Web Worker Daily

I spent most of yesterday driving I-90 across South Dakota (thus proving, incidentally, that a web worker really can work from anywhere; even a cross-country move is not a barrier to a semi-regular schedule with sufficient planning). This meant, inevitably, that I got to read hundreds of billboards advertising Wall Drug.

If you’ve any interest at all in a classic American institution, you ought to stop in the next time you find yourself in the center of South Dakota. The jackalopes and free ice water are worth the trip. But more germane to this space are the simple branding lessons that anyone can draw from the attraction’s no-nonsense approach to funneling thousands of travelers per year off of the interstate and into their parking lot. Here’s what I saw that you can use to enhance your own personal branding or marketing efforts.

1. Have a simple, consistent, actionable message - Pick one primary action you want readers to carry out, and get it across in all of your branding. In the case of Wall Drug, this is easy: get off the highway at exit 109. If you’re trying to establish yourself as “the CSS gal” or “the go-to guy for online ice cream sales” make sure you get that into all of your materials.

2. Find a memorable hook - Wall Drug started drawing travelers in during the Depression by offering free ice water. They still offer free ice water even though you can buy a bottle of water for a buck and change at dozens of exits up and down the highway now. It doesn’t matter - Wall Drug will always be the “free ice water” store. Similarly, you need to find one interesting facet of your own work, or one little quirk, or one shining bit of uniqueness, that will make you stand out from the pack, and highlight it to make yourself memorable.

3. Be ubiquitous - We all think that we’re the person who doesn’t respond to saturation advertising; that’s a low-brow technique that only works on those other chumps. And yet, after miles and miles of rolling prairie punctuated only by colorful Wall Drug billboards, it’s the rare car full of visitors who can avoid stopping. Apply the same lesson to your own branding: successful online entrepreneurs are the ones who repeat their message early and often, even when it feels like hucksterism. There are no rewards here for timidity.

4. Widen your niche - After you’ve established your primary message, think about what you can do to draw in folks who are interested in close-by services. Wall Drug starts with free ice water, but they don’t stop there: replica dinosaurs and five-cent coffee and silver dollar exhibits and jackalopes and postcards and many other attractions beef up their billboards these days. If you think you’ve made your reputation in CSS, is it time to offer broader design services? Can your online ice cream presence support a toppings expertise? While it’s dangerous to dilute your brand too far, there are benefits to bringing in new clients for your primary skills.