Here are 3 reasons why article submissions are so effective at online brand building.

Frequent Submissions

This particular marketing strategy is used primarily for traffic generation therefore frequent submissions is necessary. The repetition involved in writing articles and submitting them is also perfect for helping to consistently reinforce any image you are trying to establish online.

Relevancy

Of course when you are writing articles you want the topic to remain relevant to what it is your are promoting otherwise you are wasting your time. By maintaining this relevancy you are continuing to also reinforce your brand building efforts as well. Remember your branding strategies need to consistent and repetitive for them to have the effect you need, and article submissions gives you both!

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Expands Online Presence

Articles of any measurable quality will be circulated all over the internet! Not only do individuals read your content but quite often they refer it to others if they like what they read. In addition many businesses are looking for content they can use at their own sites. As a result it is not unusual to find your work posted on other blogs or websites that are related to what you have written about. The best part about this particular brand building strategy is that a well written article offers you the potential for long term benefits by remaining in circulation indefinitely. This helps to more than make up for any time or effort you invested in creating and distributing your content.

Creating a mass presence online is the best way to gain visibility and establish the image you want!

Establishing a strong online brand awareness is crucial to any business looking for long term success. Although there are many branding strategies to choose from, one of the most effective is writing articles. Submitting content about what you do or promote to article directories for mass circulation is a terrific way to boost your online presence. The 3 benefits writing articles offers any business as a brand building strategy reviewed above are just some of the advantages you can expect to experience. Your writing efforts also produce content that can be used in other areas of your marketing strategy as well. But just for the sake of brand building alone, this approach is very hard to beat.

You don’t need millions of dollars in advertising to become a well known news brand. You can accomplish the same things like those of BBC.com, CNN or other major online news network. All it takes is a little ingenuity on your part to become a major player in internet marketing.

Click, click

A free way to place your message directly to people who are potential loyal customers is by using conduit customized community toolbars. These toolbars would appear at the top of the screen of people who have subscribed to your site. These toolbars would make your targeted viewers traceable. You will be able to note as to how many views you have received.

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Your logo would be etched on the toolbars. The logo in turn is a clickable button that takes your viewers directly to your news site. It is a great internet marketing strategy that will increase traffic to your site. This would soon become a regular thing for viewers of your site who have become avid fans of your news site.

You can also customize the toolbars to include weather reports, breaking news, radio stations and even games. This will make the viewers experience much more enjoyable and enhance their online experience.  Since your logo is emblazoned on the toolbar, it reminds your subscribers as to who is responsible for their experience. Having a fun experience is important in internet marketing.

Wacky Widgets

Having widgets with your logo is a great way to ensure branding success in your internet marketing business. These widgets would increase the popularity of your brand since it is the most prominent feature in the toolbar. Every time the viewer clicks on a widget, he clicks on your logo in the process. This is a great way to advertise your brand.

Moreover the widget that you create is added to the conduit library and would be shared with others. Your widget can also be added to the toolbars in use by the vast network of subscribers of the conduit with only a few clicks. Since the network has over 37 million members, this is a great and easy way to spread your brand.

Branding establishes trust and forms long term relationships with loyal clientele. It is one of the most recognizable forms of advertising in internet marketing. People trust the brands that they know quite well and make sure that they visit it regularly.

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150 years young

The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce as it was originally called, was renamed the Times of India in 1861. Even as brands struggle to remain young and contemporary. The newspaper, like Coke and Pepsi has managed to remain relevant to generation of readers, and perhaps its greatest strength has been its ability to attract young readers. Of course, at the risk of boring you to death, I can tell you that India is a young country and the brands that crack the youth market will rake in the big bucks as the newspaper has done with desperate ease, year after year. The Times of India is a brand for the young and if one may add, for the young at heart. And let me tell you, that it is not easy to achieve this as many brands have stumbled in their endeavours to remain young, and later generations have ruthlessly rejected brands that they feel are dated or old with comments like “fuddy duddy” and “my father’s brand”. The simple test of the brand’s success would be to just observe how the family reaches out to a choice of papers. My sons who are in their twenties normally reach out to grab the Times of India first amongst the five newspapers that we subscribe to. I am sure too that this is a phenomenon that operates in many households through the length and breadth of this country. And what about the corporate world, how do they view the Times of India? A few days ago we organized a press conference for a large client at Delhi. There were no less than 67 personnel from the media for the Press Conference. While we were delighted at the attendance, the client still had a problem, for the representative from the Times of India was not present for the conference (as he was taken ill). I have heard enough clients focus only on the Times of India to the exclusion of all other newspapers. Clearly the paper has value.

