Let’s discuss the steps to develop your personal brand as a blogger.
No, this isn’t about blogging tips and SEO. It’s something special and important.
Even though you may love reading articles about blogging tips and SEO secrets, this article is different. It’s for those who want to build a personal brand.
If you don’t want to build your own brand, you can skip this. However, if you want to be a famous blogger, you’ll need a brand.
Brands rule this world, from the clothes we wear to the coffee we drink. You have the choice: do you want to be just a blogger or a famous blogger?
Many successful bloggers, like Pat Flynn and Darren Rowse, have become well-known because of their brands. Your personal brand is your icon.
Just like you know and follow popular online entrepreneurs, you can build your own brand.
Starbucks is a great example of a well-known brand. They have marketed and crafted their image to make coffee synonymous with their brand.
In this post, I will guide you through the steps of building your personal brand.
This article is for newbie bloggers, web designers, online marketers, entrepreneurs, and anyone else who is just starting out and wants to build their platforms.
Remember, building a successful personal brand takes time and effort. It won’t happen overnight.
You should consider making it your business strategy once you understand the essence of this message.
Lastly, in episode 49 of the Problogger Podcast, Darren Rowse discussed taking your blog to the next level and turning it into a brand.
It was a precise yet useful episode, and it’s essential for my readers who want to build their blogs as brands.
3 Secrets Of Making a Personal Brand:
1. Be good at what you want to do
Your brand can’t succeed if you’re not good at it. This means you have to prove that what you do or make is worth the attention.
Whether you’re a graphic designer or a blogger, keep on creating things and get better at work.
2. Start changing someone’s life
You can’t win alone. You need an audience to help you out. In order to achieve that goal, you have to start helping others with no strings attached.
Yes, be original and genuine. Don’t do favours to get something in return. Start changing lives.
3. Be social and helpful to everyone
Always be there to advise people if you can help them in fixing something. You have to be useful towards everyone on social media as well as offline.
Your brand demands traction, and all you are doing is getting the momentum.
The next part is the cream. You need these steps to build your brand as a blogger.
A personal brand as a blogger refers to a name that means something to readers. It is certainly based on dedicated followers and avid readers.
It all begins with publishing quality content, giving away life-saving tips, and sharing everything possible with fans.
Give them value. Share stories. Tell them solutions.
6 Steps to Develop Your Personal Brand as a Blogger In 2024
Step #1 – Secure Your Name and Domain
First things first. You have to be prepared to be found. In order to do that, you have to have a proper identity on the internet.
Use your original name or at least the same name everywhere (on the internet). It includes:
- Website
- Domain
- Google+
- YouTube
- Emailing
You can’t build a personal brand differently with a separate blog or business name.
It makes things a whole lot different.
A personal brand is something that is directly associated with your name.
Neil Patel is a famous content marketer and SEO expert.
He has been pretty much serious about his brand after the success of his Quick Sprout blog.
Now, he focuses a lot on his brand – and he has launched neilpatel.com.
James Clear does the same. He is an expert on behaviour psychology, performance improvement, and habit development. He has a personal website and blog.
No worries. There isn’t any rocket science going on here.
If you’re new to blogging, website launching, and online business…
We’ve got your back.
Make sure you register your domain with Namecheap or Godaddy.
If you have just started, make sure you know the basics of blog launching.
Step #2 – Use the Same Name and Picture Across the Social Media
One of the perks of making a personal brand is that people know you by your name and recognize you by your face (even from your voice – Amy Porterfield is a famous social media expert and podcaster.
She has admitted a couple of times in her podcast that listeners meet her like they know her personally and feel so connected)…
The idea is; you don’t have to appear with different names and pictures on the social media networks.
You might observe that many of the top social media experts use the same name (spelling), display pictures, and covers on their social media networks.
There is a science behind this.
They believe in brand positioning.
‘Brand Positioning‘ is a process of creating an image in the customers’ minds by showing them the same thing for a long time or over and over again.
Jay Baer knew this already. He is a popular social media expert and digital marketer. You will find him with the same display picture on the social networks.
If you keep on changing your name’s spelling or even the name, it won’t help you.
You don’t want to waste the effort you will put into developing your identity.
A slight change in your name’s spelling might diversify the value of your NAME.
People search on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other platforms to connect with friends and experts.
For instance, if your name is ‘Mike’ and you use both Mike and Myke on social media platforms… that would be confusing for people (looking to follow you).
Step #3 – Create a Certain Type of Content for the Targeted Audience
At step 3, you have to be targeting the specific audience. You can’t be a jack of all trades.
It means you don’t have to focus on multiple types of audience on the same blog at the same time.
For instance, if your niche is ‘money making online,’ don’t try to add copywriting, entrepreneurship, and e-commerce to your content strategy… just focus on money-making strategies, tips, and tricks.
Targeting a specific audience helps you to become an authority (in the niche).
