PROFILE AND PERSONAL BRAND• BRANDS USED TO RELATE TO COMPANIES OR PRODUCTS

• WITH THE ADVENT OF THE INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA, BRANDING NOW EXTENDS TO PEOPLE…

YOUR PROFILE

• YOUR PROFILE IS YOUR BRAND

• IT’S THE VERSION OF YOU THAT OTHERS WILL SEE WHEN THEY GOOGLE YOU

• THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE REAL YOU AND YOUR BRAND OR PROFILE

BELINDA WILLIAMS BOOKS

WHY DO I WANT TO BUILD A PROFILE?

• YOU WANT TO BE RECOGNISED!

• EGO?

• PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION / INDUSTRY THOUGHT LEADER

• SELL STUFF!

HOW DO I BUILD MY PROFILE?

• DECIDE ON WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO SHOW THE WORLD: YOUR PROFILE NEEDS TO BE CAREFULLY

THOUGHT OUT AND CONSTRUCTED

• REMEMBER: YOU ARE UNIQUE, SO YOUR PROFILE SHOULD BE TOO

• THEN SET UP A WORDPRESS SITE!

• THAT’S EASY, RIGHT? YEP, LET’S TAKE A LOOK…

WORDPRESS: HOW TO GET STARTED

WORDPRESS.COM OWN HOSTING

Free / low cost but there are some limitations Complete flexibility, thousands of themes

Easy – select from 200+ templates More costs involved

Editing add-on packages available Requires you to find hosting / purchase domain name

Can purchase your own domain name Savvy – find reputable themes such as Studiopress

Strong Wordpress.com community Access to Google analytics

You can always graduate to Wordpress.org later Plug ins available to link to Wordpress community

SO I’VE GOT MY BLOG, NOW WHAT?

• START BLOGGING!

• KEEP YOUR TOPICS CONSISTENT TO HELP GOOGLE

RECOGNISE YOU

• THINK BIG PICTURE

• BLOG REGULARLY – THIS IS IMPORTANT!

WHY FRESH = SUCCESS

• SEO: GOOGLE SCORES WEBSITES BASED ON THE FRESHNESS OF THEIR CONTENT

• FRESH CONTENT BUILDS RELATIONSHIPS

• FRESH CONTENT BUILDS AND SUPPORTS YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILE

TIPS FOR BLOGGING REGULARLY

• KEEP A LIST OF BLOG TOPICS AND IDEAS YOU CAN WRITE ABOUT. RECORD THESE IDEAS WHEN THEY

COME TO YOU.

• COMMIT TO A *REASONABLE* BLOGGING SCHEDULE. BE REALISTIC!

• INCORPORATE RELEVANT GUEST BLOG POSTS TO HELP IF POSSIBLE

• USE THE SCHEDULING FEATURE IN WORDPRESS

BLOGGING ISN’T ALL ABOUT YOU…

• THE MOST SUCCESSFUL BLOGGERS AND THOSE WHO HAVE THE STRONGEST ONLINE PROFILE DO ONE

VERY IMPORTANT THING ON A REGULAR BASIS (ASIDE FROM BLOGGING…)

THEY INTERACT

HOW TO INTERACT IN WORDPRESS

• COMMENTS: REPLY AND HAVE A CONVERSATION WHERE APPROPRIATE

• VISIT OTHER BLOGS, ENGAGE THROUGH LEAVING YOUR OWN COMMENTS

• SHARE INTERESTING BLOG POSTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

• USE WORDPRESS TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS AND INTERACT IN

THE REAL WORLD!

A WORD ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA

• WORDPRESS IS MORE POWERFUL WHEN DONE IN CONJUNCTION WITH SOCIAL MEDIA

• SET UP A TWITTER PROFILE / FACEBOOK PAGE / LINKEDIN / PINTEREST / FLICKR….ETC

• YOU DON’T HAVE TO USE ALL OF THEM, INSTEAD PICK THE ONES MOST RELEVANT TO YOU

• WHEN YOU WRITE A BLOG POST, USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO SHARE

• MAKE IT EASY FOR PEOPLE TO LINK TO YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES VIA YOUR WORDPRESS WEBSITE

SEO FOR BEGINNERS• IMPLEMENT A SEO KEYWORD STRATEGY FOR YOUR WEBSITE – THIS ISN’T AS SCARY AS IT SOUNDS!

• CHOOSE 8 – 15 KEYWORDS, THEN

• USE THEM REGULARLY IN YOUR POSTS, PARTICULARLY IN HEADINGS (H1, H2, ETC)

• WORDPRESS.COM: LIMITED SEO FUNCTIONALITY SO USE TAGS

• OTHER WORDPRESS SITES: USE THE TITLE TAG AND META DESCRIPTION FOR EACH OF

YOUR BLOG POSTS

GET THE LOOK

• WORDPRESS WEBSITES CAN LOOK GOOD OR BAD…MAKE SURE YOURS LOOKS GOOD!

• THE APPEARANCE OF YOUR WORDPRESS SITE SHOULD:

• CLEARLY CONVEY YOUR BRAND PROFILE

• BE CONSISTENT: ENSURE SOCIAL MEDIA LIKE FACEBOOK AND TWITTER IS ‘ON BRAND’

KEEP IT CONSISTENT!

SOME TIPS ON APPEARANCE• AVOID DESIGNS AND LAYOUTS THAT ARE VERY TEXT HEAVY

• IS THE THEME RESPONSIVE?

• USE IMAGES WHERE APPROPRIATE

• YOU DON’T ALWAYS NEED TO BUY STOCK IMAGES, YOU CAN USUALLY FIND DECENT FREE IMAGES IF YOU CREDIT YOUR

SOURCE

• THINK ABOUT YOUR WORDPRESS SITE’S NAVIGATION

• HOW DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO MOVE AROUND YOUR SITE

• KEEP IT SIMPLE AND INTUITIVE!

QUESTIONS?