Internet marketing is about content, strategy, community and relationships… but to make all these things happen we need to use platforms and channels.

Platforms and channels allow us to interact

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, YouTube, eBooks, podcasts, email newsletters, blogs, websites, forums, membership sites, Flickr, etc are all platforms. They are channels that carry your communication.

I suggest you create a presence on multiple channels for your business, but pick one as your primary communication channel. In his book, The Sticking Point Solution, Jay Abraham calls this your “signature channel.”

Why a signature channel is powerful

By choosing one communication channel to emphasize, you will build a ritual of expectation for your prospects and followers.

Gary Vaynerchuk produces quick and passionate Viddler videos. Chris Brogan writes daily on his blog. Jason Van Orden publishes weekly podcasts to iTunes. Mari Smith is very present on her Facebook page.

Do these people ONLY communicate with one channel?

No.

But they have built a ritual of expectation for their audience using one signature channel.

You can do the same thing for your business. It doesn’t matter if you are a roofing contractor, dentist or a consultant. Think about how you can communicate ritualistically with your audience. What’s your signature channel?

How to choose your signature channel

First, you’ll need to figure out what you’re comfortable doing. Some clients would die a thousand deaths if they had to get in front of a camera. Obviously they aren’t using YouTube as their signature communication channel. Other people are very comfortable and great in front of a camera.

I can remember reading Laura Roeder’s comments on video blogging. She’s found that she doesn’t enjoy writing lengthy blog posts, but video has come easily and was fun. So she’s put her efforts into making videos a huge part of her communication strategy. And it works very well for her and her audience.

It’s really all about your style.

What do you think makes you shine the most? How does your audience/target market typically like to receive communication?

High level business executives in their mid 60s will probably respond better to an email newsletter. College students may resonate with YouTube videos and Facebook updates.

A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT: You don’t have to choose one thing and stick with it forever. Consider everything a test and see what works and what doesn’t. Then keep doing the stuff that gets you results.

Remember, the goal is to connect with your prospects and customers, show that you are a real human that can be trusted and add then create massive value for your prospects.

Here’s a short list of channels that you might consider…

Slideshare
YouTube
Podcasting
Blogging (text)
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

Today’s Action Step

Choose one signature communication channel and stick with it for a while to test the waters. If appropriate to the channel, I’d suggest one update each weekday for one month. I’ve found that most online channels lend themselves to daily updates

So – in the comments section below, let me know what channel you’ve decided to try this month.

Now go take action.

This article is part of the Internet Marketing Basics series where we cover the fundamentals of internet marketing and social media.

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Joel Mark Witt is the Publisher of Folk Media. He is a producer, author, speaker and social media marketing coach who consults with businesses and nonprofits on how to use social media in marketing and communications. Get more from Joel on Twitter or Google Buzz.

*Photo by shoothead

Internet marketing is more powerful than ever. By using social media to communicate with your prospects, you are able to stay top of mind every day.

Why you need to communicate often online

If you’ve ever been to one of those corporate sales and marketing trainings you’ve had it pounded into your head “it takes seven impressions before a customer will buy.” While this may be true, in today’s economy and business landscape, I’d say it’s even more than that.

As a small business, you obviously can’t afford to buy up enough radio, TV and newspaper ads to reach your prospects even five times… let alone seven or more.

But your prospects need to hear from you regularly. The good news is the internet makes the cost of reaching them very inexpensive. For the first time in the history of the world, the average small business can play like the big brands do and keep their marketing and messaging in front of people constantly.

Communication channels that work for the Internet economy

A good mix of communication with your prospects is in order. You have many tools at your disposal like email, Twitter, Facebook, blogs, online video, podcasts and a host of other social networks that seemingly pop up daily. By using all these tools you will be hitting potential customers across multiple platforms, demographics and times of day.

For example, email may be a great way to keep your company in front of someone while they are sitting at their desk. But what about when they are on their mobile phone searching for a service your business provides? Will you be top of mind then?

Two different ways to communicate online

Direct

Direct online communication includes:

• emails
• direct messages via Twitter and other social networks
• chat
• mobile texting
• skype calls

These methods must be used sparingly because direct communication can get overbearing. Fortunately there is also indirect communication, which is our sweet spot for online marketing.

