By: Nick Nanton, Esq. & J.W. Dicks, Esq.

I entered the huge chain bookstore, hoping my guilty expression wouldn’t give me away. Then I furtively disappeared between two large shelves of books in the back, making sure no store employees were looking at me.

I eyed the area around me one more time – no one in sight.

And then I pulled the brand new copy of my latest book out from under my jacket…headed to the nearest open cashier…smiled to myself as she scanned the book’s ISBN bar…and I paid $21.95 for a book. A book I already owned.

My name is Nick Nanton…and I am a reverse shoplifter.

Why am I committing a crime against myself? I’ll explain a little later…but first, I want to tell you that this may be one of the most controversial chapters in this book… And not because I’m moving around in bookstores in a clandestine manner.

It’s because I’m about to advocate something that I believe delivers one of the biggest ROIs of anything out there today. But it’s also something that many people regard as being as dead as the dodo.

What am I talking about?

Well, I’m talking about what you’re reading right this minute.

A book.

A book can be an amazing platform for your business – it’s got prestige, it’s got impact and, most importantly, you can market yourself and your business through it in a ‘whole bunch’ of different ways. Because, to be honest, it doesn’t do you any good to write a book and then just put it on your shelf next to that dusty dictionary. It only makes a huge difference when you use your book proactively to expand your circle of influence, build your reputation and impress current and prospective clients.

Look at the super-successful people who put out books on a regular basis – people like Donald Trump. He doesn’t need to write books to prove himself any more – he can make as much money doing a couple of speeches here and there. No, he – and mega-motivational stars like Tony Robbins and Jack Canfield – create books for the above reasons. It’s not about getting paid for the book – it’s about growing their brands.

Just look at what happens when “the Donald” writes a book. Suddenly you see him everywhere – Larry King, Fox News, even The View. It gives him a whole new set of talking points and a reason to put himself out there. He knows that the ROI on a book is unlimited – as long as you realize it’s not just a book, it’s a gigantic marketing tool. That’s why it’s something I advise all my clients to do.

I’m going to detail in this chapter just how you can make your book go to work for you in a variety of ways. First of all, let’s talk about the book itself.

MAKING YOUR BOOK HAPPEN

The first thing you should do is be realistic. You’re probably not creating a New York Times Bestseller here – that’s not even what you’re really after. You make money from having a book – not from book sales. This is meant as a marketing tool to sell yourself and your business. Put your book together with that in mind.

As with any marketing tool, you want your book to be an attention-getter. That starts with the title – finding a way to put the concept of the book in a short, ‘punchy’ and powerful statement that taps into something people want to know.

Simple is very important. Has there ever been a better title than “The Secret?” Well, there haven’t been many better-selling titles, anyway. At the same time, it’s a gutsy title – because without the multi-million ad campaign for the book, its generic title could have left it lost in the shuffle. Since you’re mostly going to be sharing this book with clients and prospects, and not trying to sell it to the general public to a great extent, you can get away with that kind of approach.

Of course, you’re thinking, the title is the easy part – what about the content? Well, that might be easier than you think as well. Do you give seminars or create instructional materials? Have you given speeches about your business? That’s content – content you had to think about and structure accordingly. By getting these materials transcribed, you could already have the bare bones of your book content.

What happens next depends on your available time and your level of confidence. Let’s start with time – most entrepreneurs and business people just don’t have enough hours in the day to run their businesses and their lives, let alone try to write a book. It’s time-consuming and requires a lot of thought. Many who try it simply give up and don’t finish.

Then there’s the confidence factor – you may be intimidated by the thought of even trying to write a book. Most people don’t even like to write a short blog – and then there are those wouldn’t be ‘caught dead’ even trying to put together the 140 characters or less that go into a “tweet.”

That’s why most business people will use a ghostwriter to get their book down on paper. You can find excellent ghostwriters on Elance.com (where they’ll bid for the chance to work on your book), or you can ask business associates if they’ve worked with someone they like and trust.

