6 Steps To Get
?>
Download eBooks and Software
 Satellitedirect - Highest Converting Tv To PC Product
Don't Have A Website? Create A Money Making Website In Just Minutes For Free With Our Brand New Tool: Http://professionalcash.com/webtool
The World's #1 Lottery System For Lotto.
Ken Silver's Multi-million Silver Lotto System! 1 Minute Setup, Winning 9 Out Of Every 10 Games Since 1991. Affiliate Commission Now 75%! Earn Up To $243/sale. Low Refunds. Visit: www.lottoaffiliatecenter.com
Forex Trading Software Plug-in Averages 500 Pips A Month
Forex Plug-in Software Averaging 500 Pips A Month Since Oct. 2010. Ideal For Newbies, Simple Instructions W/6 Training Modules. Killer Conversion, Super Low Returns, Total Impulse Buy. Affiliates, Visit: Http://netpicks.com/odstaffiliate For More Info!
Ipad Video Lessons - Big Seller!
38 Million Ipads Sold... With No Ipad Instructions! That's Where You & I Come In. Works With Ipad & Ipad 2. Get Your Ipad Video Lessons Affiliate Tools... Http://ipadvideolessons.com/affiliate
Paleo Recipe Book - Brand New Paleo Cookbook
Brand New Paleo Diet Cookbook With Over 370 Recipes. Pays 70% Commission On This High-quality, Easy To Sell Product. Get Banners And Promotional Material At Http://paleorecipebook.com/affiliates.html
Articles Index >> Marketing
6 Steps To Get "Slightly" Famous
by Steven Van Yoder
A few years ago, Bruce Smith experienced a slowdown in his Salt Lake City-based travel agency. Airlines had eliminated his sales commissions. The recession and recent terrorist attacks also took a toll. And because the travel industry was ultra-competitive, he knew he had to find ways to distinguish his company from thousands of other travel agencies.
Then, he had a fortunate accident. His wife asked him where they would celebrate their first wedding anniversary. When he gave her a blank look, she set about planning a trip-but wouldn't tell him what she was planning. Because he enjoyed the mystery leading up to the trip, and the hints his wife gave him, he repackaged his travel service as The Veiled Voyage, selling 'destination unknown' vacations to couples and others.
Smith's clever branding strategy was a hit. It not only helped him create a unique and memorable brand, but also made him 'slightly' famous.
Now, most of Smith's business comes through referrals from happy clients who eagerly tell their friends about The Veiled Voyage. He's regularly featured in newspapers, magazines and radio programs and was even invited to speak at a national travel conference. Moreover, he's been able to extend his brand with a major grocery store chain through a lucrative co-branding relationship that has further expanded his company.
The 'Slightly' Famous You
Some business owners attract clients and customers like magic. They do not cold call or rely on advertising. Yet they're regularly featured in newspapers and magazines and get invited to speak at conferences. Everyone knows their name, and they get all the business they can handle.
It's almost as though they were famous.
In fact, they are, but not in the way movie stars and athletes are famous--they're just slightly famous. Just famous enough to make their names come to mind when people are looking for a particular product or service. They get more business - not only more, but the right kind of business - and they don't have to work so hard to get it.
Want to join them and enjoy this ideal state of affairs, where customers come to you? You can, but it may require a new way of thinking and a new marketing strategy. Although their efforts take different forms, underlying them all are six basic principles.
1. Targeting the best prospects
Slightly famous entrepreneurs focus their marketing to target the best prospects.
Alex Fisenko is known in the world of coffee as 'the Dean of Beans.' The 60-something coffee expert started his first espresso shop in the 1960s. Since then, he's focused his energies and now sells his expertise on launching a successful coffee business to aspiring entrepreneurs. Alex conducts coffee shop seminars and sells a training course called 'Espresso Business Success.'
His Web site, www.espressobusiness.com, generates thousands of dollars a month in products sales and consulting engagements in the United States, Thailand, South Korea, Belgium, Saudi Arabia, and Barbados. 'By targeting the best prospects, I now make more money through book sales and consultations than when I ran coffee shops,' says Fisenko.
