Branding And Your Blog – You Won’t Succeed Without It

I’d be a little hypocritical if I didn’t stay consistent with my own brand voice in this blog, but I’ll keep the shit down to a minimum so you can really get the message here.

There’s a common misconception going around that a brand is a logo, or a slogan. While those are definitely integral to your brand, it’s only the surface.

To put it simply, a brand is the emotional connection between people and your business. It can also be the association of a logo or a mascot, but that isn’t the key. Anyone can have a logo. It’s what that logo means to the consumer that launches businesses from 5-figure revenues to 7.

Here’s the best question you can ask when working on creating your brand: what are you really selling?

Sure, Nike sells athletic clothes. But that’s not what they’re really selling. They’re selling that anyone can be an athlete.

Coke isn’t selling a good carbonated beverage. They’re selling happiness in a bottle.

Apple isn’t just selling computers. They’re selling tech simple enough that everyone can use.

Amazon isn’t selling various goods. They’re selling customer service, with 2-day shipping and grocery delivery.

You get the point.

But, why is branding necessary?

For any business, branding establishes one of the most difficult links to break between a customer and a product: an emotional one.

There are countless reasons why that’s so important from a marketing point of view. Recurring contact, emotional addiction, exposure, etc. Having an emotional line between you and your audience is the single most important thing to reach for when thinking about your marketing strategies. There’s nothing special about SmartWater – they just make you feel like there is.

For your blog, it becomes a P.O.D. (point of difference) thing; For instance, if you own a sports blog, what makes your sports blog different from the hundreds of others out there? It could be that you take a no-bullshit approach to your reporting – entirely unbiased. Or, it could be that your sports blog drastically favors a particular team and is violently vocal about it. Either way, it’s got to connect with your audience on an emotional level.

People don’t want to consume and do business with businesses. They want to do business with brands.

Advertising via traditional methods is a great way to establish that connection – but it isn’t the most effective. People are mistrusting of advertising.

The best way? Content marketing.

Companies that have blogs generate 67% more leads per month than companies that don’t.

That’s a HUGE difference. Even more so since your business will BE your blog.

So, how do you come up with your blog brand?

Well, the answer varies depending on your businesses age, products, goals, etc. But, for the most part, I can generalize.

1. Get Your Message Straight

Great, you’ve got the idea in your head. You want to start a blog on some of the best things in snowboarding. You’re going to have daily posts about finding the best spots, daily posts about the best gear, and daily posts about mastering different tricks.

Cool.

Who gives a shit?

2. Finding Your P.O.D.

No one gives a shit.

At least, not yet. We’ve got to find what makes your blog different than the rest of the snowboarding blogs out there. Which… yeah, there’s a ton of garbage out there, and there are some gems.

You don’t want to just be a gem with the rest of them.

Stand out.

Don’t just be a snowboarding blog. Be a snowboarding blog for experts.

Don’t just be a snowboarding blog for experts. Be a snowboarding blog for experts that are looking for a death wish.

Now we’re standing out. We’ve got a point of difference.

3. Translate That P.O.D. Across Everything

Your URL/blog name: DeathWishSnowboarding

Your logo: A badass skull with crossed snowboards behind it for bones.

Your blog: Do not lose the brand voice. Keep this consistent, or you’ll lose your readership. Write like you talk. Talk to your readers like they’re your shredding entourage. No formalities. No bullshit. No fear.

Your social media: The same goes for the content above – don’t lose your voice. Social media will play a huge part in driving traffic to your blog, so draw your readers in with that brass-balls tone that only snowboarders with a death wish would have.

As you can see, the brand sort of comes by itself when you find your P.O.D. Keep it simple, definable, and consistent. Your readers are there for the info, sure. But, they’re also there for you, for your brand. Think Fox News; Conservatives can get news from anywhere, but they want their info from the voice that only Fox has.

Without your own brand, your blog will die. It isn’t conjecture, or opinion. It’s the hard, nasty-ass truth.