It’s easy to work with a ghostwriter – you either give them the kind of transcripts we talked about earlier or you can talk through the main points of the book with them. The important thing is to end up with something that you can feel good about. If you’re going to use a book as a marketing platform, you want to make sure it’s professional, informational, and represents you and your business in the best possible light.

THE THREE STAGES OF MARKETING YOUR BOOK

Once you have your book finished and published, it’s time to really go to work. You can maximize your marketing punch not only when your book is published, but also before and after. Again, authoring a book is impressive – so make the most of it!

1) MAKE PRE-LAUNCH A PRIORITY

You definitely want people to know your book is coming out in advance. Begin by creating a website about the book before it comes out – offer a free portion of the book (a “sneak peek”) through an ‘opt-in’ box that will allow you to capture leads. You can even feature a “countdown” to the publication date and time to generate more excitement.

When the website is up, put out a press release announcing you’ve got a publishing deal, making sure you have links back to your website. Syndicate the press release and post it on all the social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). Also consider doing a podcast by having a friend interview you about the book and put it up for download on iTunes.

2) GENERATE PUBLICATION PUBLICITY

Once your book is published, you can now use it to your advantage to get booked just like Donald Trump does. You probably won’t make it to “Larry King Live,” but you have a ‘good shot’ at some local air time at the very least.

Next, send out copies of your book to local radio and TV stations, as well as print publications, and offer to be interviewed. Also put in a listing in Radio-TV Interview Report (find out more at RITR.com) to make yourself available for national interviews. You can also mail copies to your top clients, send them out to get yourself booked for speaking engagements at business and civic events, and host a book signing event at a local book store.

You can also continue to produce podcasts for distribution through iTunes with a theme of something like …“Beyond the Book,” offering additional/updated information and conversation about topics you cover in the book.

And remember my “reverse shoplifting” at the beginning of this chapter? Here’s why you should consider taking a copy of your book into a bookstore – and buying it there!
As long as your book has a legitimate ISBN number and is available from a major distributor, two things we always do for our clients’ books, the bookstore clerk will simply scan the book’s barcode, a price will come up and you can purchase it, even though the store never stocked it in the first place. Best of all, the bookstore’s computer system will register that somebody bought your book and that they’re now out of stock – meaning they just might order more copies of your book to sell on their own!

3) CREATE A LONG AFTERLIFE

Now that you’re an author, it should become an important part of your professional profile. Make sure it’s added to your official bio and possibly even put the name of the book in your email signature for a limited time.

You can also break down a chapter and make it into a free ‘special report’, available on your website through an ‘opt-in’ box. Other chapters can be turned into online articles that you can syndicate, or you can rework the material into speeches or seminar material for your personal or recorded appearances.

Your office should also reflect your author status. Put a framed copy of the cover of your book on the wall in your reception area or office – it’s easy to do through canvaspop.com. Also, leave copies of your book on the coffee table in your office with “Take Me” stickers on the front. You should also donate copies to the local libraries in your area. Make sure your contact information is contained in these copies – either put a business card in the book, or have your info stamped on the back page.

At our Celebrity Branding Agency®, we take this process through another, very powerful step. We’ve created a foolproof way to make our authors’ books best-sellers in certain Amazon categories. We then honor them by placing them in our National Academy of Best-Selling Authors™ – and send out another round of press releases noting their honor and best-selling status, which opens up a whole world of marketing opportunities for the same book.

They say print is dead, but, thanks to Kindle, iPad and other electronic devices, it’s not really. It’s just migrated to LCD screens. The fact is that nothing conveys authority and credibility more than having a published book with your name on it. Publishing a book and marketing it correctly puts you and your business up more than ‘a few notches’ against the competition – and isn’t that what it’s all about?

And, best of all….reverse shoplifting is NOT against the law!

By Nick Nanton, Esq.

“Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself.” ~ Richard Bach

What really ignites our passion for our business?

What fires up our ambition and causes us to make crucial decisions about what career paths we want to follow – and what level of success we want to attain?

