An alternative route to growing a business is to build your idea upon a preexisting set of behavior events that the consumer is already engaged in, and innovate the experience in a way that is more satisfying.

Let me give you some examples:

Starbucks: Consumers already drank coffee when Starbucks came along. In fact, drinking coffee was part of our culture. What Starbucks did was step into the behavior of the consumer and altered the experience to be more satisfying. Instead of selling another coffee brand, they created an industry around the coffee and the experience. They not only sold coffee, they sold pastries and other items but more importantly, they sold the franchise that catapulted the company into a multimillion-dollar enterprise.

The iPod: Nice gadget yes, but instead of selling another device, Apple sold a system: a new method of doing something consumers did already; finding, evaluating, selecting, listening, storing and of course playing music. Instead of just a single product, they created a sub-industry that encompassed all of the experiences of music interaction.

Kennedy’s All-American Barber Club™: Kennedy’s is our venture into building onto what the consumer is already doing — getting a haircut. A small group of us joined “the club” to change the experience of getting a haircut from a perfunctory one, to a positive experience we actually looked forward to. The consumer client is going through the process anyway, so why not change the process so that it is now something relaxing, enjoyable and, hopefully, habit forming? It is no longer just getting a haircut — it is a way of living.

What groups of existing behavior can you build upon to change the experience in such a way that it eliminates the issue of price and time?

Think about these everyday behaviors:
Exercise/workout
Eating
Grooming/brushing teeth
Paying bills
House chores
Dating
Commuting
Medical attention
Dental
Legal
Buying a house
Investing
Insurance
Medicine
Grocery shopping
Worship

…and many, many more. If you can discover alternatives to all patterns of behavior (including sub-patterns), that save time, or create a more enjoyable experience for the consumer,, the experience will lead to a new business system that offers immense opportunity.

One of the online tools that has been around for the longest, but is often neglected or overlooked, is that of message boards and email-based discussion groups. Yahoo and Google offer the two most popular email groups and they are free for anyone to set up. You can host your own group or you can join existing groups. There are groups for everything you can possibly think of; some are private and require the moderator of the group to approve you, and some you can get started with right away.

You can find these groups by going to the following URLs:
Yahoo - http://groups.yahoo.com/
Google - http://groups.google.com/

The way these groups are set up is that you are given an email address to which you can send a message if you want to send a message to an entire group. When you send a message to that address, everyone in the group gets it, and when they reply their response goes back to the whole group. On a side note, this has gotten more than one person I know into a bit of a trouble; because by habit you might think you are only responding to the person who sent the message, but since it was sent to the group, when you reply it automatically responds to the entire group! BE CAREFUL! It can be mighty embarrassing to send a private message to someone that ends up going to the whole group!

So, how can this help you build your celebrity status?

In most groups, there are many members who join to get information, but do not send messages. Let me give you an example: I am a member of a group for entertainment lawyers in the state of Florida. When I joined, I did what I would recommend that anyone should do when you are first joining an existing group — I watch how people post and respond for at least a few days to learn the tone of the group. After a month or two, I saw a message asking about a subject I know a lot about, so I responded to it. As time went on, I got involved in the discussion and I sent about 10 to 15 messages over the course of a few months.

As I was following the messages, it seemed like there were about 10 people who posted fairly regularly with about five others who would chime in every now and then. So by my estimation there were probably 20 to 30 people in the group.

Well, after about six months, I went to a convention where these entertainment lawyers gathered for an annual meeting. As usual, I met some new people and learned more about them, but something funny happened. When I introduced myself to people I had never met before, most of them said, “Oh, you’re Nick Nanton from the message board.” I would politely respond yes, but I had no idea how they knew that since I had never seen them send any messages. That’s when I asked the question.

I walked up to the person who moderated the group and asked him, “About how many people are in our online group? I keep meeting people who say they know me from the message board, but I have only sent a handful of messages and have never seen these people send anything.”

That’s when he responded “a little over 500 people.”

500 PEOPLE!

As you can see, I was drastically wrong in my calculation of 20 to 30 people in the group. There were actually hundreds, but only a few of us actually communicated through the group. And I have come to find out that this is fairly common in many groups. So, even though I had only sent a few messages, I had become a celebrity among the entire group. Everyone knew who I was, and before long I made a lot of new friends and was referred to a bunch of businesses because I was seen by the members of that group as an expert because of my prompt and accurate responses.

You really can find celebrity status in more places than you’d ever imagine; and sometimes, as in this instance, it smacked me in the face when I was completely oblivious! So go browse around online for groups of people that you would like to learn from, and that you think would be a good place for you to display your expertise and possibly even get some new business. Just remember the rules of the road! When you are in any new environment, watch how others behave first, before you start adding in your two cents!

