Take a moment to think about your favourite famous blogger. Then ask yourself exactly where they started off. They likely started exactly where you find yourself now: With a great concept or idea and a computer hooked up to an internet connecting, blogging about something they love. But then they did something else. They turned it into more than just a blog. They turned it into a brand. Here’s how you can follow their example and do the same thing for yourself:
1. Starting a blog with a theme
When you’re starting a blog, you’ll want to pick your subject – or, if you want to sound a bit more fancy saying it, your niche. Start a blog with a specific topic, whether it’s your experiences as a handyman (or woman) in the ‘hood or a blog about your experiences building a guitar – or regular posts about baking cupcakes from home. You need an eye-catching topic that you have plenty to say about, and that people would love to read about. When you’re building a solid brand, you can consider this step one. With us? Great.
2. Posting regularly
If you want to go from being just a blogger to turning your blog into a brand you can sustain for a long time, you’ll want to make sure that you post regularly. Always keep an eye on the newest things happening in your industry, and always give readers something they can take away from your blog in terms of content. This means that they check back. Regular posting also ensures that there’s something worthwhile for them to check back for. If you’re building a brand, this is vitally important.
3. Introducing merchandising
Going from a blog to a brand involves a little more than just posting blog posts that hook your readers. You have to go a little further than that. For blogs that have turned into brands, one of their most important steps was introducing the presence of merchandising to their blog – usually in the form of branded merchandise for fans of the blog, though many times also in the form of other products that readers of the blog will find interesting. This is one way to go from being a blog to becoming a brand.
4. Selling through your blog
Now, merchandising and products aren’t the only thing you can sell through your blog. You can also sell blog space to affiliate marketers who want to promote their product and can use your readership platform to do it – this involves some collaboration, but can also help to build your brand and expose you to new readership. You can also sell advertising, if you have some space on your blog and can find a product that you really like to fill the advertising space. Why not? It’s all contributing to becoming a brand.
5. Promoting your blog via interviews
You can also promote your blog by getting some media attention for it. Contact local papers, radio stations and newspapers and promote your blog through some interviews – have them ask a few questions about your blog and you might end up with some entirely new fans. This is a really great way to promote your blog in the long run, and people will always like a blog that they can put a face to – interviews give you a chance to interact with your readership on a completely new level. Remember to always let readers know when interviews will be appearing so already-existing fans can keep an eye out for the interviews when they happen as well! Publicity is great – almost always.
