Our beloved blogging world is one crowded heck of a place. New digital crusaders are entering the arena everyday, and the numbers keep exploding.
In the middle of the turmoil is one person that wants to own his piece of the digital cake.
You know that person, it’s you!
What do you do if you don’t want to drown in an ocean of noise?
You must build yourself a kick-ass personal brand.
It’s something that many bloggers still neglect, and they are paying a galactic price for it. If you belong to that group of people, please continue reading.
There’s hope, and it’s coming fast
I promise you: personal branding is ridiculous fun and yields massive treasures. All the big players know to how play the branding game. Join them.
All you need is confidence and an unshakable belief it can be done and that you are the one to do it.
Quit the talking. Let’s start right now!
1. Get your vision straight
Hello, I’m Jeff Smith. I make $100,000 from my blog every month. Subscribe to my newsletter and find out how I do it.
Does this sound familiar? Of course it does, because you’ve heard it a gazillion times.
It’s dull, boring and uninspiring. When you want to break through the noise today, you have to conquer the world with a vision. The more you can captivate your readers, the bigger your impact. Maverick bloggers with a raving fan base are on a mission. They not only teach and entertain their audience, but also inspire it.
You might say, “well, I talk about blogging and making money online. What should I do?”
Easy-peasy. You could say, “I believe in a future where you can work wherever you want, whenever you want.” You only need a computer and enough passion to light up the universe. Do you want to join me?
Jeez, can you feel the power of a vision?
2. Get one heck of a design
I believe that great design massively impacts your readers impression. My readers tell me that they experienced a “wow” effect the first time they came to my blog.
Remember: Killer content isn’t the king anymore; the overall package is.
Some things you should seriously consider:
- Get a logo. The ultimate weapon that separates you from the crowd.
- Have your own brand colors. Use them for your Twitter background and for your Facebook fan page. Stay consistent for maximum recall value.
- Get one unique avatar and use it EVERYWHERE!
It’s not as hard as you think. You don’t have to go totally over the top with it (but you can, over-delivering is important). Famous blogs like Boingboing or *cough*Blogussion*cough* use a slick and simple design.
If you get this right, people would love to come back. And they will keep coming back.
3. Celebrate your voice
I’m having a hard time staying awake reading most blogs. Sure, they are informative. And yes, they are decently structured. But where’s the personal style; the fire?
The most successful bloggers I know, mavericks like Steve Pavlina, Glen Allsopp, Kelly Diels and Nathan Hangen, rock because they’re remarkable and personal.
They have the guts to speak their mind. It deters those who don’t care, and attracts those who do. True fans. Why not do the same?
And let’s be honest here, it sucks to be someone else – you can only rock the digital world if you own your style.
You could:
- Invent your own writing structure
- Create your own words and use them excessively
- Flavor your posts with your opinions – if you don’t like something, be upfront about it
Treat your writing like an artwork, branded by your personality. If I take a blog post from you, and delete the name, would your readers still be able to recognize it?
If not, make it so.
4. Screw up…fast.
Yes, you heard me right. Screwing up fast is the best way to build a remarkable brand. In fact, don’t even call it screwing up, call it intensive and passionate learning.
What’s the biggest advantage you have today over yesterday? Your experience!
Don’t wait until everything’s right (which never happens), just start creating your stuff and fix it as you go. Tweak your brand on the run.
You may not always get the result you want, but you will always get a new experience which will get you closer to where you want to go.
Try out new stuff every single day. Try and adjust, try to adjust. Crave honest feedback and implement it. The faster you do this, the faster you will create a personal brand that dominates.
5. Lick the edges
Being safe is a dangerous place to be. If you make the safe decision, the one most people make, you will be the same as everyone else. Always wishing life was different.
Don’t be there, it’s a bland place.
Stand out by doing something that other people are afraid to do.
- Write a blog post that’s so authentic you are afraid to hit the publish button (Seth Godin does this).
- Have a wicked design that no one else in your niche dares to have (Chris Guillebeau has this).
- Writing is not your thing? Make a video blog and rant on about the wine world (Gary V does this).
If you have trouble remembering your edginess, try this:
Imagine your ideal reader: A hardcore fan so obsessed with your blog, he would marry it. Now write for this imagined person, and only for him, no matter how many people read your blog. This will ensure that your style will always be edgy.
Feeling scared is a good place to start from. Whenever you have a new idea for your blog that gives you the shivers, you are expanding your comfort zone. Conquering new territories.
Advance further. Lick the edges.