Now, go out and join some groups!

The Great Bull Market of the 1990s made us feel rich. The real estate boom boosted our hopes all over again and we all got caught up in the excitement. We borrowed against our assets like never before, and spent the equity we thought we had.

Today, the stock market has fallen back to where it was eight years ago, and the housing market is back to its more humble state of five years ago. Neither of these traditional wealth builders offer us fast hope to rebuild what we “thought’ we had, and the acid taste of frustration lingers.

None of this news is new, and the fall has happened before. And it will happen again. The solution to this financial pull back rests in … The 3rd Option.

The 3rd Option is the creation of value through enterprise. Building wealth by taking what you know and creating money from it. Ray Kroc did it when he bought the rights to expand the McDonalds concept. Bill Gates, Michael Dell and Steve Jobs all ignored their personal circumstances and used The 3rd Option. Most recently, Tom Anderson of MySpace and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook have created billions where there was nothing before.

We all know you do not need to make billions of dollars to change your life, but chances are you do need to break out of your own financial crunch. And the answer for you will be the same as it was for these entrepreneurs … it’s E-Time! Time for you to launch that idea you have had stewing away in the back of your head. Time for you to make something out of nothing, as entrepreneurs have done before you. Better yet, take an idea that is already working and it expand it the way Ray Kroc did with McDonalds.

How do you get started? There are many ways, but one of the easiest and best is to immerse yourself in what is going on. Go to business expos, conventions and Chamber of Commerce meetings to see what people are doing. Talk with the business owners at their exhibit tables and look for opportunities. Yes, some opportunities require money, but many businesses can be launched out of your own garage or spare bedroom. Open your eyes to new ideas and don’t shut out old ones. If you can sell, find the best product in the marketplace to sell and try to get options to buy into the company as well if you build value. If you are a computer geek and don’t know anything about selling , but you build web sites, offer that service to the salesman who won’t know a bit from a byte. Work with people. Stir the pot. The opportunities are endless and they await your discovery. This is not just ‘pie in the sky’ motivation; I believe it and see clients every day that show me their ideas and dreams that we help bring to life.

Yes, it’s E-Time and the opportunities are endless. Don’t wait another moment. Take advantage of The 3rd Option right now. The fortune at your feet is waiting for you to pick it up!

Well, the good news is, it’s not that hard. The entire concept of Celebrity Branding™ revolves around creating a relationship with your fan base, and continuing the conversation you want to have with them via multiple forms of media that allow you to control your message. The old standard method of doing this is with a hard copy newsletter sent to your prospects and clients; which is still one of my favorite methods. I would challenge you to find a better form of media, but we’ll debate that another day.

Social media allows you to take that same concept you can capitalize on with a newsletter, the concept of building a relationship and continuing your conversation with your fan base, but it takes out the constraints of physically publishing your thoughts (which is a double-edged sword, as it sometimes allows you to be a bit more sloppy about crafting your message. There is a mental barrier we have when writing something that is going to be put in print; we often spend more time crafting this type of message than we do when we draft an email or other communication that we perceive as having less value than printed material).

Wikipedia.com defines Social Media as:
…the use of electronic and Internet tools for the purpose of sharing and discussing information and experiences with other human beings. The term most often refers to activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio. This interaction, and the manner in which information is presented, depends on the varied perspectives and “building” of shared meaning among communities, as people share their stories and experiences.

It’s really not that scary, I promise. You’ve probably even seen a MySpace, Facebook or YouTube page in the past. These are great, but I want to take you a little further down the path to one of my favorite tools that hasn’t been around quite as long, and that makes use of some newer technology.

Twitter.com – Twitter is a “micro blog,” which means that it is intended for publishing short messages, not longer messages like you might see in a traditional blog, and was created to answer the question “What are you doing?” (Note: If you aren’t familiar with what a blog is, that’s okay too, but we don’t have space to cover it in this article. Go to Google, and type in “what is a blog” and you’ll find all you need to know. )

Twitter allows its users to send and read other users’ messages that are up to 140 characters in length (otherwise known as “tweets”). Users “follow” each other and can opt to receive updates from other users on their cell phones, or can just check in online to see what those in their network are doing. Users can also “Tweet” by texting messages to a phone number, or they can update their messages online at Twitter.com. While it sounds very narcissistic and shallow, and it certainly is for some users, savvy marketers have started using Twitter to expand and further entrench their fan bases in their way of thinking.

