I recently had a discussion about branding with Paul Love, who’s a real estate representative (among other things), and is getting ready to launch a new blog focused on his real estate business. Why did we discuss branding? All to often I find people who confuse branding with logos, colours, tag lines, names, etc. Many seem not to realize that these visual things are of themselves, not branding. Instead they are tools and features of branding. Things such as logos are used to identify your branding. You can have the best logo in the world, but if your brand is terrible, that’s what people will understand when they see your logo on a blog. In some cases I have seen blogs with horrid logs, colours, etc. that are very successful. Why? Because they had overwhelmingly great branding popularity and trust, so much so that it negated the effects of poor quality graphics, colours, etc.!

In my opinion, the best type of branding for home sales professionals is Personal Branding. Much in the same way we like a certain waitress, mechanic, etc. the same applies – We like them because of their branding. Branding that is service, quality, etc. Personally I have obtained services from another company when a person moved there – In other words, I retained the services of another company when the individual who’s personal brand I like moved to that company. Did this individual have a logo, colours, etc.? No, not in this case! But she did have my trust, I liked her and  everyone knew her (as she was a gregarious professional). In some ways her new employer benefited by having her high quality brand associated with their business (and therefore the logo along with it).

So it seems that personal branding as reflected on a blog needs to accomplish three things:

1. Build awareness.
2. Build trust.
3. Build popularity.

For those of us who are savvy web users, you’ve probably heard of the Duct Tape Marketing site, John Jantsch phrases it best in the following video:

As such, your blog graphics (like logos) again are for the most part only there to identify the brand – They are not “the” brand. However while we’re on the topic of logos, don’t misconstrue the importance they can have on your brand. If you’re known for high quality service and attention to detail, your logo must reflect this! A poor quality logo that lacks professionalism demonstrates low quality service and indifference – Quite the opposite to the brand it’s supposed to identify.

When impressing your brand upon your blog, it’s important to consider the exercise suggested by Mr. Jantsch in the video. Make sure you ask as many clients as possible (he suggests 20) to use one word – ONLY ONE – to describe your business. Ostensibly,  if most agree, that defines a pillar of your brand, that should be reflected and focused in every element of your blog. If there is little correlation in the words, then that’s a call to action to work further on defining your brand.

While we know what three primary accomplishments our branding must bring to fruition (on any blog); what things can be focus on (blog wise) so as to ensure effective blog branding? In my opinion, the following points are paramount:

Personality is one method to develop rapport with visitors (who are potential clients). By being personal, you are showing visitors who you are and demonstrating your positive branding. Don’t misunderstand personal in terms of photos and professional biographies. By personal, I’m referring to giving advice, helping others, demonstrating your positive personality in your writing style, developing trust and so forth.

Consistency demonstrates a genuine brand. Constantly changing focus makes it difficult to establish a trustful, personal rapport with clients; and over the long term can erode your blog branding (reduced popularity).  Don’t get me wrong here… Every blog changes to meet the needs of the people it serves, that’s normal. We change over time as well (as we get older, wiser, etc.) and that maturing process is naturally reflected in our brand. Every thing we post in our blogs reflects our brand, we can elevate it or bring it crashing down. Have you ever seen a business you like  being bought out and then see that business become unpopular as service or quality levels deteriorate? That’s the power of negative branding due to loss of consistency.

Trust is the way to garner improved branding awareness and business opportunities. If your blog constantly spews “blog-positive” type content, it’s going to look as fake as a spray-on tan.  From personal experience I generally only retain or prefer the services and products of businesses with whom I have a personal rapport and trust relationship; with one key person! Your blog must reflect this, be direct, explain what you do or do not provide. Provide content that shows successful and not so successful aspects of your business. For less than successful scenarios, show readers how you approach and help them resolve issues and how that helps their interests.

Leadership and expertise in your genre needs to be earned and in many respects, seized! Nobody is going to give you leadership, sure you can earn it, but unless you seize that owned leadership (and expertise), nobody is going to place that crown upon you. Demonstrate your expertise with helpful, in-demand, driven content to your readers. Always try to ensure that you show some original thought. Don’t hesitate to give useful information freely. Think away the box instead of thinking outside the box – Remember the old cliché: “A very pretty box with a bow but nothing inside.”

Finally, there are some important steps to consider prior to launching a “branded” blog.

• Write a plan on how you would like to be perceived by your visitors. How do they perceive you now? Did you do the exercise suggested in the video yet?
• Look at the blogs that you keep visiting regularly. Why do you return to read from them? What features of branding do they use that appeal to you and illicit a call to action?
• Develop your 2 second commercial (blog tagline). It might not be as easy as you expect as it will immediately focus your branding.
• Talk to your existing or potential visitors, find out what they want to see more of or less of. Get their input – I’ll remind us again that our blog readers are our potential and existing clients!
• Who is going to respond to blog reader questions? How is communication going to be effectively managed?

As a side note: I emailed Mr. Love a simple, singular question that asked:

“What do you want your visitors to do on your blog?”

The understanding (I hope being transmitted)  was “If you cannot answer this question, exactly and to the point, then how do you expect visitors to know what to do. If they don’t know what to do, then there’s an obvious negative impact to your personal brand.

What do you think of personal branding? How do you view it on your blog? How has branding improved your blogging? Feel free to provide your input it the comments. Do you know of any blogs that demonstrate great branding? Please do list them in your comments!