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Engaging the local reader

The Times of India might be the largest national newspaper in India but to me it is a truly regional newspaper with a national masthead. Let me explain .The paper might have its strongest presence and origin in Mumbai but it has managed to make waves in every part of India and is being seen as a local paper in that market as it has involved itself totally and actively with local, regional issues. Take the case of Chennai, the latest market where it has made its foray – it encouraged a lively debate on “jallikattu” a controversial subject in Tamil Nadu in a manner in which even local newspapers too might not have been able to conceptualize.

Product or newspaper?

There is a human side to the paper as well and some of its initiatives like teach India and Lead India have resonated strongly with its readers as its recent initiative to bring the people of India and Pakistan together. Clearly the brand has done things that have made it a thought leader and an opinion leader. Yet I must end with a slight sense of regret. The brand is a newspaper after all and to me a newspaper is not just a product to be marketed, but a product that has to be guided by editorial policy. It is here that I have a reservation with ideas like Private treaties and Media net. I am sure the paper has its reasons for what it is doing and after all “who is perfect”?

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Let’s have a look at how Palin’s personal branding efforts serve as a lesson to online entrepreneurs the importance of creating and maintaining an awareness within the community.

Leverage Current Strategies

Using her position as governor Sarah was able to gain the attention of party leaders who then nominated her as a VP candidate. People being curious as they are were very interested in who this ‘spunky and folksy’ person was. This interest grew as she displayed a knack for delivering her scripted and spirited comebacks. At this point she came to realize this interest and took additional measures to capitalize on it.

In this way online entrepreneurs too have existing platforms or ‘vehicles’ with which they can leverage into creating and establishing brand awareness. Websites, blogs, forums, free reports and articles are all already being used within most marketing strategies. Well these also serve as terrific ways to increase exposure and impress upon people a certain image or brand as well

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Create New Strategies

From authoring a book to taking a position on a nationally syndicated network or becoming prominent on Facebook, Sarah pounced on the opportunity to ‘prolong’ and expand her exposure. The results have kept her in the public eye while also benefiting her financially with multiple streams of income as well.

Here too, for those working online, there are always new ways to increase and prolong your own exposure. By compiling ‘related’ articles you have already written, you can create a free report that can be circulated or placed on a squeeze page with a link back to your business contained within. As a member of any social site a more focused effort to promote your business will help people to more readily recognize your brand. Of course the additional traffic will not hurt either! These same efforts can be duplicated on a blog. What you don’t have one? It is never too late to get started blogging and lord knows it is easy enough to do!

The Purpose of It All

By creating a brand awareness you are able to now ‘leverage’ the recognition you have gained and use it for influence and/or income. Just as Sarah has positioned herself by building a stronger brand awareness to do with it whatever she may, so can any online entrepreneurs. The opportunities are out there it is simply a matter of recognizing them and acting upon them. Like her or not Sarah has shown a talent for doing just that and so can you. In the end it boils down to increasing your marketing effectiveness and when working online this means your income as well!

As a major political figure Sarah Palin has proven more adroit with displaying very definite entrepreneurial skills when it comes to personal branding. For this online entrepreneurs can take a lesson as to the importance and effectiveness of creating and maintaining a brand awareness. As Palin’s efforts have proven, and as discussed above, her ability to leverage certain ‘vehicles’ to boost her own awareness have resulted in a tidy profit for her. This lesson clearly demonstrates that when working online there is both a need and purpose for establishing a brand. Not only will it boost your marketing efforts but also your income as well! Thank you Sarah for the lessons we have learned!

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The recommendation is not that you begin speaking to local high schools (great for community service, but not for brand enhancement—unless your Facebook or My Space), it is however, that you turn your attention to trade shows in your industry.  If you are a CEO speaking to a group of sales people from various companies that can all be potential distributors/resellers of your product, then your dream scenario is staring you in the face. You cannot create a “softer” sales environment.  A captivated audience of decisions makers who can immediately purchase mass quantities of your product is the ideal situation.  If that doesn’t get you excited; and if you can’t generate sales from that, then perhaps its time to think of another career.