Having a relatable brand is only one of the many tools that successful entrepreneurs use to create a million-dollar business. Stay on board and sign up for my newsletter to learn more about how you can do the same.

 

source https://anthonyaires.com/5172/5172/

4 Of The Most Profitable Ways To Monetize Your Blog

I’ll cut the bullshit before we get rolling: No, blogging isn’t dead. Yes, there are saturated markets. No, it’s not impossible to break through. And, yes, you can be successful even if you aren’t a great writer.

I can also weed out the flakes, too.

Blogging isn’t a get rich quick scheme. People don’t bank-in overnight doing this. But, you can definitely generate a substantial income within a few months – if you stick it out.

I’m not talking a few hundred bucks a month, either. I’m talking the “I just dropped $1k on a Sunday morning breakfast” kind of income.

But, you’ve got to work for it. It’s going to be pretty ugly before the rainbows and little men with red hair start pouring gold down on you from the clouds.

Still sounds good? Alright, then. Let’s get our hands dirty with the technical stuff, now.

For the sake of preventing this article from turning into a terrible novella, I’m going to keep it short and assume that you already know the importance of picking a niche, finding your brand voice, and creating kick-ass content. If you haven’t figured that out yet – don’t worry – my next post will help straighten things up for you.

So, you’ve been cranking out Grade-A content for a while now, and have a loyal audience and fanbase. Great! You’ve done all the hard work (if you haven’t, stay tuned – I’ll teach you how).

Now’s the time to start harvesting the herd.

Let’s fatten up your bank account.

Affiliate Marketing

Yeah, yeah, you’ve heard the term before. Those sons of bitches on the internet spouting about their blogs and Lamborghinis and half-naked women from Vogue.

I can hear you now, “Sounds just like you on social media (minus the women of course).”

No shit! That’s because it works!

The concept is pretty simple:

First, you build up your following by providing top-notch value through the content you post on your blog – this is crucial. You have to provide value to your audience, or else you risk becoming a self-promoting scam artist (no one likes those).

Second, you find products and services that complement the content that your audience keeps coming back for.

Third, you approach the company that provides those products/services about setting up an affiliate account. Most big-name brands will have links at the bottom of their pages that allow you to do this automatically. Amazon is a great place to start.

Fourth, they give you a special link that you embed within your content, so that your audience can click on that link. If they click through and buy that product, you’ll get a cut of the profits. It really is that simple.

Before the Benjamins start rolling in by the ass load, though, you’ve got to make sure that the products you’re linking to are relevant to your niche. If you run a blog about kitchenware and start throwing out links to the hottest video games, you’ll fail. Miserably.

Provide Your Services

The easiest way to monetize your blog is by selling your services and truthfully helping your audience.

There may have been years of schooling involved in getting you to where you are now, thousands of hours honing your craft – but, you’re the best of the best at what you do. Now, you’ve got to have an audience that wants the ability to do what you do, too. You don’t have that audience yet? Make one.

Whether you’re a copywriter, designer, or a super-niched ring-maker who only caters to Japanese women, you’ve got to show your audience that 1. You know your shit, and 2. You can teach them how to know their shit, too.

Coach them on how to properly build their woodworking business. Offer consulting for capital investors. Sell your proofreading services – whatever it is you’re doing, building credibility through blogging is the easiest, most profitable way to sell yourself.

Build rapport.

Showcase your success.

Help your audience to do the same.

Sell YOUR Products

Your audience is unique to YOUR blog. You know them, and they trust you.

Now, get creative. Make products that fix their problems.

These could be informational products, like selling E-books on how to run your first restaurant, courses on copywriting, or membership sites for only the most serious of entrepreneurs looking to gain some top-level knowledge.

Or, these could be physical goods: hard-copy, long-form books on honing your craft, t-shirts and other branded merch that reflect your blog, or your very own software.

Pro tip: find your audience’s pain point and the product will practically invent itself.

