6 Steps To Get "Slightly" Famous

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 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

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