Best Ways to Protect Your Digital Brand [2019 Updated]

There are so many avenues that allow you to develop a strong personal brand with the use of the internet. You can develop an incredible podcast with hundreds of episodes and interviews.

You can maintain an amazing following on YouTube with millions of subscribers. You can dominate Instagram and garner hundreds of thousands of followers.

It's possible to build a strong following on various digital platforms. However, what happens if you lose it all in one moment? Years of hard work could disappear within the blink of an eye.

Do you think this would never happen to you?

Think again because it has happened to major brands and smaller influencers. You don't own these platforms, so you really don't have much say when the head honchos decide to shut your presence down. This is why it's always wise to protect yourself. You don't want to live in a state of panic because anything could happen at any moment.

Alternatively, you do want to embrace the fact that anything could happen at any time. As a result, you'll want to be prepared and ready for anything. 

Also See: 4 Software Trends to Watch Out For in 2019

Investing in Backup Software

Whether you have photo shoots, newsletters or blog posts on your site, always back everything up. You can invest in a few hard drives. Save your content as you're creating it.

Even when you've uploaded a video to YouTube or Vimeo, consider loading the videos on back-up thumb drives or cloud storage systems. It never hurts to back up your content. After all, when you've worked so hard to create your brand, you don't want to lose everything due to carelessness. Whether it's once a month or once a week, make it a habit of backing up all of your data and content. 

Saving Passwords and Important Information

Your passwords are important because, without them, you can't get into a lot of your files, websites and accounts.

While it's great to write down the information in a safe place, it's always wise to keep a running document that stores everything. Keep your passwords and other important data in at least two places. An external hard drive and an online storage space will suffice. 

Protecting Your Tribe

Find ways to generate a strong email list. Use opt-in incentives to move your follower from a social media platform like Instagram to your email list. You can place a link in your description box for your followers to click and get easy access.

Consider what your brand is all about. If you're a fashion blogger who desires to teach and consult others on how to make their wardrobes pop, you can offer a free online course that's filled with two hours worth of valuable content.

In order for people to gain access to this free course, they'd need to join your email list. You can record the video, upload to YouTube and place it in a private or unlisted setting.

This will allow you to make sure it only goes to those who are actually on your email list. Once you've captured their email addresses, you can store them within the email marketing program you use. You can also download all of the addresses, place them in an Excel spreadsheet and back up all of your information.

If you're consistently adding new people to your email list on a weekly or monthly basis, you'll want to update your records to include everyone. This step helps you grow your business. It also protects your tribe. If anything were to ever happen with any of these platforms, you'd be able to stay in touch with a large percentage of your faithful followers.

Always share your promotional content at the times when you have the most followers on the app. Do your research to learn more about the time fluctuations and the ideal times to post. Once you develop a good understanding of when to post, you'll be able to lure the interested followers to your email list. 

Following the Rules

Unfortunately, there are plenty of people who get shut down on the digital platforms because they refuse the follow the rules. In an effort to gain visibility within the platform, they'll create offensive, outrageous or shocking content. A lot of people do stupid things for shock value. Don't make this a part of your marketing strategy.

As you get reported for violating a company's rules, your page will get suspended or shut down. Even when you're reposting photos of celebrities or major figures, make sure that you're following the right protocols. Major fashion brands have been shut down because of simple mistakes like forgetting to credit a specific photographer. When in doubt, use your own photos.

It's better to play it safe with platforms that don't belong to you. When you play by the rules, you increase the likelihood of staying within the safety zone.

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