If you run a gardening blog, what are your reader’s most common problems? Maybe they need a hose that doesn’t get wrapped in the plants when they need to cross over from the potatoes to the tomatoes. Make it. If you run a blog about content marketing and find that your audience comments a lot about struggling coming up with good ideas, then write a book on your creative process.

You’ve already got a warm audience. Give them something of value, and the numbers will start roaring in.

Ad Spots & Sponsorships

The elephant in the room – ad spots. Here’s a pro tip: keep your elephants small… and relevant.

See, everyone who’s used the internet is familiar with online advertising – and most people tune it out into the background altogether. The trick is to find companies/products that are relevant to your brand and advertise them in small ways that get them seen but don’t piss off your audience at the same time. This can be pretty difficult at times, depending on your niche.

Thankfully for you, advertising will never die. As long as there are businesses around there will always be markets for channels looking to help them sell… But, it isn’t all good news. I put this last on the list for a reason.

Blog advertising doesn’t pay as much as the rest of these methods.

I don’t bullshit – this form of blog monetization doesn’t work well unless you’ve got a massive amount of traffic rolling through. But, if you’ve got a massive amount of traffic rolling through, then hit up methods 1-3. Keep the ad spots as a bit of icing on the cake.

I’m not going to leave you hanging, here. This is a rough outline on what to focus on when you’re ready to start making money through your blog.

I’m creating a highly in-depth segment for each and every single one of these methods, and I’ll be releasing parts of those segments throughout the upcoming weeks.

Don’t miss out. Sign up for my newsletter, and I’ll keep you posted.

Stay hungry.

source https://anthonyaires.com/5108/4-of-the-most-profitable-ways-to-monetize-your-blog/

Before You Start A Blog | How To Start A Blog

Before You Start A Blog Go Here http://startablog.pagedemo.co How To Start A Blog
Watch video on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/dVjnEJJB8O0

19 Reasons To Start A Blog Today

We covered the 3 most common reasons to start a blog in this article – How To Start A Blog.

Those reasons were:
1. To make money online
2. To share or teach
3. To build brand recognition for a business

Make sure to take a moment to check those out and then come right back here.

Here are 19 other reasons to start a blog that you may not have thought of.

1. Start A Personal Blog To Become A Better Blogger

With a personal blog, you can post anything that pops into your head like an online journal. You can post links, videos, pictures, bits of news, diary-style entries, jokes, etc. The list goes on and on. You can post literally anything you want to record and share with others. You can even invite your friends to post and share like having your own personal social media site (Facebook or Twitter) but you get to make the rules!

A personal blog is an excellent “starter blog” to see if you really like blogging before you tackle a tougher, more professional topic.

Once you’re comfortable with being a “blogger”, then you can branch out into more professional blogs when you’re already comfortable with all the blogging terms and tools.

Starting a personal blog is the best way to explore, experiment, and learn about blogging.

You’ll become a better writer along the way.

You can take the time to develop your blogging personality and experiment in different niches before taking the leap to a business blog where you hope to make money with your blog.

2. Start A Business Blog For SEO

Not only can a business blog help to grow your brand, it’s a wonderful way to improve your sites search engine rankings.

Your blog fuels your SEO efforts by providing a simple and easy way to connect with existing customers and share timely and relevant information.

Those existing customers, in return, will share that information with other potential customers via social media links, bookmarks, and email.

Blogs are an extremely cost-effective marketing investment.

Every post you publish is a long-term asset that can be used over and over again.

You’ll gain useful insights into your audience, what they are searching for, and how you can help them.

3. Start A Blog To Review Products & Services

This is my personal favorite type of blog.

I NEVER buy anything online without looking for reviews.

The is one of the things that has helped Amazon own their market.

You can truly help your readers by providing useful information that impacts buying decisions while at the same time using your review site to get tons of free products to review.

On that note, make sure that you properly disclose any affiliate relationships.

The FTC takes that VERY seriously these days.

