Success Unscrambled Podcast

Success Unscrambled Podcast

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Success Unscrambled Podcast episodes

  • Which LinkedIn Connection Request Should I Accept? - Success Unscrambled | Blog Traffic Tips | Business Success Stories

    Hello you!  Have you ever accepted a LinkedIn connection request?  Are you stuck wondering which ones to accept and which ones to reject? 
    I receive at least one LinkedIn connection request every day.  Some of them I accept straight away while others are left pending for me to do more research into who they are and what they do.
    At the time of writing this post, I have over 200+ pending requests waiting to be accepted.  It is not because I feel that I am better than anybody else but because I need to do my due diligence. 
    At this point, I want to back up a bit because this may be way over someone’s head who never heard of LinkedIn before seeing this post.

    What Is LinkedIn?
    LinkedIn is a business networking social media platform that has been around for over 10 years.  It can be considered as the number one place where business decision makers hang out.
    What is the big deal? Well, let’s take some time to look at the facts so that you understand the importance of this network.




    As of January 2018, 60% of Internet users in the U.S. had a household income of $100,000+ use LinkedIn.  I know that kind of sounds complicated but let’s look at another statistic.



    This graph shows how many times a day, a week or a month people use LinkedIn from their mobile devices back in 2016.




    The most important statistic is how many people are using LinkedIn broken down by country.  The reason why this is important is that if your ideal client is using this platform you need to know your addressable market.
    So, in 2016 there were 128 million people in the US who set up their profile on LinkedIn.  However, in Russia, there were only 5 million people. 
    5 million people is still a lot of people and it is not a figure to take for granted.  If you are selling a product or services and you decide that you want to sell it in Australia then it is quite possible to use LinkedIn for marketing.
    Back in 2016, there were 7 million decision makers in Australia set up on LinkedIn.  These are not just 13-year-olds looking to play Candy Crush but decision makers.


    Who Sent You LinkedIn Connection Request?

    The focus of this post is around accepting LinkedIn connection requests.  5-7 years ago it was expected that you should only accept a LinkedIn connection request from people you know.
    Of course, the concern in the camp is know how? For how long? Know personally or a passerby? Let’s spend some time looking at how people find you. 

    Have you ever tried typing your first and last name into Google?  What are the items in the top 5 results?  For sure without even thinking twice the first 5 always include your LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter profile if you have them.
    What does that say to you?  If you are building your personal brand then you need to ensure that these profiles have the right messaging and content to generate leads for you.
    Why else would they be there?  Put those profiles to work for you and start making some passive income. Lol! 
    When you go to a networking event you give out your business cards freely so that people can contact you for work so if you can connect with them offline why not online?


    LinkedIn Groups

    Did you know that there are over 2 million groups on LinkedIn?  I’ll let that sink in for a second.  Some groups have over 1.8 million members.
    Some groups are more active than others but the point is that these groups have a specific focus.  They range from Social Media Marketing to Women In Photography to Cloud Computing and anything you can imagine is there on LinkedIn.

    The whole point of LinkedIn is to grow your business network and people find you in groups and from there they can send you a LinkedIn connection request.
    35 min
  • 17 Best Careers for Introverts on LinkedIn - Success Unscrambled | Blog Traffic Tips | Business Success Stories
    Hello you!  Ever wondered what the best careers for introverts should be?  Is there such a thing?  Did you know that introverts have the potential to earn 6 figures a year?
    Before I go into this we first need to acknowledge that there are two personality types in the world (generally speaking) the first is the introvert and the other is an extrovert.
    These both types depends on the human personality. The terms were popularized by Carl Jung and it is a part of human psychology.

