Tag: Author Brand

Marketing for Authors

Using Your Brand to Generate Blog Topic Ideas

Denise M. Colby
Blog Header Titled Using Brand to Generate Blog Topic Ideas by Denise M. Colby, Marketing for Authors with a photo of a desk and keyboard behind.

Month to month it never failed. It was time to sit down and write my blog post and I had no idea what to write. And then I flushed out my author brand, and a whole new slew of blog topic ideas came to life.

If you struggle with figuring out how to have a variety of solid blog post topics, maybe it’s time for you to flush out your brand too. And here’s why:

YOUR BLOG POSTS SHOULD BE WRITTEN WITH YOUR BRAND IN MIND

Denise M. Colby

When I teach my classes, I always do a brand brainstorm. This is to help think outside the box to see elements that can be a part of your brand. I have found several things can be done with the items on this list, including write more interesting blog posts.  

I love this topic so much that I want to share some of the ideas from my own brainstorm list that might help you generate your own ideas with what to write about.

What are two of the blog topic ideas that came from my list?

THEME TOPICS

My theme of my first novel is about trust and God’s plan for our lives. Other ones I’ve outlined have this same theme in it as well. I find trusting God and letting go of control something in my own life I struggle with.

What came to light in my brainstorm is that I can write about these struggles and tie them back to my story theme. I’m sharing something about myself, I’m relating to my audience, and I can connect it to my novel.

Here is one post to show this example: Category (writing)/Tag (story themes)

Example of theme topic idea for a blog post that ties into brand by Denise M. Colby

FUN TOPICS

A Disney fan, I’ve created a “for fun” category and have been sharing my Disney fun. It’s a way for me to share a little part of myself, and is fun!

Here’s some posts for this Category (for fun)/Tag (Disney):

Example of Disney for fun topic idea for a blog post that ties into brand by Denise M. Colby
Another Example of Disney for fun topic idea for a blog post that ties into brand by Denise M. Colby
Another Example of Disney for fun blog post; this one titled Dating Lessons from Wall-E by Denise M. Colby

More on Brand and Blog Posts

I’ve also written additional articles related to Author Brand and Blog Post Topics and Why It’s Important to Have a Blog on A Slice of Orange blog.

If you are interested in learning more about building your author brand, sign up for my Marketing for Authors Newsletter.

Do you have topics you write about that fit your brand? I’d love to hear about it. Please share in the comments below!

Marketing for Authors

Making Decisions for Your Author Brand

Denise M. Colby

I wrote a blog post this month on Developing Strong Decision Making Skills as a Writer. You need to develop the same skills when it comes to making decisions for your author brand.

Blog Post Header with the title Making Decisions for Your Author Brand by Denise M. Colby, Marketing for Authors

But how do you know what types of decisions to make for your brand when you are just starting out as an author?

When starting out, there are many decisions for your author brand to consider.

What genre will you write in?

Will you write in only one genre or multiple?

Do you want to have a pen name or use your own?

Should you include your middle initial or not?

What colors, taglines, and graphics do you want to use for your website?

Are there blog topic ideas you can write about to help build your brand?

Who is your audience and what do they want to read? How do you reach them? 

These are all questions a writer needs to ask when they are building their brand and developing a website and social media. And of course, all the fears and doubts rear their ugly head with each decision. 

If you are anything like me, it can be a little immobilizing.

Sometimes making decisions for your author brand means trying something out.

You won’t have all the answers right away. You can only make decisions with the information you do have at the time. Your decisions will change as you grow in your writing and content. So for today, make decisions based on where you are right now.

I strongly encourage you to do some research with each decision.

A few google searches for the names you are considering may help you decide what to do.

Someone else was using my name Denise Colby as a website address. I then had to decide how I wanted my name to be different. I narrowed my author name down to three choices (adding an initial (my maiden name (M) vs my middle name (C), or choosing a different name altogether), and ran it by both friends and author friends. I then started building graphics using them to see what it would look like.

Yes it’s important to know where you want to go. But you can’t build your platform all at once. You have to build it step by step, adding content to your website organically. I encourage you to make decisions based on what you have now. Then as you add content, you can change things as the need arises.

Brand building takes practice and patience.

You have to start somewhere. Why not get started today! 

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Courage quote All our dreams can come true, if you have the courage to pursue them by Walt Disney in front of Disneyland
I love this encouraging quote from Walt Disney