Well, in many, many cases, it’s people who initially inspire and motivate us in what we want to do with our lives – and how we want to do it.

People like Donald Trump. Richard Branson. Oprah Winfrey. These are people who dominate their particular arena with their personalities, people who completely own their success, people who cause others to approach them with multi-million or even multi-billion dollar deals, just because they know that having these superstars’ names attached to a project or company will almost guarantee success.

When you become aware of these kinds of people and you’re at just the right moment of your life, it’s like being hit by a lightning bolt. And you think, “Whoa! This person is the ultimate. I want to be exactly like them.”

For the first time, perhaps, you clearly see what you want your future to be – a future where, if you do what these super-successful people do, you end up with the same incredible opportunities and influence that they have.

And that’s where it can get a little dangerous.

While it’s awesome to be inspired by amazing achievers who have literally changed the face of the business world, there is a risk of becoming….well, too inspired.

To me, imitation is the highest form of flattery…and one of the biggest traps you can fall into.

THE SONG SHOULDN’T REMAIN THE SAME

There’s a difference between emulating someone you want to be like – and just plain imitating them. In the first instance, you take their best qualities and adapt them to who you are. In the second instance, you actually try to do everything exactly the way they do it – even though you can’t possibly do it as well as they do.

Because you are not them!

You see, there’s a reason Elvis impersonators don’t become known by their own names. Nobody wants them to be who they really are – no, their fans only want them to pretend to be Elvis. Of course, they could never actually be Elvis – they can only bring back great memories of The King of Rock N’ Roll.

Elvis may have inspired these musicians to begin with. And these musicians undoubtedly have to have some talent to pull off a credible Elvis impersonation. But because they only present themselves as a shadow of someone famous, rather than developing their own unique personality, they’re trapped. And if they ever want to become a singer that actually reflects their own personality, they usually have to start from scratch.

You can always enjoy an outright tribute act to a great performer. However, if they have the musical chops, they can bring back some awesome memories. But when you’re perceived as ripping off a beloved icon, that’s another story. And, since I am involved in the music business, I’d like to offer another musical example that illustrates just that scenario.

Anybody remember a rock band named “The Knack”? In 1979, their first album yielded a huge worldwide number one hit, “My Sharona,” which you still hear played today. It didn’t sound like anything else at the time – so you would think these guys had it made, right?

Wrong. The band itself ended up enraging rock fans and music critics at the time – because their first album cover art was a copy of the first Beatles’ album – down to the band’s haircuts. Now, if it had been some kind of clever ‘spin’ on the Beatles’ album cover, they probably could have gotten away with it – but instead, it was almost a replica of the real deal. This resulted in a huge backlash that doomed their next effort and turned them into a footnote in rock history.

The sad fact is, it doesn’t have to be that way. You can use the people who inspire you in a way that helps you succeed as an individual. Billy Joel has been a top act since 1973 – and there’s a good reason for his singular success. In a recent interview, he talked about how he used his inspirations growing up. “I’m a product of what I heard while I was growing up, said Joel. “I synthesize my take on Ray Charles or the Beatles. That’s where I’m coming from.”

Note that he never made a point of singing his musical idols’ songs. Or dressing up like them. Or duplicating their artwork. No, what he did was incorporate their techniques and their kind of showmanship into what he was doing – so he developed his own, strong personal identity that paid off for him. That’s how he became an authentic musical success.

And by doing so, he avoided being trapped by the shadows of the greats – and he also avoided a huge backlash by not ripping off those legends either. Nobody thinks of Billy Joel as being anyone other than Billy Joel. And yet, the man openly admits liberally borrowing from the musical influences of his youth. By developing his own sound, however, and staying true to himself, he created his own indelible stamp that still resonates after three decades in the music business.

THE DAN KENNEDY TRAP

What works in the music business works in any business. Because it’s still, ultimately, all about business. The best thing any business person can do is create their own strong, authentic personality that carries through their company’s image and PR. You can always make a few bucks by slavishly imitating those more successful than you – but you can never truly earn respect or huge profits unless you create and develop your own individual template for achievement.