Tweets can contain something as simple as what you had for lunch or that you’re heading to the gym; or you can opt to tweet a link to a great article you read, to announce some great news or even to announce a contest you are holding. It sounds like it would be pretty silly, but give it a try and you’ll find out pretty quickly how addictive and productive it can be.

Twitter allows you to connect with your audience in short bursts. Some of the people who are worth following to learn a bit more are (I’m going to give you their usernames so you can find them on Twitter):

craigballantyne – Craig is a health and fitness expert based out of Toronto, Canada and is the founder of the Turbulence Training™ fitness system. Craig shows individuals how to get and stay in shape without having to go to the gym. He tweets about every meal he eats to give you some insight into how you can eat to stay healthy and also posts links to some of his workouts to you can follow along at home.

barefoot_exec – Carrie Wilkerson, The Barefoot Executive, offers tips and resources for working at home. Carrie shows you why working at home can be much more fulfilling than holding a regular job, and also shows you how to be as productive and profitable as possible.

skydiver – Peter Shankman is a PR Guru and founder of HelpAReporterOut.com, which is a resource to help you get cited as a source in major media outlets. He is one of the few people I know who can be funny in text, and he has some pretty amusing things happening in his life. He’s fun to watch and he sends out urgent queries from journalists via Twitter as well.

zappos – Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos.com, an internet-based shoe retailer who has built an online shoe store into a billion dollar franchise, based on his savvy marketing and his ability to give online shoppers what they want. Tony is always on the move and posts some pretty unique stuff. Recently Venus Williams was coming in for a tour of the Zappos headquarters and he let everyone tweet in messages to her that he read to her aloud.

nicknanton – I couldn’t help including just a touch of self promotion! I keep you up to date with the latest and greatest articles I’ve read, tips and tricks on Celebrity Branding™, and I also give you glimpses into my hectic everyday life. Sometimes I’m hanging out with rock stars, other times I’m trying to bathe my two kids and keep my iPhone out of the bathtub … you just never know, but that’s what makes it interesting!

There you have it — a few great resources to get you started using Twitter. As I said before, it sounds a bit strange, but once you start using it you’ll see how others are using it to continue the conversation with their fan base, breed loyalty, increase profits and meet new prospects.

So what are you waiting for? Go sign up right now at www.Twitter.com and send me a message so I can start following you too!

Now, before you run off and start actually believing that — especially in the context of your business — just stop, take a deep breath and relax. Money is moving just as fast as it ever has, you just need to be conscious of the fact that it may be moving differently than it was in the real estate boom of yesterday.

Below, you’ll find three easy steps that will help you recession-proof your business:
1. Become the ‘Celebrity Expert’ in your Business Niche
In any economy, especially in an economy where the buyers in your market have been trained to spend carefully, you have to compete for every last dollar that is being spent. Your buyers are likely distracted by their own issues that they are dealing with, so the last thing that you want is to lose a prospect or, worse yet, an existing customer due to factor you can control.

If you have taken the time to show that YOU, not the product or service that you offer, are the Celebrity Expert, the Guru, the Go-To provider in the marketplace, you will have a much better chance of staying busy — while your competitors are floundering. The reason for this is that many business strategies change during market shifts, and if your buyers remember your previous strategies and offerings better than they remember your ability to make great decisions and guide them in the right direction, then you can expect to sit around waiting for the telephone to ring until the market changes.

If, on the other hand, you have taken the time to display your expertise, and have promoted yourself rather than your “latest and greatest” product and service offering, your audience will always come to you, their trusted source, when they must get results. They would rather rely on a trusted advisor than on a product or service. People buy people; NEVER forget this — especially in a shifting market.

2. Ramp Up Your Marketing Efforts
In a changing market where assumptions and projections are no longer identical to what they were in previous periods, the first thing many businesses do is assume an overly-conservative marketing strategy. The first thing many a CFO says is “let’s slow down our marketing efforts.” BIG MISTAKE.

This could appear to be a lesson in contrarian-marketing, and while that does often work, this goes deeper than that. We’re not just trying to say “Yes” when those around us are saying “No,” but the same outcome ensues.

In a changing marketplace you actually have to market more consistently and creatively to get consumers to spend their dollars on your products and services. They are adopting a more fiscally conservative policy all around based on what they are seeing and hearing; so they have to be smacked in the face with your marketing message even more than usual in order to finally make the decision that what you are offering makes sense for them. If you slow down your marketing efforts, the final “sign” your buyer is looking for before they cross the line and buy may never come. As they say, “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” If you don’t appear when the student is ready, you’ll miss out on the chance to make the sale and bring in the revenues you deserve.