Indirect

Until now it wasn’t possible to passively communicate with prospects. You had to always employ direct methods. Now social networks allow you to continually communicate with your prospects passively.

Because prospects choose to passively follow what you say online with social media, they are giving you permission to update them with business content. They “opt in” to read, listen or watch what you have to say.

One of the biggest mistakes that people make here is to NOT tweet or post about your personal life. I hear tons of social media consultants and professionals advise you to keep your Twitter, Facebook and blog strictly professional and don’t mention your kids, spouse, hobbies etc.

I disagree. It’s okay to give SOME of the mundane details of your life. People ARE interested. They want to see that you are a REAL human being.

Think about the headlines that sell magazines and reality TV. We love to see what other people are up to. We love to know who their dating, what they’re wearing and when their new show or album will be released.

Obviously you won’t delve into the personal (non public) side of your life. But do show people that you are a real person.

Imagine yourself always being “top of mind” for your customers

All this wasn’t possible 10 years ago. But with social networking you can be on the top of your prospect’s mind daily. The cost to stay in front of your audience is practically free. Imagine the power this will have for your business brand. You have the potential to be top of mind EVERY DAY. This is powerful.

Today’s Action Steps

Build your daily core messaging plan. Take out a piece of paper and write down how your business can communicate daily with your followers.

• Are there daily industry news sites that you can point your audience to?
• Can you create a daily tip to send out on all networks?
• Do you have a business that is dynamic where you could video your daily activities and post?
• Do you have something interesting happening in your personal life (a big trip, graduation, marriage) that you could share with people?

The ultimate goal is to post at least ONE piece of content daily that is RELEVANT to your prospects or customers.

Now go take action.

This article is part of the Internet Marketing Basics series where we cover the fundamentals of internet marketing and social media.

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Joel Mark Witt is the Publisher of Folk Media and author of 21 Days To Twitter Leadership. He is a producer, author, speaker and social media marketing coach who consults with businesses and nonprofits on how to use social media in marketing and communications. Get more from Joel on Twitter or Google Buzz.

*Photo by psd

I didn’t FEEL like writing anything today. But I wrote anyway…

Feeling blah happens to the best of us

Call it the blues. Call it feeling blah. Call it writer’s block. Whatever you call it – the fact is you don’t feel like writing anything today. You might have had a bad day or maybe you’re sick. It’s tough to write when you feel like watching TV or checking your email or sending friends updates on Facebook.

But having an iron butt and being able to sit in your seat banging out a blog post is something you KNOW will bring you closer to your business goals.

What to do about feeling blah

With the exception of physical illness, 9 times out of 10 your blah feeling is in your head. One of the ways to deal with this is to manipulate your mind, take control of your thoughts and change your state.

Change your mind

Find things to dwell on that you’re grateful for. Think about positive experiences or successes you’ve had. Think about all the people who love you and care about you. Focus on how great you’ll feel once you write this blog post and it’s finished.

Change your body

Eat something that will nourish you. Go for a run. Sit in the sun and drink some coffee. Listen to some music.

The goal is to break your state of mind and get yourself into a state that can be productive and write anyway.

How to actually write [tips]

So let’s assume you’ve worked on getting your body and mind into a productive state. Here are a few specific techniques for writing your post.

• Focus on other people’s problems. Think about problems your customers or prospects are having and focus on helping them solve these. Write about the specific steps it will take to solve these.
• Focus on specifics. When I’m feeling blah, the more specific I can get with my post the easier it is to write. I try to focus on one tip or technique and make that the driving force behind my writing. It doesn’t have to be long or complicated.
• Go with how you’re feeling and use it. Sometimes the feeling you have can be the genesis of a post. If you are feeling confused and blah because a vendor is giving you the run around – write about it. Write “5 tips to deal with uncooperative vendors” for example.
• Start by outlining. Outlining is my best writing tool. If you want to get really fancy check out MindMeister Mind Map software. It’s free to use and can help you organize your thoughts visually. Whether you choose an outline or mindmap – get your thoughts on paper.

Imagine your outcome

A good friend of mine once said “A true professional does the job no matter how they feel that day.” That quote has always stuck in my head. Imagine being able to write no matter how you feel.

I would recommend that you close your eyes and feel what it is like to have a finished blog post. Imagine yourself feeling accomplished and at ease knowing you FINISHED.