    Introverts
    Introverts are the people that react in a very different way to some situations or how they face some difficulty. When they are in this situation the try to put there falling and energy inside them.
    Rather than expose it outside. These people don’t expose their feelings and how they face their problems. People with these type of personality usually love to live alone or be a loner. But they work from their own minds rather than disclosure with other people.
    These people prefer to keep their issue and problems with themselves. There are a few common factors found in an introvert’s personality they are as follows:


    They are found to be the most self-absorbed people, they usually don’t talk too much with other people, and they love to live alone.
    People usually think that these types of people are loners but this is not true they have built their own world and they love to live in it and they are satisfied.
    They usually do not show off their skills and abilities they keep it to themselves.
    You cannot help or advise these types of people because what they think is right and what they are doing is right.
    They aren't concerned with what others will tell them. It’s not a mental disorder or personality disorder they usually are perfect people. Only they live their life inside rather outside.

    Now I will briefly describe the extroverts.
     


    Extroverts
    The extrovert personality is just opposite to introverts. When they usually stuck on a problem or in a critical situation, they would prefer to expose it outside rather keep it inside.
    These personality types are controlled by other people rather than themselves. These people like to discuss their issues and problems with other people.
    Extroverts are not loner type of people they love to mix with other people and usually have more friends and other relations. They feel very comfortable switching jobs or their workplace.
    Often, they love to go in groups for a walk or to eat and meet new people and they do not have any issues to do any kind of work. These are the best people for asking and advice for yourself and they love to work in groups.
    Now let's look at 17 best careers for introverts.

    1) Meter reading for utilities and electricity
    This type of job is good because you can work alone. Some other jobs related to it is like government and green based jobs.
    It involves designing and developing solar panels and installing it on the roof or above ground in a suitable location.
    In meter reading jobs you can earn $44,380 up to $61,160 excluding your personal benefits per annum.

    2) Limnologists
    Limnologist is field related to scientists. This type of field focus on water-related things, such as providing fresh water, desalination of the salty water to drinkable water.
    In this job sometimes you will be in the office analysing the database. Other times you will be outside to get a sample of the water.
    They usually earn $55,100 up to $71,780 according to their skills and experience in the field.

    3) Polysomnographic technologists
    Polysomnographic technologists it is a medical related field. In these, you need to have detailed information on the patient's bio-physiological changes during sleep so that you can deliver the data to the...
    25 min
  • 7 Secrets of LinkedIn InMail To Attract Clients - Success Unscrambled | Blog Traffic Tips | Business Success Stories
    Hello You! Are you struggling to get the most out of LinkedIn InMail?  Well, struggle no more because I have great news for you.

    Before I dive in I wanted to ensure that you understand what I am talking about.  What is LinkedIn InMail?  Well, it is a paid service from LinkedIn to help you reach out to clients.

    If you are not connected with someone on LinkedIn one of the ways to message them is using InMails.  There are other ways of course which I will show you later.

    The only way to get access to these InMails is through a paid or premium account which I will explain in a short while.

    I have been using LinkedIn InMail for many years and I can show you a thing or two.

    The alotted LinkedIn InMail credits assigned to your premium account may seem small but I have 7 hacks to help you stretch it all together.


    LinkedIn Messaging
    Let's start at the very beginning, when it comes to LinkedIn InMails we need to take a step back and look at all the available options.

    In order to get a message to someone on LinkedIn you can do one of the following:

    * Engage with their post or video
    * Comment on their article
    * Send them a direct 'free' message
    * Write an InMail (paid option)

    If someone shares a post in the LinkedIn feed you can engage with that post by liking it or leaving a comment.  Just like any other Social Media platform that person can respond to your comment.

    This kind of comment is public and everyone who comes across the post can see the interaction between you and the Author of that post.

    Members also have the option to write an article instead of sharing a post.  The difference is articles are not really surfaced frequently by the algorithm so chances are you may not see it in the feed.

    In any case, you can react to the article by leaving a comment and liking it.  You can also share it to your network.

    Upon joining LinkedIn you would have connected with friends, colleagues, family, business acquaintances or groups.  These people would be in your 1st level connection so you can message them for free.

    If you are not connected to this person and you want to send them a direct private message then the only option you have apart from sending a connection request is to use your premium credits.
    LinkedIn InMail Plans
    You are probably wondering how much is an InMail credit?  Well, it doesn't quite work that way for you see there are various packages available depending on what you want to achieve.

    Assuming you are an entrepreneur and you want to start slow and steady here are your options.



