How to Make Your Blog a Brand

by My Web Writers

Your blog is made up of much more than the words which appear on each post. It’s made up of colors, logos, themes and the interaction you have with your readers. Once you’ve committed to launching your blog, don’t stop short of building continuing to build it into a brand. A brand has the power to communicate across posts and resonate within seconds with your readers. It is a critical differentiation between what turns a good blog into a great blog. Here are four essential starting points for turning your blog into a full blown brand – and it begins with some of the most basic details:

Choose a Signature Image & Color Scheme

One of the most essential ways to help brand your blog with your audience is to establish a signature image and color scheme. A signature image could be a logo, but it doesn’t have to be. It could also be a photo of something that represents the theme of your blog, maybe a pen and paper for example or it could be the initials of the blog’s name. If you’re choosing to brand the blog by your own name, consider using a head shot of yourself as the signature image to which readers can relate. As for the colors, this alone can define a blog. Think about your writing style, the topics you’ll be covering and the audience you’ll most likely be reaching. All of these factors will impact whether you choose a color scheme that is bright, upbeat and cheery or a color scheme that is dark, more professional and serious. Overall, your signature image and color scheme should become an extension of your brand and provide an accurate preview as to what readers can expect to find if they choose to read on.

 Develop Specific Themes

 When building a readership for your blog, you should narrow your topics enough to maintain the interest of your core audience. Ideally a blog should have 1-3 core topics with no more than five.  An example might include a blog which themes are Business & Success, Entrepreneurship and Social Media. All three of these topics easily intertwine but are also broad enough to allow for wide range of writing for years to come. What should be avoided is blog posts that jump around from reviews of television shows to talking about household chores and tips for job searching. These are too broad and unrelated to pull in a loyal audience that will be interested in what you write week after week. This also greatly hinders your ability to build a well-defined brand.

 Name Your Blog – And Use It

 Once you define your themes, what you should name your blog will become much clearer. A name should be short and creative above all else. If it is too long or unmemorable, it will be difficult to brand your blog with your audience by its name. You simply won’t use it – it won’t stick. Why is a name so important? Just as after so long our names begin to define a part of our personality and how others refer to us, the same is true for your blog. And just as knowing a name has the ability to turn a stranger into a familiar friend, as your readers connect with your blog and remember it by its name it too will become a familiar friend. Spend some time (but not too much) in this area and really give thought to your blog’s name. Choose something that’s meaningful to you and allows you to take ownership of it and then be sure to always refer to your blog by its chosen name!

 Create Blog-Specific Social Media Accounts

Your personal social media accounts are a great starting point for marketing your blog, but after a while your blog will be ready for its own social media accounts and ability to recruit its own network. Facebook and Twitter are great for blogs because you can promote every single post to people who might not yet be subscribers and reach a massive audience. This also allows you a platform for which you can start a discussion, ask for input or seek guest bloggers. The importance in separating your personal social media from your blog’s social media is that this allows your blog’s social media accounts to be solely dedicated to promoting its content and nothing else. You can and should still continue to promote your blog on your personal pages, but ultimately drive this traffic to your blog’s Facebook or Twitter accounts. A final benefit to doing this is that it allows you to design your blog-specific pages with the signature image, color scheme and name and provides additional ways to be found in search engines.

These core steps provide a great start toward branding your blog. With an easily identifiable brand, you will be better equipped to draw in new visitors and build a loyal reader base. The bottom-line of any effective branding is to remain clear and consistent so that your readers can form a relationship. With this relationship, you and your blog will become like a good friend they look forward to hearing from week after week.

~Stephanie

Social Media TMI – To Share or Not to Share?

by My Web Writers

We’ve all experienced it. A business or blog shares a status update that gives away information far too personal to be relevant to furthering its mission or brand. The line between making your business’s social media feel personable and treating it like a diary is becoming more and more blurred. With many contradicting opinions regarding the level of personal information a business should share on social media, how do you know what’s appropriate for you and your network? The most honest answer is that this all depends upon your target audience, the brand you’re trying to create and the industry you work in. The easy answer is that there are some go-to guidelines that exist which can help you stay on the safe side on social media “oversharing.” They look something like this:

When to Share:

Think of 5 ranging characteristics of your fans or followers (oldest, youngest, male, female, career field, personal hobbies). Is what you’re about to post likely to appeal to 3 or more of these characteristics? If so, that information will be of interest to a significant portion of your audience and should be posted.

Is this something you want absolutely everyone knowing? Remember, depending on your network of followers this can include former bosses, teachers, relatives (including grandparents) and young children. If the information you’re sharing is something you could comfortably tell any of these people face-to-face, then it sounds like content that is both personal and professional. Share away!