Over time you will create a massive library of content that is very search engine friendly. Review sites are “search engine gold!”.

Properly written product reviews will attract tons of purchase ready buyers to your blog.

4. Start A Blog To Be A Better Writer

Writing is a practiced skill.

Yes, some people are naturally better writers than other, but everyone can become a better writer with practice.

Blogging gets you into the habit of writing regularly, so will you get better over time.

Blogs are an ideal way to try out a new writing style.

Let’s say that you are are a technical writer by profession, but want to write a fiction novel…

You can use your blog to practice writing and share short stories.

It’s a relatively safe place to step you’re of your comfort zone and try something new.

Or maybe, you just want to work on your existing writing style.

Instant feedback on your posts let you know how you’re doing.

As soon as you publish a new post, you’ll know how you did by the comments and social media shares.

No action, then you know that you need to work on your writing skills. If you get tons of action on your posts, then you know you’re on the right track.

5. Start A Blog To Write A Book

You can literally write your book online before publishing the actual.

The trick is to structure your blog like the Table of Contents for your book and start writing posts that represent each chapter or subchapter.

You don’t have to give away the whole book, but if you write the first few chapters as a blog is can also serve as a teaser to buy your book – or books!

Book publishers LOVE bloggers – especially bloggers with a large following.

Contrary to popular belief, publishers do very little to promote your book and you will be at the top of their list if you can bring them several thousand potential customers.

6. Hate To Write? Start A Video Blog

Provided you limit setup and editing, videos can be quicker and easier to create than written posts.

If you’re not a writer, or if you type on the slow side, it might be easier for you to record a three-minute video than type up a 500-word blog post, saving you time and stress while allowing you produce more blog content faster.

Once upon a time, SEO for video post was an issue, but that’s no longer the case.

In some cases, videos will get indexed faster than written content.

YouTube is, after all, the second largest search engine with billions of searches every month.

Many people prefer watching a video to reading a long blog post.

That combined with the fact that a much smaller number of people are willing to get in front of a camera puts you at the front of the pack!

7. Start A Blog For Your Classroom

A blog provides an excellent peer-to-peer, student-to-teacher, and teacher-to-parent contact platform.

It’s a great way to reach out to new students and their parents who have recently moved or are going to move into the area.

A classroom blog is a place students can go to for additional help with their school assignments and can boost school spirit and participation in school events and sports through promotion on the blog.

Having students post to a blog for discussion assignments promotes critical thinking and develops writing and communication skills.

It’s a great way to get your kids on the Internet for a reason other than social media!

8. Start A Travel Blog To Share Your Adventures

A travel blog can be professional or very casual.

Either way, it’s a great means to document and share your travel adventures and memories.

You can help others by sharing your personal experiences and lessons learned during your travels around the world.

Your stories will inspire others to get away from their normal boring lives and just do something or go somewhere.

Personalized travel tips help both small and large businesses in the travel industry and fellow travelers have a much better experience.

And here’s another chance to get some really cool free stuff – in this case, free trips!

Travel companies will send you on free trips and some of them will even pay you to travel to specific locations and blog about it.

That’s what I call a win-win.

9. Start a Fashion Blog To Share Your Knowledge

If you have a job in the fashion industry, starting a fashion blog can be an excellent way for current and potential clients to view your work through your blog.

It’s also, a wonderful way to collaborate with another industry professional on test shoots, experimental projects, and other mutual-benefit assignments

Use your blog as a platform for self-expression where you can popularize your ideas and concepts on fashion, report on the latest fashion trends, and provide useful fashion advice for those who are more “fashion challenged.”

10. Start A Blog To Build an Online Network

Blogging is a terrific way to meet other people in your industry and it’s a great place to showcase your skills and interests.

By talking about topics in your industry, you’ll attract other people with similar skills and knowledge.

I have made countless connections online with other highly successful bloggers.

I learn from them and they learn from me.

It’s a win-win!

Once you start blogging, you’ll want to reach out to other bloggers in your niche.