    As you can see there are four plans available which two of them relating to job search or recruiting.  The other two plans can be classified as growing your brand and generating leads.

    With the premium business only plan here is what you can expect to get included in the package.



    The Sales Navigator plan, however, offers more attractive features and is priced accordingly.



    I personally prefer Sales Navigator because it gives you a big advantage over non-premium users and I will show you want I mean in a bit.

    So you get only 15-20 credits a month and you are still probably wondering how can you generate leads with so little credit.

    Let's take a look at the best way to get your LinkedIn Inmail credits to last an entire month.
    LinkedIn InMail Credits
    The best way to address this question is to look at a scenario.  You have a list of prospective clients who you need to contact to drum up some business.

    The list has 100 people on it and you have only 15 credits who will you send InMails too?  Yes,
    40 min
  • LinkedIn vs Facebook – Finding Client$ Made Easy - Success Unscrambled | Blog Traffic Tips | Business Success Stories
    Hello you! As promised this post will be looking at LinkedIn vs Facebook.  It is a very popular query for freelancers, speakers, consultants and coaches alike.

    One of the reasons it is so popular is that people use these two platforms to find clients or customers.  Depending on your niche one platform would be more suitable compared to the other.

    In other niches, both platforms are on an even keel and so you will need to decide on your approach when it comes to finding clients.

    If you are an Entrepreneur, Blogger, Coach or Speaker as yourself this question, have I ever been pitched to on LinkedIn or Facebook?

    Which one do you feel is more appropriate as a B2B lead generation tool?

    Let's take a look at each one in turn to discover the similarities and differences as well as investigate which one will give you a higher return on your investment.

    1. LinkedIn Statistics
    In order to look at the LinkedIn vs Facebook argument properly, we'll need to look at the structure of LinkedIn in some amount of detail.

    If you are brand new to LinkedIn then a good explanation is that it is a business networking platform. Some people use it as an online resume, others use it to build their brand.

    Companies use it as a way to showcase who they are to prospects and investors.  They also use it to recruit new employees.


    Find more statistics at Statista

    In the chart above you can see the LinkedIn quarter on quarter growth from 2009 to 2016. Which currently stands at over 500 million worldwide.

    In terms of monthly active users, you will be looking at around 250 million.  So if you are ever worried that there are not sufficient users on LinkedIn then perish the thought.

    When compared to the most popular social media sites worldwide you can see from the chart below that LinkedIn is not very high on the list.


    Find more statistics at Statista

    What makes LinkedIn a valuable argument is that the platform is full of decision makers sharing valuable content. Anyone in a decision-making capacity of a reputable company can be found on LinkedIn.
    2. LinkedIn Structure
    Companies are encouraged to set up a company page outlining employee size, website address as well as a physical address location.

    Each employee of that company can then create their profile and associate themselves with the company by choosing it from the list.

    For larger enterprises, with head offices spanning across the globe, they may decide to have a company page for each head office location.

    Every employee including the CEO is given the option to layout their profile like a resume or CV so that potential clients or recruiters can get a feel for who they are based on their past and present roles.

    Entrepreneurs and bloggers can take advantage of the LinkedIn profile feature and use it to attract potential clients.  There is no need to set your profile up like a resume.

    In fact, you will have the freedom to be as creative as much as you need to be.  The standard sections include:

    * Headline
    * Summary
    * Experience - Past and present roles
    * Education
    * Volunteer experience
    * Skills and Endorsements
    * Recommendations
    * Accomplishments
    * Interests

    These are pretty straight-forward to set up and can be optimised to attract the right clients.
    30 min
  • Pinterest vs Facebook – 11 Things You Need To Know - Success Unscrambled | Blog Traffic Tips | Business Success Stories
    Hey you!  For bloggers, there seems to be constant confusion when it comes to social media platforms. In this post, we'll look at Pinterest vs Facebook because the question is being asked almost every day.

    Every business, blogger, entrepreneur or mompreneur create an online presence with the ultimate goal to drive traffic to these online properties to increase revenue.



