As a writer, do you know your brand?
You hear about company brands and branding for entrepreneurs, but as a writer you must have one, too.
It’s not simply a logo, color, or cute phrase. It’s what you and your work stand for, the spirit behind the titles.
Jennifer Bourn, design and Internet marketing expert, tells her clients at Born Creative, that they must have their brand clear in their mind before she will proceed to design their website.
Rand Fishkin, in an article called 21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic, said, “Possibly one of the most important aspects of all in blogging is brand-building.”
Janet Conner, author of Writing Down Your Soul, calls it “Spiritual Branding.”
“A spiritual brand,” she says, “is so much more than words; it is a force, a powerful force, that radiates the belief, purpose, focus, and energy you hold for and around your work.
“In a natural, organic response to your beliefs, purpose, focus, and energy, your spiritual brand magnetically attracts all the customers, partners, and support that also hold, or are looking to find, those same beliefs, purpose, and energy in the world.”
Taking an example from the corporate world, there’s a brand strategy behind the recent change in Starbuck’s logo.
There’s a reason why they’ve dropped the word “Coffee” and the company name.
Do you know what that strategy is?
Is it good? Is it bad? Do you care?
In her Plug-In telecourse, Janet Conner recommends that you create your spiritually energized brand statement by following three steps, which I’ve summarized–and drastically simplified–below:
- Break your brand into its essential elements (What you know is true, what you do to create that truth, and why).
- Figure out the walk-away impressions you want people to have about your work (Think Starbucks and their brand strategy. What is your walk-away impression of their service? The people at Starbucks have a clear idea of what they want that to be.)
- Use this information to create your brand statement.
And then she says, “Bring it to life.”
- Post it where you can see it.
- Repeat it aloud every day.
- Refer to it whenever you decide to work with anyone.
- Use it to attract new readers.
Creating your brand is hard work. Thanks to Janet, I’ve just recently started the process myself.
And it looks like I have a lot of work to do.
Maybe you do, too.
As always, thanks for stopping by,
