If you have already worked for years in the real estate or restaurant business you should be familiar with the importance of establishing a brand people associate with quality. Branding is no different when you establish an online business only the process of going about establishing your brand online is slightly different than a brick and mortar business.
Although people associate your online business with the design of your website, logo, and other elements that usually define an online business, online branding for your business is more about what you do, what you have to offer, and how you offer it to your targeted audience. With all of the different businesses that are being established online, your brand will be the one element that makes your business stand out in the online crowd.
Establishing Your Brand Online
With a brick-and-mortar business, there are different ways of getting your brand established which include advertising, networking, and other things that get your brand associated with quality and good service. When you establish your brand online the process is similar only many tools are available for you to use to help spread the word about your brand and your business.
Establishing your brand begins with deciding what you are going to offer and how you are going to offer it. It is all about offering something in a different way than businesses that are similar to yours. This is known as your Unique Selling Proposition (USO) which you are probably already familiar with from doing business offline. If you are not familiar with it a USP is an extremely important component for establishing your brand online and will be the main selling point that sets you apart from all of the other businesses.
Defining Your Brand
Once you define your brand you can first establish yourself through your website. The home page of your website is a very powerful and important marketing tool. Your home page will be the first impression that your visitors see after arriving on your website. On average, you have about 8 seconds to capture your visitor and tell them what you are all about.
Many website owners make good use of the home page by placing a video of themselves right on the home page that acts as a powerful business card when people arrive on your website. I mean what is more powerful than face-to-face contact in a world where we generally communicate through typed words? In addition to that, the benefits of doing business with you are visible along with your logo and a clear explanation of what you have to offer.
Getting the Word Out
Once you have made your website the focal point there are many other strategies and tools you can use for spreading the word about your new brand and your business. From doing business offline you know that word-of-mouth advertising can be a powerful way to get new referrals and get your brand noticed. This concept of advertising is no different when it comes to the Internet only the nice part is that is easier and more cost-effective to get the word out online than it is in the offline world.
In the online environment, you can spread the word through a technique which is known as viral marketing. When you establish your online business viral marketing will be your arsenal of tools for establishing your brand on the Internet. Although viral marketing sounds like an illness well actually. but in a good way.
Viral marketing spreads the word through the use of a series of tools most of which are free to use. Some of the tools that are used for viral marketing include social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, article marketing sites such as Ezine Articles and Submit Your Article, video networking sites such as YouTube and Fiddle, social bookmarking sites such as Digg, and general networking sites such as Squidoo and others.
When you put these sites to good use for your business people will begin to create a buzz about your new online business and your brand. If you stay dedicated to using these tools consistently the word will spread like wildfire about your business. One of the cool things about all of these tools is they provide easy ways for people to share high-quality content with their friends and fellow business professionals.
