1. Enhancing Your Brand Image
As a business your reputation and image is a vital part of your business. How current and
potential customers view your business is important. So ask yourself “what is my brand saying
about my business?” By analyzing the answer to that question you will get a more vivid image
of your how the public may view your business.
So how do you enhance your businesses reputation and thus your brand image? There are several
ways this can be done:
 Develop a Clear Message – What is the message your brand is sending out? Is it talking
about quality, service, innovation, price or something else? If your brand message is not
clear then it’s not clear to your target audience. Your message should be clear in that
there is no doubt what the main point is you’re trying to get across. Don’t try to cram
three or four different directions into your brand’s message. Focus on the one main point
you want your audience to know.
Look at the image for Diet Pepsi below:
What does this image say about this brand? It should be relatively clear. Pepsi is stating
that their Diet Pepsi taste great even though it is diet product. Why? Because too often
people associate “diet” drinks as lacking flavor. Pepsi wants the public to know that their
Diet Pepsi tastes so good that they will love every sip. This is a classic example of a
focused and very clear brand message.

2.  Make Sure Your Message is Consistent – It’s not good enough to just develop a clear
message; you need to be consistent in delivering that message. Burger King prides itself
on delivering their meals “your way”. Their message states “have it your way”. They
have been so consistent in delivering this message along with their brand image that a
person can’t help but connect Burger King with the phrase. By being consistent in their
message delivery and pairing that with their brand image, they have engrained that into
the minds of the consumer. This approach is an important step when it comes to
enhancing your brand.
 How compelling is your brands message?
Knowing what to say as well as how to say it is an important part of enhancing your
brand image. How compelling is your message? Is it compelling enough to get the
consumer to take action? The ultimate goal of any brands message is to get the consumer
to react and do something. It could be to get them to buy a product or it could be to get
them to donate some money. Whatever that message is it needs to compel your target
audience to do something.
The City of Tulsa, OK Animal Welfare Association uses this photo in their campaigns:
Their goal is to get people to protect animals from cruelty and to make a difference in the
life of an animal. This message is very compelling. It pulls on their target audiences heart
strings and gets them to react whether it’s donating money to the cause or adopting an
animal from the local shelter. So is your message compelling enough to get your target
audience to react? If it isn’t then it’s time to revise that brand image and message and
make it more compelling.
These are a few simple yet effective ways that a business can enhance their brand. What your
brand says about you can make or break your company. So make sure your brand is saying
exactly what you want it to say.

3. Writing Blogs that People Want to Read
In today’s business world, blogs have become an important platform. Why? Blogs are an
important medium for businesses to really connect with their customers as well as provide them
with valuable and useful information. A blog is considered an important extension to a business
website.
For many business owners a blog is often something they fear because the misconception is that
you need a journalism degree to write well. This is false. While you don’t need a degree, you do
need the ability to write well and convey a message. A blog is not meant to be difficult. Business
blogs should contain business related information in a way that the audience can easily
understand. When you begin to provide details that readers find interesting, they will keep
coming back for more to see what you’ve written about next.
In order to develop blog posts that will keep readers coming back for more consider these things:
 Plan What to Say – For some it’s easy to sit back and just jot down their thoughts and
turn it into a blog post. However, the most effective people take time to plan their posts.
A blog is a part of any marketing campaign. So just like a marketing plan you want to
plan out your blog posts. Is there a specific topic that you want to cover? Will you create
one blog post on that topic or a series of blog posts? How often will these posts be
distributed? These are questions that need to be thought about and planned for ahead of
time. When you walk into a business meeting you don’t often make a rash decision right
away so why would you do that when it comes to your blog posts?
 Plan How to Say It – How are you going to convey your message in your blog? Do you
want to highlight the main points in bullets? Will you combine the information with a
photo or even a video? How you relay your message is important. You need to make sure

4. that what you’re saying flows well. This will make it easier to read and thus easier to
understand.
 Make Sure the Length is Just Right – It’s easy to have a concept in your head and
when you go to put it down on paper it turns into a novel. While your readers are
interested in what you have to say, like you, they are busy. So they don’t always have
time to read a post that is lengthy. An average post ranges from 400 to 500 words. When
planning your posts if you find that your topic is a 2500 word post then consider breaking
it down into 500 word chunks and making it a blog series. Now your one post has turned
into a 5 post series that you can spread out over the course of a month or more.
 Be Consistent – Once you’ve planned what to say and have written your posts be sure to
be consistent in delivering them. Set up a schedule of posts so that your readers know
when to expect new content. This will keep your readers coming back for more when it
comes to your blog.
Blogs are an important part of any online business today. If utilized in the right way they can
turn into a valuable marketing tool for your business. Take these tips into consideration and
you’ll be well on your way to a blog that will pull readers in and keep them coming back for
more.

5. Writing a Blog Post to Achieve High Rankings
Having a blog is an important extension of any business. If that blog is not utilized in the right
way then it’s a waste of time and money. While information is meant to entice your readers, it’s
also meant as a tool to enhance exposure within the search engines.
While a blog is great for your existing customers, it’s also a powerful marketing tool for
potential customers as well. However if your targeted audience can’t find your blog then what
good is it to you? The key is to write blog posts that rank well within the search engines. So how
is this done? Take these simple yet effective tips into consideration:
 Topics Need to Be Keyword Focused – We all know that developing competitive
keywords is important when it comes to search engines. Many business owners think that
this is something that is simply done when it comes to your website but it’s more than
that. Your blog posts are an extension of your web presence. Each blog post means a new
page on the web which means it needs to be optimized with targeted keywords so that it
can be found in the virtual abyss called the Word Wide Web. If your topics are not
keyword focused then they disappear amongst the millions of other blogs that your
competition is putting out there. So your blog posts disappear and basically turn into a
waste of your time. If your readers can’t find your information then what is the point?
 Tie Your Keyword into Your Title – Keywords are important so be sure to tie them into
your title. Most inexperienced business bloggers create titles that are simplistic and very
vague. Search engines love titles so be sure your titles contain the keywords you want
your audience and the search engines to find it under.
 Use Keywords from the Beginning and Often – Your blog content should start off with
your keyword(s). This means your first sentence or two should contain your keyword(s).
Then sprinkle that keyword throughout your content while ensuring your keyword
density. The key is to use these keywords enough that you are enhancing your SEO while

6. not overdoing it. So finding the right balance is important. Overusing keywords can do
more harm than good.
 Use Pictures – Pictures are not only a great visual aid but they can also assist in getting
higher rankings within the search engines. When you use photos utilize your keywords
within the caption as well as behind the scenes in the properties of the photos.
 Break Down Content – Break down your content using subheadings. Search engines
like targeted headings. Plus it helps break up the content into manageable chunks that
your readers will appreciate.
Your blog posts can enhance your web exposure if you utilize them in the right way. So you’ll
not only be providing information that your customers and potential customers will want to read
but you’re making it easier to find that content on the Internet. Remember these tips and you’ll
soon be moving your way up the search engine ladder.