The Essence
Re-read this post. Worship or inhale it. Whatever you have to do, make sure you extract maximum value from it.
Make it a daily habit to tweak your personal brand in every way possible. It’s fun, exciting and can make you a very successful (and kick-ass) blogger in the long run.
Imagine, YOU, a successful one-of-kind blogger. Now stop drooling and get back to work! Unleash your personal brand and conquer your part of the digital world!
The Discussion
Leave a Comment Read Again?Hey MarsDorian,
You are right. I visited your blog, and their is a distinctive touch to it. Even Blogussion has a distinctive touch.
These things make the blog stand out. It would be boring to live in a world where everyone would be the same.
It’s the differences that make the world a beautiful place.
P.S. There is a typo in summary:
“just start cre at ing (creating) your stuff and fix it as you go.”
Actually this happens a lot at this blog. If I copy something from the article (for quotation purposes) and paste it to the comments in here, some words appear like con tent (with spaces/gaps in between).
I posted this in another post for Alex, but I think he missed it.
Hey Nabeel,
yeah – I luv personal and unique design. I make sure that there’s a 100% Mars Dorian in every digital thing that I produce. Blogging life is too short to play someone else’s game
I have to admit, after reading your post here and at Howtomakemyblog, I could notice your posts a mile away man.
You definitely have an easily distinguishable writing style, and that is just fantastic dude.
Thanx Alex,
it’s the voice inside of me that tells me to write like that. I’m very passionate and extrovert in the offline world, and I want to include that in my writings.
And thx for the opportunity, you got such a vibrant and diverse community around your blog, which is epic.
Same that.
~Stalky Sid
This is actually the first time I hear someone recognizes that not only the content is important, but design too. Recently I just thought exactly about that. It is just that humans comprehend 95% of the world around them with their eyes, and that is why the design is so important. And it is the first thing you see, so this is the first impression!
Hey Nikolai !
I think it’s ABSOLUTELY vital to have a kick-ass design, and that you keep it consistent throughout your online crusade. Blogging becomes more and more multimedia, and the overall appearance will play an even bigger role in that future.
Mars, you’re always on point with your writing.
I do need to create a new design but in some ways, I’m, in some ways, testing to see what kind of impact I can make with a minimal design with the inclusion of personal branding – I want to use it at a later post.
To find your own voice, it really comes down to writing and writing and writing and writing. You have to get into the flow of things, ya know?
Hey Murray,
Minimalistic design sounds awesome. Try it, I want to see it. And finding your voice does take time – a lot. In fact, I believe it’s a lifelong process.
Flow is essential. Once you have it, the magic starts to happen
I always enjoy the content I read from this website, and here’s another reason why.
haha, thanx !
Your welcome man! Just keep up the good job!
with the passage of time, i also realized that killer content is not everything until it is not backed up by solid design….a custom built theme is the best you can get but it costs a good amount
Heya Tushar,
it may cost money, but it’s sooo worth it. Maybe you have a friend who can tweak it for you, or you are ambitious enough to take the fire yourself. It really is essential !
Rock on, Mars.. nice post. Being safe is not an option, it just makes you blend into the background..
Love the killer graphics on this post, man. Good work.
haha, thnx James.
I luv great graphics. And yeah, you’ll never want to blend into the background, I leave that to wallpapers.
Mars,
If there’s anything here that I would say will enable people to truly build a kick ass brand it’s the idea of pushing publish when you are afraid to. That’s the most authentic we ever are. It’s in our moments of vulnerability that we ironically showcase some of our most amazing traits. In fact, it’s our imperfections that make us perfect.
yeah, and it’s a good reminder, Srini.
I haven’t been scared this week (<damn !!). It's such an automated thing that we always fall back on that. Thnx for that comment, I'm going to push myself further today !!
Mars, this is an EXCELLENT post.. mayhap one of your best yet, if not the best I’ve read so far.
Interesting, useful, love the visuals, and overall killer, well done!
Xo
C
Careful Cori, I might vaporize by blush-plosion !
The fire was burning with this one !
W0ot! Awesome, lovable, adorable, passionate post! Just what we expect @ Blogussion. Love the points man – relly hit the point and doing what you love and do it as hell.
Not much to add or say except agreement … people seem to repeat what you say in the post to do that.. But I think that’s lame.
Rock on, oh sorry… you are doing that already. So keep rocking.
Cherio!