Today’s Action Steps

• If you found this post helpful please share with others.
• Leave a comment below with your best tip on how to write when you don’t feel like it.

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Joel Mark Witt is the Publisher of Folk Media and author of 21 Days To Twitter Leadership. He is a producer, author, speaker and social media marketing coach who consults with businesses and nonprofits on how to use social media in marketing and communications. Get more from Joel on Twitter or Google Buzz.

*Photo by Jar0d

Personal branding includes finding ways to stand out among the crowd. I already wrote about becoming a rockstar. Here are five quick ways to stand out online in a sea of other voices.

1) Promote other people

I hear the fastest way to a man’s heart is his stomach. (For all the women out there who would like to cook for me, the previous statement is indeed true :-)

Well in the same way…

…The fastest way to a blogger’s heart is making comments and helping to promote their blog. If you do this consistently, you will be seen as an ally. You will stand out from the crowd. Read about my concept of having a Target 10 here.

2) Make and post videos

There are a lot of people who simply will not get in front of a camera. Do it and you’ll instantly stand out from them online.

3) Know thy customer or audience

The more you know your customer the better. You need to cater your content to your community.

4) Post every day

I can barely find enough good information. I can find plenty of information – just nothing good. And the ones who do have good stuff post once a week or less. I forget about them.

Don’t fall into this trap. I used to tell people that posting to their blog was sufficient. I’ve completely changed my opinion on this and now say that unless you are posting at least once each weekday – you aren’t serious about growing your business online.

Post each day. Make a schedule so that you can determine what you will write about ahead of time so you don’t get writer’s block.

5) Write How To content

Another thing people want is specific how to content. If you post one “how to” article each day (and it’s good), then you WILL stand out online. And please don’t mess around with ambiguous or cute titles. Be freaking direct please.

Today’s Action Steps

First, if you found this article helpful – please share it with people who would benefit from reading it.

Second, write down in the comments the technique that you will implement today. Sketch out how you will stand out online.

Now go take action.

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Joel Mark Witt is the Publisher of Folk Media and author of 21 Days To Twitter Leadership. He is a producer, author, speaker and social media marketing coach who consults with businesses and nonprofits on how to use social media in marketing and communications. Get more from Joel on Twitter or Google Buzz.

*Photo by TMAB2003

Personal branding is partly about being a rockstar. Someone who stands out from the crowd in a radical way.

Chris Brogan had this thing he did a few years back where he referred to his readers/followers as social media rockstars. He even created a huge list of rockstars on his website with links.

I liked his idea – it made sense that “rockstardom” was now democratized.

And it’s true. Really anyone with enough hustle can create a unique and compelling personal brand online. But here are a few thoughts…

First up…Don’t be boring

“There are no rules in filmmaking, only sins, And the cardinal sin is Dullness”
~ Frank Capra | The Name Above The Title

It’s really the one thing that most people hate in life… boredom. That’s the real punishment when someone is sent to prison. It’s what causes kids in school to have behavior problems. Boredom causes people to do crazy stuff like split up with their spouses after many years, abuse drugs and alcohol or  threaten their own lives and the lives of others with reckless behavior.

Worse – boredom will drive away potential partners, clients, customers and associates faster than you can say “I’m really not a dull person.”

So how do we deal with boredom?

One of the ways we can stand out is with the Peacock Theory

This is the idea that by being outrageous on the outside (appearance, attitude or behavior) will cause excitement and attention. A great example of this is the 1990’s basketball star Dennis Rodman.

He was a little extreme with his attention grabbing techniques. By dying his hair blond and piercing his body he definitely stood out from the crowd. He was a rockstar. It’s up to you whether you’d like to use this style or not. It works – but you also have to make sure you have the substance to back it up.

One variation of the peacock theory is to do something that isn’t radical but it is congruent with your personal brand. For example, Mari Smith always wears the same color. Watch her live, on video or meet her in person and she is wearing the same turquoise color. It works.

One of the ways I’ve employed this technique is to use the greeting “good morning” during all hours of the day. People often will respond “good morning” back to me without thinking. Then they catch themselves realizing it’s NOT morning and stop to consider why I’d greeted them that way.