    In a previous blog post, I addressed the whole topic of blog post ideas and knowing what questions your audience is asking that you can answer.

    One of the popular questions being asked is one I have heard quite often, 'is social media good for business?'.  I can address this another time in a broader sense.

    Another popular question I get is which is better Pinterest vs Facebook?  I am going to focus on this question in this blog post.


    1. Facebook Basics
    The best way to answer this question is to first understand the basics of each platform and the way it works. So let's take a look at Facebook.

    There are two main Facebook platforms that we will address which is the personal side and the business side.  The personal side is where the typical consumer will log in and create a profile.

    To this profile, the person will add details about themselves.  Their name age, date of birth, photo, etc.  They will then send off friend requests to their friends.


    Find more statistics at Statista

    With a personal Facebook account, you can like pages and express interests.  Joining groups and communities and confirming your attendance at upcoming events is also available.

    Most importantly, you can engage with other peoples content and express emotions on that content.  You also have the ability to share your own content with your friends.

    As an advanced user, you can go and create pages, groups and communities if you need a private area to share your passion.
    2. Is Facebook Good for Your Business?
    As a business, blogger, entrepreneur or mompreneur you may also be interested in creating a space to grow your audience.  Facebook pages, groups and communities are great for this kind of relationship.

    You will need to decide if this platform is the best place to grow your audience.  The best thing to do to help you make this decision is by first understanding your audience.


    Find more statistics at Statista

    Here are a few questions you need to consider;

    * What is the age range of your audience?
    * Who are they?
    * Are they searching to resolve pain or pleasure?
    * Compile a list of their interest?
    * What problem are they trying to solve?
    * Is your business a B2B or B2C?
    * What product or service you offer?
    * Why will they join your group or page?
    * How can you deliver the product or service?
    * Where else do they hang out on FB?

    As you can see from the questions you really need to have a good understanding of your audience before deciding if Facebook is good for your business.
    3. Facebook Page Insights
    If you ever created a Facebook page and managed to amass 100 likes or more then you are probably aware of Facebook Insights.

    It basically gives you a behind-the-scenes view of the performance of your page as well as the engagement of each post.  Likes, views and clicks are common enough analytics to track.
    33 min
  • 11 Blog Post Ideas To Skyrocket Your Traffic + Income - Success Unscrambled | Blog Traffic Tips | Business Success Stories
    Hello you! Having sufficient blog post ideas is the key to keeping your editorial calendar full 52 weeks of the year. Life can be busy so finding content to market every single week can be a struggle.

    Ever wished that you can generate content ideas for 52 weeks of the year in the shortest possible time, like 1 week?  Well, now you can with what I am about to share with you.

    Coming up with ideas for quality content does not need to be difficult and it all depends on your approach to such a task.  One clever way to get great results is by finding out what your audience is looking for from you.

    Whether you are new to blogging or a seasoned blogger you know that getting feedback from your audience on your blog can be challenging.

    It will require you to either form a community, like a Facebook group or sending an email to your list.  If you don't have a list or a group then it can be worrisome.

    Let's look at some ways of how you can find out what your audience wants for your blog post ideas.
    1. Research
    In a recent post, I wrote about Pinterest SEO tips and I covered keyword research as well.  Keyword research is a great way to find out what keyword phrases your audience is using to find you.

    I am going to give you 3 exceptional tools that you can use to find the exact questions people are typing in by topic. Your audience will be asking many questions about one topic which is expected.

    However, I will show you how to find many possible questions and their variations which will be an eye-opener for you as a blogger, giving you exceptional blog post ideas.

    Before we look at those questions let me first offer a word of caution.  As a blogger, entrepreneur or a business, you need to be very clear on what the goals are for your blog.

    It is okay to pivot after seeing the questions but you should at least ideally have a value ladder set up for your site.  You should know the purpose of each blog post.



     
    2. Editorial Calendar
    As part of your editorial calendar, you should have goals that you plan to achieve for each month.  These goals are broken down into buckets that lead to blog post titles.

    Each blog post is then created to drive traffic to achieve your goals for that specific month.  Let me give you a visual example of what I mean.