Hey Man, thanx a bunch,
why not rock together ? The passion and style is missing in most parts of the blogging world, let’s bring it back
Let’s do that! Let’s hit each other with mail : king @ kingsidharth.com
I also think that you can take any of your interests and merge it with your niche. If you particularly love metal music, why not do several posts showing analogies between metal and making money online.
Hey Julius, long time no see
Yeah, that’s actually a grrreat idea ! I use it myself many times : Pick your favorite stuff and link it to your message. This way, you will have ideas until the end of time…
Great points. I am always afraid to hit publish.
I got a directive from Seth Godin today to ship by midnight tomorrow night. Eek.
Thanks for the encouragement to keep cranking it up a notch. I’m on my way to check out your site.
Hey Tammi,
it can be hard. Really hard. But I believe (and from my experience during the last month), that you have to push yourself and challenge yourself every single day if you want to play whole new game.
It has worked out for me so far, and I keep increasing the limit.
Make it a daily habit and change your (digital) life in a few months, it’s possible, Tammi
Excellent article once again Mars, thanks.
I got the voice down for sure, my communities will back me on that one. I tend to lick the edges ’till I bleed most times and have no problems screwing up from time to time. LOL
My vision is clear to me, finally. It will be clear with finality to my community once my new blog network is up and running smoothly.
Design – well, I think between myself and my designer, we do OK.
Again, most inspiring man. This is a tweet and a keeper.
Heya Dennis,
“lick the edges ’till I bleed most times and have no problems screwing up from time to time.” LOL, that’s a kick-ass statement.
And thanks for the retweet, I put a lot of love into that article. About the network – do you actually set up something yourself, or do you mean a network via social media ?
But design= ok ? That’s a word I never want to hear from you again ! Design can be (must be?) simple, but not just ok !
I’m setting up my own little blog network. Separate blogs covering different marketing aspects, all brought together via a HUB and Newsletter. I talk about it in a few of my recent posts if you wanna glance over.
Wow, you are literal arent-cha. lol, Its just an expression that didn’t come across correctly in type.
Think Fonzie saying, it’s coool man, everything is oooook.
LOL
Wish you could of listed more info, but this is still s good read.
Really Great post Mars!
You are absolutely right.
Sometimes, it might only be a little going outside the box that you need.
Thanks a lot for the great post,
-Onibalusi
Not playing it safe is a major step in having a successful blog. These days, blogs are a dime a dozen, and playing it safe is the easiest way to get lost on Google. Be different, be authentic, your readers will thank you by coming back.
I really value these tips, thanks very much!
I 100% agree with “Celebrate your voice” – that is what makes you unique.
However “Get one heck of a design” – I know many bloggers who have really bad designs, but they still have high traffic. Why is this?
Thanks again
Heya Christopher,
Well, content and personality comes always first. And design is the icing on the cake. I think it vastly improves your blog, but it’s not a die-hard requirement like killer content.
The article is awesome and the tips too! Not playing it safe is a major step in having a successful blog. These days, blogs are a dime a dozen, and playing it safe is the easiest way to get lost on Google. Be different, be authentic, your readers will thank you by coming back.
P.S: I really like the design of the blog.
I like the idea of building a strong brand name, i think it’s really important because people are more likely to remember it. that’s how i first started following blogussion, the name and design got me hooked i guess. I’m trying to do the same with my latest blog- bloginsomnia.com ! I’d appreciate any feedback on it!
I personally enjoy reading your post.. love the way you structure it making it so much enjoyable in reading.
i have just started blogging not long ago and i think i just screwed something up.. haha
heck at the point of deciding whether to get a fee or a paid blog, i chose a free wordpress blog. After 2 weeks of actually updating, marketing, generating back links etc etc as such, it came to senses that it may be better off having a paid one for future advantage..
to my surprise, i stumbled upon the problem of having to redirect my free wordpress blog to my new domain~ what will happen with my backlinks? my seo? i have heard of redirect 301 but apparently its not supported within wordpress!
o well, it came to my senses that i will continue to maintain and do my best with my free blog .. and find other means of monetizing it once it grew.. maybe through affiliate products or something.
i ought to have gotten a paid one at start but it doesn’t matter. at least i learnt something and am sure i will never ever repeat it again for my future endeavor.
cheers
as part of the branding stuff, use favicon icon to help you stand and it has become so easy now, there are so many plugins that would help you create one in seconds, the one I have very useful and which demands let tweaking is maxblogpress favicon plugin
i think branding is the key to blogging succes. Your tipps helped me a lot!
Great design and great name always brings fast results!
I like this post very much Thanks keep it up
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