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Branding is not only limited to businesses and celebrities and, unfortunately, people fail to realize that. You can build your identity and stand out among the online crowd by focusing on personal branding.
Blogging for personal branding is a key strategy in this digital era. Whatever your blog is all about—your interests, lifestyle, career/industry, or financial goals—you’ll have several possibilities to pull from the framework of your life.
According to data from Internet Live Stats, there are nearly 1.9 billion websites on the internet as of publishing this post. If you’re not taking advantage of the blogosphere to build authority and credibility, you’re missing out.
It’s important to note, however, that creating a personal brand and blog requires much more than just creating a website. And there’s a lot more involved than simply writing down your thoughts. Let’s look at how you can get started with blogging and broaden your social reach.
Why do you need to blog for personal branding?
When it comes to running an internet business, personal brand plays a significant role. It’s not only about corporations anymore; audiences are more interested in the people who run them. Here’s how a blog can strengthen your online and offline presence:
1. A blog sets you apart
Individuals don’t want to read a faceless corporation’s website; they want to connect with a real person.
Finding a new job on LinkedIn or earning a paycheck has never been more challenging. But, to stand out in a world where more people are developing personal brands, you must put yourself out there.
Companies will recognize that working with you will boost their brand recognition since self-branding reinforces confidence and trust in your skills and knowledge.
In addition, if you’re an entrepreneur, you can use your blog to promote your skills, products, and ideas.
2. Quality content spreads outreach
Blogs are not just a hub where you share your ideas with people around the world. Blogs allow anyone to have a platform to reach their target audience—in ways that weren’t possible before using this marketing strategy.
When done strategically, you will eventually increase your search traffic, brand loyalty, and sales by sharing your opinions, ideas, and expertise.
How to start blogging for personal branding
Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as just building a website and writing content. Here, I’ll break down what matters most when starting a blog:
Choose a niche
You want your blog to cover a specialized area—this is the very first step in developing your online presence. This component of your brand identity will stay the same, regardless of the type of content you post or the tools you use to advertise it.
When determining the best niche for you, brainstorm what you’re interested in and what you’re good at. What niche would allow you to share your expertise?
When selecting your niche, keywords are an important factor as well. You need to research the search volumes, related keywords, and other necessary queries. This will leverage your SEO tactics and strategy.
Establish your style
Finding your style and creating content that consistently reflects your brand is not something that happens overnight. Instead, you have to build and improve gradually.
Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase it, we catch excellence.
—Vince Lombardi
Work toward excellence by listening to your audience, building new skills, and working to improve your content and strategies. Here are some key tactics that make up a basic style template for any blogger:
Personality attributes
Your personality should always shine through your content because that’s how people will connect with you.
Whether you are casual, formal, or snarky, your “voice” sets a tone and is a reflection of you and your brand. The language you use and vibe you communicate should remain consistent between all blog posts. You’re creating an online persona that is true and unique to you, regardless of the topic you’re writing about.
And if you can incorporate real-life stories and examples into your blog posts? Even better. This will help you bond with your audience. Personal stories are opportunities for your readers to connect, empathize, and get to know you better.
Blog theme & aesthetic
You need to create a design (or choose a blog template) that reflects your brand and voice.
According to a study, the design of a website accounts for 94% of a person’s first impression. That choice is made in less than 50 milliseconds.
As a result, the design of your website is equally as crucial as the tone of your brand. Don’t clutter up your website; rather, aim for a clean, pleasing design that matches other aspects of your brand. For example, if your audience is targeting university professors, your blog will look very different from a blogger who is covering lifestyle and fashion. Your style, personality, and design should combine to create a consistent picture of who you are and what you’re talking about.
Try starting your blog using a content management system such as WordPress or Wix. There are many free templates and styles you can choose from when blogging for personal branding.
Writing and formatting style
In addition to revealing your personality/voice through your content, the more technical aspects of writing matter as well. Writing components like the vocabulary you use, formatting style, and punctuation add to the brand image you want to create. Check out this post for more information on creating your own writing style guide.
In-post graphics
Like your blog’s design, the articles that you publish should also be visually pleasing. They should feel on-brand with your theme and relevant to the content.
You can use free stock images or your own images (if you have a good design eye or a knack for photography/graphics creation). Think about creative ways you can convey a concept when finding photos. Follow design trends, look online for inspiration, and steer clear of overused photos or images that look overly staged.
Provide value
This may sound like fluff, but people are 71% more likely to buy from an influencer than an actual brand. It happens once you build trust and rapport with your audience.
You might be wondering, “But how do I do that?!”
If you give them genuine advice that works well, you’ll earn their trust and eventually buy products from you. Nurture your relationship with your audience. You shouldn’t be self-promoting all the time; start conversations, share interesting articles or inspiration, and don’t underestimate the power of humor. 😉 And, of course, keep up with the ever-changing content marketing trends.
