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Module: 9

Way of Building a Brand

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It's one thing to have a personal style blog - almost everyone and their mother has one, because most

platforms are free to use and easy to start - however it's quite another to strategically use that platform

in such a way that it generates income. In order to do this, you must master the art of branding. Although

massively important, it's usually the step that is most often skipped.

How do you want your fashion blog to be remembered? Branding your blog is crucial to its success

because it guarantees that it will stand out time and again. The more your blog stands out, the more

likely you are to attract and retain visitors. Moreover, developing your brand is vital in that it goes hand

in hand with crafting your point of view and personal voice. It can also help you determine what you

would like your growth strategy to be and where you want to take your vision.

While visuals are a key component to any successful fashion blog, you may still encounter stumbling

blocks when attempting to build an engaged audience. Logos are a great addition to your brand.

However, they do not make the brand itself entirely. Blog visitors are more sophisticated than ever, so

for brands to make an impact, no matter which platform you use, you must give the audience something

more than just pretty pictures. It is one of the critical elements that will help you create a long-term

business model for yourself. For this reason, it's important that your message be strong and consistent.

So how can you tap into your own unique brand?

Throughout this first module, you will learn…

9.1 Brand Story

9.2 Brand Yourself

9.3 Becoming Business Minded

9.4 Timing is Everything

9.5 Consistency is Key

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9.1 Brand Story

Your brand is communicated in everything you do, no matter if you realize it or not. To begin, you

must first determine the goal or the vision that you have for your blog. You'll want to spend time

developing the story, mission, and purpose behind your blog, so don't rush this process. Overall,

there are two main components to crafting a successful brand story

Voice

Core Message or Purpose

Always remember that your brand is the face of your fashion business. So make sure it is on point.

9.1.1 Brand Voice

It doesn't matter how beautiful your blog is to look at, if you haven't developed a good central story

or voice, no one will feel invested in your blog. The best brands have always been built around great

stories. What exactly is your brand story and how will it help craft your specific voice?

A brand story isn't just what you are telling people about you, but it's also what they personally

believe. Facts, feelings and interpretations are all elements that help project the story or voice that

you're trying to project. The more personalized you can make your story, the more people will feel

invested in your product, i.e. your blog.

No two people use the same tone, or use the same verbiage when they talk. Your voice is the single

most unique factor in projecting your brand image in the way that you want. Do not underestimate

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the power of your voice. Your brand voice is like a great recipe. If you don't make your recipe

individual, it can end up tasting like everything else that's out there, bland and stale, and you

definitely don't want that! Getting the vocal ingredient down, will also dictate what other brand

elements are needed, to help make sure your blog is a success. So work hard to find your voice, and

then create your recipe, i.e. your blog, around that voice.

To help develop your blog's voice, here are some important questions that you want to ask yourself.

How would you describe the personality of your brand in 5-10 adjectives?

How would your audience describe your brand's current personality in 5-10 adjectives? (Note: If just

starting, you may want to survey friends and family for their opinion of your blog)

When your audience visits your blog, what adjectives would you want them to use to describe your blog

site's personality?

If you could describe your brand as a public figure, who would that person be?

What brand voices do you dislike? (Examples: Stale, authoritative, one note)

What brand voices do you like? (Fun, honest, flirty, clever)

Are there any companies that have a similar voice style to the one you want to convey? Who are they?

Starting to answer these questions will be huge in helping you to discover the voice of your brand.

Once these questions are answered, you will be able to name your blog, figure out design and color

schemes, and writing your blog posts will become much more seamless, because you know what

your audience wants.

9.1.2 Core Message

Your core message or purpose should not be confused with voice. For example, one can be funny,

sarcastic and sweet. But their purpose in life can be to be an educator, or a doctor, a leader, or

motivator.

Your fashion blog should serve a specific purpose. There are many different types of fashion blogs,

and it's your goal to figure out what niche your blog can fit in. You should begin by deciding what

function your blog serves. Is your blog about latest trends? Does it cater to a specific type of girl

(hipster, fashionista, hippie-chic, upscale, curvy women, etc.)? Will your delivery be more casual, or

conservative?

