by haleycclark
Welcome back to another post in the Series: How to Earn Passive Income with Affiliate Links as a Writer!
Last week, we defined brand, mission, and vision statements. We’re continuing on with that topic today. Specifically, how to use our definitions to create brand, mission, and vision statements for your site.
Case Study
Remember our book blogger friend? You know, the one who’s decided to create a site that review YA Fantasy books about mermaids? After creating a niche and choosing a site builder, our friend is ready to design their brand, mission, and vision statements.
We’ll use our friend’s niche blog as practice for creating the three statements for your own site.
Let’s get started!
Brand Statement
Last week, we defined brand statements as the promises you make to your audiences regarding your products or content.
Remember way back when we talked about choosing your niche? We talked a lot about how your niche should promise to fulfill a need the current market is neglecting. This promise– what makes your niche stand out from the competition– is the most important aspect of your brand statement.
With that in mind, our book blogger friend comes up with the following:
Brand Statement: This blog is devoted to objective and honest reviews of Young Adult Fantasy novels about mermaids that will help you save money on books.
Why This Brand Statement Works
- promises that these reviews will do something for the audience (save them money on books)
- states the kind of content available (objective and honest reviews)
- states the content’s theme (YA Fantasy novels about mermaids)
Where to Put It
Our friend decides to include this statement on their About page but you could choose to include this on your Home page, in every one of your blog posts, or on any other page that is accessible to your audience.
Not only should you find a clever way to state your brand promise but your site’s aesthetic should also reflect it. For our book blogger friend, this means using images of mermaids and sirens and other underwater themes. This may even mean a themed logo and themed reviewer bio.
Mission Statement
In the previous post in this series, we defined mission statements as those that define your brand’s current goals and values.
Though mission, vision, and brand statements each make a promise, they go about these promises in different ways. Brand statements make promises about what you will do for your audience. A mission statement, on the other hand, is a promise about how you’re going to do it for them.
For their mission statement, our book blogger friend composes the following:
Mission Statement: My objective reviews will always include a list of pros&cons as well as an honest evaluation of whether the book is worth the pricetag. This way, you can make more informed decisions about the mermaid books you want to purchase.
Why This Mission Statement Works
- promises how these reviews will help the audience save money (help them make more informed decisions)
- states how the reviews will be objective (includes pros and cons)
- states how the reviews will be honest (includes a was-it-worth-it price evaluation)
Where to Put It
Instead of stating this mission statement directly on their blog, our friend decides to show this to their audience.
They show their mission statement by including a list of pros&cons and a was-it-worth-it price analysis in every one of their reviews.
Vision Statement
Similar to mission statements, vision statements were defined as your brand’s future goals and values.
If a brand statement is the what and a mission statement is the how, the vision statement is the why. Why should your audience care about your content? Why should should they follow your blog and engage with your posts? Most importantly, your vision statement should explain why your audience should keep coming back for more.
Our book blogger friend finishes up their statements by drafting the following vision statement:
One day, this blog hopes to be the go-to source for saving money on YA Fantasy books about mermaids. Eventually, this site will be home to my YA Fantasy books about mermaids, too.
Why This Vision Statement Work
- promises you a reason to keep coming back (your go-to source for saving money on books)
- states why you should keep coming back in the near future (the content)
- states why you should keep coming back for years to come (the book)
Where to Put It
Our book blogger friend decides to include their vision statement on their home page. This way, visitors see that this blog has a projected agenda.
Knowing the site will be around for the long haul keeps our book blogger friend’s audience coming back for future content (the reviews) while anticipating any future products (the book).
So there you have it, guys. Leave a comment and let me know how your site design is going. Happy writing!
Want More?
Series Post #7: Defining Brand, Mission, and Vision Statements
Series Post #6: Choosing the Right Plan for Your Site
Series Post #5: How to Choose the Right Site Builder
Haley Clark | Freelance Writer 