Personal branding sounds like a lot of fun, but it’s also a lot of work. Already running on limited resources, how easy can it be for a small business to add a new task into its to-do-list? Here are three easy tips that are highly effective in garnering a strong brand identity.
1. Attachment to a Larger Brand
A. Benefit from Guest Posting
One of the biggest advantages of the modern Web world is the abundance of reputed blogs that accept guest contributors. A small business owner can leverage this opportunity and create high-quality, creative content.
If the chosen blog is relevant and reputed, then it is bound to receive a steady amount of daily traffic. As a result, the content will receive a tremendous exposure.
B. Asking Influential People to Contribute
A small business owner can always try to rope in the CEO of a larger company to become a contributor. Someone of this stature already has an impressive audience, and if he guest posts in a small business website, his readers will follow too.
However, an influential person is seldom free to contribute in small business websites. How about a different approach? With the advent of YouTube and Vimeo, video content has become very popular. Try to get a small interview under a relevant topic and make it go live online. Embedding the link of this interview into the small business website can bring a lot of visitors (and also some potential customers too).
2. Use Social Networks to Interact with the Right People
I’ve seen numerous small businesses literally wasting their social platforms with just status messages and picture uploads. Social networks can be a lot more than that! One must never forget that all social platforms were designed with the prime intention of encouraging interactions and building relationships.
Most people just ‘Retweet’ or leave a ‘Like’, and log out of their accounts. I personally do not understand their disinterest in starting a conversation. Following someone influential and never missing a chance to strike up a conversation is a key strategy to personal branding. Be it a big-time journalist or a head-honcho of a big firm, a small business owner needs to show some interest, ask a relevant question and share his opinion.
This act also has two types of benefits. One, it will create a positive impression in the mind of the person on the other side of the conversation. And two, his followers will also read the conversation, and as a result, the small business may get some ardent followers in the process.
3. Starting an SAQ
I’m sure that every Web-savvy individual is familiar with the term: FAQ (Frequently Asked Question). And an FAQ section is undoubtedly an important part of a small business website. However, this is the time to think out-of-the-box and start an SAQ (Shoot Any Question) session.
People are curious and ever inquisitive; it’s just that they don’t show this trait too often. From business-related topics to personal questions, bring them a platform where they can ask you anything under the sun. Promote the session in advance via your social channels, and filter the best questions from the tweets and messages.
I can guarantee that the session will be fun, and the exposure will be really worth the effort.
The Result of Hard Work
The quest for personal branding in the online world is an interesting one, as every company starts from scratch. And this gives a great chance to small businesses to outshine some of the more resourceful counterparts.
With just some extra effort in managing the social presence and coming up with great (and shareable) content ideas, a small business can quickly become a well-known name in its field.
And most important, people appreciate something new. So just following the traditions will not be enough. Bring in a zing and appease the hunger. Provide a good meal and a small business will soon become a chef to remember!
Author: Sudeep Banerjee is the Founder & President of B3NET Inc., a web design & Development Company in Orange County, California. With his 26 years of expertise in high conversion website development, development & Internet Marketing he is looking forward to reach new heights of success. Find him on Twitter, LinkedIn
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