The Branded Solopreneur

Where Cult Brands Are Born

Quick & Dirty Guide to Creatively Using Instagram to Promote Your Blog Posts

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Using Instagram to Promote Your Blog

 

**This is a guest post by Orana Velarde from OranaCreative.com**

 

So you have a blog where you do business.

You and your blog are branded, your content is top notch, your mission statement makes you happy, your content upgrades are amazing and everything is good in the world.

Now what?

It’s time to tackle Social Media!

If you haven’t branded your blog or small business yet, it’s time to do so. It really is the best way to make you look professional and stand out in this ever-competitive blogging universe.

I believe in being present in all Social Media but only passionate about one or two. My all time favorite social platform is Instagram. I love using Instagram to promote my blog because it’s much more creative and subtle than a platform like Facebook.

Why?

Instagram is a predominantly visual space. Everything comes in through the eyes and the feels (yes, I said it). Instagram is also highly engaging and that is precisely how you can build a loyal following. You will find bloggers in businesses just like yours as well as the users that will ultimately be your clients. They are all in the same place!

I will move forward on the premise that you already have an account so I can get right to showing you the ins and outs of using Instagram to promote your blog, your posts, your newsletter and your content upgrades! [Read more…]

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A Quick & Dirty Guide to Using Photoshop to Create Images…That Kickass!

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Using Photoshop to Create Images

**This is a guest post by Amanda K. Jones from LaptopLifestyleMom.com**

 

Photoshop is the mother of all image editing programs and most people assume that it wields power way beyond their level of understanding. While it does have quite a few bells and whistles that you’ll probably never use as a solopreneur it’s really not as complicated as you think. If you’ve taken the time to learn other image editing programs like PicMonkey or Canva there’s no reason why you can’t learn Photoshop.

The purpose of this Quick and Dirty Guide to Using Photoshop to Create Images is to help shorten your learning curve and to point out what tools are most useful as you set out to create kick-ass graphics for your never-ending biz projects.

Why Photoshop?

OK so why even take the time to learn Photoshop when PicMonkey, Canva, and many other online tools seem to work just as well?

Good question! [Read more…]

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A Quick & Dirty Guide on How Not to Suck At Social Media For Your Business

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A Quick & Dirty Guide on How Not to Suck At Social Media For Your Business

**This is a guest post by Lindsey O’Connor from SpiritualBadassLife.com**

Ahhh, social media.

As business owners and entrepreneurs we can sort of have a love-hate relationship with it.

On one hand, social media is absolutely essential to our business’s growth and exposure. It allows us to strengthen relationships and loyalty with our current clients and fans, as well as cultivate new relationships with potential customers.

Whether you’re on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube or even Google+, thousands of potential clients and fans are looking for exactly what you offer; whether you’re in the hospitality industry, arts and entertainment, health and wellness, online coaching or have a brick-and-mortar business.

But, on the other hand, social media can be kind of stressful. It’s hard to keep up with all the different platforms, post regularly, engage with current and potential followers AND do everything else on your sky-high to-do list.

And let’s face it, social media can also be the biggest time-suck in the whole world. I mean, you just wanted to take a quick break on Facebook, but then 30-minutes later you’re looking through your ex-boyfriend’s cousin’s pictures of Cabo. FML. [Read more…]

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The Quick & Dirty Guide to Content Repurposing

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A Quick & Dirty Guide to Repurposing

**This is a guest post by Bailey Richert from BaileyRichert.com**

Creating exhaustive, compelling and, above all, helpful content for your clients and potential customers is an essential part of any online business’ marketing strategy. You need to prove beyond a doubt, and better than anyone else out there, that you know your stuff and have information worth paying for.

The teeny, tiny, teensy problem? You’re only one person (or maybe a small team), and those blog posts can take up to 10 hours to compile. That YouTube video showing a screencast tutorial on your favorite tool takes 5+ hours to do after the recording, editing, rendering, and posting is complete. Don’t even get me started on podcasts that require scheduling interviewees, recording and editing, too.

