A website is supposed to be your online storefront, a place where people can come find you at any given time, right? No. Well that’s not entirely wrong. The problem is when you take on the “everyone else has one so I need one too” type of mindset when building your website. If you view your website as merely a space online, much like an online storefront, then you devalue your worth and defeat the purpose of even having an Internet presence to begin with.

Your website is an extension of you, your brand and most importantly, your reputation. Your website can be more influential in closing a sale than anything you could ever tell a potential customer or client. Why? Nonverbal communication is more impactful and effective than verbal communication. We see it all the time with body language. The Internet is no different. It’s like a whole other form of “body language” and if not treated properly, can negate anything you say to others.

For example, let’s say you attend a networking event. You meet someone who you want to do business with. You talk for hours at the event and you feel pretty confident that you’ve sold yourself. You have a winning personality and you’re pretty approachable. Who wouldn’t want to do business with you? You hand over your business card and your prospect says he’ll email you tomorrow to set up a formal meeting.

The next day you wait and wait. Nothing. You follow up with your prospect and they are aloof or they say they are not interested. You feel like you’ve been suckered. Obviously it has to be the prospect’s fault. They weren’t really interested in doing business with you. For fun, they figured they would waste 2 hours of their precious time talking with someone who they never had intentions of working with. As the ambitious go-getter that you are, you brush it off and move on.

So what happened?

There should be a marketing rehab center for entrepreneurs who are in denial that there is something wrong with their marketing. The first clinic would cover a group session on “My website sucks.” Most people don’t want to admit their website is bad. They either spent too much money on someone who oversold their skills or they spent little to no money doing it themselves. If you’re putting yourself out there and wondering why no one is biting, you might want to look at your website FIRST and FOREMOST.

All that schmoozing you did at the professional networking event with the one promising prospect goes down the drain with a poorly put together website. A bad website conveys:

• I’m not taking this seriously
• I dont value myself enough to invest in my brand’s image

If you’re not showing that you’re serious about your own image, how will a prospect feel about trusting you with theirs? And, AHEM, this holds ESPECIALLY true to those who are in the digital industry such as Internet marketers, graphic/web designers, copywriters, etc. I was recently on someone’s website and they offered SEO as a service. Their website took forever to load and they did not use their title tags properly, not to mention the ENTIRE website was done in Flash. WTF?!

Remember, when you’re starting your business or if you’ve been in the game for a while, you are competing with alot of others who going after the same customers or clients as you. They may be more tech-savvy and have access to resources that you’ve never even heard of. What is your edge? It’s not rocket science.

You’re different simply by being you. Don’t devalue what you have to offer, in terms of your talent and personality. Just don’t overlook details. Don’t invest in that new suit or buy cool stationary if you’re website looks like s**t. It’s hard enough positioning your brand in an already competitive market, why make it harder for yourself?

FYI (Resources to help you out)

• Quality logos (www.logosauce.com)
• Domain name and web hosting (www.webhostingforsmallbusinesses.net)
• Blog (www.wordpress.org)
• Freelance web designer (www.elance.com)
• Website Services and Products (www.nichebrandmarketing.com)
• Printed marketing collateral (www.printplace.com)
• Directory submissions at (www.directorymaximizer.com)
• Free email and business productivity tools (www.gmail.com) and (www.google.com/docs)
• Contact management application (www.highrisehq.com)
• Project management application at (www.basecamphq.com)
• Business profile at (www.linkedin.com) and (www.flugpo.com)

And these are just a small handful of what’s out there.

So what are you waiting for?

This may sound like common business sense, but you’d be surprised how few people take branding seriously. I will be the first to admit that I’ve lagged on this philosophy and can account first-hand how difficult it can be to recover and try to rebrand yourself. I learned the hard way that if you don’t invest early on in the process, then it will take more money, time and effort to change other people’s perceptions of you

is not to say that you want to go from inconsistent to reliable. Changing the quality and reputation you initially establish has more to do with how you treat people and how you handle yourself professionally. That’s a completely different discussion. I’m talking about how to get people to see you as a personal home care attendant and not a housekeeper.

Branding yourself can be rather simple if you believe in yourself as a brand. How do you believe in it? In your mind you are who you want to be and not who you think you should be. It may be part Secret + part confidence + part psychology. I hate to sound cliché but it really does start from within. Once you own that inner spirit that believes it, that energy will come out and you will exude the confidence that inspires others to believe it. When someone asks you “What do you do?“, there’s no hesitation or pause. You confidently answer and you are that person you want to be.

This is just one step to owning your brand.

Next, build a visible image with your brand. If you’re out networking, make some business cards with your brand. Don’t let others tell you who you are. If you’re networking and you’re branding yourself as a personal home care attendant, explain what that is. If someone says “Oh you’re a housekeeper or maid” simply remind them you’re more than that.

Explain how you help working families deal with their work/life balances and how you customize services according to needs. A personal home care attendant makes much more than a housekeeper because the perceived value is greater. The words you use to explain your brand and your body language all send messages to the person you’re talking to. You want these messages to support one another and assert your brand as how you want it to be perceived so that when you’re introduced to someone else they say “Oh this is Chloe. She’s a personal home care attendant.” If you want a brand to stick, others have to repeat it over and over again.

My dilemma: I started out doing graphic design and marketing services. I eventually started doing webdesign as well. But from the beginning I wanted to position myself as a marketing brand. It was a weak brand and I quickly caught up in doing a lot of work and balancing full-time employment that I didn’t give my “brand” the attention it deserved. As a result, I was branded as a web designer.

I’ve tried several times to rebrand myself as a marketing specialist, however it was hard to turn down easy money with doing a quick website or business card design here and there. It wasn’t until a year ago that I realized I needed to make some serious shifts in my thinking and in my approach if I wanted to position myself as a marketing specialist. I did less design work and turned down gigs. I wanted to show others that graphic and web design was merely a tool for marketing. I started doing more pro-bono marketing work and took full-time employment as a marketing consultant.

The result: It took some time but I’m now rebranded as a marketing strategist. I still do design work but only when cash flow is low or if it’s for a project I’m developing. My business cards no longer have the words “creative, artistic, designer, web or graphic” on them. I now focus primarily on Internet marketing.

What I learned: Rebranding myself was not impossible. I was able to use the challenge as an opportunity to meet new people within the marketing industry and learn new trade skills. With my skills in graphic and web design, I am also able to bring valuable knowledge to future clients and be able to not only explain why their site needs revisions but also make suggestions that will help them accomplish their goals.