2. Developing a unique market niche
Small businesses with a 'slightly famous' strategy establish themselves within a carefully selected market niche that they can realistically hope to dominate.
Dan Poynter, for example, is a successful self-publisher who started writing books about parachuting and hang-gliding over thirty years ago. Though it might sound as if his audience would be too small to generate significant sales, he knew his market and where to find them. Best of all, he has the market all to himself!
Rather than try to fight for attention in general bookstores, he sold books to skydiving clubs, parachute dealers, and the U.S. Parachute Association. He developed a reputation in skydiving circles, and has enjoyed steady sales of his books for more than three decades.
3. Positioning your business as the best solution
Positioning is about identifying a key attribute of your company not offered by competitors and that is clearly valuable to your target market.
When Harry Shepherd started his bookkeeping service a few years ago, he realized that he was in competition with dozens of other bookkeepers selling essentially the same thing. To stand out, he mastered a popular accounting program and marketed himself as a 'QuickBooks Software Training Consultant.'
Shepherd went from blending into a sea of look-alike competitors to occupying a compelling market position. He charged higher fees, and he did not have to work as hard to get new clients. Word spread fast among accountants as they referred him to their clients. He even trained other bookkeepers to use accounting software.
4. Maintaining your visibility
When was the last time your name appeared in print? Yesterday? Last week? A month ago? Just because you remember doesn't mean a potential customer will. To become 'slightly' famous, you need to have your message out there, if not continuously, then often enough to keep your name alive in customers' minds.
When Bart Baggett decided to make handwriting analysis his career, he embraced the media, and studied newspapers, magazines, and radio and television programs to find out what types of guests were in demand, and then looked for ways to tie his professional abilities to specific media. His strategy paid off.
At the height of the O.J. Simpson trial, he sent out a news release about Simpson's handwriting that resulted in several timely media interviews. He later appeared on Court TV to discuss Timothy McVey's handwriting, and was recommended by the director of that program to CNN. A feature in Biography Magazine led to stories in the London Times, the Dallas Morning News, and others.
5. Enhancing your credibility
The surest way to earn credibility is by establishing yourself as a 'recognized' expert with intimate knowledge of your clients, customers and industry. Experts out-position their competitors because they are recognized as knowing more than their competitors.
Fred Tibbitts, Jr. founded Fred Tibbitts & Associates to help food and beverage companies reach global markets. He strategically cultivated a reputation in his industry as a well-connected and knowledgeable global beverage-marketing expert who is fluent in all the details of his business.
Tibbitts monitors global beverage trends on a daily basis while staying in contact with account managers at hotels and restaurants. He hosts a series of special events, 'Fred Tibbitts Spring & Autumn Dinners with Special Friends,' in key markets, including Hong Kong, Singapore, and New York. Tibbitts also contributes a column to Hospitality International Magazine and numerous industry publications.
6. Establishing your brand and reputation
Slightly famous entrepreneurs use their smallness and specialty in ways that corporate giants can't touch. They make sure their brands strike an emotional chord by bringing their business 'soul' to the forefront of their marketing.
When you meet Dave Hirschkop at a trade show, don't expect to shake his hand. That's because he'll be wearing a straitjacket while standing before a simulated insane asylum to promote his popular line of 'Insanity' hot sauces.
Dave established his brand by making the hottest sauce possible. Instead of sensual pleasure, he promised pain, even danger. Now, Dave's Gourmet, Inc. steps to the front of the crowded hot sauce category because he embraced a humorous branding strategy that resulted in fiercely loyal customers and great media exposure.
When Dave introduced his Insanity Sauce at the National Fiery Foods Show in New Mexico, he made attendees sign a release form before tasting from a bottle that came in a coffin-like box wrapped with yellow police tape. His best, if unintended, publicity coup happened when a show promoter had a minor respiratory problem after tasting his sauce, and banned him from the show.
To enjoy 'slightly' famous status, you don't have to be insane. But, you must cultivate a brand identity that will become the guiding star of your entire business. It will ensure that all your marketing efforts pull in the same direction. You'll waste less time, make fewer marketing mistakes, and stand out in an increasing cluttered world.