When you’re a small operation trying to get the word out about your business and expertise quickly enough to keep it fresh on a weekly basis,

How can you realistically cover so many different avenues of content marketing when the time required to create the content is all consuming?

The answer: content repurposing. [Read more…]

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How To Grab A Free NO BULLSHIT Brand Review

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How To Grab A Free NO BULLSHIT Brand Review

Are you knee deep in building your brand but to despite your unwavering commitment, best efforts and the shitload of good intentions you’re basking in, when your head hits the pillow at night you’re consumed with a wicked case of ‘spinning them wheels til they’re bare’?

I feel a ‘rubber meets the road’ pep talk coming on, but I’ll resist!

I want to let you in on a secret…

There’s NO one size fits all formula for building a badass brand!

Your path to solopreneur success is going to look different than mine and a lot of other brands out there.

Different offers, niche, readers, social platforms, strategies, style, voice…and the list goes on.

The truth is:

You can read every article out there and follow every tutorial there is, BUT… [Read more…]

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6 Ways to Repurpose List Type Posts For Maximum Brand Exposure

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6 Ways To Repurpose Your List Type Blog Posts

List type articles and blog posts are all the rage right now.

Why?

Well, they’re quick to consume, easy to process and they’re one of the most viral types of content on the innerwebs these days.

Who doesn’t love a list, right?

BUT, the coolest part of list type blog posts is the endless ways you can repurpose them!

For those of you that haven’t heard the term ‘repurpose’ or aren’t quite sure what it means, it’s simply: adapting for use in a different modality.

So when we talk about how to repurpose list type posts, we are talking about taking existing list structured content and adapting it into different modalities so you can leverage different platforms and reach folks that prefer these different ways of consuming info. [Read more…]

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How To Use Periscope To Build Your Brand

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How To Use Periscope To Build Your Brand

**This is a guest post by Daniela Uslan from DanielaUslan.com**

If you’ve been paying attention to social media lately, you’ve probably noticed a little (getting bigger by the second) app called Periscope.

If you haven’t heard of it, Periscope is a live streaming app that allows anyone with a smart phone to turn their lives into a television show.

I’ve scoped from the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado, from South Beach in Miami, and from my parents’ backyard. (The most memorable moment on any of my scopes was when, in the middle of my talking to my younger sister, she turned away from the camera and let out a loud belch. It was her first time on Periscope.)

Periscope isn’t just a fad. It’s a powerful way of growing your brand and connecting to your audience. [Read more…]

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How To Create A Signature Style For Your Brand and Blog

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How To Create A Signature Style For Your Brand and Blog

Is your brand lacking a signature style? Do you want a unique visual brand that conveys your mission, personality, and style?

Your brand is ripe for a cornucopia of individuality. In fact, there’s a combination of ingredients that when combined will create a mouth watering recipe for your unique brand identity.

This branding recipe will help you:

➽Build brand recognition with your readers
➽Stand out online in the sea of sameness on social media
➽Craft a signature visual calling card you’ll become synonymous with

This recipe is exactly what I’m breaking down in this mini course! [Read more…]

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The 6 Fixings You Need To Brand Your Emails

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The 6 Fixings You Need To Brand Your Emails

Your ability to build brand recognition relies heavily on how consistently you represent your brand in everything you do.

Your marketing emails {or newsletters} are no exception!

When someone gives you access to their inbox the last thing you want to do is drop the ball by deviating from your branding. That’s only going to dilute your brand building boom juice.

Email is when you really need to bring it. It is the most personal touch point you have with your audience.

This is when you have the ability to talk to someone not in the rush and fleeting attention of their social feeds but in the comfort and safety of their personal space. It’s how wisely you use this personal touch point that will determine how deep a connection you can form.

The secret to branding emails is to bring all the right fixings to the table. [Read more…]

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About Andrea Beltrami

I’m a straight shooting, wine guzzling, shoe hoarding, sassy Italian, born and raised in California whose favorite word starts with an F and rhymes with “tuck”.

There’s not much I won’t say or do for a laugh, even if (and it usually is) it’s at my expense. I’ve spent most of my life pinging and ponging between the black and the white, searching for that perfect shade of grey.

Click here to hear my story…

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