Once you've figured out who your blog is for, then you will have figured out one of the most

important elements - your demographic. Knowing this will also help you with crafting your voice. All

of these things are related. You can't have one without the other, in order to be successful. Here are

some things to consider to help you figure out what type of blog you should have.

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Which blog websites do you visit the most?

Which blog sites inspire you the most?

What are some fashion topics that you could write about often and not get bored?

What are your favorite blog topics?

What do you feel is missing in the blogging world of fashion that hasn't been discussed yet?

It's also critical that you stand for something. Think about what appeals to you, what's important to you,

and what is it that you want to say. Ultimately, you need to define what it is that you can bring to the

industry that no one else can.

Lastly, do not try to appeal to everyone. So you know what you what you want to say and the image you

would like to represent it.

Awesome. Now let's try to whittle it down even more. A lot of fashion bloggers fail because they are

trying to draw in too broad of an audience. Don't follow the pack. Stand out. Trying to mold your

voice to fit the trend might give you short-term results, but it doesn't do much for your long-term

growth as a blogger and brand.

9.2 Branding Yourself

It is more important than ever to learn how to brand yourself. There are over 1 billion names

searched on Google everyday - so unless you've been living under a rock, you've been Google'd.

And so will your site. What people find there, can possibly affect how they do business with you

going forward.

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You might think that you've done every PR trick in the book, but the reality is you can always do

more. You've got to think outside of the box and get creative. No matter how strong your messaging

is, or how well designed your site is, you are your strongest asset. You are your own best brand.

There are five steps to effectively branding yourself as a fashion blogger.

Become an expert

Target Your Brand

Create a Communications Plan

Control Your Google Results

Get Feedback

9.2.1 Become an Expert

Expert - it seems like a scary and intimidating word, but actually anyone can become an expert in

their chosen field. You may be thinking, how do I become an expert if I'm just starting? It's actually a

lot easier than you think. As mentioned before, thinking outside of the box is key. Here are four fun

and easy ways that you can become an expert in your field. You'll be able to add credentials to your

resume, and hopefully gain new loyal followers along the way.

Teach a Class - Before you get nervous, just know that it's not necessary to have a degree to teach.

Nowadays, you can teach a topic on just about anything. You can teach locally, at a community college,

for instance, or online. Since you have your fashion blog, you should think about some fashion topics that

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you can confidently teach about. Do some digging, Googling, and see what others are doing. If you've

your successfully operating a blog with high readership, you could even teach a class about successful

blogging. Get creative!

Guest Blog - Guest blogging is great because it allows you to position yourself in front of a new audience

that may not be familiar with you. By doing a guest blog, in exchange with another fellow blogging

fashionista, you can also build up your audience. Start by researching some publications or online sites

that you can write for, and pitch them your ideas. As always, focus on educating the audience, and not

selling your brand.

Join The Speaker Circuit - If you've been doing some networking, then you are likely familiar with

some conferences or fashion related events taking place near you. Why just resign yourself to sitting in

the audience? Research the panels taking place, and pitch yourself as a speaker.

Get Connected - Networking will be covered more specifically in other modules. But try looking at other

ways that you can meet people besides industry mixers. Meetup.com is a wonderful site designed to get

you connected with other people who share your same goals, visions and ideas. Look to see what sort of

fashion related meetups you can join. You may also want to join other business clubs that aren't

necessarily fashion related, to expand your knowledge in entrepreneurship.

9.2.1 Target Your Brand

Once you've identified your personal brand, the characteristics and qualities that make you

passionate and authentic, you definitely want to pinpoint your target market. Discovering your target

market will position your skill sets and talent in the best way possible to attract more viewers to your

blog.

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Determine Your Target - As you are crafting your personal story, you want to think about who this

blog is for. You need to have a very specific idea in mind about who your demographic is. Your

demographic represents age, sex, and income of your potential visitors. Knowing these key

elements can help you determine what your style should be. It's important to note that you

shouldn't try to mold your style, purpose or tone to fit into one particular demographic. However, it

can help give you some ideas about how to best convey the message you would like.

