Branding Your Blog for Success
Episode #2 of the course How to create a profitable blog by Jessica Festa
Welcome to Day 2 of “How to Create a Profitable Blog.” Today, we’ll be diving into how to brand your blog for success.
But wait . . . aren’t “brands” meant for big corporations like Apple and General Motors? I just want to be myself.
Good news: you can—and should—be yourself. The goal is to combine the unique attributes you bring to the table into one cohesive package.
This is important because:
1. Branding builds trust. Having a cohesive brand helps you stay on track with your messaging. People will know who you are and who you aren’t.
2. Branding helps build a relationship. You’ll help readers feel like they really know you.
3. Branding helps you help them. Once you determine who you can help and how, your goal should be to do this continuously throughout your content.
4. Branding helps you stand out. A strong brand makes it clear why someone should read your blog over another.
5. Branding your blog gives you a purpose. You’ll always know who you’re writing for and why.
Crafting Your Mission Statement
The most crucial step when branding is considering how you can help people and who would benefit from this knowledge. From these answers, you can craft your mission statement.
Use this mission statement as the overarching goal behind your blog posts, social media shares, emails, and marketing efforts.
Defining Reader Problems
Pinpoint your audience’s questions and pain points. Tip: head over to Reddit or Quora and find a subforum relating to your niche. Within this, research what people are asking and how they’re digesting content. Is it mainly how-to videos? Infographics? Photos?
Also, take note of where they’re currently getting information and where this information is falling short—so you can offer a superior experience.
For example, one past student was a woman in her sixties who loved yoga. After researching, she found a lack of content for senior citizens wanting challenging yoga routines. She decided to fill that gap.
Define Values (and Anti-values)
Consider what you do—and don’t—want to be known for and ask yourself:
• Why am I blogging?
• How can I enrich my readers’ lives?
• What topics can I write about?
• What tone will I use?
• How can I stand out from the crowd?
• Who do I want to attract?
Say you’re a fashion designer blogging about style, and one of your main values is “budget.” You write posts about putting together outfits on a budget and where to get cheap but chic sunglasses. When it comes time to sell a styling package or garments, you may find people are unwilling to spend much money (because of your messaging); however, if you value “statement pieces” and put out content relating to feeling confident wearing bold jewelry and how to mix and match prints, your audience will be less concerned with price and more concerned with achieving an original look.
The great part about this is that you have control over who you attract.
Your Turn: For now, fill in this worksheet to craft your own blog mission statement.
In the next email, we’ll dive deeper into branding to talk about visuals.
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