Part 10 (2/2)

10 Do you take responsibility for your own success or failure?

Answers to these questions help to define who you are How much of your story you choose to share and theyour personal brand

Personal Branding Snapshot-The Case of Matt Cutts Google is valued at more than 150 billion dollars It controls approxihtly guarded algorithm determines the fate of le has a cority of its search results, and is creating reputation concerns for a brand that once could do no wrong

In the middle of the battle for search supremacy is a man who strikes fear into the hearts of black-hat SEO pros, web spalobe-Matt Cutts (e to fix search-quality issues caused by webspa role in elevating the public perception of Google and its search results through his personal brand

By all accounts, Cutts is a brilliant engineer and one of the most respected minds in the search industry However, his personal brand is becole's : Cutts has ed with the coularly appears at industry events on behalf of Google

His Gadgets, Google & sobog (MattCuttsco) has an Alexa rank of approxile Web user questions, has 34,000-plus subscribers and more than 39 million channel views

He is frequently featured in le News search for Matt Cutts and you will find hundreds of articles and blog posts quoting Cutts on the issues le, such as co

Here is a snapshot of what es and builds his personal brand: Maintains a strong personal brand that aligns with the corporate brand and gives it an authentic huhposts and videos, and presents inforree of transparency This positions hiht leader and industry expert

Uses social e with key audiences

Serves as a trusted resource to journalists and bloggers, and builds relationshi+ps with influentials online and offline

A hybrid agency is defined by the collective strength of its eency leader is to clearly establish the agency brand, and then give your team the freedom and support to build and evolve theirs

Website Developeneration and ency the ability to build a strong brand online, create value, connect with audiences, and generate leads

When developing or re-designing your website, do not overlook the i that is optis and visitors Effective copywriting conveys key brand es, stresses features and benefits, and drives visitors to a desired action, such as a call, contact forn and copywriting are conificant opportunities to build a , social , PR, calls to action, and landing pages

Treat your agency website with the same care and attention that you do your clients' websites Continually analyze, track, and h inbound links, traffic, referrers, and website visits by keywords, a is pri potential, but it can do so ency For example, consider its brand loyalty and retention attributes with existing clients Or, how about its ability to help recruit and retain employees, connect with age with peers?

When building your strategy, be sure to think beyond prospects, and design a GamePlan to reach and influence all audiences relevant to your business Let's take a look at how inbound ency's key audiences: Peers: The social web has made it common practice to connect and share with your professional peers like never before In encies, are the ones sharing and linking to the content you publish Agencies and professionals that focus on collaboration over coreater opportunities to thrive in the eage with and support your industry peers through Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn

Cos and influence has iven ence As a result, it is far easier for coies, strengths, and weaknesses At the sas, videos, social networks-to influence their cohts and actions Think of it in terood to support your peers, re Be strategic in your thoughts and actions

Vendors: Your vendor network is essential to your organization's success Buildthe posts, exchange links, and help to promote their capabilities and expertise

Partners: Business partners share risk, and rely on one another to deliver results and achieve a cooal Partners are essential to success in the ency ecosyste potential partners more efficient However, remember that the actions of your partners directly affect your brand, so have a systeth and profitability of each relationshi+p Be sure to subscribe to your partners' blogs and connect with their leaders in social networks In addition, look for opportunities to create content that features your partners

Job candidates: Use content publishi+ng and involvement in online communities to tell your brand's story and attract social-media-savvy professionals Understand how job candidates coate, and what keywords they search, and then use that infory Also, screen job candidates through their public profiles and online activities before you even grant an interview Start with nale, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter

Media: Use inboundto connect with reporters online, learn their interests, understand their writing styles, and note their preferred ularly do this to build ency should consider ways to proactively build deeper connections with media contacts

Employees: Every employee th of your organization's brand Use inboundto increase e your e theency's content and brand online Eenerations, are active in social ency's support View social media as an opportunity, not an obstacle Establish social e professional behavior, and eency Social Media Policy When defining your agency's social oal of the policy, and how it integrates with human-resources policies that already exist

Then, lay out 10 to 15 guidelines for employees to follow in their online behavior A best practice is to keep the tone positive by focusing on what is appropriate rather than what is not Specific topics to cover may include: Authentic representation of brand and self: The i real names and the lack of true anonymity on the web

Disclosure, confidentiality, and privacy issues, such as guidelines for sharing company information with the public; who has the authority to comment on behalf of the company; and when it is necessary to disclose affiliations with the company and/or clients

The purpose for online co value to the co business hours

Taking ownershi+p of your words and actions, and respecting copyrights

How to address potential challenges before they occur, such as friending colleagues, clients, superiors, and subordinates

Also, address plans forand enforce employees' online behavior and what this entails Clearly state the ramifications of misuse and how policies will be upheld

Prospects: Theaudience, prospects, are actively seeking services and information online Get found by prospects and keep your pipeline full by regularly publishi+ng relevant content, and actively participating in social media to extend your reach and influence

Clients :Existing clients are yourloyalty aoal of every inbound n Loyalty is driven by results, relationshi+ps, and coives you the power to drath of all three Connect with your clients in h social networks, and publish free content designed to expand their knowledge and strengthen your position as a thought leader and partner

Objectives: Set Your Success Factors

Lead generation and loyalty building are the two prin, for both clients and agencies We have consistently found that ca the Gaenerate leads and build loyalty

Let's take a look at each objective and introduce sa and n

1 Boost Search Engine Rankings Search engine results are rapidly evolving to behistory, and social graphs Although top-10 rankings are still relevant, it is far anic (nonpaid) traffic Focus on: Lead-producing keywords

Sale-converting keywords

Traffic-producing keywords

SEO Tip Although your entire keyword universe encies should concentrateefforts on the 30 to 50 most relevant keyword phrases