That’s all I need. I’ve broken down their automated response and I now have a better chance of sticking out in their mind for the future.

Command the room

Another great technique that I’ve observed Eben Pagan do on a number of occasions is “command a room” with his presence. He enters the room with confidence. His personal branding is strong because he’s poised and has himself together.

You will also see politicians “command the room” and “work the crowd” by shaking hands and smiling at people. They are very focused on being the center of the crowd and gaining attention.

Build Social Proof

Social proof is talked about a lot in Robert B. Cialdini’s book Influence. Social proof is the idea that most people believe something is valid, good or worthy if they see enough other people believing something is valid, good or worthy. You really need to apply this principle in personal branding.

Probably the best example of social proof that I can give you for personal branding is from Gary Vaynerchuk’s Facebook Page. He is standing in the midst of a group of people who all seem to be having a great time together.

The group is smiling and seemingly enjoying themselves. When you land on his Facebook page, you can’t help but think “I want to join this party.” And you will most likely click the LIKE button.

In the beginning stages of personal branding you may need to manufacture social proof. I’m not talking about lying, but rather asking people for testimonials, references and endorsements.

Be visible

Today’s lesson is this … above all else – be visible. Don’t be boring. Stand out from the crowd while surrounded by a crowd that loves you and your personal brand. To do this takes some effort and hustle. But it will be worth it as you build a personal brand that will earn you more money and create endless opportunities for you.

Today’s Action Step

Take the idea of the peacock theory and apply it to your personal brand or business. For example, when I meet someone new I use the phrase “good morning” no matter the time of day.

Choose something that can use to stand out and break people’s patterns. Then begin to incorporate this new technique into your regular interactions. The goal is to work toward “rockstardom.” So get started.

Now go take action.

This article is part of the Internet Marketing Basics series where we cover the fundamentals of internet marketing and social media.

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Joel Mark Witt is the Publisher of Folk Media and author of 21 Days To Twitter Leadership. He is a producer, author, speaker and social media marketing coach who consults with businesses and nonprofits on how to use social media in marketing and communications. Get more from Joel on Twitter or Google Buzz.

If you notice, sites like Mashable and Lifehacker are using brackets to communicate meta-data quickly right in the post headlines.

Headlines

As an example here are two recent Mashable articles:

• Kanye West Raps at Twitter HQ, Tweets a Whole Lot [VIDEO]
• How Women Use the Web [REPORT]

So let’s say you are getting good at writing clear headlines. By adding in some meta-data you can make them even more understandable to your audience.

Simply put a label in all caps and surround it in brackets. This will clue your audience into what you have in store for them.

These bracket labels can be used for a lot more than just blog headlines.

Email

When sending an email to my team I use two versions of this. I try to help them know the priority I place on emails by labeling them with two distinct labels.

“[ACTION NEEDED] subject line”
“[REFERENCE] subject line”

I’ve been getting 400% better response from the action items since I started doing this.

Twitter

Here are some recent Twitter posts I’ve made using this technique. My notes are in brackets.

• [Are you publishing online yet?] Amazon: E-books Will Overtake Paperbacks by the End of 2011
• [Finally!!] YouTube Increases Video Time Limit to 15 Minutes

Today’s Action Steps

First, if you found this article helpful please share it on your favorite social network below.

Second, try using the bracket technique in your next blog post, email or tweet and then leave me some feedback in the comments below. Are there ways you think you could use this that I didn’t mention?

Now go take action.

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Joel Mark Witt is the Publisher of Folk Media and author of 21 Days To Twitter Leadership. He is a producer, author, speaker and social media marketing coach who consults with businesses and nonprofits on how to use social media in marketing and communications. Get more from Joel on Twitter or Google Buzz.

Referral marketing comes down to getting other people to tell their online networks about your business. You can let that happen organically (the slow way) or you can be strategic and partner with people that can help you build a solid referral marketing engine. I have a secret that has worked for me and I’m confident it will work for your business too. But first…

Referral marketing

In the modern economy you need to partner up. Going alone sets you up for failure. The Internet is the perfect space to quickly build and develop business connections.

Trust is obviously a very important aspect of all this. You need to fully trust the people you partner up with. If you can’t refer your mother to them, then they are not worth referring your customers and clients.

