COURSE – THE BRAND NARRATIVE

Ok, you have decided on the niche that you are going to write about. It’s time to get going right.

Well yes and no.

Its right to start writing, you need a good number of posts to get noticed and to build your brand. If you write a good post and get some traction wth it getting people tp your site, if it is the only post there you don’t have a brand yet. There is no reason to come back, nothing really to brand. So yes start writing some posts, especially if you are new to writing. Practice will make you better. 

But its worth taking a step back first and developing an idea. What does this mean.

One look at the market you are writing in and you will notice that you ae to the only one. There could be thousands writing about the same thing all targeting the same audience. What you need to ask yourself when creating your brand is:

What will make me stand out from the others?

What makes me different in a positive way, how will I be remembered, how will i create lasting interest, something that readers want to come back to.

In marketing terms you are looking for a USP, a unique selling proposition that will be identified as your brnd.  

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.  Its the planning stage is the step that will help you bring it all together into one sympathetic, complete construct.  is the single most important step in creating a successful brand. Professional brand managers will always start with this step first.

Here you will define exactly what it is you are planning to do, how you are going to achieve it, exactly the details that will become the brand, what it is that you will be writing about, what it will be called, how it will be presented, how you plan to promote it when it is ready for launch, how much you intend to spend on marketing, how you will measure your uptake and how you will gather feedback about your new blog so that it will continue to meet the needs of your target audience.

It looks daunting at first but by simply filling in the sections below you will soon be on your way to a successful brand.

Note this template can be downloaded in Word format here.

By the end of this course you will have started the development of your idea. It will not end here. This is a process that will continue for the rest of the life of this blog and will start again if you decide to start another blog.

Just starting this process and writing it down you will find that it will start to dominate your thinking. Inspiration will start to pop into your head at all sorts of places and times of the day and you must be ready for this. The phone is the best tool here. When an idea pops into your head dictate and email to yourself and when you are next at your desk open the emails and action those ideas.

Some will now seem silly and that’s ok – but still action them because they may lead to other ideas. Idea generation

Finishing this course properly will then guide every decision you make about your blog. From the design of the logo to the color palette and font types, all these decisions will be much easier once you have answered all the following questions and have written answers for.

Here also you will stop thinking about your blog as a blog.

From now on your blog is a product.

You are the marketer of this product and so you are in charge of every decision.

Now write your Brand Statement

Once you have answered all these questions pick the keywords from all those answers and string them together in a single sentence. The sentence does not have to make sense yet. This will more than likely represent the personality of your blog and coupled with your target audience and general description will form the basis for your brand statement.

Once you have this statement developed you now have the brief for designing your brand iconography.

If your statement identifies young female adults as the target audience then this will have a profound impact on the colors, fonts, and design elements you include in your logo. Likewise, if you have identified the blog as being fun and friendly then this also will effect the design in obvious ways.

Hopefully, now you can begin to understand why understanding your brand personality and developing a brand statement is so important to the development of your brand iconography.

Questions that need to be answered by your Marketing and Business Planning document.

Who is my target audience – You must know your reader so you can offer them – Who are my reader – what market am I targeting

What can I do differently in my niche.  Your niche should be different – but – how can I be different/better than my oppposition.

How can I stand out

Its very difficult without this point of difference to be

But don’t worry

How am I different from the others – In marketing this is called a USP – unique selling point.

How can I add value –

How can I improve others lives

What is my feel and look going to be

Maybe you can just do it better – that often wont be hard but will take a while to get known for it

Do it cheaper – not the best option

Be more entertaining

More informative – there are some dreadful help blogs out there – here is one of my chief peeves – “Just go to your Tools menu ” but never tell you where that is – very frustrating

Answesr to these questions are vital – they will drive your behaviour when it comes time to launch your site and get known.

For example – food – I use Pinterest search

so if you are launching a food blog Pinterest is going to be important to you – so you will need to study up on pinerest

1. An Origin Story – YOUR BIRTH PLACE
2. Customer Stories – HOW YOR BRAND HELPED OTHERS
3. Product Stories – WHERE THE PRODUCT CAME FROM – WHAT MAKES IT SO GOOD
4. Culture Stories – VALUES AND MISSION
5. Future Stories – GROWTH AND AMBITION – WHERE ARE YOU GOING WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE – YOUR VISSION

Human beings respond to stories. The great speech givers tell stories. they paint pictures of a reality that they wish to convey. This is how you must approach your brand.

It comes from your product description and it must always be consistent. Everything you do must represent the product story you have created, the niche positioning you have adopted, the way you are going to be different from the rest.

We will talk much more about this in the courses on marketing but for now, remember one thing

Create a story

What do I mean by this? Let’s look at some online blog products with some great brand stories.

Mashable

First create a brand narrative. This is a word picture of what we want our brand and company (blogsite) to represent.

But what if I don’t have that sort of story. It doesn’t matter – create one. One that you wish was true, represents why you are passionate about the topic you blog about.

Every little bit matters

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Build It – The Sum Of The Parts

The goal is to create an immediately recognizable image in people’s minds that they know means exactly what it is they will get from it. Big brands do this by using all the elements that go together to form the image that is their band.

Consider these parts of brands. Im sure you can probably tell me who they are just from the elemenst.

Stepping through each question and writing down the answer in point form will get you going on building your brand. You do not have to answer them ll completely but you need to answer start every answer. Even if it is just one or two words.