One of my big inspirations in the business world is master marketer Dan Kennedy. That’s why I’m proud to be a business partner of his in Kennedy’s All-American Barber Club® (www.KennedysBarberClub.com – if you’re curious!) Now, if you know anything about Dan, you understand that he is a very unique personality. He drives professionally in about 100 harness races a year, purposely avoids and disparages slick-looking modern advertising, and is impossible to reach by phone. Yes, in the year 2010, the only way you can communicate with Dan Kennedy is… by fax.

In other words, he pretty much breaks every business rule there is in the world and makes it work for him – because he is very much his own person. And yes, I follow many of his precepts – but only in terms of what I want to project about myself, my business and my image. By absorbing his ideas through my own filter, I’m still Nick Nanton – and I don’t end up being seen as Dan Kennedy Jr.. Trust me – I have zero interest in trying harness racing!

Many of the business people that I work with and I meet through what we affectionately call “Planet Dan” (this is the network of businesspeople who attend Dan’s seminars, read his books and generally are fans of his teachings) – go through what I call “the 4 Stages of Kennedy”. I think this progression is incredibly similar to anyone else’s who suddenly stumbles upon a personality that they desperately want to mimic in their professional life.

Stage 1 is simply…”Dan Kennedy is insane!” When someone first sees Dan’s “No B.S.”, punch-to-the-head style of copywriting, looks over Dan’s rough, unpolished marketing materials and finds out that….wait, this guy only takes faxes???…., they immediately think Dan’s a psycho, I’m a psycho for promoting Dan and everybody in our Glazer-Kennedy marketing group is drinking something they shouldn’t be. But something lures them in…

….and then comes Stage 2…”Dan Kennedy is God!” The person suddenly understands how effective Dan’s approaches are, how he’s attracted all these followers with his incredible, instinctive marketing talents and how his methods can make money for any viable business. Their mind is completely blown and they have the burning fever of the recently-converted. And yes, now the convert seems like he’s ‘drinking the kool-aid’ too!

That fever takes a long while to cool down, because Stage 3 ends up being, “I will BE Dan Kennedy!” Instead of becoming an Elvis impersonator, the person decides to become a Dan Kennedy impersonator (one advantage is you don’t need a sequined jumpsuit to be the latter). So he begins modeling his entire modus operandi on Dan’s. Being only in touch by fax? Amazing idea! Telling people what to do and how to do it without pulling any punches? Outstanding! Hey, who knows where the best place is to learn harness racing?

And then brutal reality comes knocking on this guy’s door. He realizes Dan Kennedy can get away with a lot of his quirks because he’s been regarded as a marketing genius for decades; Dan’s earned his “street cred”, so he knows he can do as he ‘darn well’ pleases. Our Dan Kennedy newbie, on the other hand, is usually in the beginning steps of establishing himself and his business. He finds out he can’t afford to solely use a fax machine instead of a cell phone, nor does he really want to. He actually enjoys communicating with customers, prospects…and even friends, on a regular basis!

(Oh, and he stinks at harness racing.)

So, if he’s smart, he now progresses to Stage 4 – “I’m just going to LEARN everything I can from Dan Kennedy.” That means personally adapting and integrating Dan’s rules and techniques – but still remaining who you are.

Just as Billy Joel integrated the work of the greats who inspired him into his own authentic music, our new Dan Kennedy disciple has learned to likewise funnel the Dan Kennedy marketing magic through his own filter. And nobody looks down on him as if he’s just a pale copy of the real Dan Kennedy.

MAKE YOUR OWN KIND OF MUSIC

Obviously, Stage 4 is what you want to shoot for whenever an impressive person inspires you. But how do you avoid merely imitating the greats – when what you should be doing is integrating what they have to offer into your own persona?

First and foremost, you have to figure out who you are and what you want. You, your personality and your passions are the foundation for your growth and development, both as a human being and as a business person. “To thine own self be true,” goes the Shakespearean maxim and that still holds true 500 years later. I won’t be around in another 500 years, unless science has some really amazing breakthroughs, but I expect that thought to still be quoted then.