3. Be Agile
We often get caught up in offering the products and services that we want to offer, rather than looking for the missing ingredients in our buyers’ lives. It’s an easy trap to fall into, particularly if you’ve been doing what you’ve been doing for a prolonged period of time.

If you get stuck offering your products and services exactly as you have in the past, you may miss a great opportunity to fill a void. If there is a shift in market conditions and your profitability level drops, and you continue to offer your products and services the same way you were pre-shift, then you are turning a blind eye to the fact that your marketplace is no longer seeking (or willing to pay for) the solution of yesterday.

Oftentimes it only takes a slight tweak of your message to ease the pain your prospects are feeling, but you do have to take a moment to stop and realize that your “ointment” may no longer be packaged in a way that attracts customers, and that re-packaging could be the key to renewed profitability.

I know that the overwhelming message in the news is that “the sky is falling,” but if you’ll take the time to follow these three simple steps, I assure you that even while your prospects and clients are trying to avoid the impending doom, they’ll come to your bunker to avoid getting knocked down.

Your business story should be real and personal. The more you can connect your story to your customer, the more it will help your business. This is why we often talk about the importance of finding a niche market with which you can identify. Telling your story to your niche market helps them identify with you. Sometimes the stories and the identification become so strong, that customers will not even consider going somewhere else for their business. Doing business with you at that point becomes more than buying a product, it is a relationship.

Using the power of storytelling is easy to see in the political arena, and we are being bombarded by it the closer we get to the Presidential election. Both Senator Obama and Senator McCain are masters at the art of telling their story. Obama’s is the classic story of the struggling hero who overcomes obstacles and finds himself on the hero’s quest. John McCain’s story rests more on his past successes, and the experiences of a hero who is now able to step in and solve the crises the country faces.

You and your company should learn from the lessons we are seeing in the political arena to create your story and sell it to your customers. By create I do not mean make it up, but show people who you are, what you have learned and how this relates to your business and your customers. I still remember Lee Iacocca’s personal appeal on television to get people to do business with his company. His challenge to the American car buyer was bold and simple, “If you find a better car . . . buy it!” Surely no one would make that kind of statement unless they were supremely confident in their product. Consumers bought the dare and it saved the company.

Other stories have been used to put a face and an image on a company. Disney did it twice; once with Walt himself, and later with Michael Eisner — both of whom came into your living room via television to tell you a story and create an image. They don’t call Walt Disney ‘Uncle Walt’ for nothing. It was done to create a particular image and it succeeded.

Although stories are unique to the company and individuals running them, they do follow themes. Examples are the “Mother” (Oprah), “General” (Iacocca, Jack Welch), “Statesman” (all former Presidents), “Wizard” (Steve Jobs), “Explorer” (Richard Branson), “Faithful Servant” (Al Gore), and “Wise Man” (Warren Buffet). Naturally, these themes rise and fall with the times — as heroes sometimes turn into villains then goats and back again to hero — ala Martha Stewart.

What is your story? What is the story of your company and your brand itself? How did it all come about and what is the connector to your market and customer base? The more you are able to answer these questions, and more importantly, the more you understand the importance of the story and constantly reinforce it, the stronger the bond you will build with your customer.

As I was traveling and speaking with business owners of all kinds (and I do mean all kinds of businesses!), it became very apparent to me that there was some confusion between the benefits of mass media and targeted media and how they can both help grow your business. Many pundits will tell you that you only need one or the other, but that’s simply a self-serving statement. Both types of media have their own very distinct benefits of which you should be aware. After having the same conversation over and over again with many people, I realized that you may have the same questions, so I decided I’d put my formula in this article for you to benefit from as well.

Let’s start by defining the two forms of media, and then we’ll get into what they’re both good for and not so good for. After that, I’ll reveal the secret formula for media success.

Mass media is a means of communication designed to reach and influence large numbers of people at the same time. Examples of this are: Newspapers, popular magazines, radio, television and, in some instances, very popular websites and blogs.

Targeted media is a means of communication designed to reach and influence specific recipients one at a time. Examples of this are: Direct mail, newsletters, e-mails and html newsletters.

Both of these types of media have their pros and cons. Like any other tool, the key is to know the strengths and weaknesses of each, and how you can use them to your benefit.

Mass Media
Mass media’s biggest benefit is that it is a huge source of credibility. If you see someone being interviewed on “Good Morning America,” “Larry King Live,” “Oprah,” or even your local news station, you automatically assume they are an expert. You instinctively assign them a great deal of credibility — because you, like everyone else, have great faith in the screening process it took to get the interviewee on television for you to watch. The credibility from mass media is “inherent,” i.e., it is built in.