Susan Chritton also discussed this in her article. She believes that one of the mistakes budding personal branders make is trying to appeal to everyone in the market, which means they are not clear about their audience.
There are four elements to be focused on while targeting the specific audience:
1. Clarity of niche
You should be very clear about your niche in order to serve the right audience. When there is a shadow of doubt about the clarity of the niche, bloggers start focusing on different niches at the same time, and the chances of becoming an authority vanish.
2. Setting up the targets
You must set your targets to develop a personal brand as a blogger. You can’t defy your pre-defined rules in terms of niche, targeting, and topics.
3. Define the content strategy
The content strategy is part of the same chain that we are discussing in the making of a personal brand. A ProBlogger knows what his/her targets are, what the readers want, and what he/she has to deliver.
4. Hangout with the relevant people
You have to meet with like-minded people. Join meetups, conferences, and webinars.
Try to build relationships with the people who appeal to you. Your friends circle, and followers’ company will definitely matter in building your personal brand.
Syed Balkhi, the founder of WPBeginner.com, runs his personal website and even the blog. This shows that he knows the importance of a personal brand. The WordPress community knows him very well.
Step #4 – Discuss and Mention Influencers in Your Content
Ah. That’s a secret.
I’m giving it away. You know, blogging is more about giving than receiving.
You give knowledge, skills, and experience.
And get appreciation, following, and love.
You will always find us on Jitendra.co mentioning top blogs, SEOs, content marketers, and brands.
We do this because it helps our readers.
These shout-outs help you build your relations with the influencers and, hence, contribute to your brand.
Don’t just mention their names. Instead, link to them. Not only does it help the readers, but it also gives (influencers) a hint that you linked them.
There are a number of ways of finding that. These tools might help you:
- SEMrush
- SEO Powersuite
You’re establishing your brand.
You can’t just make a website and sit tight, waiting for clients to land on your site.
You have to be on the ground.
You have to be running, finding, building, and developing relationships.
Step #5 – Build a Community of Readers and Responders
At step #5, you need to develop a recognition.
One of the most important elements of building a successful personal brand is building a community. A loyal followership can help you build your personal brand faster.
It doesn’t necessarily mean you have to have a forum site along with your personal website or blog. You can create one, however. bbPress is one of the solutions to do that.
You can use a popular commenting system, Disqus, as well.
The purpose is to develop an engaging echo system with your followers and readers.
Disqus is a commenting tool that has become a social commenting and communication platform. You can create profiles, have followers, and interact with others via comments.
Jim Joseph knows the importance of an engaged audience. In his article on Entrepreneur.com, he gave examples of big brands and their engagement with their followers.
John Lee Dumas is a popular podcaster. His podcast ‘EOFire‘ is one of the famous podcasts on Entrepreneurship.
He always uses the phrase ‘Fire Nation’ to describe his podcast’s listeners and fans.
Similarly, a well-known YouTuber and Vlogger, Roman Atwood, uses the name ‘Roman Soldiers‘ to describe his fans.
If you watch his vlogs, you would know that he often calls his fans and subscribers as ‘Roman Soldiers’.
These examples show the power of building a community of dedicated fans and followers.
If building a strong community weren’t important enough, these successful people wouldn’t be doing it.
They do this, and it makes them prominent. It helps them build their personal brands.
Step #6 – Use and Share Useful Tools with Your Readers
In step 6, you have to admit that tools and resources help the readers.
When you need to grasp the audience and convert them to loyal followers, you have to empower them.
Help them succeed.
Change their lives.
Of course, you must be working hard to share your useful content.
Remember, content isn’t enough. The content (which means useful content) will only work if the readers understand it and digest it without leaving the blog.
It shows that you have made them glued to your blog.
The best way to do this is to create attractive, meaningful, and appealing content.
Offer useful tools and resources in your content.
The readers won’t like to copy and paste the URL into a browser, so provide them with the URL along with the tools, websites, and blog posts.
Create screenshots using the Nimbus Chrome extension or make graphics using Canva.
Your blog will attract readers when you offer them value—value that will change their lives and make their work easier.
At Jitendra.co, you’ll always find us sharing useful tools and resources with you people.
We want you to succeed. You’re important to us.
Quick Links:
- Tasks New Bloggers Need To Accomplish Before Writing a Word
- Key Elements of Writing Great Headlines
- Types of Blog Posts People Love To Read
- Ultimate List of Blogging Statistics and Facts
Conclusion: Develop Your Personal Brand as a Blogger
You’re a blogger. You might have been rejected and refused.
Probably you didn’t know that “You will succeed when you will help others”…
You don’t need an online advertising budget of hundreds of thousands of dollars every month.
You need a heart. You need a passion for helping others.
You can’t build your personal brand alone.
And don’t think that building a brand is a matter of weeks. No, it’s not.
I’d rather say keep working for the next five years.
The secret is here: Build others’ brands, people will build yours.
What would you do special to build your brand as a blogger?