Second, break down what works for you and what doesn’t; where you need either a complete change of direction or where you just need to make adjustments to improve your results. To realize your ambitions, this is essential.

Finally, decide how to add needed value to who you are and what you do. This is where you should search for the proper coaches, mentors and role models who have already achieved what you want to achieve. Analyze how they made that magic happen – then see how their different methodologies apply to what you do, how you do it and the areas where you need to make adjustments.

The big lesson here? Never try to play someone else’s game. Instead, fit theirs into your own.

That’s how I help my clients achieve celebrity status in their fields. Obviously, they have to offer something different to stand out – and, to properly brand them, we employ proven strategies used by some of the most successful business people of all time. But we use those strategies to support and promote who our clients are, not to make them into something they’re not.

When you integrate instead of imitate, you eliminate a lot of self-imposed limitations and open up a world of possibilities. So don’t be an Elvis impersonator. It’s always better to be your own King…and that’s how you can ignite your business and transform your world, as well as the worlds of so many more people who you’ll now be able to help – because they see you as the real deal, not merely an impersonator.

With one fell swoop Facebook has potentially changed personal branding, again. Facebook users are no longer “fans” of company fan pages; they now “like” a page. But while the insignificant change feels a little funny to say (are we likers now?), the much more important change has the opportunity to more deeply link your message to users on Facebook.

Different from the fleeting Facebook “share” or Twitter “Tweet,” the new “Like” button leaves a lasting “Like” on the page. And for Facebook users who are logged in, they can actually see how many people like that page and pictures of any friends who like it. It’s really kind of cool.

Further exciting our branding agency is the ability to use Open Graph protocol with meta tags to enable users to establish lasting connections to your pages. What does this mean? This means that if your website falls under one of Facebook’s categories such as movies, sports teams, celebrities or restaurants, then your pages show up in more places on Facebook and you gain the ability to publish stories to connected users. Interesting…

So if you like the idea, how do you ad a “Like” button to your page. With a simple widget, of course. Gotta love how user-friendly Facebook likes to make things (pun intended). In addition to the “Like” button, Facebook developers have recently made several social plug-ins available and you can find them all here, but no doubt the one we will start seeing the most will be the “Like” button. To add the “Like” button to your site, all you have to do is grab the code, add to your site and voila – you have your own “Like” button.

The iframe code will look something like this (but with your URL):

< iframesrc="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fcelebritybrandingagency.com%2F&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&colorscheme=light" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:px"> < /iframe>

“Like” is the new branding strategy on the block, and now is the time to add it to your site. Social media is the game you want to be ahead of the curve on, so ride the wave my friends and let your readers “Like” your work.

Some of you will laugh at the very thought of direct mail, but I can assure you, it’s a great source of connecting with prospects and existing customers alike. Particularly in our overly-junked-up-email world where people tend to pillage their inboxes and delete anything that doesn’t require a personal response. People respond completely differently to direct mail, that arrives on their doorstep, than they do many other forms of media. Direct mail can be as basic as a postcard or a letter on letterhead, or as complex as a full “shock and awe” box that has lots of stuff in it that gets your prospect really engaged like CDs, DVDs, MP3 players, books, magazines and just about anything you can fit in the box as we learned when we put a straight razor (sans blade), a shaving brush and more in our boxes that we mail out for our www.KennedysBarberClub.com franchises that we sell.

I sent out about 18,000 direct mail pieces last month, and I re-learned a few lessons, just like I always do. Maybe I can save you a few dollars, and a few lessons by sharing some of the most important things I’ve learned over the years about direct mail. And most importantly, if you’re not doing any direct mail, now is the time to start! Almost everyone else has backed off of it due to cost, and now you can swoop into people’s mailboxes and take new customers!