The downside of mass media is that it usually takes a lot of money to get there. Usually to get some mass media attention, even more than really being an expert at something, you have to be paying the right people. The fastest way to get there is to hire a PR firm that has relationships with television executives and producers who can get your story in front of the people who can put you on the air. Now, if it were just this easy, it would work for everyone. The problem is that oftentimes the fee that you have to pay a PR firm in this arena is far more expensive than a small business owner can afford. And the other problem is that even the most well-intentioned PR firms cannot guarantee that they will get you any coverage. You could spend as much money as you have, and most of the time even more than that, and still not get the mass media coverage you are looking for. The “stars have to align” in order for your story to fit the agenda of the television show and the theme they are working on during the course of your promotion, and even then you have to hope that no natural disasters or O.J. Simpson arrests happen that will bump you out of line! It is important to note here that I’ve spent most of my time talking about television because it’s the crown prince of mass media, but equal attention should be paid to radio, newspapers and magazines because the same principles apply. The other media that is coming on strong is the Internet — and it will eventually overtake television, so you need to pay attention to it as well. If you can get coverage on one of the bigger Internet portals, news sites, blogs or podcasts, then you can also get many of the same benefits.

Targeted Media
Targeted media, on the other hand, is great because you can control your costs much more easily. You can determine how much you want to spend to reach the consumer you want to reach. It is also great for getting new clients and making money. The great copywriter John Carlton once said (loosely paraphrased), “The answer to every problem is a great sales letter.” I’m sure I don’t have the quote exactly right, but the point is that a great sales letter sent to the right list of targeted prospects, can mint money. Sales letters are often the source of millions of dollars in revenue for savvy marketers who know how to utilize them. This is the benefit of targeted media — you can control your message, control the media and use it for whatever purpose you’d like . . . and the most popular purpose is to make money.

The downside to targeted media is that it really lacks the credibility factor that comes along with mass media. How many times have you gotten a direct mail piece, e-mail advertisement or sales letter and halfway through reading it, you said to yourself “Who is this person and why should I believe them? Why should I listen to what they have to tell me?” It’s a very common occurrence and it is a hard barrier to overcome. That’s why you need the secret formula.

The Secret Formula for Media Success
The secret formula should be pretty obvious by now: You need BOTH! The right combination of mass media and targeted media gives you credibility, while allowing you to control your media and your targeted recipient, as well as your costs, for the ultimate response – a recipient who “votes with dollars.” I don’t care whether you run a for-profit company or a non-profit company, it takes dollars to make things happen, so it would be wise to learn how to make this combination work for you.

While this is undoubtedly the winning formula, it can still be very challenging to find an affordable, time-effective way to uncover the winning combination. Because we have witnessed this dilemma over and over again, Jack and I decided to look for a solution once and for all. It took us quite some time to find a solution that we knew would work and would be affordable for those who are serious about making media work for them. But we did find the answer and it is called the Ultimate Celebrity Branding Experience™. With this month’s newsletter, we have included a brochure for you to look over. If you’re looking for solutions for getting ahead in your business today, yes — even in this economy — we urge you to take a look at the enclosed brochure and contact us as soon as possible if you think it may be right for you. We realize this opportunity is not right for everyone, but if you’d like to discuss it further, please contact me at Nick@CelebrityBrandingYou.com or call me at 800-980-1626.

Stay tuned for next month’s article where I will reveal another secret that I have used to get in the New York Times, The Dallas Morning News, The Arizona Republic, The Chicago Tribune and more!

Every time there is upheaval in the economy, every time there is “blood in the street,” there is always a counter-opportunity to step in and fill in the gap. Please note the words: EVERY TIME!

What I mean by “filling in the gap” is that tough times create opportunities for you to change something that you are doing or to spot a new idea or trend that will offer you unusual rewards. When things are great, we are usually not as willing to upset the apple cart, so we sometimes miss out on great opportunities. When business is slower, we are more willing to take that little, extra risk, and that is often when good things happen. Let me give you an example.

One of my companies just finished sponsoring the Street of Dreams home showcase held in our area. For those who do not know, the Street of Dreams puts on an event featuring very large and very expensive mansions, built just for the show, in different parts of the country. The event is heavily publicized to get people out to see the $6,000,000 to $9,000,000 homes as well as all of the great ideas they contain. This year, one of the big concerns was how the housing crisis would affect the event and its turnout. The Street of Dreams Company was clearly concerned, seemingly rightly so.

What did they do about it?