    As you can see in the example above I decide that the goal for my blog in January is to sell an e-book about Facebook.   My blog posts for the month of January should be focused on promoting that e-book.

    In February I can decide that the goal for that month is selling an e-course on Twitter.  So all my blog posts for the month of February should be promoting my Twitter course.
    3. Audience Questions
    One of my favourite tools for blog post ideas that I came across recently is Answer the Public.  What you need to do is enter your core keyword and then the site will generate questions.

    It not only generates questions but it also gives you, prepositions, comparisons, alphabetical as well as related words and phrases.  Depending on your search as well as your broadband connection it could take time to load the results.

    It is worth waiting for the results because I personally consider the suggestions very valuable.  The questions are objective as opposed to being subjective.



    In the screenshot above you can see 190 questions that I received based on the base keyword - Twitter.  Do you think 190 questions would be sufficient to help you with blog post ideas?
    4. Facebook Groups
    49 min
  • 9 Secret Pinterest SEO Tips The BIG Reveal - Success Unscrambled | Blog Traffic Tips | Business Success Stories
    Hello You! Would you like a handful of Pinterest SEO tips to get better results on your Pinterest business account?  If you are a regular visitor to my blog you know I love talking about Pinterest.

    Why? Because Pinterest is a great platform for bloggers and businesses alike to grow your blog traffic.  It should not be the only platform used to achieve your traffic goals.

    You can use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, SEO and even LinkedIn to generate leads for your business.  Do you know which platform is best for your business?

    If you are not sure then feel free to sign up for one of my digital marketing consultations here.  I will go over what you are currently doing and what you can do gain traction from which platforms.

    Would you like to get started with Pinterest marketing?  Looking for someone to create and/or manage your Pinterest business account? Feel free to look at my Pinterest packages here.

    Let's spend some time together looking at 9 awesome Pinterest SEO tips.


    1. Pinterest Boards
    If you are already familiar with Pinterest you would know that pins exist on boards.  These boards can be secret or open to the public.

    Let's look at the anatomy of a Pinterest board.  Each board has a title, a description, a category and of course they all should contain pins.  Here is a visual of my primary board.



    As you can see there is my title and description.  The name of the board is the title and those jumbled words together make up the description.  If I click the edit button you will see all the bits.



    The most important thing to remember here is to do your keyword research before giving your boards titles, descriptions and assigning them to a category.

    Your Pinterest SEO research will give you the keywords that people are searching for which you can then narrow down to the one that is best for your niche.
    2. Keyword Research
    What I consider to be the most important of all Pinterest SEO tips is keyword research.  If you don't know what people are searching for on the platform or even outside of the platform then how could you market to them?

    Keyword research is important for search engines, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Facebook.  To give you a real-life example here is a screenshot of the top 4 results when I searched for Pinterest lead generation on Google.



    I did click on the link to Pinterest and it took me to a Pinterest board with many pins and lots of messages but none of them told me specifically told me about how to do Pinterest lead generation.

    Two of the best tools to conduct keyword research is KWFinder which I mentioned in one of my previous posts and of course Pinterest itself.



    In the above example, I entered the search term lead generation and you see that Pinterest suggested a few phrases.  Once I click enter then Pinterest gives the top 10+ words that users are searching for on the platform.



    So, what are you waiting for to find your perfect set of keywords?
    3. KW Finder + SEMRush
    Like I already mentioned above you can also use non-Pinterest tools like KW Finder, Google Keyword Planner and SEMRush.

    I placed the newly found keyword in KWFinder to see which are the easy words to rank for that is similar to this ph...
    45 min
  • 9 Productivity Apps To Save You Weeks of Work - Success Unscrambled | Blog Traffic Tips | Business Success Stories
    Hello You! Do you use productivity apps to get stuff done quicker?  It occurred to me this week that I did not cover any of the cool productivity apps for those of us always on the go.  Check out the productivity tools here.
    If you are like me and you only have a few hours in a day to work on your side hustle or on your business then you will appreciate anything that saves you time.
    Nearly every single software I use I try to ensure that it is available on a mobile device as well.  If you spend time travelling or eating you will appreciate filling those 'empty' time slots.
    This is especially true if you only have access to your laptop or desktop 2-3 hours a day and the rest of time you can only access your mobile device.
    I have a list of 9 solutions that I class as productivity apps because they help me get stuff done without the need for a laptop.
     


