the art & business of crafting your online self

Hey, Does this online marketing thing really work?
I'm going to try all of the tips I've been given in one post and find out!
Let me know what YOU do to market yourself on line.

Exploring what the theme of your blog is important to do every once in a while, especially if you are a person that dabbles in many different things. A writer can have many different stories going at once, so in including all of them, she is being true to herself. Could being so inconsistent in your blog's theme actually make it consistent?

You know I have read alot about social networking and how it is the IT thing in order to survivie in this new world of the computer age. If you don't use Face Book or Twitter or whatever else there is. I was surfing through some blogs and I happened across this one on Scoutie Girl by Tara Gentile. She makes some very good points about promoting yourself online:
"your online identity becomes the sum total of the information you share onlineting yourself online....once i started to share, my value & influence grew by sharing the most interesting & helpful information i could find. that cultivates authority. as authority grows, my network – and my online identity – grows because of the value you provide to the community. "
Check her out and think about how you can apply it to your own online identity.

I came across a very interesting article about the art & business of crafting your online self by Tara Gentile and I began to think about this very concept in terms of marketing your business online.
You have no doubt heard the mantra that people buy from those whom they trust, so how can you possibly trust someone whom you’ve never met and who could live on the other side of the world?

In my journeys around the blog-o-sphere I have come across two articles that attack female bloggers specifically. They got my ire up because that smacked of blatant ignorance. In the past I have shared my opinion. It’s not that I don’t want to share my opinion. It’s more like does it matter? I know the truth. So do many other people. So why should I expend energy on someone else un-fact based opinion? I am passionate without a doubt. I can easily get caught up in other people’s fights because I feel the need to protect those who are being bullied. But is it what this blog is about?
No.
(The post includes some great tasting and looking blueberry cupcakes!)

So often we hear about brand loyalty. There are some people who will only buy certain products because of the brand it has— even if there is a less expensive product that is just as good. How can we as writers show our blog's "Brand" and gain readers.
There is a concept in the business world called "Living the Brand". In this concept, a person has a picture in their mind as to how they want to be perceived by other co-workers, and even their customers. This picture is their brand. Using this picture, the person then strives to present themselves so that they will be perceived by others according to the brand.