Comment on their posts and social media accounts, even send them an occasional email to say hi, ask a question, or get some feedback.

However, make sure that your comments actually provide value and provide useful input, otherwise, you’re just a spammer…

11. Start A Blog To Share Your Photographs

Are you a photographer? There’s no better way to show off your amazing skills than by starting a photography blog.

It’s the perfect way for potential customers to see your portfolio and personality.

Starting a photography blog increases the reach of your marketing efforts at a VERY low cost.

Search engines and people love blogs. Why pay for online traffic when you can get it for free?

Your blog is also a terrific lead generation tool. By adding a contact form and pricing information to your blog, you know that you’re getting highly qualified leads to your email inbox.

12. Start A Blog To Master A Skill

The absolute best way to master any skill is to teach someone else how to do it.

Just think about it…

When you teach a concept or skill to another person, you really have to know what you’re teaching. Spend a few minutes right now writing a note to teach someone how to send an email.

You have to know all the steps, all the things to watch out for, and I’ll bet you have a few tricks to make it go faster.

Plus, once you share that knowledge with the other person, they will have questions that you may not have considered, increasing your knowledge even further.

So if there’s a skill you truly want to master, start a blog on that skill. You’ll be amazed at how fast you become the sought after expert!

13. Start A Blog To Teach Others How To Cook And Eat

Recipe and nutrition blogs are the hottest niches out there right now in my personal opinion.

If you love to cook and want to share that passion with others, then it’s time to get out there and start a cooking blog.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a meat eater or a vegan, people want to learn about health and nutrition.

Honestly, most of the cookbooks I’ve bought over the last 2 years have been from bloggers.

While I still like a good hard cover cookbook, when I’m looking for a new recipe, I turn to recipe bloggers.

Cookbooks are limited in space so they can’t include step-by-step pictures like you can on your blog.

You can include videos and links to buy your recommended products – and you can still sell your cookbook.

And once again, if you want to learn to be a better cook, there’s no better way than that to start a blog.

You’ll help so many people eat healthier, become better bakers, and inspire others to learn to cook for themselves.

14. Start A Blog To Express Your Creativity.

Are you the creative type who needs an outlet to share all that love?

Then why not start a blog to share your art. It could be painting, drawing, filmmaking, singing, scrapbooking, and a million other things.

Whatever your creative outlet, a blog is a perfect way to share it.

Here’s just one example…

If you’re a painter and would like to sell your work, a blog is a wonderful way to get your paintings out there and start making sales.

You see, search engines like google still can’t read images and pictures the way they can text, so by writing a blog post along with your painting, you will attract more viewers.

And for me personally, understanding the story behind a work of art helps me to connect with the art on a more intimate level. Emotion and feelings are the real reason we buy these things after all – because they make us feel something. So adding a story to your painting can make the difference between a casual glance from a viewer and a customer.

15. Start A Blog For Your Emotional Health

Sharing our thoughts feelings and emotions with a blog can be a much better alternative to paying tons of money for counseling!

Research has shown that writing and other creative outlets actually boosts our immune system, helps us sleep better, and even improves memory.

Not only that, blogging requires commitment, time, and dedication – all life skills that will make you a better, stronger, healthier person.

It will improve your writing and communications skills allowing you to express your want and needs in a healthier manner.

If you’re a bit “antisocial”, blogging can be a safe place to reach out publicly and slowly, gradually build your confidence and self-esteem while reducing social anxiety.

If that seems too much for you, start blogging with an alias to protect your privacy. Just get out there and do it!

16. Start A Blog To Share Your Political Views

Are you tired of getting bashed on Facebook for your political views?

Start your own blog where you can attract like minded people who share your views.

It’s a place where you can all openly discuss your viewpoints without all of the unwanted negative feedback.

You can express your political views free from censorship.

Remember, it’s your blog and you can ban anyone you choose and no one can ban you.

17. Start A Family Blog

A family blog allows you to share information, pictures, and videos with your family and relatives.