    Doodle
    One of the hardest things to do when working with a team or freelancing is to get everyone to agree on a good day and time to meet.
    The list of suggestions sent to you by each person can become overwhelming so one of the best tools that will suggest a great day and time that will suit everyone is Doodle.
    It does this by giving everyone the ability to vote and looking to see when are the best options for a meeting and suggest 2-3 dates based on people's availability.
    You will have this shortlist then choose one of the suggested dates.
    Other great tools for one-to-one freelancing appointments is GetOmnify.com and Acuity Scheduling.  With these two tools, people can choose times and dates from your available slots.

    Swiftkey Keyboard
    Have you ever tried to send a quick message that should only take 2 minutes but it actually took 7-10 minutes instead because you spent a lot of time fixing autocorrect?
    I feel your pain, some really common words, slangs or brand names are not included in the autocorrect dictionary so it takes more time to send a message.
    Enter Swiftkey, a cool keyboard that you can have working in conjunction with your normal mobile phone keyboard.
    It does offer predictive text but it offers better suggestions than your standard auto correct feature.
    Check out the fastest growing mobile apps according to Statista below, as you can see productivity in at number 4.


    Find more statistics at Statista
    TurboScan
    Have you ever attended events, seminars and conferences and they all give you some collateral?  Ever wished they could have delivered it to you using an app?
    If you are like me not only do you get tons of printed collateral every year but you probably also take notes during webinars.
    This next app is going to blow your mind because TurboScan allows you to take that item and scan it into your phone as a PDF.
    Woohoo! Save the trees and reduce the clutter around your house or home office.  Rather than refusing to take any more handouts just scan the item and hand it back.
    Can you think of the number of efficiencies around this one app?  You can even do this to bills, receipts and invoices which is why TurboScan is on my list of productivity apps.

    Canva
    Everyone talks about Canva but very few people talk about the app.  As I am writing this blog post now I am quite aware that I need to spend time creating the images.
    I usually use Canva on my laptop to create the images because I believe it is faster but what if I can save time and do it from the app.
    Even if you use stock photos you can have these save in Google drive or iCloud or D...
    37 min
  • How I Made Joining Pinterest Group Boards Child’s Play - Success Unscrambled | Blog Traffic Tips | Business Success Stories
    Hello you! Have you ever heard about Pinterest Group Boards?  I hope your week is set up to be a productive one after my tips on time management and productivity tools.  Did you get a chance to create your brand board in record time?

    If you never heard about Pinterest Group Boards then don't worry too much I will keep you in the loop on this blog post.  I will go into it in a little detail so that you too can reap the rewards of joining them.

    Essentially, a group board is like a standard Pinterest board with pins but this time the board has more than one person collaborating or pinning to that board. Easy right?

    These boards can be quite general or they can be focused on a topic, niche or subtopic.  I did mention them a number of times in my posts.

    You can check out my former posts on 11 Pinterest tips to 100k and fantastic ways to grow your Pinterest Business Account here.


    Why Join Pinterest Group Boards
    I would not spend too much time on this topic but if you didn't already know these group boards can drive great traffic to your site if done right.

    If you are a blogger or website owner and you are totally new to Pinterest I wrote a blog post on how to grow your blog traffic using 9 unique ways here.

    Creating your Pinterest Business Account with the relevant boards and pins is one element but getting thousands of eyeballs on your content is the next level.

    Great Pinterest group boards have 1,000+ followers on them with some having over 100,000 followers.  What this means is that when you pin your content to these boards you get more people to see it.

    Essentially, Pinterest group boards can increase your website or blog traffic 10x, 1000x or even 100,000x.  Does that make you excited?
    Which Pinterest Group Boards Are Good?
    When you first become aware of these boards and their potential it is easy to think that the more followers the better.  Well, this is not necessarily the case so let me explain.

