Branding Yourself For MLM

Everybody is talking about branding yourself! This simply means getting your face and personality out there, so people know who YOU are apart from any company of affiliate program you may represent.Why is this so important? Because people buy from, or join, people that they know, like, and trust. Some people are afraid to say too much about themselves, or express opinions, or talk about controversial subjects. They fear they will alienate someone. But if people don't know what you stand for or believe in, how can anyone really know, like, and trust you? Of course not everyone will agree with you! But, guess what, even some people who don't agree with all of your beliefs might still decide they like and trust you, because they respect you for being yourself and for putting yourself out there!So what methods do people us for personal branding?Article writing (oh that's why I'm here?)
Blogging
Profiles on social media sites
Videos
Posting to forums
Commenting on other people's materialI'll tackle article writing first since that is what I am doing here. A big advantage of submitting articles to well-known sites like this one, is that people already know the url and what they will find there. People come to this site looking for ideas for their own material, or perhaps for good authors to write for them (I am hoping they do anyway:) If they find your articles and like what they see, they will visit your website. And that is what we are all striving for! We want to drive traffic to our website. Plus this site has these fun contests to give us incentive to write more, getting more exposure! (hint: nobody is likely to give you any prizes for posting often to your own blog!) And you can earn the title of "expert" and use it as an endorsement on your website if you like!Blogging is the platform where you will likely give the most personal and uncensored information (in my opinion). What most personal branding experts recommend, is that you host your own blog (don't place it on someone else's website) and make that website the "hub" of your personal branding activity. When you host your own blog, you have total control of what goes on that web page. You don't have to include advertisements unless you want to and you control which ones are there. You don't have to link to any others sites unless you choose (which could draw your reader's attention away from you.) You control how "fancy" it is which affects how fast the page loads. Finally, nobody can close you down for the material you present unless it is illegal (more on censoring later.)Social media profiles can have varying amounts of information depending on the site and your choice. Twitter is limited unless you know how to customize your background (or pay someone else to do it) and even then, since the timeline occupies the majority of the space your personal information will be limited. But you can still drive traffic to your website! And you can set keyword alerts for Twitter on some free "Twitter application" sites to help you find people to follow and people to contact. Facebook not only allows you to set up your profile with tons of information, but you can join and create groups, join and create fan pages, and do all sorts of things to build relationships. Linked is more for people in the traditional business environment to connect and recommend each other, and I have not personally used it for MLM. Those are the only ones I belong to but feel free to explore! New sites are appearing all of the time.Videos have several advantages. The search engines love them so you can be found almost instantly after posting a video. Also, if you appear on camera yourself (which I highly recommend) this allows viewers to really get a sense of having connected with you on a deeper level than just be reading something you wrote. Your passion and emotions will come through even stronger and you can use gestures and facial expressions that writing just can't emulate. One major caution about using videos to promote MLM: many sites have banned any MLM or network marketing content! So if you want to post on these sites, you must stick with general business topics like customer service, or general personal development topics like the Law of Attraction.Posting to forums and commenting on other people's material is also controlled and censored by the website owners, but it is a great way to create backlinks to your website to help your search engine rankings, plus you could start some new relationships that way. The best ways to post or comment?Compliment someone
Offer help by answering a question or posting a "how to"
Offer an opposing opinion (create controversy)I hope I have provided some useful ideas for you here. Happy branding!By Dale Reynolds