Use Your Online Presence to Shape Your Influence

By Guest Columnist, Kim Kopec, Web Strategist

Whether through a website, social media, online bios, or your email signature, your online presence is always “on,” quietly shaping how others perceive you and your brand. The content you share plays a huge role in this 24/7 powerful influence, hopefully building trust and driving action. But it’s not just about how you communicate, it’s about what you communicate that speaks to the needs of your audience.

It’s About Them

Having launched 400+ websites, I’ve learned one crucial thing: IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU! ?? Your content needs to speak from your client’s perspective. It’s tempting to fill your space with every detail about yourself or your brand. But people want to know that you understand their problem and you can be trusted to solve it.

So to build influence your content should be crafted around your audience’s needs, not just what you offer. For example:

●??????? Headline: Speak directly to your audience’s pain points. Don’t lose the impact of your problem-solving message by trying to be clever.

●??????? Supporting Text: Show you understand their challenges; then show how you can help by using a problem-solution focus, defining benefits (not just features), and offering a clear call to action.

●??????? Bio or About Page: Don’t just list your accomplishments. Highlight why you’re the perfect person to solve their problem by focusing on their needs and sharing relatable stories/testimonials.

●??????? Email Signatures: Your email signature is a small but effective billboard for your brand; use a value statement or a link.

●??????? Social Media: Keep the message consistent across platforms and use them all to engage your audience.

Ultimately, influence is about helping your audience to feel understood. When you focus your content on solving your client’s problems, you’re not just talking to them, you’re connecting with them. And when this happens, your influence works for you around the clock.

Kim is passionate about helping businesses attract the right clients through web design that actually works. With over 25 years of experience in marketing, design, and communication, she creates strategic websites that build trust and speak directly to identified ideal clients. Kalamazoo-WebDesign.com

Kelly Duggan is an executive presence consultant and personal brand strategist. Her certified company is an award-winning member of the Association of Image Consultants International (AICI). www.kellyduggan.com / https://linktr.ee/kdiconsulting