Some Thoughts on Branding, a Post by R. Clint Peters

After watching my 49ers come close yesterday, but no coconuts, I started to read some of the discussions on some of my Linked In memberships.  One discussion caught my eye.

In order to be successful, an Author must become a brand, with not only his or her name, but also his or her book titles.  They must become as recognizable as IBM or Microsoft.

Before I jump off the edge of the pool, I like to test these theories.  Using Google Chrome, I searched for The Alberta Connection, a Ryce Dalton novel.  My search showed up on numerous locations, including Amazon, The Book Reviewers Club, and The Really Big Book Store.  It also showed up in a couple places I no longer use, but it’s nice to know that my novel is actually relevant.

Then I checked the names of several members of The Book Reviewers Club.  Most were well represented on numerous sites, including Linked In, Amazon, and The Book Reviewers Club.

Obviously, I am not going to list the members I checked on, but you might try the same test.  Simply go to your browser, type in your name, and search for you.  You might be surprised at what you discover.  You might think you are unknown, but find you show up on many Internet locations.  However, where you don’t show up is also important.

Here’s a short list of where you should be showing up on the Internet:

On Linked In

On as many blogs as possible (Your own blog and a blog such as The Book Reviewers Club are just two)

On as many websites as possible (Your own website and a website such as The Really Big Book Store are also just two)

On Twitter

On Facebook

On Amazon

If you haven’t considered creating your own website, I use the free version of Weebly for The Book Reviewers Club (http://thebookreviewersclub.weebly.com), The Really Big Book Store (http://thereallybigbookstore.weebly.com), and RClintPeters, Author (http://rclintpeters.weebly.com).  Weebly recently changed things, and now allows up to 10 free websites for one account name.  Weebly has also added several new designs.

The importance of branding yourself can not be overstated.  Check your own branding using your favorite search engine.  If you are not found in the above locations, think about adding your brand to more locations.

The Book Reviewers Club is a good place to show your brand by posting something important to you (similar to Jackie Anton, who contributed some great ideas about editors).  Each time you post, your name is included, and your brand is expanded.

The Weebly websites also include the ability to blog.  I will be blogging about The Really Big Book Store membership in future blogs, which will, again, increase your brand exposure.

And I plan to blog about things I do on my own personal site (such as adding excerpts to my novels.)  This will expose the brands of my name and my titles.

You can also show your brand by joining The Really Big Book Store, following The Book Reviewers Club on Twitter (http://twitter.com/review_club),  liking the club on Facebook (http://tinyurl.com/ckjlhos),  adding a Website (I recommend Weebly, and will post blogs about setting up a Weebly site and maintaining it in later blog posts).

Also, branding yourself includes listing every link to you every time you send out an email, post a blog, or communicate with anyone.  To that end, here are my brands:

http://thereallybigbookstore.weebly.com http://theauthorsclub.wordpress.com http://thebookreviewersclub.weebly.com http://rclintpeters.wordpress.com http://rclintpeters.weebly.com r.clint.peters@hotmail.com thebookreviewersclub@hotmail.com http://www.amazon.com/author/rclintpeters http://twitter.com/review_club http://twitter.com/rclintpeters http://twitter.com/abigbookstore

#RClintPeters