Cancel the show? Not on your life. They raised ticket prices. Yes, the prices were not all that expensive anyway ($12.00 last year up to $15.00 this year) and you could argue that by raising prices they got a more qualified crowd to their event. All of that is true and positive. What was most interesting to me was that they made at least as much money this year as they had in previous years, and guess what will happen to ticket prices when the housing industry stabilizes and the size of the crowds come back? They will remain at the new higher level, of course, or go up even more. What was the result for the Street of Dreams producers by working through a difficult market? Higher profits for every future year in their business!

How can you make a change?

In the next few weeks, we will all be glued to the TV set as the world turns its attention to the Olympics. Go ahead and enjoy them, but let me encourage you to keep a business eye open for all of the profit potential that can come from goods, services, and new ideas that will be unveiled at the Olympics. Just this month, the cover of Fast Company Magazine was graced with the new swimsuits designed to make our athletes swim even faster. Do you think there will be an increased demand for the swimsuits and similar athletic enhancement products at a local level?

What will the vendors sell to the crowds to eat, drink, or take as souvenirs that you could import to sell or use to start a business? What new promotion will be featured that you can take advantage of? Even using the Olympics as a title in your ads or direct mail will increase readership during these next weeks, because that is the topic that will be on people’s minds– and stepping into their thought process is the way to get the greatest response from your message.

Many changes, new trends, and opportunities will come out of the Olympics, so be ready to get your “gold.”

New ideas are also present in the newspaper. Yes, newspapers are read less because of the web. But from my standpoint as a Trend Merchant, I look to the small, local stories for ideas, and I find a wealth of possibilities. Today as I write, the newspaper had a good story about a guy from London who came to the US and is opening the first Pinellas County Indoor Soccer Academy. Many people have tried to make money on soccer in the US and have not been successful. But will this idea work? Will the two partners be able to put together a business plan that can be replicated? If they can, they will not just have created a local opportunity; they will have a national one that can be franchised and sold across the US. Naturally, since I am in the franchise creation business, I have added this man and his partner to my list of people to go visit in order to explore opportunities for the future. This potential came from an idea found during the simple act of reading the paper to look for opportunities. Interestingly, this idea also provides the opportunity to talk with people who were willing to start a new business in a down economy. My kind of people.

Where will your Next Big Thing come from: your current business or a new idea?

Happy Searching!

JW Dicks

This economic reality is significant to every business, because we are seeing the classic mistakes that are made by businesses every time the economy goes bad. First, people stop marketing. Yes, advertising and marketing of all types are being cut back in droves because people mistakenly think that they can save money for a few months on their marketing “line item,” and this is much easier to do than laying someone off. The unfortunate reality is that you don’t get a painful click-click- click reminder immediately when you stop marketing, but you will get it a few months down the road when the business that your marketing was bringing in STOPS. Now you really have a problem.

For those “fortunate” to have had bad marketing in the first place, they do get to save money, but that is a different issue entirely. If you have bad marketing, you have a different set of problems. However, if your marketing was working and every time you conducted a campaign you made a return on your investment that generated a profit, then cutting the marketing program is dumb.

Marketing campaigns are about one thing…creating a campaign that generates a direct response that you can test the result of and that, when tested, shows that you made money. When you have that type of marketing campaign, you should never stop it until it stops making you money. In fact, the more you can spend on that campaign, the more money you make; so, stopping a successful campaign in a bad economy is exactly the opposite of what you should do. This is why many companies fail when economies dip. It isn’t the only reason, but it is a common one.

If you don’t have a marketing campaign that you have tested and that always brings in reliable money, then let’s talk about it and get one going. It really is the single most important thing you can do for your business, both now and in the future. If you would like our help with this, please call us at 800-980-1626 to make an appointment today. We look forward to hearing from you.

The Truth About
Celebrity Branding™

Andy Warhol, the successful American painter, said, “In the future, everyone will get their 15 minutes of fame.” In truth, we Americans love our celebrities, and we are always creating new ones. This is becoming even more prevalent in our rapidly increasing “reality” culture of blockbuster television shows like “American Idol” and “Dancing with the Stars.” If you can become a celebrity, the world is yours, albeit hopefully for more than 15 minutes. American Idol has even promoted its celebrity judges to cult status and incredible incomes.

Simon Cowell earns a reported annual salary of more than $435 million just for the American and British version of the Idol TV show. That excludes everything he earns on the Idols themselves and their extremely successful recording contracts.

