Author: Hollie Clere

Love Your Brand: Why Should YOU Be a Part of Your Branding?

The marketing world has caught on to the importance of branding. Branding has become such an integral part of a company’s marketing strategy. This method’s value has increased to the point that branding is no longer just a corporate policy. Small businesses, speakers, authors, job seekers and entrepreneurs are now encouraged to integrate branding into their marketing as well. However, this type of branding looks a bit different than the traditional style.
Personal Branding
Personal branding is the online persona or image that an individual projects. This includes all the digital touchpoints from the website to the blog to all the social media platforms. It includes online collaborations, live streaming, videos, or any other content created and distributed. A personal brand is a real thing and exists, regardless of the person’s acknowledgement or knowledge.
YOU as the Face of Your Brand
Perhaps you already have a business entity and brand. Maybe you’ve even invested in a quality logo, brand colors and online touchpoints. However, as you interact with people online or network with people in person – it is YOUR face that people associate with what you do. It’s your voice and your mannerisms and the energy you bring to the conversation. As content gears more towards visual – including live streaming and videos – it will be you that the audience gets to know and trust. With so much noise competing for the same small places, a genuine, authentic connection with your audience is essential. Some of the top personal brands online naturally evolve into influencers and generate the type of viral attention that most companies strive for.
Touchpoints
As you transition to a more personal brand, it will be time to take an audit of all your online assets and tune them into the image you want to portray. This means spending some time with your good friend, Google, to make sure that your name online is directly associated and connected to your personal branding.
It will also mean investing in some decent professional headshots. Team up with an experienced photographer so that they understand your brand image when taking photographs. These brand photos are an integral part of all your online touchpoints and should weave together in a method that is consistent and on brand.
Personal Brand Enhancements
Once you have the foundation for your personal brand, look into ways to enhance what you have already created. This could be association or collaborations with other strong personal brands that make sense for your work. It could also mean developing a strong backstory or narrative and weaving it into the touchpoints. When producing any type of content, be certain to have the branding in mind during development so that whatever is created remains true to what you have built.  
Developing a personal brand is also a great opportunity to reinvent you, your company or your branding strategy. Be cautious. A personal brand is not a mask or a fake persona. Your target audience will see right thought anything insincere. Be your authentic self and the right followers will automatically be drawn to you.
Understand the value of personal branding but not sure how to begin? Give us a call and we can help you brainstorm and build those touchpoints. The more you #LoveYourBrand, the more you can #BeAwesome while pursuing your purpose.

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business.  Don’t get left behind ~ 

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Hollie Clere, of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn,FacebookTwitterBlogGoogle+ , YouTube,Pinterest, Instagram  and the tools to manage them. 

Click here for her 
Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars.

New Year, New Habits – If You Like It Then You Better Put a Tag On It

In order to really get a handle on using Twitter, social media users have to understand the platform’s special features and lingo. One of the most important aspects of using Twitter is understanding and incorporating hashtags. A hashtag is a word or phrase with the # symbol placed directly in front of it. The idea of the hashtag is similar to that of a keyword on Google. These symbols can be used to quickly and efficiently search this social media platform for tweets and conversations pertaining to that particular topic. Otherwise the site is a consistent flow of disorganized and unconnected posts.
This way of categorizing topics enables users to find information on a specific area of interest but also allows users to label their tweets within a specific category so that they are easier to locate. Since Twitter is a stream of live information – being able to tag tweets to a specific topic or event allows for a better stream of viewing posts from a variety of users all talking about the same moment or idea.
Want to Create a Hashtag?
The good news is that hashtag creation is available to everyone. If a search of Twitter doesn’t come up with a tag that you’d like to use, it’s simple to create your own. It’s as easy as typing it into Twitter. No other steps are needed. Of course, there are not many hashtags available that haven’t been used yet. Also, an obscure hashtag is not likely to be found unless the creator does some significant promotionto establish presence.
Also, the Twitter Supportpage clearly states that not all hashtags or tweets are indexed. This may mean using it more frequently to ensure it makes an impact on the platform. The more recent the tweet, the more likely it will be indexed but even that is no guarantee.
Hashtag Ownership
On the surface, hashtags are not really owned by any particular business or organization. They can’t be purchased and users are welcome to use any hashtag on their account, as long as it doesn’t conflict with the Twitter Trademark Policy.
What is a Trademark Policy Violation on Twitter?
Using a company or business name, logo, or other trademark-protected materials in a manner that may mislead or confuse others with regard to its brand or business affiliation may be considered a trademark policy violation.
However, Twitter users can register their hashtags with Twubs. It’s important to remark that registering a hashtag isn’t the same as registering a trademark. It isn’t a means to keep other people from using it. There is no way to own a tag in the same way that you own a logo or domain name.
Registering a tagmeans that your brand becomes attached to it and that the tag will get added to a hashtag directory. This directory allows businesses to go into some detail about the tag and why it exists.
Once you have created a unique hashtag and registered it, then it is time to market the tag as much and as often as possible. This is the way to motivate the audience to associate your registered tag with your brand. You’ll never be able to control everything that becomes tagged with your #, but the idea is to generate more presence for your business on social media.
Still have questions about how to effectively incorporate Twitter into your social media strategy? Give us a call and we can help you build an online brand that helps you #BeAwesome and develop a #NewHabit for this year!
~ Social Media is changing the way people do business.  Don’t get left behind ~ 


Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!

Hollie Clere, of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn,FacebookTwitterBlogGoogle+ , YouTube,Pinterest, Instagram  and the tools to manage them. 

Click here for her 
Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars.

Social Seven – Why Monitoring Online Reviews and Presence is Essential



Why Monitoring Online Reviews and Presence is Essential
Special Guest: Michelle Grant Hoglan of Top Hat Creative Marketing
Top Hat Creative Marketing is a company that focuses on online reputation management. They start with collecting feedback and turning that into reviews. Michelle spends time discovering client goals and what they want to achieve in order to help them become more successful.  Top Hat then coaches their clients on how to gather feedback and how to filter it and use those reviews to their advantage.
Google is super important in the fact that it is so visible. This strong online presence is essential to being found on the web. When people look up a company on Google they want to see recent reviews, current events and an online presence that inspires trust. They are looking for businesses they can Know, Like and Trust. Top Hat Creative Marketing strives to make companies more visible and trustworthy online.
Google, by far, is the #1 review site online. Yelp is quickly becoming #2 and seems to be more popular in California and the West Coast. However, it is rapidly gaining speed on Google and becoming more of a player in online reviews.
Companies don’t need to be an active player on Yelp right away. If you have your phone, you can instantly log reviews onto the site while out and about and running errands and interacting with other businesses. All you need to do is register for an account. There is a Yelp app that allows you to check in regardless of whether you haven’t posted in years or if it’s your first time. This app makes it easier to do quick reviews while on the go. This site is more regional at the moment, however, and Google is still the best place to go to monitor your online reputation.
Top Hat takes time to coach businesses on how to build a reputation on Google and, once established, then move onto Yelp, Facebook and other options.
If you are going to have a presence online, you want to have in the right places where people are using it. If the audience is there, and talking about you, then it’s important to build a presence there.
It is imperative that business owners get all types of feedback, not just positive. Reviews are important regardless of whether they are good or bad. It gives owners insight into aspects of their business that may need to change. Also, get feedback from employees as well. The audience may not come straight to a business owner with their complaints – but they will share it with their personal circles of influence. This means the company doesn’t always get the opportunity to adjust or correct whatever the issue might be. Take that negative feedback and make it into a positive change for your business!
Learn more about Michelle and her company by visiting: http://tophatcreativemarketing.com
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