7 Ways to Destroy Your Online Brand

Being an online business owner, there’s a myriad of things you’re doing every day to stay on top of your game and be visible to those whom you want to serve.

  • You’re frequently innovating to be a unique voice in the crowd.
  • You’re continuously implementing new ideas to stay ahead of your competition.
  • You’re consistently staying up to date with latest trends so your brand remains in good health.

To say the least, you pour in your heart and soul in what you do, doing everything you humanly can to skyrocket your brand and maximize your sales.

You build a brand that magnetizes followers, converts them into loyal clients and produces results.

But where it takes all this effort to build your personal empire, did you know that there are 7 mistakes that can quite literally make your hard-built empire crumble overnight and slap a bad reputation on your name.

Some of them are so seamless you don’t even realize at first, but the effects are deadly.

So, let's take a look at these 7 mistakes so you can avoid them, and put your business on fast-track to success.

1. LACK OF CLARITY IN YOUR BUSINESS

If you are unclear about your business, things like who do you really want to work with, what is their pain behind the pain, your offer, the end result of working with you… then that means you’re setting yourself up for failure. You cannot convince or persuade your potential clients to buy from you if you yourself don’t know the WHO, WHY AND WHAT of your business.

2. FLUFF

We live in a busy world, no one has time to listen to long-winded stories and those too that are unnecessary. While there is a time and a place to tell a story, it most certainly isn’t when you’re getting in front of new prospects. Keep it short, simple and understandable, or if it’s gonna take people too long to understand what you do, they’ll simply step away. So, clarity wins over cleverness EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.

3. IGNORING CRITIQUE

If your clients ask you a question or raise a concern, and you choose to ignore it because you believe it is unnecessary to respond to them… you are signing your business wrap up papers. Ignoring clients’ feedback may seem like a trivial or harmless thing, but…you’re working so hard to get clients and is it really a wise decision to ignore what the people who’re paying you are saying? By choosing not to respond to them, rectify the problems, or acknowledge the shortcomings in your business you have not only blown away your goodwill and relationship with your clients, but you have also missed out your potential marketer (word of mouth is the strongest kind of marketing).

4. INCONSISTENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE

Social media can make or break your business. Now see, there are people who survive on word of mouth and don’t touch their social media with a 10 ft pole, that’s understandable. But if you’re in this for the long haul, you want to have a consistent and relatable social media presence. If you slack this part then people will simply start to forget you, you’ll slowly fade away from memory and your competition (even if they’re not as good as you, but active on social media) will most likely beat you to it!

5. ZERO VULNERABILITY

If you start showing up as a hotshot who has life figured out and was born with all the knowledge right from your mother’s womb…then I’ve got bad news for you. It’s not gonna cut it! You aren’t all knowing, you’re a human who’s made mistakes, had a fair share of run-ins with misfortune and got to where you are by falling and getting back up. If you do not express your vulnerability, people will never believe that you understand their needs. With that, your audience will not be interested in listening to you (or taking you seriously). You’ll simply stop resonating with them.

6. PROMISE THE SUN & MOON, DELIVER SAWDUST

Making big bold claims has sort of become a norm these days to attract prospects and convert them into buyers. Now if you can back it up, that’s all well and good, but if you can’t then you’re essentially signing your business’s death certificate. You may be able to keep stretching this lucky streak for a while, but you can rest assured the buyers who fail to get what they pay for will actively work to discredit you every chance they get!

7. ASSUMING

“If you assume, you can make an ass out of you and me.” One of the biggest mistakes in business (and life). When you start thinking from the perspective of your ideal client yourself and make assumptions (without actually validating it directly from them) you are distancing yourself from offering what they really want. If you are trying to impose what you think they need, instead of what they really want, you’re pretty much gonna meet Mr. No Sales very soon!

A successful business requires a careful balance between:

  • Listening
  • Speaking
  • Delivering

Without any of these elements, every business will start falling apart to a point where the damages cannot be controlled.

  • If you are not listening to your clients’ wants and feedback, you are risking your business.
  • If you are not speaking to them in a language which is understandable and relatable to them, you are risking your business.
  • If you are failing to deliver as per your promises, you are damaging your reputation and risking your business.

Your brand is your reputation, you should spare no expense when it comes to holding yourself (and your brand) above and beyond.