6 Simple Ways to Make a Good First Impression Online

6 Simple Ways to Make a Good First Impression Online

Reader Comments (22)

  1. Love that you ended with “be yourself”. This is something my team is learning a lot about, and I think we’re getting there but we have a ways to go.

    It’s easy to start comparing yourself and to try and be someone you’re not – especially with access to so many different sites and businesses. But being yourself always has been the best way to grow. Thanks for awesome post!

    • We’re living in a time when it’s easier than ever to see, review, and line your business up side-by-side with the competition.

      It’s good to know who your prospects are comparing your business to, but you can’t obsess too much.

      Better to put your energy toward developing a unique message, as you say, Justin. Thanks for the comment.

      • I agree here, thanks for these tips. I think Justin’s comment is extremely important. In fact, “Be Yourself” is a candidate for the number 1 position on this list.

        Most brands spend way too much time trying to appeal to as many people as possible, dissecting their audience to create some type of engineered experience that appeals to the largest swath of people.

        This is traditional management doctrine but in the long run it’s ineffective. First decide what you really want to accomplish in the world, and approach that goal with your authentic self and integrity. By definition you will be unique.

        Marketing this way means the right people, your people, will then find you and you will find them.

        • David, I put “Be yourself” last on purpose. I find people tend to remember the last point you make, and I wanted to leave it as a parting thought.

          I agree that one of the most common marketing errors is to try to appeal to an audience that’s too broad and undefined. It’s counterintuitive to narrow your focus, but it’s the only thing that really works.

  2. “you need to own your look, and not be afraid to put your brand out there.”

    And putting your brand out there means putting it partially in the hands of your audience. You can’t predict how people will react and respond, but you have to give them the chance to love you!

    • Agreed, Nick.

      That’s one of the best things about communicating your brand online: it’s relatively easy to tweak and modify as you go along.

      You can “accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative” pretty easily.

  3. Great advice. I like the “slightly different context” parallel. Nice touch.

  4. Great points, Pamela,

    #3 resonates with me. Confidence is key. The web makes it easy to compare ourselves and see our shortcomings, but having confidence in what you do and how you do it will certainly help you stand up straight and make eye contact much better.

    Liz

  5. Hi Pamela,

    “Successful brands start out getting to know their audiences well before they try to appeal to them.”
    – Indeed. Didn’t some guy named Brian Clark do this?

    Talk about someone masterfully using brand infused with story to build a massive audience and sell products that help, well. I’m not sucking up, Just sayin’ 😉

    Looks like you’re doing a pretty good job of this yourself. Thanks for the advice!

    I love the idea of stalking benevolently 😉

  6. These are excellent tips, Pamela, but I’m not sure I’d agree they’re all ‘easy’! Your first point, for example, about getting to know your audience well and working out a really clear brand message, is very challenging. Like Liz, I like your point about having confidence in your own message – also the importance of just getting out there and being yourself. Effective communication, of course, is the key – and you’re right to point out that it starts with listening.

    Sue

    • It’s much easier to do market research now than it was even ten years ago. It certainly requires effort and time, but all worthwhile things do, don’t they?

  7. Great post, I really like the dressing the part aspect. Just because they don’t see you doesn’t mean they are judging your looks.

  8. I, too, agree that being yourself is critical. Once you know what your audience wants from you, it’s important to go back to who YOU are and merge the two concepts together.

  9. Great post!

    Hopefully, you will be yourself and not wear a mask and hide who you really are, which brings me to Point 3, “Stand up straight and make eye contact.”

    Don’t be afraid to be different. You don’t have to have a “cookie-cutter” looking website like your competitors. Stand out. Embrace your uniqueness. Just make sure your website is easy to navigate.

    Also, you don’t have to be on every social media platform. It’s okay if you prefer Twitter over Pinterest. It’s okay if you prefer Google+ over Facebook. All that matters is that your audience can find you and is benefiting from what you post.

    And… don’t worry if you haven’t implemented a weekly podcast or video series. Take baby steps. You’ll get to where you want to go. It’s better to do things right versus doing them half-assed.

  10. It is vitally important that you be yourself at all times. If you are genuine, honest and polite you have won half the battle as people will respect you and want to do business with you.

    You don’t have to be an ogre in order to run your own business.

  11. I wanted to be charming, sauve, whilst being attractive to females and honoured amoung men.

    When that didn’t work I was just myself!

  12. I love this ! I have been working with some big name sports teams, and I don’t watch sports. I sometimes feel myself at a disadvantage because of this. I am now going to get NOSEY and educate myself in the right areas so I can grab more attention. Thanks for the post !

  13. Nice stuff Pamela, and good to see Copyblogger covering “total communication” as well as copywriting. Knowing the key message elements to connect with your audience and using “visual language” as part of that are things I’m working on too.

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