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Let me ask you this…

Who are you and why should I listen to what you have to say?

This is the question you must answer whenever you’re requesting anything of your readers.  Whether you’re simply asking them to subscribe to your blog feed, opt-in to receive your newsletter, or hand over their credit card details to purchase your product.

The internet has made it so easy for any tom, dick or mary to slap up a website with a pay pal button, advertise on google or facebook saying that they have the answer to all your problems and they have cracked the code to how to make money online, and they’re willing to tell you these secrets for only $97.

But again I ask you - who are you and why should I listen to you?

People buy from people.

People follow leaders.

People require trust to be built before they’ll be willing to let down their guard, turn off their BS detector and listen to what you have to say, let alone pull out their credit card and buy what you have to sell.

Too many newbie internet marketers and bloggers are of the impression that if they simply put up a website with a product or an opt-in and some compelling sales copy that they will have an instant online business - and while that may have been possible 5 years ago, the amount of trust now required to make a sale online is greater due to the number of scammers around.

So this leads me to the absolute importance of building a personal brand - again asking the question, who are you and why should I listen to you?

Let me ask you this question - do you remember the names of products you’ve bought online, or the creators of those products?

Here’s a little game for you - can you match these humans with products, services or online brands they are related to?

1. Seth Godin
2. Darren Rowse
3. Tony Robbins
4. Gary Vaynerchuk
5. Joel Comms

• Crush It
• Creating Lasting Change
• iFart
• The Big Moo
• TwiTip

How’d you go? Were you able to match them all up, or are there some you’re not sure of?

I admit that there are some industries, particularly offline where branding does not have to have such an emphasis on your personal brand and you can build a global brand without being well known - take McDonalds for example.

But I am of the firm belief that online - building your personal brand is integral to the success of your internet business.

So here 7 secrets to building your personal brand.

1. Use Social Media Networks To Build Your Personal Brand

Website such as facebook, LinkedIn, and now twitter are great social media networks which allow you to not only post a personal profile, including a photo of yourself, but they allow you to network and connect with others online at a deeper level than the 1 way conversation of a static website.

Social media is a big part of the new advance in Web2.0 - creating spaces for 2 way conversations, and building greater opportunity for accountability when it comes to backing up what you say about yourself online.

2. Understand Your Audience

Its one thing to start promoting yourself and building your social media networks, but if you’re not aware of who your audience is you wont be able to target your conversations in an appropriate manner.

This will obviously come from understanding the niche which you operate in, and understanding the target market of that niche.

When you can state who your audience is, who your target market is, and if applicable who your ‘ideal client’ is then you will be able to much better target your interactions, your conversations and your ability to locate your audience.

Let’s take facebook for example - within facebook there are thousands of groups of people who are interested in various topics.  This makes an easy entry point for conversation if you can identify groups around your niche, join those groups and begin to interact.

3. Decide on your Personal Privacy Policy

You will need to determine for yourself exactly how deep you are willing and wanting to go with your conversations and the information you make available about yourself online.

Internet security is an important part of building an internet business and when it comes to building your personal brand online it can create issues with identity fraud - which is a whole other topic.

But just quickly have clear in your mind how deep you want to go.  How personal do you want your conversations to be?

Its great to allow people to see the real you, to have a glimpse into your real life, but not at the risk of your family and their safety.

For example with facebook, I personally recommend setting up a personal facebook account, and a business facebook account. This way you can keep private conversations private, and any information you dont want the whole world to see private.

4. Set Up A Blog With Your Own Domain Name - yourname.com

If you have not registered yourname.com (eg. nathanhulls.com) stop what you’re doing right now - open a new browser and register it!

Even if you’re not necessarily looking to get into the Blogging Niche, or wanting to make money blogging, I still recommend (maybe I’m biased) that you get a blog set up at your own domain name - yourname.com and start to blog about your own personal brand.

Start writing every day - 400 words or more - about projects you’re working on, books you’re reading, world changing revelations you’ve had.

Your blog creates another window into your personal brand.

Be sure to monitor comments on your blog and respond to them.  Allow visitors to contact you via an email form and be sure to respond to them.  Be accessible.  Be responsive.  Start a 2 way conversation.

If you want a blog set up at your own domain name - contact me and let me know - because just between you and me, i’m launching a new service http://www.bloggerama.net providing a blog set up and hosting service and the first 100 clients will get a massive discount!

5. Start to Integrate and Link Your Blog and Your Social Networks

As you’ll notice here on this blog, and if you follow me on twitter, my blog notifys twitter when I make a new post, my twitter notifys my facebook when my twitter is updated.

All of these networks help you to build your personal brand and expand your reach online.

6. Use Online Video

By creating a short video introducing yourself, whether its in a video resume style, a short video insight into your world, or more regular videos which you can post on your blog or on youtube.com (or both) create a deeper sense of connection to your readers/viewers.

Reading what you write creates one level of conversation, but video takes it to a whole new level, increasing the level of trust and giving you greater reputation and personal brand recognition.

7. Attend Offline Real World Events and Network

I know we’re talking about building your personal brand online - but believe me, the more you can network both with your audience and with fellow internet marketers, the more your profile will grow.

Networking creates opportunities for many things including;

• Joint Ventures
• Referrals
• Learning and Gleaning From Your Peers
• Modelling Your Mentors

So that’s it - your 7 steps to building your personal brand online!

Just a side note - one guy who I believe had done an amazing job at this is Darren Rowse - ProBlogger.net - check him out if you haven’t.

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Lets Make Money!

Nathan Hulls
Internet Marketing Expert and Intrepreneur

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