In our marketing and media agency, we have consistently seen the power of celebrity attachment to a product or service, and how it produces an increase in the acceptance and sale of the product or service a company is offering. Over the years, we have come to realize that the simple reason for this is that people would rather “buy people” than the inanimate object of a product. By using a celebrity personality in the form of an expert, it enhances the acceptance and increases the value of the product to the buyer. The buyer becomes more involved with the whole process as they begin to identify with the celebrity and everything they endorse.

Take a moment to think about some of your favorite products that are endorsed by celebrities. You have a positive impression of the product and the celebrity, don’t you? The positive impression and loyal feeling is a part of the magic of attaching a celebrity to a product.

Now, shift your vision so you can see YOURSELF as the Celebrity Expert, endorsing your own product or service. This is where the real breakthroughs of taking a proven idea and applying it to your own business to increase its revenue occur. By the way, while we would prefer you to be the Celebrity Expert for your own business, you don’t have to be. Many businesses have promoted a pastor, family member or loyal employee to this celebrity status for the business. So, if for some reason you don’t desire to be the “front person,” don’t miss out on the power that personality can bring your business.

How Can You Use This Knowledge to Help Your Product or Service Be More Successful?

Celebrity Branding™ is not about becoming a “fake” celebrity. Celebrity Branding™ is about discovering who you are and your expertise. As an expert in your field, Celebrity Branding™ allows you to market yourself to your target market in an exciting way that produces a response that your prospect notices and then reacts to in the form of buying your product or service because you are the expert. The buyer believes in you and values your reputation. The more you can personally connect, the more value you create with your buying group.

You can increase your status from “expert,” because you are good at what you do, to “Celebrity Expert” when the world learns about you. We accelerate that process for our clients by getting the word out faster. We also help our clients structure their product or service in a way that is welcomed in the marketplace and generates the highest-perceived value.

Who Are You?

To become a celebrity brand, you must discover yourself in a unique and compelling way. You must understand who your client or customer really is and what they need from you. Without understanding this basic core of building your brand, the business structure you build will be hollow and unsustainable. Even after you are successful at building your celebrity brand, you must be flexible to change and adapt to your market. Some of the most successful celebrities of all time, like Cher and Madonna, have been the best at adapting and changing with the times by reinventing themselves while constantly delivering what their target audience wanted. They are successful to a great degree because they never lost focus on their market and always fulfilled the needs and desires of their customers.

While we can’t answer the, “Who are you?” question for you. We often help our clients find the answer by looking at the things that we all seem to gloss over when we attempt to look at ourselves objectively. Here are a few questions that will help you figure this out:

- What skills do you have that people find interesting?

- What led you to your current job status? Personal status? Financial status?

- When people refer business to you, what do they tell others about you? (If you don’t know the answer to this question, you should ask!)

- Why do your clients continually return to you and your products or services?

- What do you do when providing your product or service that is different than “what everyone else does?”

There are many more questions like this, but you get the idea. We concentrate on the things that most people gloss over and say, “That’s no big deal.” In fact, we are here to tell you that it is a big deal. You got to this exact point in your life based on a series of events, some memorable, some forgettable, some great and some not so great, but all of those events brought you to this moment in time and have had a lasting effect. No other individual in the world has the exact same story as you, so don’t hide who you are and where you come from. That’s what makes you unique! The key factor you need to pay attention to when “finding” your story is to allow an objective third party help you weed through the story, pull out the “fluff” and keep the “meat.”

We know firsthand how hard it is to be objective about your own work, so every time we write something, we always turn it over to a team of trusted colleagues, family and friends for their opinion. That is also what we are able to do for our clients; help them be objective.

What is Your Mission?

The next question the world wants answered, once they know who you are is, “What is your mission?” In other words, “How can you help me?” That’s really what it all boils down to. What is it that you do that makes life easier, better, more fun or profitable for your customers?

The easiest way to answer this question is by looking at an old marketing phrase, “Tell your prospects about benefits, not features.” To understand this concept, let’s look at a few examples:

Feature/ Benefit:

- Open 24 hours/Come in when it’s convenient for you!

- We offer many loan programs/We can help you find a loan with the right payment options for you!

- We handle corporate law/Let us handle your corporate paperwork so you can do what you do best, run your business and make more money.

You can see how telling someone about benefits can help them quickly identify, “What’s in it for me?” This breakthrough is necessary for a person to give you the opportunity to earn their business. By telling potential clients about benefits instead of features, you take the guess work out of trying to figure out how your product or service will benefit them; you simply tell them up front!

Who is Your Target Market?

After you learn who you are, you must discover your target market. If you do not understand who your market is, then you will likely go broke trying to reach them. The reason is that in today’s business world, marketing is one of the greatest expenses of any business. To keep this cost down, and more money in your pocket, you must be able to target your market as narrowly as possible so that the dollars you allocate to advertising yield the greatest return on investment (ROI).

