Hold on to your pantyhose, it’s time to rebrand!

Dita von Teese wearing stockingsHold on to your pantyhose, it’s time to rebrand! That sense of panic when you realize that you probably need to consider rebranding can be paralyzing. But this is a serious issue.  For many of us, when we get started online we think we have our thumb on the pulse of our niche. We think we have found a terrific topic and a great name and are creating a super brand.  Well, maybe you have and maybe you haven’t.  Really, the only way to tell is to give it  time.

I have found that our initial efforts are not necessarily wrong, but what ends up being the goal of those efforts changes over time. Maybe you thought that your blog was just going to be a good source of information on your site. But over time you realize that you have started focusing on your blog and want to use that to be your primary traffic driver. Maybe it is time to spin off your blog and rebrand it to work in tandem with your site.

Maybe you thought that videos were going to be your cash cow but your unique brand of photography is pulling in more people.  Is it time to change your focus and use video to support your photography rather than the other way around?

One of the biggest shifts people currently make is from company branding to personal branding.  Many times we start off branding ourselves with our company or studio.  We are one piece of the whole.  If your popularity gets big enough, then personal branding might be the shift you need.  Look at Jesse Jane, she is one of Digital Playground’s hottest stars. She is branded there as one of their girls. But she has also created her own branded empire.  When you think of Jesse you think of her first and Digital Playground second.  But that would not have happened if she did not brand herself.

As I am sure Digital Playground would attest, Jesse’s branding feeds into Digital Playground’s branding.  The two are not mutually exclusive.  The more successful Jesse’s branding, the more traffic and business Digital Playground will get.

Over time you will see the reality of what is working for you, what is driving traffic, what is driving sales, what is most popular and what you want your focus to be.  This is often divergent from what we started with.  Don’t be afraid to shift gears. Rebranding is not easy, but the payoff can be more than worth the effort.