    Not all group boards are created equal because there are many elements that make these boards good apart from the number of followers.

    Let look at a list of criteria you should keep in mind about these boards to decide which are good:

    * Number of followers
    * Number of collaborators
    * Repin rate
    * Niche-specific
    * Growth rate
    * Rules
    * Quality of pins
    * Spammers
    * Number of pins

    Here is an example of the follower growth rate of one of the group boards that I contribute to on Pinterest.



    I know you are probably thinking this is going to be difficult.  Stay with me for a few more paragraphs as I am going to make the process straightforward for you in the long run.

    SEO traffic or traffic from the search engines can take 6-18 months to see any benefit so, by comparison, this is simple. Let's break down these criteria into manageable pieces.
    Pinterest Group Board Criteria
    The number of followers should be at least 1,000 followers or it should be growing to 1,000 in 30 days.  Smaller stagnant group boards will not bring you traffic.

    The total number of collaborators, the fewer the number of collaborators the better for you.  Unless it is just you and a friend deciding to ...
    31 min
  • 9 Secret Tips To Create Your Brand Board In Record Time - Success Unscrambled | Blog Traffic Tips | Business Success Stories
    Hello you! It's so exciting! Today we are going to go back to elementary school because we will be playing with colours, images and fonts because we are going to learning how to create a brand board during your lunch break.

    Branding is important for so many reasons but let's look at 3 reasons why you need to create a brand board for your business.

    * When you create a brand board it will help you save time as it will remind you of who you are and what you represent as an organisation
    * It will also remind you of who your audience is and what is important to them.
    * It will help you build a recognisable experience in your market and vertical

    Let's not waste your entire lunch break looking at the why instead let's start working on the how.  Ready?


    Persona/Avatar
    If you have not yet spent time refining your target market then this is a pre-requisite that you need to complete before creating your brand board.

    Some key things to consider about your audience if you really want to know who they are and what is important to them.

    * Age range
    * Gender (if relevant)
    * What do they do for work?
    * What are their struggles?
    * Why will they join your tribe?
    * What they do in their spare time?
    * Which stage of life are they in right now?
    * What is the most important thing in life for them?
    * Outline what they need for self-fulfilment?
    * How can you help them?

    Once you understand your audience you will then be able to know the images, brand experience and colours that attract them to you or your business.
    Brand Experience
    When you think about your blog, business or brand what experience do you want your audience to feel?  Every time they come into contact with your business they should get a consistent feeling.

    Some examples of this experience include:

    * Happy
    * Exciting
    * Dark
    * Energetic
    * Rest
    * Peace
    * Motivated
    * Professional
    * Intellectual

    These are just a few examples to get the gears in your mind turning.  You may think it is difficult to visualise these feeling but it is actually quite straightforward.

    The most difficult part for me was deciding the mood that I needed my brand to represent.  Right now I am stuck on motivated.  I believe that my brand is riding in 3 areas which are motivated, peace and exciting.

    What about you what emotion do you want your brand to portray to your audience?
    Pictorial Representation
    After picking your core brand experience what you want to do next is to find images to represent these emotions.  Just head on over to a stock image site and enter the emotion as a starting point.

    You can also go to Google Images and enter the emotion there to see what comes up for you.  Let me show you a quick example.

    I went over to 123rf.com and searched using the word exciting.



    Straight away you can see from the above screenshot the two main colours in most of the photos are reds and oranges.  This is great news as these two colours are included in my brand board.
    Pictorial Representation - 2
    Let's try another example using a different emotion. This time I am going to use peace so let's see the result.



    Oh wow! Do you see the range of colours?  I love indigo blue a lot and it seems to represent silence and quiet.  I do love the photo on the top right with the stones and the flower.

    If you are stuck you can approach the search based on the end result.  For example, if your client is looking forward to enriching their family relationship then use the phrase 'family relationship'.

    42 min

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Simplified Marketing for Creative Entrepreneurs