Can you easily link the post back to your brand or mission statement? Strategically, your business should have a clearly defined mission statement and your blog should have a theme. Both of these affect the brand you’re trying to create. To be sure your social media isn’t getting off track by getting too personal, ask yourself, “Does what I’m about to post align with my mission statement or theme?” If yes, this is good content to share.

Even though it’s personal, is it also professional? Personal and professional are often opposing forces in life and in social media. You never want to risk your professional image on your business or blog’s profiles in an attempt to share overly personal information to spark a discussion. Surprisingly, a middle ground between the two can be found when you share a personal comment, photo or story that sheds a positive and professional light on your business and the people who work there.

When Not to Share:

Could it be considered SPAM? If you’re something from a mass email, a stock image or a plea to support your friend in a fundraiser, many members of your network may be annoyed and view this as SPAM. These are examples of items you should consider sharing only on your personal page. We all know how difficult it can be to grow your fans and followers. It’s not worth losing their social media loyalty by inundating them with frequent posts unrelated to your brand.

Is it unrelated to your blog or business? If you want to share a photo of your family enjoying a weekend outing, but it has nothing to do with your business or your brand, save it for your personal page where only family and close friends can enjoy it. You don’t want followers to be confused as to whether this is your business or personal page, so keep those lines very clear. Personal photos can be shared on your business’s page, but connect it back to your company’s mission statement with a relevant caption that would interest readers and help them learn something new.

Could it make someone feel uncomfortable? The last thing you want to do is to share something on your business’s page that could offend, annoy or turn off any member of your network enough to make them stop following you. You want to make your audience feel engaged, welcomed and inspired. If what you want to share has the potential to do the opposite of any of these, it’s better left unsaid or shared privately on your personal page.

Now that you have some clear guidelines to identifying posts that might be too personal for social media, you can continue to confidently market your business or blog on Facebook and Twitter without the worry of “Am I oversharing?” The key for businesses to effectively harness the power of social media to further their brand is to keep it personal enough that people gain an insight into the people behind the company name, but maintain respect and a professional impression of what your brand stands for.

~Stephanie

Cyber Bullying Vs. Constructive Criticism: Spotting the Difference

by My Web Writers

Social media is a platform for discussion, sharing opinions and learning from others, so it’s no surprise that this also brings a mix of positive and negative comments. For a business, this open and welcoming arena for customer feedback is a way in which you can learn some very valuable information. Even if you receive the occasional complaint or concern, it’s a prime opportunity to address it publicly allowing other customers to also see your level of responsiveness and care for their opinion. But what if a negative comment becomes more than just constructive criticism?

Cyber bullying is a real and growing issue on social media and businesses are not immune. If you feel like you’re being harassed via social media, you’re not alone. Here are several critical ways in which you can tell the difference between constructive criticism and cyber bulling and handle each situation with class:

Constructive Criticism:

 Construction Criticism is most commonly provided by the customer with the intent to alert you to a problem and allow you the opportunity to address it. This may be in the form of a question or an opinion, but in either case it should encourage and allow for your response.  For example, a comment such as, “I don’t like the new WordPress homepage because it requires all users to sign in before they can browse blogs. Is there a way around this?” is indeed negative. But it states a valid opinion and asks an open-ended question encouraging the company to chime in. A comment like this can easily be addressed in a positive and kind way by the company.  Even if the answer you provide isn’t exactly what the person wanted to hear, simply how you handle the complaint can be the difference between keeping and losing a customer.

 How to Handle the Situation:

Always acknowledge the criticism. Sure, social media accounts provide you with the power to delete posts as you wish, but deleting constructive criticism from your network is like hanging up the phone during a customer service call – only worse.  Chances are at least a few other people will notice that you took “editor’s rights” and not to mention how it will only anger the person who shared their opinion more.  Whenever you receive constructive criticism, address is quickly and honestly. Make the response personal, not canned, and always give the customer some way to reach you if they want to talk person-to-person. You never know how many other people have the same complaint and by answering one you are actually addressing quite a few potential customers. Plus this speaks volume for your level of customer service!

Cyber Bullying:

Cyber bullying differs from constructive criticism is that its intent is not to seek a solution to a problem or solicit your input, but is more malicious. Posts might contain inaccurate information, invalid claims or offensive language. When this happens, the customer’s feedback has shifted from constructive to destructive. Another sign to look for is that the same complaint or claim is posted again and again (even after addressed) and begins to take the form of harassment. In any of these cases, the feedback serves to damage you or your business and must be handled carefully so as not to aggravate the problem or cause negative consequences.

