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 ...

One issue I encounter from time to time, are individuals (or groups) who are keen to establish or improve their web logo, site or blog design, content, etc.  but have little or no experience in current web trends, online marketing strategies, effective web branding, graphic design, copy writing, etc. In many cases the development scenario plays very much like the video below: As I'm sure we can appreciate, humourous as the video may be, the end result is not the fault of the developer (or so we might initially think), rather the input of the clients. It's one thing to provide valuable input (and we should), it's quite another to assume command as if we are a graphic design or web development professional. Let's elaborate on some of the issues in this video the majority of which have been mirrored in actual projects I've worked on: Over analyzing. Too many cooks in the kitchen. Unrealistic time line expectations. Changing the parameters mid-stream. Adding parameters that are not related to the targeted message. Too much information. Use of copyrighted or trademarked material. Obtaining the advice of people without knowledge and/or outside the target niche. Assumptions without supportive facts. Assuming personal ideas are paramount and effective. Providing conflicting information or directives. Impractical expectations. Assuming we're in ...

One common issue may bloggers (and web site) owners must consider is the design interface of their blog. Your design is the packaging to your product (the content). Much in the same way that companies like Sharp, Nike, Coca Cola, etc., pay attention to professional brand packaging, we need to do the same. Remember, if your packaging (blog design) looks unorganized, ugly, "busy", disorganized, etc. then that's the message your sending to potential users. In other words your design is telling visitors a fair bit about your blog, before they even read the content. If the blog looks terrible or is not functional, you'll probably lose that visitor. A blog with horrible typography (fonts), positioning or navigation is a clear message to readers saying "I don't have attention to detail, I don't care about quality, I am not professional". After all, would you go to a wedding with dirty worn-out jeans and a soccer tee-shirt? Of course not! Having said this, let's pause for a moment and consider that design is not just about the graphics on your blog but more importantly, design is about planning and functionality. And in my opinion, graphics take a back seat to the functionality ...

I've received several requests and questions from readers, friends, etc. that all point to one salient issue. "What can we physically do to improve our blogs?" or "What actual activities should we complete, in order to make our blogs better?". It seems that launching a blog for some new and inexperienced blog owners is a huge exercise (and for some a steeper learning curve than for others). I've often observed clients who have launched their blogs, fail to garner traffic, further excitement and buzz, or for that matter, reach any of their goals and blogging aspirations. After a time they become discouraged as they feel let down by their blog. One of the biggest barriers I've observed (among others) is that often people just don't do anything, mainly because some don't quite know what to do (or how) and others just need more motivation. Some launch their blog and expect the Internet horde to rush over and visit. To be blunt, the days of "Build it and they will come", are long over. A blog is akin to your business tools, if you don't use it, it will become rusty. Defining some of the barriers to improving a blog is well and good, ...

Last week I was presenting a seminar to the local business centre. The seminar explored the use of quality content to improve and increase search engine traffic. For years I’ve always espoused that one key element is content, content, content! That it’s a primary must to ensure that a web site (or blog) always ensures that the content is of high quality, that it’s in-demand, remains current, and fills a specific niche (preferably one with less competition, if possible). I’m taking a couple months reprieve from the seminar track as I’ve a fair bit of work to catch up on. Doing so also presents me with the time to develop my seminar track for the next year “Blogging to Grow Your Business”. While developing the content (and bouncing ideas off some of my seminar regulars) on of them challenged a chapter I working on. In particular was the issue that the success of a blog (for that matter a web site too), was NOT incumbent solely on quality, in-demand content. Several others also voiced similar issues, and it occurred to me that we’re comparing apples and oranges. Most would ...