SEO talk: Dr. Tom Mueller
Maximizing your branding success using key terms via Google in the most cost-effective way is using Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in a nutshell. With low to no cost, you are using the ever-prevalent online medium to leverage your work for the world to be a part of. In a sense, it is a no-cost effective social media technique that ALL companies, businesses, universities and the like should be using. If not, according to Dr. Tom Mueller, you're truly missing out.
A Communications professor at Appalachian State who has developed a career in event and affinity marketing, Mueller says he implements SEOs in his constant use of Internet Media. He has his own website, www.profwriter.com, where he utilizes blogs, video and social channels to reach the masses on various topics usually pertaining to fitness and sports.
WRITE, REPURPOSE & LEVERAGE
Mueller stresses the importance of using SEOs to write, repurpose and leverage your work. It's all about how many times you can get out there and how many clicks you can receive in doing so. Building your brand through repurposing is key, and not utilizing all of your past work is simply negligent. It's your work, so why not use it in as many places as possible to receive as much credit/feedback/insight as possible!?
STUDENT ADVANTAGE
As a student, take advantage of the fact that it's hard to be attacked by viewers, critics or anyone clicking on your stuff. Use the excuse, a very justifiable one at that, of "I'm still learning, so here's my opinion about this," to make points and approach topics otherwise risky to those seemingly "older and wiser." Although that's not always the case, take a chance and throw your thoughts out there. Because, why not?
WHAT SHOULD I POST?
According to Mueller: anything and everything. While you're sitting at the table having breakfast in the morning, read some news or even scroll through Twitter. Find something that interests you, create an opinion about it, and take a stab at developing that opinion through writing. Post, repost and repost again (using SEOs, of course) and watch the clicks come in and the feedback flow. If they don't, try again. Be witty and insightful. Write less about you and more about others. You'll always get a bite out of someone.
YOUR BLOG IS YOUR STORAGE SPACE
Your blog is your repository, your storage space. It's where you "park" your stuff. Don't be afraid to just write whatever comes to mind and let it sit for a bit until you develop more to write about. It'll be there, waiting for you to pick it back up, published at your convenience. That being said, do go back to it and publish! You never know what people will like so pitch it publicly and see what happens. Create articles, update them and give shout outs to up your branding.
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT MODEL
Finally, Mueller suggests that we are continuously improving. As writers, marketers, or whatever we choose to label ourselves as, there is always room for growth and this can be seen through the use of SEOs. When we discover our niche, we discover our audience. We then discover what will cater to that audience. What makes them tick and what makes them click.
In the end, SEOs are an important and monetarily-friendly tool to utilize no matter what kind of brand you want to create or company you want to run. Realizing you have the ability to reach mass audiences through this tool and taking the time to do so is what will set you apart from the rest.
