The Business Side of Writing: Branding, Part 4

Help Shape Your Word-of-Mouth Reputation

Writers know how to say things without really saying them. They can use metaphors to make the common seem spectacular. What a writer can't always do is control the messages being sent out about their brand. They can try with marketing techniques, but even the best branding strategies cannot control what is being said through word-of-mouth communication. And with the introduction of social media into all personal and business communications online, it is getting tougher to shape any brand's reputation.

You will also need to remember that social media sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter can also be your best chance when it comes to molding your brand. Being active with fans on these sites can broaden your outlook on your brand. Knowing what your followers are saying about you can help you fix any problems they may have spotted, address any issues that fans feel uncomfortable with and also have the ability to give you diehard fans something extra for following you and spreading the word about your brand. It will not only show that you care about them, but that you are constantly striving to do your best in order to meet your own goals as well as theirs.

What you will not want to do is get discouraged if you find that there are some negative comments about you and your work out there. You cannot choose for your readers (and potential readers) what opinions they should read, but you can easily use social media and traditional media to address any looming negative images being associated with your brand.

Check out some additional resources for working with a negative brand image:

From Keysplash Creative: Fight, Flight or Flood – How to Respond to a Negative Online Buzz about You or Your Business

The Buzz Saw by Bill Balderaz: Five Tips to Fight Negative Online Publicity

A Mind Matter

Last week was one of those weeks where no matter where you are or what you're doing, there's something on your mind that just doesn't let you concentrate on the task at hand. Unfortunately, this is carrying over to this week. It's totally a personal issue, not professional, so I don't want it to affect my work in any way. So far, I haven't been able to help it. And my issues are all in my head. It's a long, complicated and confusing story, but let me just say that if Facebook and MySpace hadn't been invented, I wouldn't be having any issues at this point.

What bothers me the most is that I know that social media networks are not the be-all-end-all of friendships. But sometimes these things really let you know where you stand in the world. I have definitely been put in my place recently. I think the best therapy I can use to understand and resolve my feelings about this situation is to just write it out, or better yet, work on writing that totally distracts my mind away from my real life. That's the only way I'll probably be able to come to terms with a reconnection gone bad. It's just too bad that any of this had to happen in the first place.

Love discovering new artists

Because of my recent immersion in classic movies, I haven’t been keeping up with the new music scene as much as I would like. But today this has change, and I have been looking at a variety of new hip hop artists and think I have found a pretty good one: Icebloc. Icbloc is a hip hop tag team (duo) made up of J. Keys and Vito. They are influenced by some of the greats, new and old in the industry. But these men use their musical talent to take a typical genre and turn it around to create something truly new and exciting.

Icebloc’s new album, KRANKMUZIK is available for purchase on Amazon, and I headed over to their MySpace page to listen to some of the tracks. Even though my musical tastes tend to run in the opposite direction of hip hop styles, these tracks are better than I expected. I especially love the fact that there is a really beautiful melody that mixes throughout the beat and the rapping in “Put It In The Air.” And even though this is not something that would normally listen to, all of the songs have a great beat and I’m confident that these guys have the talent to make it big.

An Emerging Star on the Rise

I often use the music section on MySpace to look for indie bands and musicians that I enjoy listening to. And there’s one young singer that was brought to my attention recently. Her name is Lena and she is just twelve years old. But for that age, she certainly has a powerful voice. If you listen to her song “Framed” you can tell that there’s potential there for her to become a big star. And Lena is not shy about singing in front of people. She was a featured singer of the National Anthem at just the age of seven.

So if you want to check out a lovely, talented artist on the rise, go to Lena's myspace page.

ClosetMix: Now with Shoes!

ClosetMix is probably one of the coolest sites I have found recently. And now they have the option to mix and match shoes too! For those who have never been to ClosetMix.com, you will want to go and check it out. It is a website where you can mix up great new outfits from some of the top brands, such as Candies, BabyPhat, Charlotte Russe and more. Before, all you will able to do was mix tops and bottoms. But not with the addition of mixing shoes, this site has gone from good to great. Check out this little all Candies number I put together.

 

Candie's® Ruffled Eyelet Babydoll Top Candie's® Plaid Convertible Shorts Candie's® Lynet Open-Toe Shoes Click to mix this outfit with other clothes - even your clothes using www.ClosetMix.com.

Neat, huh? And you can do this all day long. Really, it does get addictive, but it is so much fun. Now you can turn into your own fashionista and show everyone the style that you have. You can even embed your creations into blog posts or your MySpace page, just like I did.

Try it out - mix shoes and clothes together on ClosetMix.com

With over 750 million possiblities for outfits, there is hardly a chance you will ever get the same outfit twice. And these just may give you a heads up on what to get the next time your go shopping with your friends.

I am tired of writing. If I never had to type again, that would be just wonderful. But I'm poor. I need to type more than ever... stupid articles on disease, conditions, hair removal, city visitor guides... you name it, I've wrote it in the last month.

On another note, I have revived my MySpace page if anyone wants to check it out. I found a new layout that I like... better than the one I put together that was only fit for the colorblind.

But good news... only 19 more days until Get Smart! I'm excited. It better be as good as the TV show was.