The 5 P’s to Shape Your Online Presence Like a Cardi B 😝
YouTube Video at End of Post.
True story.
I am learning a lot from Cardi B.
She came on the music scene like a tsunami. And since then has been dominating the charts and making money moves.
Like the Karate Kid, we're going to study her ways to a powerful and unmistakable online presence even if you launched your business yesterday. And especially if you’re thinking of levelling up.
Numero Uno: Produce Your Season(s) of Promotional Content
Guilty, I am a reality TV junkie.
Who isn't?! I initially heard the buzz of Cardi B from her humble beginnings on Love & HipHop but mostly known for her outspokenness.
That reality TV show was her production of content she put out into the world to control how people perceived her brand. It was an opportunity for people to get to know who Cardi B was as a person, her beliefs, her vibe and opinions. An inside peek into her lifestyle.
People buy into the lifestyle a “product” can grant them. - Click to Tweet
Consider this the blueprint and mimic these ways of publishing your own promotional content. You too want to provide your audience with a backstage pass to who you are and humanize your brand. It's no secret that we don't connect to logos —we relate to living breathing human beings.
Sidenote: Revisit my video on "How to keep your content marketing machine running on a full tank of gas + The PTR Method." That video will have you rethink they way you produce future content.
Numero Dos: Polish Up Your Image
Cardi B twerked her way from stripper to reality star to an iconic artist. Fight the air.
Now for your own iconic rise. Here are a few ways you can plot your come-up:
An effortless springboard to online relevance is to update your photos across social media. Consider Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook as your primary places but truly, wherever you do business online. Upload a current picture of yourself to combine your online efforts with your offline ones like when networking —you want to ensure that your digital presence reflects your in-person image.
Now for some technical tidbits of polishing up your image, that work behind the scene on your behalf via your website.
Site Description (SEO on your website)
As in polish up your SEO, that means, use the keywords you're best known for. Once you've determined those keywords, sprinkle them throughout your content on your website. Google uses the information contained on your site to help produce better search results which all trickles back to you.
Your site description is reflective of what you do in your business by using those keywords in your industry. For myself, I've used the terms copywriter, content marketing and social media. Those are some of the things that I focus on; therefore you'll find those keywords used to describe my website.
Alt Text (i.e. image descriptions)
Another way is to clean up the alt description text. Type out what is happening in the picture and where hyperlinks direct to (don't just write "click here"). Catering to the new Web Accessibility inclusive practices, ensure there are no barriers that prevent interaction with, or access to, websites on the internet for people with disabilities. In a nutshell, make it easier for all people to find your content.
Metadata (blog tags, update titles, descriptions, URLs)
Finally, you also want to edit your blog titles, headers, headlines, and URL (slug) to include the keywords you want to be found and known for.
Numero Tres: Proclaim your Expertise/Experience (aka be Known For Something)
We all know Cardi B for being a Rapper and most recently a political commentator. She'll go on rants of some of the things that are happening in the political world which allows us to see the person behind the artist. And that's pretty much how you want to present yourself when you're doing your promotional content as well. Show the person behind the professional. When you're proclaiming your expertise and your experience, make it a habit to wrap your personality and passion into it. Because again, we don't connect with bots or logos but with people. So we're certainly not going to relate with someone who's a dry biscuit.
Proclaim your expertise and the way you can do that is via helpful tips, funny memes, or timely quotes. You can be known for blowing the whistle on the things that are happening in the industry that you don't like. Go on epic rants, create researched-based infographics and video skits are all ways to put yourself out there.
Sometimes you need to give yourself the credit before others do. Proclaim it!
Numero Cuatro: Press (Gain features in the media)
Cardi B is not only famous but infamous at trending online from all the press she acquires. Being one of the top-known rappers on the charts right now helps too. From magazine covers to Carpool Karaoke with James Corden (which you should watch by-the-way). We see her everywhere, and that's kind of how you have to go about it in your own business. "Get seen" EVERYWHERE. Do a guest post with an online publication, show up on podcasts, attend networking events, become a speaker. You want to show up in places that your clients and potential clients may hang out.
If you combine your offline efforts with a solid social media strategy, this will strengthen your overall brand because they're in cahoots with one another.
Numero Cinco: Perspective
And finally, the last P is crucial to your success quite frankly.
You need a perspective of a persistent dogmatic approach to putting yourself out there. Don't cheat yourself. Content marketing can be tiresome, and a lot of people struggle with being consistent. Myself, included. Cause, guess what? Humans are not built to run like machines —this is why we automate our processes and recycle content to avoid burnout. That way we can keep putting ourselves out there without actually "putting ourselves out there." Get it?
So be patient with yourself and all your efforts. Eventually, it will compound over time, and then you'll begin to start seeing results.