Let’s assume you already have an idea of who you’d like to partner with online. What’s the secret to connecting with them so that referral marketing can happen?

SECRET: Start doing referral marketing for other people first

Other people are the major reason you will have business in the new economy. Your ability to connect and build relationships will be one of the biggest factors in how financially successful you are in the future.

It’s important that you find people in your industry or other complimentary businesses to partner with. These people are going to be your power team. You are going to invest heavily in helping them grow their businesses and they will do the same for you. Engaging with these people takes some time and effort.

I have created something I call the “target 10.” These are ten people that I target for a period of time (about 90 days) and behave as if I’m on their marketing staff. I don’t ever ask for anything in return, but I make comments on their blog posts, tweet about them, share their Facebook content and look for any way I can to promote new products and services that they release. I become their biggest fan and advocate.

The key is to genuinely become a referral marketing engine for others…

A few ideas to make this system work for your business:

• Don’t keep score. I learned this from Keith Ferrazzi’s book Never Eat Alone. If you keep score you won’t be freely able to help other people without expecting anything in return.
• Target people who have influence. Even though we aren’t keeping score, when you are starting out it’s important to think about the potential reach your actions can bring. So don’t target someone with 100 Twitter followers. Spend the time researching folks who have larger audiences. (Side Note: Don’t ignore people with small numbers – they are still people and you still need to be nice. I’m simply suggesting you spend a lot of time with people with large audiences when you’re starting out).
• Put yourself on their marketing team I (virtually). Mentally place yourself in the position of responsibility for their online sales and success. If they have an affiliate program feel free to sign up for that – but don’t do it for your own sake. Look to genuinely make them successful.

If you will do this for the next 90 days, I promise you will see some amazing results. You really can’t go wrong by promoting others.

How to partner up for referral marketing success

As you begin to develop relationships with others, here are a few ideas on how you can partner online to build your power team or referrals.

• Create a united front. The best example of this is the Mexican drug cartel. The top dogs always work together to stamp out competition and help each other sell more. A rising tide raises all ships.
• Fan swap and follower swap. Be willing to follow each other on Twitter and “like” each other on Facebook.
• Offer to email your list if they’ll email theirs. This is a great way to help each other out and build both of your lists.

Today’s Action Steps

First, find ten connectors and begin to target them for a relationship. Follow them on Twitter, like their page on Facebook, subscribe to their blog, connect with them on LinkedIn, etc. After you’ve followed – liked – and connected… start retweeting their tweets, sharing their blog post and looking for any way to publicly promote them. After a while they will take notice.

Second, comment below and sketch out your target 10 plan immediately.

Finally, if you found this post useful, please share it via your social media of choice.

Now go take action.

This article is part of the Internet Marketing Basics series where we cover the fundamentals of internet marketing and social media.

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Joel Mark Witt is the Publisher of Folk Media and author of 21 Days To Twitter Leadership. He is a producer, author, speaker and social media marketing coach who consults with businesses and nonprofits on how to use social media in marketing and communications. Get more from Joel on Twitter or Google Buzz.

*Photo by bigoteetoe

Personal branding does not mean that you should act like a company. Personal branding also doesn’t mean that a company should act like a person. It means being yourself – being conscience of who you are – and knowing what you stand for. It’s also important to become a person of value.

Personal branding

The goal of personal branding is to be seen as a person who adds something to others. Sounds simple but let me tell you a story.

I was in Best Buy ready to buy a hard drive a few months ago. I was out of storage space and because I shoot a lot of video I needed extra space for my files. The sales guy was showing me a few models on the shelves. As I asked him some questions he realized that I needed a drive that could write video files more quickly. He made a recommendation of the type of drive I should get. I agreed and asked where I could purchase.

“We don’t sell them here,” was the response. I was confused. Why would he tell me about a drive they didn’t carry. He went on to explain where I could find the product online and even wrote down the web address for me. He was hurting his own business by recommending a drive they didn’t carry. But he became someone of value to me.

Contrast this example with the slimy salesperson who doesn’t have your best interest in mind. You can tell from the outset that they only want to “sell” you. How does that make you feel?

Pretty awful. But when someone offers legitimate value – you feel grateful.

Your personal brand should set you apart and get people talking

When you are a person of value, you set yourself apart from your competition. We already talked about knowing your stuff. Now become the person who gives freely.