About The Author
Steven Van Yoder is author of Get Slightly FamousT: Become a Celebrity in Your Field and Attract More Business with Less Effort. Visit http://www.getslightlyfamous.com to read the book and learn about 'slightly' famous teleclasses, workshops, and marketing materials to help small businesses and solo professionals attract more business.
steven@getslightlyfamous.com
?>
News on Internet Marketing
Cyberset Distinguishes Itself from Other Internet Marketing Companies with Its Dedication to Personalized Service
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- As the private sector aims to further exploit the many benefits of e-commerce, more businesses are seeking high-quality Internet marketing services. For comprehensive ... Internet Marketing Company Reveals Results of the Poll, "Which Link Building Strategy Works Best For You?"
Internet Marketing Company (http://www.internetmarketingcompany.biz) Reveals Results of the Poll, "Which Link Building Strategy Works Best For You?"Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) February 04, 2012 Internet Marketing Company, a search engine marketing company, announced today the results of the poll , "Which Link Building Strategy Works Best For You?" on the Facebook® platform. ... People Polled on "What is the Best Link Building Strategy to Get a High Page Rank Website?"
Internet Marketing Company ( http://www.internetmarketingcompany.biz ) Reveals Results of the Poll, "In Your Opinion, What is the Best Link Building Strategy to Get a High Page Rank Website?" on the Facebook® Platform (PRWeb February 07, 2012) Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/seoservices/internetmarketingconsult/prweb9175836.htm SearchMarketMe, Internet Marketing Agency Owner Network Embrace "Tipping Point" as Internet Marketing Expenditures ...
SearchMarketMe and its network of 100+ independent Internet Marketing Agency Owners celebrated news this week that internet marketing expenditures have reached the "tipping point" versus print media, as total internet marketing services expenditures are expected to eclipse print media spending by several billion dollars in the USA, in 2012. Internet marketing expenditures will now trail only ... Internet Marketing Expert Cheryl Heppard Teaches Strategies to Attract Clients and Increase Profits
Host of Get Busy With Clients to lead monthly group coaching call for members on how to implement a strategic marketing plan that attracts clients and increases revenue.West Bloomfield, MI (PRWEB) February 08, 2012 Cheryl Heppard, business and marketing coach, will be leading a group coaching call for holistic practitioners, healing professionals, coaches and solopreneurs for members of her Get ... An Internet Marketing Company With a Big Heart
Web Marketing Pros is Donating Internet Marketing Services to Outreach International(PRWEB) February 02, 2012 Jacksonville Beach, Florida based Web Marketing Pros is donating Internet marketing services to Outreach International, an organization which provides long-term investments to generate growth in marginalized regions and countries.“We will be giving Outreach International free Internet ... Paton Internet Marketing Recognized by Constant Contact’s Corporate Office
As a Pillar Trustee and a proven leader in the community, Todd Paton and Constant Contact have brought highly successful outcomes to Paton Marketing Clients. Paton Marketing was recently recognized by Constant Contact as an exemplary business partner. Paton Internet Marketing is a progressive leader in the field of Search Engine Optimization, Website Development, and [...] Audience Management and Internet Marketing
From March 22 to 23, 2012, the annual eTarget conference is taking place in Moscow. It is the premier event in Russia where businesses interested in online marketing and brand management can meet brand marketers and proven practitioners, learn and get inspired from detailed case studies. PLR Internet Marketing Invites Bloggers To Contribute
Warren Wooden from PLR Internet Marketing is opening his online doors to fellow bloggers, and online marketers in the form of guest post submissions. Guest posting has long been seen as one of the more powerful forms of link building, and traffic generation techniques available to the part-time, and professional blogger alike, and yet are still being underused by both groups. ... SearchMarketMe Providing Free Class From Its Online Training Portal for Prospective Internet Marketing Business Agency ...
During the month of February, SearchMarketMe is providing free access for investigators of its internet marketing business opportunity to the first class in the Agency Owner Training Portal. The first class, "MGMT 101: The Money U," describes the proper application of the unique business model, The Money U, which helps SMM Agency Owners to succeed where other single operator businesses may fail ...
|
