How To Use A Blog To Brand Yourself As An Industry Expert
Blogs are highly effective nowadays for everyone who wants to brand themselves as experts in practically any industry. Using a blog to prove that you have a high authority is highly recommended. Everyone who looks for you will realize that you are a person they do want to work with, thus bringing in an automatic increase in profits.
It is not at all hard to learn how to make a blog. Dozens of guides and tutorials exist online about the technical side of things. The steps necessary to start a WordPress blog are quite straightforward. You just need a hosting package and a domain, although opting for a premium theme is recommended. All this would end up costing you under $50 per year. Such an investment is quite necessary and recommended.
Here are those things that you have to always remember.
A Blog Is About You
A huge problem with blogs appears because of the belief that the blog should only try to promote the services or products that make money. That is not the case. A blog is always about you, the reader, and your combined relationship. It is possible to add whatever content you desire on the site, and you can own what is presented. This even includes the comments that you allow on your website.
Remember that when you allow just the positive comments, the image you create is not realistic. Negative comments do need to be present. How you deal with the negative comments is what will increase your authority. Do not be aggressive, and always maintain your professionalism.
Tell Your Story
Since the blog is your very own property, it is a perfect medium to tell people your story. You should highlight where you are from, how it is that you managed to get to the point at which you are today, what your future plans are, and practically anything that you want other people to know about you. Most people who open a blog do not realize that this part of the site is a crucial personal branding tool that can be used for various purposes.
Talking about the various services or products you offer will help to brand. After that, a connection can be achieved when the visitors start to know you. The possibility that someone would trust what you recommend is much higher when people know many things about you.
Offer Valuable Content
A blog can so easily be used to offer value through free giveaways, content, and basically, anything you want, all to reflect follower needs. When you offer free content that is of really high quality, it is a guarantee that traffic will increase. As time passes, the blog becomes interactive. Content will build up. All this sums up towards brand awareness increase. The presence of the individual is increased, and visitors will end up knowing the blogger as a person with high authority.
Remember that the blog gives you access to exciting options you do not have when using other opportunities. For instance, the above-mentioned comments and feedback can give you options that can be used to find new article topics or to realize what your readers want from you. Use such information, and you will surely discover that blogs give you access to tools that help you better brand yourself in the future while also branding yourself now.
A good example is to use a question you have to get feedback. Any question can be asked in a blog post. The people that visit will answer in the comments section. Alternatively, you can use specific apps that would create an actual poll that you can embed on the site. Both options have in getting answers. Use polls sparingly since you do not want them to appear too often. The focus has to be put on quality content.
Subscribing To Mailing Lists
A blog is the best and most effective tool internet marketers use to get people to subscribe to a mailing list. In most situations, something is offered for free, and contact details are gained. That captures potential prospects’ information. You can get information from those who would not leave a comment since you can ask some questions during the subscription process. Relationships are then built with the mailing list as time passes. The blogger can easily tweak and test to improve various important factors like click-through rates, email rates, or conversions.
Build Your Image
If you want to use the blog to create a brand presence, it is important that you always think about the image that is to be portrayed. Also, if you make promises, you must deliver, no matter what. Your goal should be getting industry people to talk about you. When they do that, the image created must be positive. You do not want others to refer to you due to wrong reasons.
Conclusions
To sum up, what is really important is to make 100% sure that you research everything that you talk about and that you want to offer high-quality content. Everything that is related to the blog and that is posted on the blog has to show that you have knowledge. Have patience and learn all you can about blogging and personal branding. The more information you have, the higher the possibility that you would use the blog in a proper way.
Remember that blogging is all about being consistent. If you do not know anything about blogging, look for tutorials that are written on the internet. You want to blog as often as possible. The blog posts should be a mixture of high-quality content related to your industry, articles about the products/services you promote, and information about your professional and personal life.