If you missed the first two posts you can find them here:
I’m so over the “tight niche” blogging thing and Do I even have a niche?
Now let’s talk about branding.
Doesn’t it sound so markety? Yes. I do know that “markety” is not a word. I made it up. I do stuff like that. It’s part of my brand.
Branding is a term that is fluent in marketing and promotional conversations. It is what causes a person or product to be recognizable. It can be the name, logo, a graphic, slogan, or anything else that makes up the personality of the product. It gives it value. Depending on how you look at it, branding can be a good thing or a bad thing.
Simply put, your brand is you – projected and reflected. If it helps you can absolutely substitute the word “brand” for “personality”. They are interchangeable for the purposes it will serve in this post.
I think we get a bad vibe from branding because of the monetary emphasis that is placed on it but don’t think of it that way. Focus on the trust value that it has.
You all have a favorite beverage, right? Well what if I put root beer in your coke bottle? Would that go over very well? No, when you want a coke you want a coke. When you want root beer then you will buy a root beer. You trust that when you pick up a coke bottle that it has Coca Cola inside. Their brand has earned your trust. You know what you are going to get when you open the bottle.
Branding can be important for us because we want to build trust. That is why it is important to know what your blogs purpose is. If you know the purpose then you can build your brand. Even if your purpose is very similar to someone else’s it is still your way of writing about it, your opinions, and your spin on things that set you apart. If you want to build readership then the best way to do it just by being yourself and writing about what you love.
Are you “getting” this like I did?
We are each unique people with an abundance of things to share on our blog. So what if so and so wrote about it? As long as you are writing about it because YOU are passionate about it and not because you think it will bring in traffic then you are already succeeding!
So go ahead and write what you are passionate about. Make sure it is from your perspective and in your style. Be authentic in building your brand or personality. Don’t be root beer when what we really want is the coke.
I’ll go deeper into branding later but I just wanted to get this out there while it was fresh in my mind. You know how it is with an infant at home. I’m just happy I remembered the password to log on. You know what I mean?
More topics that might interest you:
- Niche Series part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4
- What bothers you about blogs: mistakes bloggers make
- Competition in Ministry
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I get it.
Although in western Nebraska, branding means something else. It’s what we do to cattle every year. Stinks to high heaven, but it makes sure everyone knows which cows are yours.
You had me at the picture
I love your explanation of brand–it really demystifies it.
Amy, this is so what I needed to read. Branding can so be like a foreign language at times. Awesome series!!
Thanks for writing this, Amy. It does matter when you want a successful blog, and it means a lot to know that because we’re all different, success means different things to each of us. Sure, I’d love to earn an annual income from my blog – but honestly, I don’t want to put THAT much effort into it. LOL. I do, however, want people to know ME through my blog – and to know them because of what God does in my life and in theirs. Good stuff!
Oh girl – I’m so glad I “tuned in” for the last in this series! LOL I’m so enjoying reading your blog (so much so that I’ve signed up for the emails and am now following you on twitter!) Thanks so much for sayin’ whats on your mind – and feeding my curiosity!
Thank you so much for sharing your epiphanies with us! Just within the last few days I have been thinking of certain things I would like to write about, but backed off because I figured someone else was probably already doing it, and doing it better than I would. Then, I would wonder if it was so off the wall from everything else I was writing that it would just be weird. The thought kept coming to mind that it was my blog and I could write about whatever I wanted, but it means a lot more when someone else reinforces that for you (me), so thank you!
Great series.
Amy,
I have enjoyed your thoughts and sharing lately on ‘blogs’. You speak with wisdom. I can’t comment any better than Tiffany and Dianne did above as they, for the most part, said what I feel.
I’m just me, sharing my life in Jesus!
Love you!
This has been a GREAT series, Amy! While I certainly love bloggers who have their niches all figured out, there are those I love every bit as much who couldn’t be categorized as having a niche. And me? Well, as I was reading this latest post, I thought about my tag line: “The meanderings of a woman who often finds herself on life’s bunny trails.” Totally nicheless. But that’s okay. That’s who I am. If you hung out with me for a day, you would see that I am all over the place. Will I be a “successful” blogger? Who cares? I blog cause I want to – and like you said, the bonus is that someone reads it. I didn’t get into blogging for monetary or audience purposes.
So there will be tips and ideas that are certainly a help to my blog, but I don’t HAVE to model myself after the top, successful blogging tips. I can just be me. The random, haphazard, meandering me.
GOOD WORD. I’ll buy it.
Thank you SO much for this series. I really needed to hear it this week.
I’m wanting to “brand” my blog and ministry, but I’m struggling with whether or not I should brand it with a “ministry name” or my name. I am the face of the ministry (and currently the only one actively a part of it), and I plan to continue to be the face of it. But at the same time, I don’t want it to be about me. Would love any thoughts anyone has on it!