One of the Social Moms Discussion topics posed the question: What blog/writing topics would you like to see other moms write about? While there were many great topics suggested, one theme seemed to emerge from the variety of the responses. Many of you asked for help with blogging – from advice for getting started, design ideas, and balancing working with mommyhood, to gaining traffic and monetizing a blog.
Choosing one topic was challenging with so many great ones offered. So over the next few weeks, we will be addressing many of the topic ideas you submitted around blogging. To start us off, Heidi Maxwell and Valerie (ADisneyFamly) both suggested the topic of branding your blog.
Branding Defined
Branding a blog is about communicating to your current (and potential) audience what makes your blog different and special. It’s about identifying not only your blog’s unique qualities, but also sharing, through your blog, your strengths, talents, skills, and values, all of those things that will distinguish you and help you stand out from other websites.
Branding successfully is about being authentic. It’s about identifying and displaying your unique passions, strengths and value on a consistent basis. By authentically featuring the attributes of your brand throughout your website, newsletter, business cards, etc., you are much more likely to attract your ideal readers.
Identifying Your Brand Attributes
Branding is about creating top-of-mind recognition. To authentically brand your blog, you should start by identifying those attributes that best define you. Are you Savvy, Creative, Optimistic, Confident, or Dependable? Maybe you’re Spiritual, Extroverted, Carefree, Stylish, or Adventurous. List five to ten attributes that best describe you and the feeling you want to convey on your website. These will be the brand attributes that your blog will embody, so remember, these attributes must genuinely represent who you are.
Applying Your Attributes to Your Blog
Using your chosen attributes as a guide, decide on the look and design of your website. What colors, lettering, or logo aligns with your attributes? Carry this same theme throughout all of marketing materials, creating a similar look and feel. Then to gain that top-of-mind recognition, you have to stick to it. You want people to remember you, so if you change periodically – I mean drastically change – then it will be challenging for people to identify who you are.
The other side of branding includes creating a feeling for your readers. What do you want your readers to feel when they land on your blog: warmth, excitement, happiness, or liveliness? Your colors, font, logo, and content will help to create the feeling you wish to portray.
By deciding on your attributes, determining how you want to be recognized – colors, font, and logo – and consistently portraying your brand, people will begin to expect the same from you and will remember you. And if you can get them to remember you, your blog content, and the wares you are marketing, then there is a greater possibility they will want what you are offering and will get it. And that, my friend, is the goal of branding.