Managing an online brand - 1

Let me begin this blog with a quote I'd come across recently - that undoubtedly had spurred my thinking along these lines. 

"Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You. It's that simple - and that hard. And that inescapable." - Tom Peters.

This is in fact, one of the Holy Bible truths for every entrepreneur, as when one may interact with other patrons - investors, stake-holders, customers, partners and more importantly the future team members. This is mainly because , the entrepreneur is mainly judged by these 2 parameters -

1. who he is
2. what he does / has done

One of the ways of building the image of a company / brand is to to use the power of the web.

Online reputation management has thus gained an important mindshare in the consumer as well as the entrepreneur's thinking.

Fundamentally, at the outset, online and offline branding practices are quite similar. Online content is all the more important in the former somehow.It requires care, caution and a keen eye for detail. The medium is just shifted to the LCD this time. 

Successful branding depends on what others think of the brand - not the entrepreneur. In fact, stretching this thread of thought, I must say that the 'like' buttons on FB works wonders ! They map the like and keep a track of the numbers.

Interesting. But I was specifically reading about online brand management with start ups in mind.

For start-ups, as I'd realized, it becomes all the more important to connect, engage and stage the image of the brand with the target audience. In fact, there are some simple steps that guys like me must follow and ace ! -

1. Get an own domain. 
2. Put all content in one place so that even when one searches from Tumblr, Stumble Upon, Wordpress, Pinterest, Instagram or other social network sites, one is directed to the main website.
3. Be stylish - get a designer to jazz up the aesthetics
4. Optimize presence on sites by customizing URL and repeating the brand's name wherever, whenver
5. Keep private as private - assuming that nothing now confines itself in the sanctity of private. This applies in the case of pics and updates , specially over social network sites
6. Be flexible and move with the times.

Hmmm.. I do agree ....

Wait .. this seems appropriate -

"(A) plea for originality, for passion, guts, and daring. Not just because going through life with passion and guts beats the alternative (which it does), but also because it's the only way to be successful. Today, the one sure way to fail is to be boring. Your one chance for success is to be remarkable. - Seth Godin in his Purple Cow

Yes. Brands need to be remarkable to be remark-able. It all depends on imagination.

I need to read up more on creation and maintenance of online brands now

Next blog !