Identify Your Competition - Understanding your competition is key towards discovering your

personal brand. By knowing your competition's core competencies, you can better position yourself

to fit your audience's needs. Take time to visit some sites of blogs that fit into the demographic you

are trying to reach. See what language they use. If it doesn't fit what you're trying to do, then you

may want to reconsider who your particular demographic is.

Craft a Brand Statement - Based upon your core messaging, and the above steps, you will now be

able to create a 1-2 sentence statement that best captures who you are, what you do and what

makes you different.

9.2.3 Create a Communications Plan

If you're going to be a blogger, it's crucial that you figure out which social media platforms to utilize

that will help you encapsulate your brand the best. There are dozens on the market and it can be

overwhelming keeping track of them all. Take the time to research which ones are the most effective

and bring the best value towards your blog.

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9.4.4 Control Google Results

If someone were to search "fashion blogger," where would your blog or name come up in the Google

search? If you don't know, then it's time to get serious about manipulating your Google results. It's

also crucial that you clean up any potential negativity that could be out there about you. Your goal

should be to have your blog show up on the first page of Google, or as close to the first page as

possible.

Developing a Web Presence - If you're blogging, you already have a presence. But you should also be

utilizing other social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook and InstaGram. There's even

BrandYourself.com, a do it yourself platform that allows you create profiles and optimize them so you

rank high.

Ranking Content Higher - If you have plenty of content, but it seems to be getting buried in Google

pages, then you want to master the art of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). By utilizing certain

keywords in your blog posts, it allows your content to be searched faster and more often, pushing you

closer towards the first page of Google.

Burying Bad Content - Sometimes you have the opposite problem, and you may need to clean up stuff

from your past. Unfortunately, it's not as simple as deleting bad posts. Once it's out on the Internet, it's

there. But you can manipulate it, by creating more positive links. You can submit multiple positive links

to BrandYourself.com.

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9.2.5 Get Feedback

You will never know how to improve your branding, if you aren't constantly getting feedback. You

can actually ask people directly how they see you, or you can listen to what they say when they are

introducing you to other people. Ask them what your top brand attributes, and core strengths are. If

they can easily identify them, then you know what your personal brand is. If they can't, then you

know you've got some work to do. You can also set up polls on your website, asking your viewers

specific things. You shouldn't ask them to identify your brand, but you can get feedback on things

like website design, topics the audience would like to see covered, and so on.

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9.3 Becoming Business Minded

Cultivating a business mindset is crucial if you expect to achieve long-term success. You must think

strategically if you want to build a small business infrastructure. Not everyone naturally has as

business mind. Oftentimes bloggers are highly creative, which is a good thing, but the business

aspects, which aren't as fun, need to be developed. But if you follow the steps listed below, you will

be well on your way towards building that business mindset.

Think about Making Money - this one is interesting because oftentimes people will tell you not to get

into a business, just solely for that goal. However, if you want to move beyond hobbyist, it's important to

think about your blog making money and taking actionable steps towards that goal. Knowing that this is

moving beyond a hobby level may require a higher level of blog development, in order to move to a

higher level of income.

Think For Yourself - Don't allow the industry, experts, or others to control your destiny. It's good to get

advice from professionals, but there will be times where you need to trust your instincts for things

concerning your business. Always brainstorm and research on your own before asking for help. This will

ensure that you ask better questions, if you've done the appropriate research beforehand.

Be Strategic With Business Activity - Before taking any job, or attending a networking event, it's

important to know what exactly you want to achieve from that event or business move. Think about

what results you want to achieve from any business activity that you invest time in. Always ask the

question "is this in line with where I want the blog to go?"

Know What Your Financial Needs Are - This is probably the least fun of all. But you must know all of

your financial stats in order to see how your blog connects to profitability. Calculate your cash flow,

profit margin, competitive advantage, sales goals and key profit indicators to help get you into that

financial mindset.

Understand Your Emotional Ties - Knowing how emotionally invested you are into your blog will help

you break the personal barriers you have, that may be preventing you from doing what you say you're

going to do when it comes to the business aspects of your blog. Whenever you're feeling emotional,

write down your feeling, and what triggered it. The more you do this, the more you will recognize when

emotions are keeping you from doing good business.

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