How to Handle the Situation:

Sometimes even cyber bullying can be addressed with a direct reply offering a solution or the opportunity to discuss the issue. But in cases where the “bully” simply does not want an answer, only the right to rant, an alternative approach might be needed.  If any of the content contains offensive language, this is grounds for removal. You can send the customer a note letting them know why it was removed and encourage a more professional conversation. If the content isn’t outright offensive, but is invalid or untruthful, reply directly with accurate information so that the rest of your network can take note, as well. Finally, don’t give in to back and forth bickering. Attempt to diffuse the situation in a positive and professional light and then let it go. Even if this cyber bully isn’t likely to ever change his opinion or become a future customer, addressing the issue and putting an end to the negative posts is critical in maintaining the integrity and reputation of your business.

Of course, if you’re going to humorously rant on a business’ Facebook page like Richard did with Bodyform, it is fair game for the business to use your words in its next publicity slogan. Check out the below video that Bodyform created as a response.  It’s gone viral.

Where do you draw the line between constructive criticism and bullying?

~Stephanie

Party Crashers App Embraces Digital Marketing and the American Dream

By My Web Writers

The Great Gatsby was always one of my favorite novels.  Do you remember the theme – about the disillusionment of the American Dream? Gatsby had such a sensational, idealistic heart, but he loved the girl who was married to old money.  He hosted party after party hoping that one day she’d happen upon his scene and be impressed with his self-made fortune.  Maybe, just maybe, his fortune would buy her love.

If only Gatsby had an iPhone with the Party Crashers app.  The rewrite would give F. Scott Fitzgerald goose bumps.  Modern day Gatsby wants to meet the girl, but how?  He downloads the Party Crashers app and connects with facebook friends.  He knows the girl hangs out with some of his friends, so he indicates that he’s hosting a party at his West Egg mansion and – it’s crashable.  Daisy sees that Tom, Jordan, and her other friends are going and bringing bathing suits, so she requests to “crash the party”.  Gatsby accepts and asks for her drink and music preferences.

Besides creating amazing story lines, the Party Crashers app hopes to stand out among the 696,054 other active Apple apps available for download today.  My Web Writers caught up with Keith Bansemer, who helped to manage Party Crashers’ development, and asked him to answer a few questions about the app’s purpose, development, and marketing:

1. What is the Party Crashers App?

Party Crashers gives party hosts the option of creating events that are either private or public.  Those invited to attend are asked to hype the party in advance by sharing a rating about their excitement for the party to start.  Party goers flip through party details to see which of their friends are attending, what their favorite drinks are, what to wear, what kind of music will be played, activities at the party, and more. Party hosts are able to manage their RSVPs and review the party profiles of their guests.

For those not invited to a party listed as crashable, a Party Crasher app user can send a personal message to the party host and request an invite to crash the party.  If the crash request is accepted, directions and a map to the party will be made available.  A positive response is an open invitation to join the fun as a party crasher and meet new friends.

By applying gold “Celebrity Spotting” stars in the app, attendees alert others when celebrities make appearances at parties.

Details of what is happening at a party can be shared on other social platforms including Facebook and Twitter.

Party Crashers displays five main menu options including My Parties, Plan Party, Find Party, Account, and fellow Party Crashers’ Alerts.  When the party is over, attendees rate each party and provide feedback through the Morning After Report noting what happened at the party.

2. Who came up with Party Crashers and why do you think it’ll be successful?

Shep Moyle, who owns the party supplies store, Shindigz, is Party Crashers’ idea guy.  He co-founded Party Crashers with his children – Madison, Chase, Max, (who are all under 21 years old) and his wife, Wendy Moyle.  Shep’s driven to make life more fun for others.  He loves the concept of friends moving beyond texting into actual, face-to-face interactions.

Party Crashers will be successful because it provides a way for people to discover, interact during, and rate parties in real time.

3.  Tell us about the process involved in developing an app. 

The app took almost a year to plan.  The concept moved from an outline of app actions, wireframes, design mockups, navigation flowcharts, to FINALLY coding.  After coding for Apple iOS, we move to Android, which uses different code.  In the end, both platforms perform like twins.

4.  How is Party Crashers using digital marketing?

Parties are social and the spreading the word about this app will be largely grassroots – just like Facebook started at one college and spread rapidly.  We have college teams in place to spread the word about the app.  Our enthusiastic twenty-something’s are planted on many US college campuses, right now.

