Branding: Yourself or Your Site?
Submitted by jdilleo on Thu, 06/26/2008 - 10:12.
Hey everyone. I'm another one of those newbie affiliates that seem to be popping up everyday =). Like most, I've checked out my fair share of blogs, forums, and some ebooks on affiliate marketing. But I have to say, the insight that Jeremy has given in the BIP towers over pretty much all of the stuff I've come across.
I was a bit skeptical at first about the BIP because of the fact that it was free, but as I went through the material, I started to realize that Jeremy and the BIP was the real deal. So I wanted to give a sincere thanks to Jeremy for such a valuable learning opportunity. Yeah, it's a late 'thank you' but it has taken me this long to even start to absorb some of the material presented here.
Well, on to the question. I wanted to hear the opinions of fellow BIP members on what is the best way to brand. Would it be better to concentrate on branding yourself and present yourself as the authority in a niche? Or would it be better to focus on branding your website as the authority. What are the pros and cons of each?
This probably depends on the website and the niche...but what about those of you who are running multiple websites that are in niches that may need a personal touch (i.e., sites that would probably benefit from having a person as a brand)? Do you build on a single (your) name across multiple websites? Do any of you use pen names?
Hopefully those questions made sense. Looking forward to some input.
John
my thinking is that before
my thinking is that before you try to brand yourself you need at least one big marketing success to prop you up. Jeremy getting to seven figures and being recognized by a CJ award is a great example of this.
although you may wish to keep your businesses separate of one another initially, pen names are probably a bad idea if you eventually plan to merge your brands into one unified whole. it will all mesh together much more effectively if the same name crops up on all the business sites.
Stephen Carter
creator of Review Foundry
I agree that it depends on
I agree that it depends on the niche AND type of website you're building.
Niches like internet marketing, hobbies, etc. would probably benefit from a "personal" feel, whereas with catalogue or coupon sites it might not make a difference (in those cases, showing that you're affiliated with trusted brands would probably trump a personal photo on the homepage).
It all comes down to what you need to do to establish trust and credibility with your target audience. An understanding of your audience's beliefs/feelings/desires will give you the answer to that question.
Moe
Hey thanks for the feedback
Hey thanks for the feedback guys.
@Stephen
Great point on the need for a marketing success. It's just a bit scary to me to kind of put your name out there and on the line on a project without knowing if it's going to be a hit or a flop. But I guess that's the risk you have to take.
@Moe
I like those example niches. I guess if I were to dabble in both the personal and none personal niches, I would use different strategies for each. I think that way I would not be seen as a jack of all trades but a master of none to visitors who happen to come across more than one of my sites.
John