You will add to and build your brand over many months as it evolves both on paper (the screen) and in your mind.

BUT YOU MUST ACT. Write it down. Afetr each question discussion there is an action box and that is your queue to grab a pen and write. You will be amazed at the difference it makes.

And you will be even more amazed at how much of it you cross out the following day, or change alter in some way. It will also prompt you to 

What does your brand really stand for? How is it going to make a difference in people’s lives, add value, and embellish in some way? This is what your branding will come to mean to your audience through the product itself but if your branding iconography should also contribute to this meaning.

The three why’s technique will help you find the answer to this question. It will give your product and its branding a purpose that matches your audience’s real needs, connecting with them in an emotional and powerful way.

It is something that you will need to develop as a part of your marketing plan. You can skip through to that part now or just continue here.

Stepping through each question and writing down the answer in point form will get you going on building your brand. You do not have to answer them ll completely but you need to answer start every answer. Even if it is just one or two words.

You will add to and build your brand over many months as it evolves both on paper (the screen) and in your mind.

BUT YOU MUST ACT. Write it down. Afetr each question discussion there is an action box and that is your queue to grab a pen and write. You will be amazed at the difference it makes.

And you will be even more amazed at how much of it you cross out the following day, or change alter in some way. It will also prompt you to 

STEPPING THROUGH THE MARKETING PLAN

What Tone Of Voice Will Your Blog Use?

The tone of voice you use on your blog can really set it apart from others in your niche. Quite often you’ll find blogs in the same Niche covering the same topics “sound ” totally different.

Do you want to be humorous or sound like a new reader?

Do you want to entertain or teach/preach?

My advice here is simple try to be yourself, talk to your blog readers as if you were sat with friends having a conversation, it might not work for all blogs but for most, it’s the best way to go

“Who reads all that copy anyway?”…

“Dude, no one’s gonna read all this”…

“People’s attention spans are waaaaay too short, srsly”.

This is the drivel that comes out of most people’s mouths today.

And it’s the same nonsense people were muttering 100 years ago.

Same shit, different toilet.

Listen up chicken nugget, people don’t have short attention spans.

• They finish 3 hour Joe Rogan episodes.
• They binge watch 20 hours of Ozark on Netflix.
• They fall down YouTube rabbit holes for 5 hours at a time.
• They stay in rooms on Clubhouse for hours on end.

What they do have is short “consideration spans”.

They must be hooked, quickly.

They must be entertained.

Your content must grab em’ and drag em in!

You must use THEATRE!

Cause you can’t bore people into buying.

It doesn’t matter how valuable your content is.

If your tone is drier than a teaspoon of cinnamon.

Or so boring it would make an accountant cry…

It will be an effort for people to read it.

And they’re met with resistance at every line.

Like sludging through knee-high mud in gumboots.

Look, If they’re reading your copy, they’re on the Internet.

Meaning they’re just two clicks away from super-models in bikinis on Instagram.

Funny cat videos.

Or what their friends are up to on Facebook.

Therefore, you must entertain!

Don’t write limp, boring, dull copy that lulls your readers into a coma.

Be that adventurous person in their life.

Be the person who brings them some spice.

Some entertainment.

And excitement to their vanilla existence.

Be controversial, funny, and exciting.

Hit them with that ‘happy shot’.

Make em’ smile and wanna read your stuff.

I don’t care if your market consists of lawyers…

Financial planners…

Neuroscientists…

Gynecologists…

Architects…

Or a member of the royal family…

They will never be ‘bored into buying’.

They will only respond to passion and entertainment.

Passion, entertainment, and showmanship are the missing

ingredients in copy and advertising today.

Cause in today’s digital age…

Everybody seems to be more concerned about offending a few losers than they are about selling to a multitude of winners.

Whom will I offend?

Who will unsubscribe from my list?

Will they post about me in a Facebook group?

Will I be stoned in the streets?

Who the hell cares about that small percentage of cowards who have nothing but time on their hands.

People who will hide behind their keyboards…

And cartoon avatars on Twitter….

And write scathing comments in response to almost every solicitation they receive?

I know I certainly don’t.

I couldn’t give two shits.

But I see countless companies give up millions of dollars in sales every year…

Just so they won’t offend a small percentage of trolls who’ll never buy from them anyway.

Listen here…

Stop watering down your copy.

Playing it safe.

And making it lifeless, boring, and lacking in passion.

All in the hopes of not offending those who’ll never do business with you anyway.

Instead, you must entertain, excite, and spark passion in your readers.

Be polarising.

This will enable you to form a friend-like bond with your audience…

By being ‘real’ and levelling with them and not trying to be some uptight prude.

Do this John, and count up the dollars that are fixin’ to sail into your merchant account.

Wanna know exactly how to do all this?

Oh, you do huh?…okay great!

Well, this is just step one (getting their attention)… in my 8-phase “selling system”.

Wanna see the whole ‘selling machines’ in action?

And witness, firsthand, how to get high-paying clients coming to you…

If so, you’re in luck.

Because I’ve just put together a free training that does exactly that.

I’ll show you step-by-step how the whole thing works.

From ad to sales call.

Watch it for free here.

Sabri ‘Bring The Drama’ Suby

P.S. Look, I can honestly say…Without a shadow of a doubt. If you need more clients…This ‘selling system’ is going to change everything for you.