Branding yourself online: An introduction for small business owners

Branding yourself online An introduction for small business owners reinhart consulting group ReinhartGroup.com 1

Grod has been living under a rock (literally) • He’s a simple caveman. • Been busy doing his caveman things: • Clubbing, hunting and gathering • Checking out the next valley • Keeps hearing around the campﬁre that the Internet is the place to be. reinhart consulting group Branding yourself online: An introduction for small business owners ReinhartGroup.com 2

What do you want to be known for professionally? • Grod’s business advisor suggests that he start by clearly deﬁning and reﬁning: 1. What he is best at, and 2. What he wants to be known for: • Vague answer: quot;I'm a cave consultant.quot; • Better answer: quot;I help cave dwellers have peace of mind.quot; • Best answer: quot;I save cave dwellers an average of 15% on their cave insurance.quot; reinhart consulting group Branding yourself online: An introduction for small business owners ReinhartGroup.com 3

Grod Googles himself (and Yahoos himself, etc.) • The good… • The bad… • A few results exist in the ﬁrst few • Found no professional info about pages of results. Grod. • Another guy also named “Grod” is online, who posts questionable photos and is very vocal about his politics and religious opinions. reinhart consulting group Branding yourself online: An introduction for small business owners ReinhartGroup.com 4

Grod starts his plan... • Checks out his competition (gathers competitive intelligence) • Deﬁnes his niche: 1. Business and professional name he wants to be listed as. 2. Service he wants to promote / be known for. 3. Profession he wants to be associated with. 4. Keywords and phrases that prospects would use to ﬁnd him. reinhart consulting group Branding yourself online: An introduction for small business owners ReinhartGroup.com 5

Get started The objective is to be found and associated with what’s relevant to your business expertise. • Setup website/blog to point to. Eventually this will be the premier destination for all things Grod. • Register the domain name yourself • Build a website • Either hire an expert or put something temporarily together yourself. Keep in mind that free sites like Blogger.com, WordPress.com can close your account without notice for any reason. Best to always control your content. • Start creating online proﬁles and link back to main site: • Linkedin.com, Facebook.com - reconnect with former coworkers, tribe members, etc. • Event networks - Meetup.com, Upcoming.org, Eventful.com • Social networks - Biznik.com, Ning.com, Twitter.com, Gather.com • Create and post short videos on YouTube, SlideShare.net and other sites • Stake claim to his online id using Claimid.com and FindMeOn.com • Write reviews on Amazon.com for cave-related books You might be surprised at what will eventually show up in search results. reinhart consulting group Branding yourself online: An introduction for small business owners ReinhartGroup.com 6

Build your networks Make the most of who you know. • Find industry groups and participate in the conversation. • Setup Google alerts (Google.com/Alerts) to track your most important keywords/ phrases. • Grow your Linkedin and Facebook connections daily: • Every new business contact you meet, invite them to connect on Linkedin. • Strive for QUALITY, not QUANTITY. • Treat as an advisory board. Solicit advice and opinion. • Research who knows who. • Ask for introductions. • Ask for recommendations. • Ask for endorsements. • Let them know what you’re up to. reinhart consulting group Branding yourself online: An introduction for small business owners ReinhartGroup.com 7

I can show Join the online conversation you a good place to hunt in the south Participate in relevant ways. valley • Share valuable links and information. • Don't add to the noise: • quot;Drinking a rabbit smoothie for breakfast!quot; (Honestly, who cares!) • Meaningful criticisms are okay (just don’t be nasty/spiteful/unjust) • If you complain about a service (utility, airline, hotel, etc.), you might get a response from an employee who may be able to elevate your concern to someone at that company. • Don't share intimate details: • quot;At Disneyland with the family.quot; (Great, I can go rob your house in NJ.) • quot;My 4 yr old Dylan got a gold star today.quot; (It's creepy to let all these anonymous quot;friendsquot;/followers know too much about your family.) reinhart consulting group Branding yourself online: An introduction for small business owners ReinhartGroup.com 8

Eventually... • Grod’s listings outnumber and bury the other Grod’s listings. • Grod becomes more comfortable and adds more sophistication to his mix: • Analytics Don’t let it overwhelm you. • Blogging 1. Have a plan • Email newsletter 2. Keep it manageable 3. Make it part of your • Videos, Podcasting daily routine • Reputation management • New website • More advanced Search Engine Optimization tactics and link building reinhart consulting group Branding yourself online: An introduction for small business owners ReinhartGroup.com 9

About Us • Roland Reinhart has over twenty years of experience in direct marketing. While working at leading advertising agencies, Mr. Reinhart planned and executed scores of advertising campaigns, marketing programs, corporate and promotional websites. Connect with him online: http://RolandReinhart.com Or call Roland at (908) 253-0059 • Reinhart Consulting Group is an interactive marketing company dedicated to helping businesses and non-proﬁts achieve their goals of attracting new customers and growing existing customer relationships. Learn more at: http://ReinhartGroup.com reinhart consulting group ReinhartGroup.com 10

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Branding yourself online: An introduction for small business owners

by Reinhart Marketing Group on Apr 25, 2009

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