There is no limit to how much you can give. Seth Godin writes about becoming a person of value in his book Linchpin. It’s a great book about making yourself indispensable. Of course I think it’s a book that cuts to the heart of personal branding.

When you become a person of value you get people talking. Word of mouth referrals can be a huge indicator of your future success in business. People that know you have value to offer will freely recommend you to friends and colleagues.

So how does this all apply to Internet marketing and social media?

Business is tough these days. You have to find ways to leverage your resources and make them go further than ever before. Here’s a few tips when growing the value of your personal brand:

• Give away helpful advice – Literally give away some of your best stuff. Seek out people to help and give, give, give. The internet makes this easy to do
• Connect people – regardless if it will directly benefit you or not. Be the connection point between people. When someone mentions that they are looking for a product or service, offer to connect them with someone you know who provides it. Use your social networks to scale this.
• Increase your own value – by reading, studying, learning and experimenting. Look to better yourself and become a person who has so much value that you’re in demand.

Think about the person who adds the most value to your life. What is it about them that’s valuable? Do they make you feel empowered and confident? What can you learn from them and apply to your own business?

Today’s action step

Practice giving of yourself. Seek out ways to help three clients or prospects this week. Even small gestures of value can make a huge impact on your personal brand.

Here are a few ideas…

• Clip a magazine article that pertains to a prospect’s business and send it to them with a written note.
• Make a connection between two of your clients or customers. Introduce them and suggest they do business together.
• Offer to write a recommendation for a few of your customers or clients. You could even do this on LinkedIn.

This article is part of the Internet Marketing Basics series where we cover the fundamentals of internet marketing and social media.

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Joel Mark Witt is the Publisher of Folk Media and author of 21 Days To Twitter Leadership. He is a producer, author, speaker and social media marketing coach who consults with businesses and nonprofits on how to use social media in marketing and communications. Get more from Joel on Twitter or Google Buzz.

*Photo by masochismtango

Personal branding starts with trust. You need to become a trusted adviser for your prospects and customers. Trust comes from having integrity, but also from knowing how to get results.

Becoming a VCR programmer

A trusted adviser is someone people can lean on when they need advice. Let me tell you a story…

When I was a kid I was a huge photo/video nerd. I knew way more than the average teenager about cameras, lenses and video editing. As a result, family members were always bugging asking me to help them with this or that when it came to video or photography.

I helped and it got worse. More people would come and “ask” me to do random stuff that I wasn’t even that good at (program a VCR, hook up a new radio, or try to fix their computer).

The point I’m making here is that by having some knowledge in one area made me a trusted adviser. I created a little internal family “brand” that projected itself onto other areas.

The same can be said for your personal brand. If you become a trusted adviser in one area, people will associate your business with getting results.

“Trusted adviser” is the baseline of personal brand

When you spend the time building up trust:

• You become the go-to person and in turn the go-to business.
• Your income will go up because you are now the top of your game.
• Once you have some trust from a small group of people it’s easy to leverage them to help you gain more trust with a wider audience. This is referred to as social proof.

How to become a trusted adviser

When gaining trust from prospects and customers it really boils down to two things

1) Know your stuff
If you read about your business, industry and customers for two hours per day you’ll become an expert. It’s that simple. But I will caution you that experts aren’t all that important. Colleges and Universities are full of experts who make measly salaries. Knowing a lot is good, but you need more. One idea is to use Netvibes to read all the major blogs and articles in your industry.

2) Practice your stuff
Take what you learn from reading two hours a day and implement them as fast as possible. Get some feedback and then adjust accordingly. You need to gain experience. Without implementation there is no real learning. But if you actually put into practice what you learn – your trust level in your own abilities will skyrocket and in turn your prospects will trust you even more.

What if you were the go-to person?

Do this simple exercise with me. Close your eyes and imagine yourself as the go-to person in your industry. Feel the power you have when you really know your stuff (from actual experience). Spend time feeling good about how you are turning yourself into an expert.

A word of caution: becoming a trusted adviser expert should not create a false sense of pride or arrogance. Stay humble. Realize that there is much you don’t know and always be willing to learn more.

