5 Things to Remember After You Launched Your Website, Brand & Project

You launched your website, so now what’s next? This week we saw many brands, websites and project announcements from our online peers and you may be one of them.

 

Your ideas, goals and dreams from last year are finally manifesting itself and you’re ready to conquer 2017.

 

 

I’m not going to give you a step by step for how to launch anything, because what I did took trial and error until something finally worked for me. The launch is the easy part. Keeping your project or business alive is the tough part and you’ll soon learn with a few U-turns on your journey it will all fall into place. Here are some tips that will help you make it through the year:

 

Quality Over Quantity
Content is king and many bloggers will tell you to be consistent which is true, but that doesn’t mean you need to slap together three SEO click-bait posts each week. Readers want thoughtful content, so if you can only churn out one great post each week then you’re fulfilling your purpose. Same goes for online workshops and seminars as well as merchandise. Churning out meaningless workshops and seminars for a buck defeats your purpose of trying to help and coach others. Take your time to develop noteworthy programs, content and merchandise to help build your value and expertise. Your followers will thank you for it.

 

Find Your Voice & Don’t Mimick Your Peers
So what’s the gem or nugget that made you want to launch a brand or business? Having a website, business and brand is the new wave. It’s become trendy, but what many people lack is the passion and purpose for why they decided to start on this new venture. Lacking purpose can leave you feeling unmotivated when things get tough. It can also make you voiceless and inauthentic, as you try to keep up with the Joneses and mimick your peers and their formulas for success. Staying true to your purpose for launching your brand will help establish your voice and authenticity. Your purpose will stand out from the crowd and help you stand apart and grow your engagement, readers and consumers.

 

Don’t Be a Fraud
Everyone has a gimmick, but don’t let your brand or business fall into this trap. It’s easy to create a false online persona, but don’t call yourself a career coach, social media guru or entrepreneur extraordinaire if you don’t have the credentials to back it up. You shouldn’t charge for social media consulting if I have more followers than you. Don’t be that person who is taking what they read in an article on Forbes and Fast Company or saw on a TED Talk then take the content and sell it as your own. You are just repurposing someone else’s work, but you call yourself an expert. Stolen intellectual property being sold on an online workshop, seminar or as a service are all fraudulent endeavors.

 

Be Intentional With Collaborations & Partnerships
The collaboration will help your budding brand flourish. Know what you can bring to the table so that you can have a seat at the table. If you understand your “asks” (what you are looking for) and learn how to articulate your vision for potential partnerships with other professionals in your industry, you will be on your way to cultivating a bigger audience. Opening the door to work with other people can do wonders for your growth so choose wisely with who you plan to work with. There’s a seat for us all and if we work together we can be more impactful and beneficial to our consumers, readers or target audience.

 

There’s a Seat For All of Us
Along the journey, you’ll reach out to some of your peers who have been doing this for awhile, and many of them will give you the cold shoulder. It may have been the way you reached out to them, you may not be a good fit for them, or they may feel you are competition. People can be really protective about who they do business with and that’s perfectly fine, but one thing we have to keep in mind is that there is room for us all. It’s tough out here, but we don’t have to shut each other out from opportunities to grow and grind. Start by building a tight-knit circle of friends in your industry who are doing what you are doing. Build your relationship online and work your way offline with a meet up to just bounce off ideas and let go of frustrations that you have experience post-launch. This group will keep you sane, keep you in the know and keep you accountable.

 

Stock Photo: Kaye Chambers