more you know.  The more you know, the more you grow.”  This was a quote I heard in my teens.  This talks about wisdom and knowledge. 

For instance, I am a crafter.  I have talked about it several times on this blog, as well as other blogs.  What if I learned to only glue paper to another surface?  That may be fine, but if I want to teach someone or write about crafting, I can only get so far with just the gluing part.  That does not get very far into the process.  In order to do that, I had to learn how to use tools, different techniques with the appropriate tools and gluing, and even go outside that crafting area to learn how to teach a crafting technique or writing techniques in order to write about it.  sure that last part I should have learned starting in Elementary school and through my parents, but it also took a lot of practice and hard work to get to this point in my life.  This is how most blog posts are born.  Another subject for another post.

So the conclusion of this thing called writing is simple:

1.       Do find a niche.  Be excite about that niche, because, it will come through in your writing.  One tip:  If the post does not feel right, you will know it.  You have a choice to change it or write something else.

2.      Be alert.  There will always people who have started writing before you and people who will start writing after you.

3.      Do not stay in one place.  Always learn from your niche, hobby, and new ways to get your point across.  Always be prepared to teach and to be teachable.  Rules, techniques, and time are always changing.

4.      Find new ways to do something new and different.  It goes back to #2 and 3.

If you are not willing to change with the time, you will not grow in writing and in your niche.  If you do not grow in your niche and business, you will not increase in income nor influence someone else whose life you may not get to change.