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| View from my Atlanta hotel room’s balcony. Pretty, yes? |
I wanted to share some of the wealth that was shared with me from my time in Atlanta, city of Zombies, and location to the most recent SITS Girls Bloggy Boot Camp.
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| City of Zombies? You be the judge. It was a kickin’ view, I admit. |
I truly believe that in life we are blessed in order to be a blessing, so I’m going to share with you a little of what I heard, tell you what it means to me, and then, hopefully, challenge you to find some helpful meaning for yourself.
Branding. You DO know what that is, don’t you?
A little something from my childhood, to clarify:
Poor Chuck Conners, labeled as a deserter, had to travel the west proving that he WASN’T a coward, all the days of his life. He was, in fact, a brave and good man. He had the unfortunate luck to be poorly and incorrectly branded.
This show was on TV when I was just a wee tot, but, I had an older brother and sisters who loved it. In fact, at my house, we had alternate lyrics that we set to the show’s tune:
“STRANDED, stranded on the toilet bowl.
What do you do when you’re stranded,
and you don’t have a roll?
Though you fight like a man,
And you wipe with your hand,
You are STILL,
STRANDED.”
But, as usual, I digress…
Back to the topic at hand. Branding DOESN’T HAVE TO BE A BAD WORD (as it was for poor Chuck Conners). According to our presenter, Ms. Amy Bradley Hole, of BeBetterBranding.com, she with the hair of liquid sunshine (see, I’m branding her in a good way), personal branding can, in fact, improve your blog.
AmyBHole as she goes by on Twitter, offered the following series of questions, so that we can brand our own bholes, in a GOOD way. I’ll put my answers below the questions, in italics, but I’d encourage you to make a copy of the questions, and put a little thought into answering them. Maybe bounce your answers off your best friend, or one of your most faithful readers, and get their perceptions as well. Their responses my surprise and enlighten you.
Question 1: What are my distinguishing characteristics and personality traits?
I think I’m funny, sincere, thoughtful, real, encouraging, witty, and entertaining. If I didn’t believe I possessed these qualities, that people enjoy reading, then, I really shouldn’t keep blogging. I do believe that what I have to say is of value.
Question 2: What are my guiding principles and values?
I believe I belong to a loving God who wants people to know that their fullest life and greatest joy will be found living in connection to Him, and through lovingly serving others. I believe that a sense of humor as we go through our days is invaluable. I believe loyalty to people is critical. I believe honesty is essential.
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| Some of the friends that I feel loyalty to, shopping in Atlanta after the Bloggy Boot Camp Conference ended. |
Question 3: What is my role on the web?
I share what life teaches me, and very often, those lessons fall under these 4 categories:
My four F’s: Food, Faith, Fun, Family
Question 4: What is my promise? (In other words: When my readers come to me, what can they depend on that they will get?)
When my readers come to me, they will get :
My three E’s: Encouragement, Entertainment, and Education.
Question 5: What is my story? Amy encouraged us to come up with a twitter-length sentence that summarizes our story.
Child of God; wife; mother; writer; bon vivant; former city-girl currently living and laughing her way through her wild life in the woods.
I would love feedback from you on any of the questions I asked and answered. If you think I’m missing seeing something kind of obvious, that is quite clear to you, please leave me a comment, and share your insight with me.
I’m going to add those 5 questions, unanswered here at the end of the blog, so that you can copy them and print them out and answer them for your own blog. Run your answers past your best friends and readers, and see if you are branded in the way that you think you are.
Question 1: What are my distinguishing characteristics and personality traits?
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