An African-American businesswoman builds her brand online. © Yuri Arcurs - Fotolia.com

The Three Pillars of Online Marketing

There are three pillars that you need to focus on while building your brand online. In combination, they provide a powerful force to accelerate your reputation and influence.

Content: In today’s knowledge based economy, the majority of employees are selling their mental expertise to their employer. You can do that yourself to develop your own audience and core of customers. Sharing your expertise through articles, podcasts, infographics, and webinars is the primary way to excel above your competition. To start creating content, I recommend that you write at least one short blog post or record one two-minute YouTube video every week related to your niche. Over time, you will notice that more people will start looking to you for guidance on different topics. I recommend Content Rules and Made to Stick to learn more about creating excellent content.

Distribution: It does little good to have wonderful ideas if no one ever knows about them. Therefore, you need to develop a process to make sure that your content gets seen by the right people. To start, invest time in building up your social media outlets. One of the best ways to do this is to form partnerships with other blogs/news sites that need content from capable individuals. Also, being involved with professional or fraternal organizations will give you an immediate platform for you to share your ideas. Don’t try to focus on too many distribution tools at once. It is much better to fully use one tool before moving to the next.

Design: The packaging of your thoughts influences others to listen to what you have to say. Bad packaging would be similar to a renowned college professor delivering her lecture dressed as a hobo. The ideas may be phenomenal, but no one will listen to you if you are packaged the wrong way. Therefore, invest the money in getting your website professionally created or learning WordPress yourself.

Building your brand is a long term strategy that usually takes a while to pay dividends. When it does, it becomes a capital asset that will allow you to make more money and gain new opportunities. It is definitely worth the investment.

Lawrence Watkins is the founder of Great Black Speakers, Great Pro Speakers, and co-founder ofUjamaa Deals, which is a daily deal site that promotes black-owned businesses. He graduated in 2006 from The University of Louisville with a B.S. in electrical engineering and earned his MBA from Cornell University in 2010. Lawrence currently resides in Atlanta. You can follow him on Twitter@lawrencewatkins.