Today’s Action Step

Put something into practice in the next three hours. Because you are reading this, your already building up your knowledge and value. So spend time putting one thing into use that you’ve learned this week. Make it specific to your business and brand that will help you become an experienced adviser people trust.

For example, let’s say you’re a personal fitness coach and have been reading about the health benefits of training with kettlebells. Go get yourself some kettlebells and test out what you’ve learned. Only then can you speak with the authority of a trusted adviser.

Now go take action.

This article is part of the Internet Marketing Basics series where we cover the fundamentals of internet marketing and social media.

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Joel Mark Witt is the Publisher of Folk Media and author of 21 Days To Twitter Leadership. He is a producer, author, speaker and social media marketing coach who consults with businesses and nonprofits on how to use social media in marketing and communications. Get more from Joel on Twitter or Google Buzz.

*Photo by bschmove

Personal branding seems to be the hot topic these days. If you are a small business owner or a sole entrepreneur, personal branding can be very powerful for you.

Personal Branding

This concept of personal branding started with a guy by the name of Tom Peters who wrote about “Brand You.” He argued that employees need to see the new economy in terms of developing themselves as a brand just like Donald Trump, Tiger Woods and Oprah.

The goal is not to become as big as Oprah with your own media empire (although that would be nice). Instead, you want to become a rockstar in your industry or business sector. You literally create a persona that attracts people by becoming a “personality” rather than just another product or service provider.

I’m not talking about branding your business. I don’t have much use for branding when it comes to small businesses. Unless you have millions of dollars to spend on Superbowl ads and expensive icons (think Geico), you should avoid general branding like the plague. For your business focus on direct response marketing instead.

Although I’m down on small business branding I do recommend personal branding. It is something that you can do little by little each day. In my mind branding yourself comes down to consistency. Consistency in what you stand for AND consistency in doing the activities that will morph you into a brand.

Why personal branding is so powerful

For those who slave away at a desk job, personal branding is important because NO ONE that you work for or with is looking out for your best interest. When you leave your job (or get laid off) having a strong personal brand will be the bridge that helps you land your next gig.

If you are working in your own small business, you have to differentiate yourself from your competition. You may not have more money, a bigger ad campaign or even better sales people working for you. But you can develop and cultivate a personal brand that will “rub off” on your small business and employees causing you to rise above your competition.

If you are still not convinced, consider this… you are being Googled. Potential cusotmers, potential employers, even potential lovers are entering your name in Google and finding out about you in advance. So your online personal brand is your first impression.

My question is …what kind of first impression are you making?

How To Take Control Of Your Personal Brand

Become a trusted adviser and expert by knowing your subject matter. You must know your industry. A simple Google search can yield thousands of news articles, websites and resources that will allow you to stay in the know.

I recommend setting up a free Netvibes account to keep on top of it all. You need substance more than style. But more importantly, after you are in the know, you should become a curator of content and the go to source for others.

Become a person of value by giving away value to prospects and customers. By freely giving away value, you are building up goodwill with those people who are starting to see you as a rockstar. Learn to influence others by giving of yourself.

Become a rockstar and command the attention of your industry and your customers. This comes from other people giving you social proof. By cultivating even a small following you are laying the framework for a larger following. In order to do this you need to be visible.

Imagine your brand

What would your business look like if you actually worked on developing your personal brand? Imagine being able to walk into a room and command the attention of people in your industry. Imagine your online article or blog posts being read by potential customers making them hungry to do business with you. Building your personal brand can be the difference between struggling in business and achieving amazing success.

Today’s Action Step

As you begin to develop your personal brand – take out a piece of paper and spend the next 10-20 minutes answering these questions.

• What makes you different from other people who might have a similar background?
• What is it that makes people what to work with you? (What attitudes, knowledge, skills and abilities do you already have or are developing)
• List out the value that you can create and give away to others. Be specific and list three things.
• At the end of the day – what gets you excited and fulfils you? What type of person do you imagine yourself being?

This article is part of the Internet Marketing Basics series where we cover the fundamentals of internet marketing and social media.

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Joel Mark Witt is the Publisher of Folk Media and author of 21 Days To Twitter Leadership. He is a producer, author, speaker and social media marketing coach who consults with businesses and nonprofits on how to use social media in marketing and communications. Get more from Joel on Twitter or Google Buzz.

*Photo by stefano principato