Building a Strong Online Brand: Doubtful Beginnings

You Will Doubt Yourself… And Then You’ll Doubt Yourself Again.

Doubt HAS to be the number one killer of brands. I can say from personal experience that this was the hardest obstacle to overcome. And yet, I had to work to over come my own doubt about my brand on a regular basis (if not more often).
Because building a brand is so abstract, and can take such a long time to establish, you’ll often feel like you’re just treading water.
This is normal!

The audience will usually trickle in: one-by-one or two-by-twos.
Your family and friends are not your true audience. Do not count them.
Because of this, it is important to find any successes, even if they are small, that you can not only rejoice in on a regular basis, but can use to keep you motivated:

• A couple of Facebook ‘likes’ on a status update
• A comment left on a blog post
• A Re-Tweet or an inclusion in a #FF (Follow Friday) tweet

These are all successes. Use them as indicators of your growth and realize that with each small success, you’re working towards your brand-goal of creating compelling content, a unique voice and a trustworthy reputation.