Make sure you know your target audience and take time to learn about their wants and needs.
Be consistent
If you cannot provide high-quality content consistently, all of your efforts and expertise on personal branding will be for nothing. If you want to build a blog, persistence is essential.
The key to growing a personal brand is to maintain momentum by consistently delivering new and compelling stuff to your audience. The truth is that the more constant and reliable you are, the easier it will be to build your audience.
Consistency isn’t just about posting on social media every day.
It’s all about cohesion—bringing the brand’s design and messaging together. Your audience will appreciate knowing what to expect and you’ll build brand recognition (both in the content itself and the way you deliver it).
They might lose interest if you suddenly change the tone, style, or frequency you’ve been offering since the beginning.
Grow your network
Building a solid personal brand also requires simple things like networking. You can do this both online and offline.
First, investigate appropriate online groups to form strong bonds that will benefit all parties participating.
These connections will help your network grow. So although it may be tempting to stay with a niche group, expanding into other categories is the best option.
You can gain followers by networking, and you can also urge your connections to promote your articles or send you referrals. Attend relevant webinars to connect with different kinds of people.
Become an expert
When you don’t have a specialty, branding can be tricky. Every influencer has a particular area of expertise.
Your best bet is to build your blog content around what you’re good at. This gives the customer a legitimate reason why they should follow you.
Ways you can promote your blog
If you want to establish your blog/brand voice as a freelancer, don’t limit yourself to one media or platform after you’ve found your particular style. Instead, you must go out and repurpose your material to make it appropriate for other platforms.
Let’s take a look at a few ways you can do that:
1. Podcasts
Podcasts are quickly gaining popularity as a means of providing knowledge, ideas, and opinions.
So, don’t overlook using podcasts because they can help you build a strong personal brand as a blogger and allow you to increase your fan base.
2. Emails
Emails are the most successful method of text communication after text messaging.
Make the most of your writing by repurposing your blog posts into valuable email content for your digital newsletter/email list. If you can create engaging emails, you’re one step closer to becoming a successful blogger.
3. Videos
About 50% of web users enjoy watching videos from brands they like/follow. As a result, videos are an excellent technique to improve a company’s image—and a highly effective content strategy.
4. Social media
A great marketing strategy is to use social media to your advantage. Such platforms can promote your work and bring in more followers.
But first, you need to learn how to use them productively. You can post short videos on TikTok and Instagram. Try building filters and animated stickers for Snapchat and Instagram.
Facebook can be a great way to share about any upcoming events that you’re hosting.
Other than using social media accounts for promotions, you can also use them to connect with your followers. This is very important if you’re just starting to create a personal branding blog.
5. Take a step back
Sound counterintuitive? Read me out…
When you’re creating a public self-image, you’re going to get attention from many people. And maybe, sometimes, there will be unwanted attention too. So, take a break now and then to recharge, gain perspective, and come back stronger.
Why you should blog to build a personal brand
Now that you know how to get started, here are some technical factors that highlight why you should blog for personal branding.
Improve conversion rates
When you blog regularly, eventually, your overall ROI increases. An active and well-written blog indicates that your small business is still thriving and doing well.
If you’d like to stay in the spotlight, you should maintain your blog regularly; otherwise, it’s best not to have one in the first place.
Increase search engine traffic
You have more opportunities to rank for different keywords when you have many blog entries. It’s essential to concentrate on the page views and hits of your website when measuring site traffic.
You should also keep track of demographics—to have a good understanding of who is visiting your site—so you can create content they want to read.
The more traffic your blog gets, the more people all over the internet will become familiar with you.
And a bonus upside? Your blog doubles as a solid portfolio to show potential employers. Win!
Build authority
There is no better approach to position your company or brand as an expert in your industry than to start a blog.
A blog allows you to share your knowledge with your readers and build credibility. When you establish yourself as an authority in your niche, it fosters customer loyalty and visibility.
And it can help you stay top-of-mind when your clients are willing to buy, resulting in higher conversion rates.
Remember to continue blogging
Ask yourself whether you have your blog to do business or to build a community. For some people, money is not a driving force. Instead, their dream is to be a thought leader or they find inspiration by teaching others. Figure out what’s most important and map out your goals.
Even if making money is your only goal, don’t become paralyzed by your fears.
You should avoid using sales as a metric for measuring success. Rather, reflect on both your highs and lows, learning as you go. This will help you adjust and improve—and get closer to making sales.
Goals are important, of course—but make sure they’re realistic and attainable.
Conclusion
Now you know how to start blogging for personal branding. So get started today with all these personal branding tips we’ve listed—for starters, be realistic, consistent, and social.
Discover your voice and style, and tap into your authentic personality to establish your identity. Leave your imprint on the digital world (and beyond!) and create a legacy you’re proud of.
If you’re interested in knowing more about personal branding, check out our in-depth post on personal branding 101.
Good luck!