Many times, CEOs will allow fear to stop them from speaking.  President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “There is nothing to fear, but fear itself.”  In the business world, fear will give your competition a distinct advantage over you.  So, I ask: how bad do you want it?  Personally, I use to hate public speaking, and at Ascendant Strategy, we have several clients that had to make the adjustment.  But, I am a witness that it can be done and when you think about the new revenue channel it creates while drastically decreasing your marketing expenses, your willingness to speak will receive a jolt, as well.  That is right, speaking equals lower overhead on marketing and more sales leads, more revenue, and ultimately it is one of the building blocks to develop a brand.

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So, how do you build brand equity and increase revenue from speaking?  Here are some specific steps:

Step one:

Research potential organizations, conferences, and other events that would provide you with more exposure to the most potential customers for your business, then develop a contact database for them that includes mailing address, phone numbers, and key contacts.  You should pay particular attention to trade shows.  For most industries these are gold mines for the speaker.  Additionally, professional associations such as the American Marketing Association and the Society for Human Resources can be invaluable by providing direct or second hand contacts to buyers.  Finally, do not underestimate the relevance of the college circuit.

Step two:

Develop two speaking topics that relate to the service industry you are in and one additional topic that may be more outside your service industry, but you are passionate about and have experience with.  For instance, the CEO of a company in the financial services industry may select topics such as “Investment Strategies That Work in Any Economy,” “The 7 Secrets to Financial Freedom,” and “Leading During Crisis.”  Your titles should be interesting and you should have a brief blurb describing each topic.

Step three:

Next, develop your personal bio and make sure it highlights your brand “tag line,” and speaks to your background.  You must also ensure that your bio is relevant to your speaking subject matter.  You should also include media, accomplishments, and personality traits that differentiate you from others.

Step four:

Create marketing materials!  At Ascendant Strategy (www.ascendantstrategy.net) we have a division of our company in house for all our graphics and web design work.    In this internet era, it is also essential for you to develop a website.  While you can choose to carve out a section of your corporate website to drive people to, a personal website is extremely important.  Never use templates, but rather find designers that are high-end designers that know code well and can customize your site to fit all aspects of who you are.

Step five: 

Develop your marketing plan and execute it.  This may seem very cliché, but it is critical.  After all, consistent marketing efforts yield results.  Keep sending the hardcopy mailings and you may also consider visiting organizations where you could potentially speak.  The face to face interaction will give you a strategic advantage.

Step Six:

Maintain your database with copious notes on every conversation.  At Ascendant Strategy (www.ascendantstrategy.net) we use ACT, www.act.com as our database software. ACT has some excellent features that allow you to be able to take detailed notes on every call, rank opportunities, and create a sales process.  ACT is an excellent tool and can be used online by multiple users.  It can be a bit cumbersome in the amount of CPU memory it takes, but if you have a high performance computer it is worth it!

If you follow these six steps. you will launch your speaking career–the revenue from speaking should be a great addition to your business or you can keep the money for yourself.  Additionally, you will be introduced to a new world of customers and direct sales.  Finally, these customers will spread the word about you, which will likely lead to more speaking engagements and more revenue.

One of our clients wanted to expand his real estate development practice, so we successfully created a tour where he spoke for private investors, city officials, and community activists.  The engagements with private investors led to interest in the company and local projects, city officials proposed projects and opportunities for our client to build and rehab real estate developments at pennies on the dollar, and speaking to the community activists led to support for all local initiatives.  This is CEO branding and this is what a speaking career can generate!  As a result of speaking, our client has generated millions of dollars in new business.  In fact, nearly half of my firm’s new business has come as a result of speaking.  Do you still have your doubts?  If all of this sounds intimidating, you can always seek professional help, our firm specializes in CEO branding.

Kim Reed is a Partner at Ascendant Strategy (www.ascendantstrategy.net) a world leader in CEO branding, the new corporate branding.  Ms. Reed can be contacted at info@ascendantstrategy.net or 1.800.838.8152.  Ms. Reed will be happy to answer your questions about the new corporate branding technique.

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For more traditional businesses, a website is a hugely powerful marketing tool. For e-commerce companies, their website is their business. That’s why getting your website right is so important – successful ones can generate huge amounts of profit and propel your brand to new heights. On the other hand, a poorly considered website that adds no value to your brand can quickly cause your business to fail. ‘Waste of time.