In selecting your target market, pick a market that you feel passionate about. If you feel passionate about your business, it will be evident to your customer, and they will feel it too. This feeling will, in turn, breed confidence in you and your product or service. Tony Robbins, the great motivational speaker said, “Live your life with passion.” Most people simply don’t do this. Too often, business people get in a rut and feel trapped in their business. This feeling drains you in many ways and always leads to frustration and unhappiness because you are no longer living with passion.

You are not alone if you have this feeling of being in a rut. We have experienced it too at different times in our careers. We have also known doctors who are tired of working with sick patients and lawyers who cannot stand the thought of practicing law anymore. Often, this is a natural progression of life, but frequently it happens because people choose their area of specialty for the wrong reasons. Maybe it was for money. Maybe it was for a family member who always wanted a doctor in the family. Whatever the reason, time catches up with them. If that is you, then commit yourself to using this time to reinvent yourself and reenergize yourself to live with passion and serve a target market that makes you feel alive and enjoy what you do.

Ask yourself these questions:

• What groups of people use your product or service now?

• Which of these groups do you most enjoy working with?

• Do you feel motivated and energized when you think of providing your product or service to this group of people?

Once you answer these questions, you may well have found your target market. If you have not found the answer, then discuss it with a close friend who knows you best. Sometimes we all have trouble “seeing the forest for the trees,” especially when the answer is right under our nose. In this case, there is nothing better than a loyal, objective observer.

What Does Your Market Want or Need?

People react to buying messages for one of two reasons — to get pleasure or to avoid pain. Think about it. Pretty simple really, these are the two predominant forces in how we react to products or services. We want to buy a car because it gives us pleasure. We go to a doctor to get well and ease pain. If you are fortunate, your product or service can do both.

A health club, for example, might help you feel better and avoid pain. It can also help you look better and give you pleasure. To be the most successful in that field, you would be wise to help your clients understand what the benefits are, and as they are reaping the benefits, you should reinforce the benefits and the clients’ success. Rarely do business owners do this, but they should. If your clients aren’t being reinforced in a positive manner, they lose the passion in whatever it is you are providing for them — just like you would. Have you heard the question, “What have you done for me lately?” Enough said.

Do you reinforce the benefits you offer throughout all of your client communications? In chapters 8 and 9, we will go into the various ways that we suggest you stay in touch with your clients and prospects.

You will find that we believe in using all of the many forms of communication available today, both online and in person. Personal contact does not necessarily mean “face-to-face,” although that is often best. Today, more than ever, there are many options that are very close to the feel of personal communication but have a broader reach, such as communications by seminars, teleseminars, webinars and special events.

How Does Your Product or Service Fulfill Your Market’s Needs?

The next step in your client development process is to analyze how your service fills the needs of your market. What will it do for them? This answer needs to be conveyed in the form of the specific benefits they will receive.
If your market wants to look younger, then the benefit is that your product can do just that — make them look younger. Interestingly, the benefit must outweigh the cost (cost is a pain people want to avoid). So, if your product makes them look younger but costs more than what they get in terms of time, money or some other tangible benefit, your sales won’t be what you desire. The results (benefits) have to be worth the money invested or, even if you have the most compelling marketing in the world, your customers will not return to do business with you. This is an expensive lesson that no business can afford to learn the hard way.

Many of you likely sell a service that helps people make or save money. Our own book “Celebrity Branding You™” is an example of that type of product. If we ask people to buy a book for $25, and they make $25 using what they learn, will they be happy? Probably not, because the reader has also invested their time in reading the book. What if the information helps the reader to make 10 times the amount invested? Will that increase the satisfaction of their investment? Of course it would, and that is the balance point you have to find. Is the magic number five times invested capital? Ten times? Twenty times? There is no concrete answer, but whatever the number is that tips the scale for your market, once you find it, you will have a group of very happy clients beating a path to your door.

Remember, it does not have to be a monetary return; it can easily be a “quality of life” return. Often a person follows a favorite author from book to book. They buy not only because of the dollar investment return, but the quality of life enjoyment they get while reading the book. A key role in your job of developing your successful product or service is to find the “tipping point” on the balance beam your client walks on to begin to feel the value they receive is worth more than the cost. Then you must continue to put pressure on the value side of the bar.

If you are ready to take the next step in your Celebrity Branding™ Journey, please give us a call and we’ll be glad to discuss it with you. We can be reached at 800-981-1403 or info@DicksNanton.com