Developing Your Brand

What you write is not as significant as who you are as a writer. You are the brand for which your work is the product. Think about this: whether you order the tall, grande or venti latte, you went to the "brand". What are we doing as writers to build our brand? That's a target project for me so I welcome suggestions.

Here's one step I took in less than twenty minutes by creating products with my book image and promo line on Cafe Press. To my surprise it was a simple process, blessedly requiring no graphic arts or HTML skills.  Now it's up to me to include this link on all my sites and potential selling sources. I also plan to purchase the "official" Taylor Kendall Evil Inc Tote to bring with me for book signings and other author promotion events.

What makes these branded products enticing is the promo line. . . "Help us spread Evil". That makes you take a second look in the same way that my Health Coaching tee with my Before and After (70 lbs lost) photos are a walking billboard which often starts conversations that lead to new coaching relationships.

Keep in mind, it's all about the brand . . . how are you developing your brand as a writer?

Are you loyal to your writing?

"In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it."  Does Robert Heinlein's comment describe your writing routine? How much of that "daily trivia" is electronic lure? The temptation of instant information is strong and can steal from productive writing time.

As a clinical psychotherapist, I suggest to you that the availability of instant information sends writers into a spiral of obsession. You can become so obsessed with having all the information, the most current information, the hottest information, etc. that we don't finish the writing project. With the speed of content development today, don't bother to be current. In the time it takes to write, the material is out of date. So what can you do? Start by putting aside the obsession and focus on the product.

Will you know everything about an issue? Of course not. What you do have to offer is your unique perspective which no one else has. Start your day by writing for thirty minutes without click on email, RSS feeds, search engines, Facebook, Twitter or anything else. Treat your computer like an old fashioned word processor where YOUR WORDS are the focus. Attempt to extend that time up to an hour without plugging back into the usual electronic distractions. 

Break the "strange loyalty" to trivia and be loyal to your writing. The results will set your creative brain free so your muse is inside your head (where it belongs) not on flashing screen.

What Madonna knows that you need to know

What does Madonna have to do with branding your blog or books? From virgin to bondage and from material girl to devoted mother, Madonna knows how to "go with the flow" in marketing herself as a brand. When your book or blog starts to sink, take a lesson from Madonna and reinvent yourself!

Check out the brand revival ideas from one of my favorite e-Newsletters, Psychotactics. The central point of these changes is to remain true to your central idea or theme while finding new ways to market your writing product. Beyond the artistic wonder, your blog needs followers and your book needs buyers.

Be open to change! If you aren't attracting an audience with what you think is attention-getting, you can stubbornly cling to your "look" or make revisions that appeal to your target market.

Marketing is a moving target with the flood of content and ideas daily online. Audiences are fickle and swayed toward the trend. You have to put the write twist on your marketing to develop the loyal audience who will follow you regardless of the next trend.

Writer's Electronic Assistant

For the price of a latte, I get a month of 24/7 service from Jott, my electronic assistant. When random ideas hit, I press my Bluetooth and say: “Call Jott”.  I can leave a reminders, message to a group or forward a Tweet from ANY phone, not just a smart phone.

When driving or riding my bicycle, I see or hear something that triggers an idea and I capture that thought instantly using Jott. When I return to my office, I have an email from Jott with my message transcribed. How good is that?  Or I can leave the same message for a predefined group of people.

Frankly, I’m a basic Jott user. There are many other applications for Jott to connect with Twitter, Facebook, Microsoft Outlook and sophisticated business or accounting programs. I’m satisfied to let Jott replace scratching notes on coupons or paper sacks that are easily lost.

Efficiency is important for me as a writer, professor and health coach. I have to keep my tasks moving and avoid missing the next great idea. For a free month use of Jott to see how it can be the write twist for you, start here. Another writer told me about Jott when it was still in testing phase and I’ve been a devoted user since.