Below is a list of 10 very important things you should pay attention to when sending out direct mail:

10. Differentiate Your Marketing Piece – if it looks like everything else, it’ll get handled like everything else (put in the trash)

9. Your Mailing Should Have a Single Purpose – don’t ask your reader to do too much, they simply won’t. If you ask them to download a report, then go to a different website, then call your 800 number, then…. get the point? One thing. Really. One thing is all you should ask them to do.

8. Provide Several Ways for Prospects to Respond – Give them every conceivable way you can think of to reach you. Phone, email, fax, carrier pigeon– whatever it takes! The worst thing that can happen is that your mailing piece gets your prospect all hot and bothered, but at the time they want to respond, they can’t. For instance, what if they are reading your mailing piece but have to run out the door to a meeting. If you only give them a website, then they’ll have to wait until they return (which will probably never happen). If you give them a phone number to call, they’ll have the opportunity to call you while they’re running out the door on their way to their next meeting. Seriously think this through, mailing is expensive, particularly with stamps costing almost 50 cents each, you don’t want to blow any opportunity you get for someone to respond. (and YES many people have tested it and time and time again LIVE stamps outperforms metered mail or bulk mail. Buy crazy looking themed stamps, and put as many as you can to get to your postage amount. 2-4 stamps, crooked (seriously), makes it look like you really wanted this piece to get out to the person opening it.)

7. Measure the right metrics – ROI is all that matters. It doesn’t matter what percentage of people respond, or how much the mailing cost you to send out. The only thing that matters is if you made money in the end or got new leads to work (whatever your goal from the piece is).

6. Test, Test, Test, Test…. – you get the picture. Simple things like how many people are in a photo, whether they are male or female, old or young can change the response of a piece. There is no magic answer, just test.

5. One Mailing is NOT Marketing – one mailing is a test. On average it will take you 7-9 times to get a prospect’s attention. Don’t mail the first piece, get no response and then give up. Whatever the response on your first piece, it will usually increase exponentially on each additional piece.

4. Include a “Call to Action” – You’ve got to tell people what to do when they read. Don’t just tell them all about your products and services, you’ve got to give them written instruction on what to do next. For example: Call us today for a free consultation and a complimentary $50 gift card just for inquiring! Or something that tells them exactly what to do. If you don’t tell your prospects what to do, they won’t do anything and they’ll move onto the next piece of mail in the pile.

3. Keep a Recognizable Element to All Marketing Pieces – if you’re going to all the trouble to mail people multiple times, make it known that you’re the same person or company that’s been trying to reach them, and that you continue to try. If you send out 7 – 9 pieces that don’t have a common element, you will not have as good of a chance at being recognized. Think about it, wouldn’t it peak your interest if you saw the same logo, photo or slogan in your mail box 5 or 6 times in a short period of time?

2. Personalization – How many mailing pieces do you read that say “Dear Valued Prospect/Customer/Client.” Right, none. Don’t be lazy, don’t be cheap, personalize as much as you can. You can certainly personalize letters, and now even graphic postcards are becoming easy to personalize. If you need a source for this, let me know. Also, I’ve been testing Personalized URL’s or “purls” for short, that contain the prosect’s name in the web address, for example: www.DOMAINHERE.com/John.Doe and then I send it to John Doe. The good news here, is with any proper Purl system, whether John Doe contacts you once he reaches your site or not, because he entered in his unique url, you get a record of his visit. So, even if he’s shy and doesn’t respond, you know he was interested enough to visit the site and then you can take a few more shots at him with follow up letters. This is a great strategy to pare down a list. Suppose you have a starting list of 2000 people. If 3% of the people come to the Purl page, that would be 60 people. It’s a lot cheaper to pound away at 60 prospects that have indicated they are interested, than it is to keep mailing to 2000 people who you have no idea are interested or not.

1. Don’t rely on one marketing Method – Direct mail is a great COMPONENT, not the single solution. The same can be said for Websites, SEO and Pay Per Click, Email, Ezines, Display Ads etc. Use multiple media and track their responses separately. If you want the easy way to do this, assign different 800 numbers to each piece of media (1 for the website, 1 for the postcard, 1 for the phone book ad, 1 for each magazine or newspaper ad that you place, etc) then check out my good friend The ROI Guy at www.YourROIguy.com – tell him I sent you. Richard will take care of you!