A lot of people see the process as having two key strands - website design and website (technical) development. Web design involves the look and feel of the website, creating something that is visually appealing to the user and that is easy to navigate. Website development is the technical build, creating a functional website that does everything it is supposed to. At onebestway we’ve won awards in these two areas – around 50, actually – for over 10 years.

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There are thousands of web companies who can create a nicely designed, technically sound website. But the reason that many of these websites fail is because there are, in fact, three strands to a truly successful website, not two.

The third, and most important, is your brand. Onebestway know this and that’s why a onebestway website is better than those developed by the competition. Our competitors miss one third of the entire project out – completely.

After all, most websites look good and function smoothly these days – consumers have come to expect the highest standards of web design and development. So how do you get them to choose you over one of your competitors?

That’s where your brand comes in. Your brand is what makes your business unique, what makes you special, and what makes it obvious to your customers why you are their only choice. Everything about your website must revolve around your brand. It has to communicate your unique message with every single pixel. If your website does not communicate your brand correctly then you are in fact wasting your time. You will never maximise potential.

At onebestway, the brand is at the heart of every website we create. It is the most important strand of a successful website. If the brand is missing, your website simply won’t be good enough.

Here are a few crucial tips to take into consideration when branding a fleet of vehicles –

1.) Choose Cohesive Designs

When you brand a fleet, you’re essentially trying to ensure that each vehicle stands out from others on the road; this is the definition of building a brand, and isn’t as easy as it sounds. One of the biggest mistakes people make when designing vehicle wraps is that they give each vehicle a different design. While it may be tempting to do this, the fact is that you want each vehicle to look virtually the same, as this will convey a professional image. Choose designs that are cohesive across the board for the most professional look possible.

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2.) Don’t Deviate from your Branding

One of the most important things a company can do when wrapping a fleet of vehicles is to stick with the branding they use on all of their other materials. Those who deviate from their branding often experience a disconnect with customers and clients, as branding a company with one logo and its vehicles with another is nothing short of confusing. Always ensure that your branding is consistent across the board.

3.) Stick to Clean Designs

Designing a vehicle wrap can be a fun process; however, many people get carried away with it. A clean design is an effective design, which is why it is crucially important to avoid overcrowding a design with images and text. The less crowded the design, the more legible it will be for people who either walk or drive by. Remember that “less is more” in design, and this holds especially true for vehicle wraps and other similar design jobs.

Now that you know how to make the most of your trade show graphics, learn more about printing your custom graphics at http://www.cliffdigital.com

What exactly goes on during a branded event? A branded event can be anything you make it – it can be a basketball game, a charity ball, or a new product launching. Promoting your business isn’t all about placing your products on counters so that people can browse around and look at what you have to offer. If you’ve ever watched the Super Bowl or the Final Four series, you’ve most likely noticed the banners around the arena and the television ads that promote the events’ sponsors. These are examples of branded events – they don’t call for much planning, but they do require an investment.

Every business has a marketing budget, which may have allocations for traditional advertising, online marketing, sponsorships, conferences, and so on. There are several ways to market one’s business, and you have to determine which you can and which you cannot afford. You have to evaluate what works and what doesn’t in your marketing plan, so you can get rid of the ineffective and replace it with something else that is more effective. This is how you can free up part of your budget to host or participate in a branded event.

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Your budget will also direct your planning. Obviously, its size will mean the difference between the expensive catering and the more affordable option; it will determine if you can hire the 0 per hour DJ or the one who charges 0 per hour. There are alternatives to everything, so you can cut corners if necessary in order to fund the areas of your event that are really important.

The work begins from the very moment the thought of hosting a branded event enters your mind. For your idea to become a reality, you will have to organize everything, from the venue and the catering to the music and the decor. Of course, you also have to decide how you’re going to display your product.

As for guest speakers, do you want to have celebrity guests? If so, you need to come up with an itinerary first so your celebrity guests will know what they will be committing to. Since they are busy people, you should have everything already prepared before you invite them.

To make your branded event a success, be sure to ask yourself these questions:

Who are my customers?
What are their main characteristics?
What sets them apart from other people?
What do they want and need?
Why do they buy?
What do they want my product to do for them?
How do they perceive my brand?

