Most startups ignore branding. It keeps getting punted because, frankly, other things seem more important.

Things like: quick-win ad campaigns and social posts. Things you can point at and say, "Look at all the clicks/views this got."

The problem with that thinking is that, while you might get short-term sales activation, without a brand strategy, you’ll miss out on long-term sales growth.

Besides thinking brand strategy isn’t urgent, people put it off because they think it's not attributable.

That’s the performance-marketing mentality: If I can’t measure it, I don’t need it.

Yes, brand is harder to measure than email open rates and sales. But there are metrics you can use to gauge the success of your brand strategy. 

Here are five that we think are solid indicators of brand performance:

• Branded keyword search volume: If, before doing any brand work, you had ~100/month Google searches for your brand name, and all of a sudden you've got 1000s, then your brand work is paying off.
• Organic social mentions: If people are shouting you out or recommending you, that's a pretty good sign that you're building brand awareness.
• Click-through rates: An improvement in CTRs could mean that people are already more familiar with your brand—and more likely to click through on an ad by you.
• Sales timeline (for B2B): If people are already aware of your company when they come to you, you should have a tighter sales cycle from first contact to close.
• Conversion rates: As your brand builds trust and affinity, it'll be easier to convert more of the people who come across your products.

Track those five metrics for clearer brand attribution. And if you can improve those, you'll improve your CAC and CPA as well ;)

The team at Pixar uses a simple framework to help develop their story lines: 

Once upon a time, ___________________. Every day, ___________________. Until one day, ___________________. Because of that, ___________________. Because of that, ___________________. Until finally, ___________________.

Let's use our Un-ignorable Challenge as an example:

1. Once upon a time, Alice, a founder of a creative agency, was on top of the world.
2. Every day, she'd do sales calls for inbound leads and crush her client work.
3. Until one day, a recession hit and cut inbound leads by 2/3rds.
4. Because of that, she needed to increase leads, or else she'd have to lay off staff.
5. Because of that, Alice started posting on LinkedIn and Twitter. Most of her posts flopped—but a few did well and brought in leads, but she had a tough time running a business and creating good content consistently.
6. Until finally, she joined the Un-ignorable Challenge to learn how to systematically create content that resonates with her audience.

The result: She's increased lead volume and humanized her brand by becoming the face of her agency. She's made interesting and valuable friendships and partnerships.

This framework explains the value of your product. It helps you think through the exact person you're helping and problem you're solving. 

Try it out for your brand!

And if this story resonates with you, enrollment is open for the Un-Ignorable Challenge!

From April 6th to May 5th, buyer's psychology expert Katelyn Bourgoin and I will be teaching founders and creators how to build an audience of future buyers. And how to get into a publishing habit and stick to it. 

Enroll today. Enrollment closes tomorrow at midnight Pacific Time.

Links from high-authority domains continue to be a positive signal to Google. So getting a quote and link back to your site in a Reuters article can have a positive impact on your SEO.

A good way to get quotes and links used to be HARO, the marketplace where reporters get questions answered in exchange for quotes. Unfortunately, HARO has become inundated with spammy link builders.

So reporters often turn to other channels (like Twitter & LinkedIn) to gather quotes.

Here's a strategy to connect with reporters directly (and for free):

1. Create a list of journalists. Study the top publications in your niche, and check out their employees' portfolios on LinkedIn. 
2. Send personalized messages to them. Ask a question, or give a compliment related to a recent article. Do not pitch your expertise. The goal is to start a conversation. 
3. Either DM them on Twitter/LinkedIn or email them. (If their email addresses aren't public, you can try using tools like Hunter or Voila Norbert to find them.)
4. If they respond (some won't), send a reply that:
5. Thanks them for their time.
6. Gives a brief summary of who you are and your qualifications. Things that make you seem like a baller.
7. Mentions that you’d love to act as a source for future articles if that would be helpful. Include your phone number and email address.
8. Be responsive. Reporters need to publish things quickly, so you'll need to act fast if they follow up.

This strategy requires some sweat equity—but it is free. You can also hire a VA to do the manual parts.