Feel free to let me know your thoughts as well as if you have any tips I might have left out by commenting below.

Peter Shankman built his business, HelpAReporterOut.com (“HARO” for short) first by creating a fan page on Facebook, this is basically like starting a group. The concept was that Peter knew lots of reporters, and he wanted to “help them out” by providing good expert sources for journalists to help them write their articles. Well, the list grew virally because a lot of smart businesspeople realized that this was a great resource to get some media coverage and free PR. And because Peter started the group on Facebook, it was easy to make it viral because friends could invite friends, and people who were browsing the profile of a member of the group, could see that they were a member of the group and check the group out for themselves.

Peter quickly outgrew the 5,000 fan limit on Facebook (which has since been raised) and moved his group to an email list where he sends emails three times a day with the “queries” from the journalists in them. He then utilized Twitter, to build his list even more. Peter sends out short messages on Twitter, called “tweets,” that go out to all of his followers. It’s an instant way for him to get the journalists’ queries out to his subscribers.

At the time of writing this article Peter has more than 40,000 “followers” on Twitter and more than 60,000 people on his mailing list. And he monetizes the list by selling ad space on his emails that go out three times daily, five days a week. If you do the math, you can see how profitable this business is for him and he built the business all on the back of social media.

Another great example of a business using social media is Blendtec. Blendtec makes commercial-strength blenders for consumers and started a YouTube video series called, “Will it blend?” where it shows you the strength of its blenders by blending things that you would think would break most blenders. Of course, the blender makes light work of everything it shows, but it does show some impressive stuff. One of its bigger videos was when it blended an iPhone when it first came out and was hard to get. It reportedly had more than 100,000 views in less than a week, and has now gotten more than 3.3 million views! A blender! And, Blendtec reportedly increased its sales five-fold in that same week. Now, its a real competitor in the consumer space for blenders, all because of social media.

In a totally unique business model, KOGI BBQ in Los Angeles is a mobile restaurant with multiple trucks serving, get this, a fusion of Korean and Mexican food. If there aren’t enough strange statements in that first sentence to make you cross-eyed, then I give up! Well, in any event, people love the food. It was very popular outside of nightclubs and other hot spots, however, there are many challenges to running a restaurant on wheels, namely, it’s not in a fixed location! So, the owners use Twitter to let patrons know where they are located and to offer specials. Talk about an instant way to generate more business! If business is slow, they can just send out a Tweet to drive more people to them!

Facebook.com – Named after the photo books that are given out at some universities and prep schools to incoming students and faculty to help them get to know each other, Facebook started as a way for classmates to connect at Harvard but eventually expanded to include anyone over the age of 13. Facebook is a great way to connect with people who have similar interests, to see what old friends and acquaintances are up to and to learn more about the personal lives of your business contacts and to let them know about you. The personal connection you can give and get on Facebook adds some more of the personality that helps you become more than just a person to a client, but a “friend.”

YouTube.com – A video sharing site now owned by Google, this site is nothing short of a behemoth. Not only does it let users upload video content, you can also post video responses to messages, create your own “channel,” browse and comment on other users’ videos, subscribe to learn when your favorite users add new videos and even embed videos you upload or find from others onto your own website. YouTube revolutionized how easy it is for anyone to add video to the Internet and share it with others. Recently, it was announced that YouTube users are uploading more than 20 hours of video per minute — that’s a LOT of video! And, now that Google owns it, it has really ramped up its efforts to start analyzing what is said in videos and counting it as very relevant in the Search Engine Optimization (“SEO”) process, so it’s becoming more valuable every day.