Once these questions have been answered, you will be able to plan your event better. If you don’t know some of the answers, you can look for existing market research on the internet or better yet, ask your customers yourself. Conduct polls to find out what they really think. From there, you can plan your event or sponsor one. The latter needs less planning and may be more economically feasible for your business, but both are great ways for your company to gain more exposure.

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You can duplicate yourself as many times as you wish. You can find people who are interested in the business and train them in network marketing. Teach them all you know about the business and help them develop their own skills in marketing. Show them the money they can generate in online marketing. When they start selling and making money, you can have your cut from the profits they make. Once you teach your down lines how to train more people, your network marketing organization will expand rapidly. You will be leading your team to success.

Multi level marketing can be a good business for just anyone. When you have a system to direct your business, you can easily run a good online business. But to attract more people into your business, you need to have some leadership qualities. You should have good knowledge of the mlm business. The people should look up to you as a leader in the network marketing community. My lead system pro branding will create good quality leads for you to work with. The tips and guidelines created by the mastermind group of my lead system pro branding will be widely accepted by your prospective leads. Use live tutorials, videos, webinars etc of my lead system pro branding to train your recruits to be capable of duplication.

You should be the brand in your network business. The brand is more important than products and services. It should be the brand, not the system itself that is promoted by your business building system. You can use the customizable properties of my lead system pro branding to grow your brand over the system.  The system will open the flood gates of quality leads for you. You can use your strategies to find the appropriate candidates and sign them up in your organization. Pay full attention to the activities of your team members online. Show your care and concern for them. Help and support them through difficult situations they face in the mlm business. You should spend quality time with your down lines to motivate them constantly.

Use my lead system pro branding to demonstrate that you are client driven. Have a listening ear to the concerns and queries of your organization members. Interact with them regularly and keep them updated on the new developments in the network marketing space. The essence of client development and team building is trust. Once you have proven that you can provide answers, all business owners will seek your help. Respond to them positively and show utmost consideration. Keep brand building on top of your priorities. Your brand will grow along with your organization.

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A fascinating report by Charlene Li, a partner in the Altimeter Group, and Ben Elowitz, CEO of Wetpaint, examines the top 100 most engaged global brands as rated by BusinessWeek and Interbrand. It explains how brands fall into one of four engagement profiles depending on the number of social media (SM) channels they have and their depth of engagement in them.

The four profiles are:

•Mavens – brands with seven or more SM channels with high levels of engagement across each. These brands have dedicated SM teams and ‘could not imagine operating without a strong presence in social media’. Examples include Starbucks and Dell.

•Butterflies – brands with seven or more SM channels but lower levels of engagement across each. These brands ‘still struggle with getting the full buy-in from their organizations to embrace the full multi-way conversation that deep engagement entails’. Examples include American Express and Hyundai.

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•Selectives – brands with six or less SM channels with high levels of engagement across each. Often hamstrung by the lack of a dedicated SM team, they ‘focus on engaging customers deeply when and where it matters most’. Examples include retail group H&M and Philips.

•Wallflowers – brands with six or less SM channels but lower levels of engagement across each. They are ‘cautious about the risks [of SM engagement], uncertain about the benefits, and therefore engage only lightly in the channels where they are present’. Examples include McDonald’s and BP.

Li and Elowitz apply their findings to the BusinessWeek/Interbrand 2008 list of the top 100 worldwide brands – and the results speak for themselves. The top 13 places are all filled by Mavens. The first Butterfly (Oracle) appears at number 14, the first Selective (H&M) at number 23 and the first Wallflower (Coca-Cola – surprisingly, perhaps) at a lowly number 51.

For the record, the top 10 are:

1.    Starbucks
2.    Dell
3.    eBay
4.    Google
5.    Microsoft
6.    Thomson Reuters
7.    Nike
8.    Amazon
9.    SAP
10.  Intel and Yahoo (joint result)

The most successful brands, by a proverbial country mile, are those that actively engage with their customers through a number of different social media channels. This doesn’t mean employing a vast SM team (Starbucks has just six people overseeing 11 SM channels), but it does prove that simply setting up a Facebook fan page and asking your customers to ‘like’ it isn’t enough.

Engagement is the cornerstone of relationship marketing and this report should provide food for thought for anyone who continues to doubt the engagement-creating opportunities offered by SM marketing.