Everyone in business holds a personal computer – their mobile device – with access to all the data in the world.  Today, we live two lives, the one with the people we are physically with and the virtual life with people we are connected to anywhere on the planet.  Party Crashers helps to take information about parties, including which ones are best, seeking Crashers, and have celebs, and invites people to gather.  In the end, digital brings us back together to find good times, meet new people, celebrate, and create lasting memories.

We’ve done it with company meetings already.  The employees have gathered at a “work party” like a training meeting and used the app to rate that gathering.

 5.  What makes content successful when marketing an app?

What’s nice about this app is that the users generate the content.  They load the parties, spot the celebs, spread the news, and rate the parties. This content is valuable in real time for all looking for a party to crash.

6.  Is Party Crashers marketing through other media?

We are using all social media channels.  We’re also utilizing flyers, t-shirts, newspaper articles, interviews, and soon – some radio.

7.  When will you know the app is successful?

When it becomes a “New & Noteworthy” app listed by Apple or a household name – the next Pinterest!

8.  What advice would you give to those in charge of promoting an app?

Social media is key.  Add links to your apps via all of the social media channels.  Spread the word one-by-one.  Seek the exponential tipping point where the number of app downloads hit the top of “trending” charts.

Party Crashers Lives the Dream

Somewhere there’s a rewrite of the American Dream or at least, the way the world parties, waiting to happen.  The Moyle family is patiently waiting for Party Crashers to be discovered.  Will the public love their app?  Party Crashers could build a few, white picket fences.

Coincidentally, a new version of The Great Gatsby movie does come out May 2013, however if you have an iPhone, you can download the Party Crashers app today to create your own Gatsby/ Party Crashers moment this weekend.

~Jean

Politics and Your Business: Should Your Content Be Left, Right, or Center?

by My Web Writers

In the age of the Internet and increasing globalization, many companies are finding that word-of-mouth and consumer feedback are critical to their businesses. Further, economic citizenship, the idea that the way a person spends his or her money has political relevance, holds more weight as consumers can easily learn a great deal about the business practices and political leanings of the companies from which they make purchases. As seen with some recent boycotts, mixing politics and business can have unintended consequences.

Politics & Partners

Earlier this year, JC Penny unintentionally became involved in a political uproar because of its partnership with Ellen DeGeneres. As spokeswoman, DeGeneres appeared in a number of TV ads for the company. In March, One Million Moms, a division of the American Family Association, orchestrated a boycott of the company unless JC Penny replaced DeGeneres, citing the comedienne’s sexuality and stance on marriage rights as a threat to traditional values. Neither JC Penny nor DeGeneres viewed their partnership as an endorsement of same-sex marriage by the company. Ultimately, One Million Moms called off the boycott. JC Penny’s case demonstrates how business decisions or partnerships that are not intended as political statements can be misconstrued or exploited for others’ agendas. JC Penny stood behind its decision, further showing that in the midst of a controversy, a company can still protect its integrity by refusing to engage with backlash. Each case is different, however, so should your company face a backlash of this type, considering your company’s values and the bottom-line of your public image should be top priority.

Taking a Stand

Other companies intentionally choose to take a stand. The clearest recent example, the kerfuffle over Chick-Fil-A, shows how the mixture of politics and business can lead to good and bad publicity. When Chick-Fil-A’s President Dan Cathy discussed his stance against same-sex marriage in an interview, a heated controversy followed, featuring a boycott of the company as well as a Chick-Fil-A support day. The debate centered upon the fried chicken company’s financial contributions to controversial organizations, First Amendment rights, and whether a chicken sandwich should be such a loaded symbol in the first place.

Currently, Hobby Lobby, another Christian company, faces challenges due to a lawsuit the craft store has filed, countering new mandates under President Obama’s health care program. Though Hobby Lobby and Chick-Fil-A have each garnered enormous amounts of press coverage—good and bad—from taking a stand, their struggles clearly demonstrate that before a company takes an explicit political stance or donates funds to political or religious organizations, it’s important to decide how important personal views are to the company and whether or not the risk to the bottom-line is worth it.

Avoiding Controversy: Left, Right, or Center?

For many companies, however, avoiding controversy altogether is the goal. In the especially politically charged climate of a contentious election year, one has to wonder if politics mix with business at all. Is there any reason for a company to have an overt political agenda or for the politics of the CEO to play a central role in the company’s image?

Know which issues are most sensitive to consumers: animal rights, labor conditions, equality, the  economy, and so on. Keep these issues in mind when you think about your company’s public relations or policies. The first step to avoiding an unwanted scandal is to keep abreast of the political climate of the time and think critically about your company’s core values. If there’s no logical reason for politics and your company to mix, perhaps it’s best to stick to what your company is really all about, whether it’s product quality or customer service.

~Kasey