It can be public or private and you have full control over those settings.

It could be set up as a repository of all of your family memories including images, recipes, life events, and even ancestral records.

Think of it as a Wikipedia page for your family history.

18. Start a Nonprofit Blog For Charity

Feel strongly about a cause? Mine is puppies.

Start a blog to help and support your cause, to share events, and raise money.

Blogging has the ability to reach an incredibly large audience and actually connect with them.

You can collect emails where you can share the latest news and raise money for upcoming events.

As with all charitable organizations, your nonprofit blog is a tax write off.

There’s even a special domain extension for non-profits blogs – it’s the .org extension, so make sure you use that one.

19. Start A Fitness Blog To Get In Shape

Starting a blog about fitness is a great way to get in shape and stay motivated with your workout plan.

Maybe you’re starting a new workout program…

Blog about your progress from day to day and share your results.

Invite other people to contribute and share their struggles and results.

You’ll be amazed at how fast your community grows, especially if you are a real person who does not look like a supermodel.

People want and need to know that they are not alone in their struggles and when they see someone who already looks perfect, yes they want to look like that person, but it’s not always believable for them. If you’re a real person going through the pain and struggle yourself, you can truly help others by sharing what you learn along the way – what works and what doesn’t, etc.

I hope I’ve inspired you to start a blog today and want to hear your unusual reasons for starting a blog. Leave a comment and share your stories.

Need help starting your blog?

Then jump on our next FREE webcast workshop that’s going to show you how I generate 6 figures a year blogging only 90 minutes per day.

You can sign up for FREE for the next one by clicking here!

Thanks for taking the time to stop and read my blog.

Yours For Prosperity,

Anthony Aires

source https://anthonyaires.com/5034/19-reasons-to-start-a-blog-today/

How To Start A Blog

How To Find A Great Apartment

Better to make an entire phrase a link instead of just a keyword

 

 

source https://anthonyaires.com/4990/how-to-find-a-great-apartment/

178 Internet Marketing Tips, Tactics and Techniques

178 Internet Marketing Tips, Tactics and Techniques
By Anthony Aires

Have you ever wished someone would do all of the “research” for you so you could just cut to the chase? I know I have. There have been many times I’d like to not waste hours of my life sifting through low-quality articles and blog posts to find the occasional gem.
 
If only someone else had written this article for me to read a long time ago. Fortunately, I’m gonna save you the trouble of getting double vision from staring at your computer screen trying to find some good internet marketing reads. 

Below you’ll find some great “tips based” blog posts that are filled with meaty ideas.

Some of these authors you’ve probably heard of, some you might not have heard of.

All deserve to be included for providing some golden nuggets in their content.

27 Ways To Get Your Blog Readers To Comment/ By Nicole Dean/ http://nicoleonthenet.com/2008/blog-readers-commen/

21 Ways to Add More Subscribers/ By Terry Dean/ http://www.terrydean.org/21-ways-to-add-more-subscribers/

10 Free Ways To Drive Traffic To A Brand New Website/ By Lynn Terry/ http://www.clicknewz.com/633/traffic-tips-for-new-sites

100 Free Blogging Tips/ By Sue Gunelius / https://www.lifewire.com/free-blog-tips-3476700

5 Simple Ways To Increase Click Through Rates/ By Zac Johnson/ http://zacjohnson.com/5-simple-ways-to-increase-click-through-rates/

5 Simple Steps To Effectively Promote Your Affiliate Products/ By Charlie Page/ http://charliepage.com/15-ways-to-promote-affiliate-products-part-1/

10 HUGE Mistakes You Must Avoid When Building Your Email List/ By Anthony Aires/ https://anthonyaires.com/4799/top-10-list-building-mistakes/

I hope you enjoyed this resource blog post and make use of some of the amazing tips, tactics, and techniques you’ll find here.

source https://anthonyaires.com/4941/178-internet-marketing-tips-tactics-and-techniques/