BRANDING
Kylie capitalized by creating Kylie Lip Kits , which sold like crazy , selling out almost instantly when she released products on her website . After finding huge success in Lip Kits , Kylie expanded into the entire cosmetics line , known as Kylie Cosmetics . That is now worth over a billion dollars . Her genius and capitalizing on her brand got her on the Forbes list of the youngest billionaires in the world . She is also one of the most followed people on Instagram . She markets businesses herself . She is her marketing strategy because her business is her brand .
She simply posts videos and pictures of herself using her own products . People buy them . And that ’ s how she ’ s done so well in the e-commerce space . She now ranks for highly competitive keywords like “ eye shadow palettes ” or “ blushes ” or “ makeup palettes .” Her website gets over 1.8 million visitors per month , according to SimilarWeb .
Here , Kylie did two big things . She recognized whom her audience was and offered them a product that was valuable to them . Not only is she helping her audience but she ’ s also growing her own brand equity . That ’ s like me offering SEO and marketing products . If I offered dog food products , would you see the disconnect there ? Kylie stuck with what she was known for .
I know she ’ s a big name , so don ’ t let this intimidate you . The strategy is entirely relevant for smaller brands , and it works for businesses of all sizes . More and more people are creating their own brands , whether it ’ s through blogs or social media . Vlogging is a huge market right now , and there ’ s so much opportunity . Influencers today are the latest entrepreneurs . Now more than ever , small online influencers and brands are building their own businesses .
And for the second example , I want you to look at me . Look how I grew my brand and capitalized on it . If you don ’ t believe you can do it , I ’ m here to share my story , so you can see how you could do it .
At 15 years old , I started off by creating my own business called Advice Monkey . It was a website that helped people find jobs . And I created a job website because I couldn ’ t find a job . I earned money by picking up trash and cleaning restrooms at a theme park .
From there , I did whatever it took to make money as long as I wasn ’ t selling drugs or breaking the law . But you know all that money I made ? I took it and I dumped it into advertising for Advice Monkey , and it failed because people just ripped me off . So I had no choice but to learn digital marketing all on my own . And that ’ s what got me started with my story , which was my own success . I learned how to do it myself . I implemented my website . I got results .
Then I started pitching other people and trying to convince them to pay me . Some of it was performance based , but that ’ s how we started . In 2006 , I created my first blog , and through blogging , I started building up a following . And that was a real catapult for my career . I was offering valuable marketing tips and advice . More people were coming to me and that generated business for me . I was getting invited to speak at conferences . When conferences wouldn ’ t invite me , I would apply to those who turned me down , but eventually more and more accepted me .
After learning about my audience and what they really wanted , I created a free tool called Ubersuggest . That tool has allowed me to reach an even bigger audience , and the tool ’ s up to 15 million page views per month .
Now , if I wanted to buy that traffic , it would cost me hundreds and thousands of dollars per month . My brand in digital marketing has allowed me to get more users to my tool and my tool — building that brand — has allowed me to get more people that follow me individually .
You don ’ t have to create a tool . Just put yourself out there . The moral to the story is , the more you put yourself out there , the more people are going to get to know you and your brand . I call it the “ Rule of Seven .” When someone sees and interacts with you seven times , they ’ re much more likely to relate to your brand . That creates more search queries . The more search queries for your brand , the easier to rank for terms that you want to go after . People with a higher domain authority are ranking , but you can beat them as long as you build your brand . +
BY : NEIL PATEL BESTSELLING AUTHOR
Neil Patel is a New York Times bestselling author of Hustle : The Power to Charge Your Life with Money , Meaning , and Momentum . The Wall Street Journal calls him a top influencer on the web , Forbes says he is one of the top 10 marketers , and Entrepreneur Magazine says he created one of the 100 most brilliant companies . He was recognized as a top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 30 by President Obama and a top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 35 by the United Nations .
NeilPatel . com
21