Twitter.com – Twitter is the new kid in town. It’s known as a “micro-blog” that allows you to share “what you are doing now” in 140 characters or less. It sounds silly, but it’s actually very valuable and very addictive! On twitter you can “follow” people and other people can become your “followers.” The short, 140-character messages can be sent to your mobile phone, or you can view all of the messages of people you follow on your Twitter page. Many users share links to interesting things they find online, and then they get “retweeted” by others, which exposes the original message writer to the networks of others who retweet the message. This makes your presence viral and helps you gather more “followers.” It sounds like gibberish, I know, but go back and re-read this paragraph again and you’ll start to understand. Even better, go open an account – it’s free!

Digg.com – This is what is known as a “social bookmarking” site. As people searching the Internet find articles, news, videos or anything else of interest, they “Digg” it, which basically means they like it and “recommend” it to others. The more times an article, blog, etc is “Dugg,” the higher it climbs on Digg’s list and gets more and more exposure. Google and the other search engines give very high value to content on Digg because it has received a virtual “vote of confidence” from people viewing content online. While the mathematical formulas that the search engines use to rank content are getting better everyday, they still look to users to get the most accurate results to serve up to web surfers.

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past five years, you’ve no doubt heard the term “social media.” At its core social media is a platform for creating relationships. And if you haven’t heard me say it already, People buy People, not products and services. What I mean by that is that when a buyer makes the decision to buy, it’s based on the person who sells it to them more than on the actual product or service they are buying. Stop and think about it if you don’t understand, because this is a crucial point in analyzing how and why social media can help you grow your business.

Why do the biggest companies in the world hire celebrities to endorse their products? Because People Buy People, and it’s much easier for a consumer to form a relationship with a living breathing person (in this case a celebrity endorser) than for a consumer to fall in love with the form or function of a particular product or service.

So, back to social media — it is a platform that allows you to generate your own content that connects you with a whole new world of prospects who you can then take on the journey of knowing, liking, trusting you and ultimately doing some business with you.

As in any typical social setting, you can’t be “that guy/gal” who is known for being “a hard sell” or “pushy.” Think of the online social media outlets as huge cocktail parties. You wouldn’t walk into a cocktail party and start screaming, “Cheap Mortgages, right here! Come on over to the sofa and I’ll write up your paperwork, right here on the spot!” Would you?! If you would… well, let’s keep moving.

So the key is to join the conversation that people are already having and find a way to make yourself (and your products and services) relevant. Ultimately, what you want to do is join the conversation on the social networks and find ways to interact with people about things they are already interested in. I know this sounds like it will take forever, and now you have to worry about not saying the wrong thing, etc. I get it, but here’s the key to social media: you can form relationships with huge groups of people all at the same time. No one said you have to talk to each person on a social network individually. This is where the real power of online social networking comes in.

Old is new again!

Back in the “old days” most things were bought on cash but if you didn’t have the cash to buy, retailers came up with a system called a lay-a-way plan. The retailer held the goods and you made payment to them. When you were done paying the full price you got your furniture, dishwasher or whatever. Christmas lay-a-way assured gifts for the kids.

Over the years, the plan morphed into giving you the furniture at the point of purchase and making payments. Then someone got the bright idea to charge interest and once that took off credit cards began. Soon, merchants were making more on their financing charges than the sale of goods (GE Capital) and the world of credit was born perhaps to all our chagrin.

History has a way of repeating itself and during this economic downturn the lay-a-way plan has made a comeback in various forms and from unusual sources. Who would have ever thought a Music Festival would be sold that way.

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California offered a Lay-a-way plan this year for the first time in their ten year history. Customers had the option of buying their tickets over several months by putting 10% down and the balance over two additional months, with the final payment due prior to the event.

The payment plan was adopted because other festivals have had to cancel their events this year due to sluggish sales. The plan has been working. The organizer was quoted as saying, “without the lay-a-way option we wouldn’t have done so well”. Like any good idea it is also already being adopted at other festivals in Tennessee, New Jersey, and Arizona.

The NFL also now uses a similar payment plan for their season tickets. You start paying right after the season and get paid up before the new season begins.

We use a lay-a-way option in our own business. The Ultimate Celebrity Branding Experience™ payments are spread out over 12 months; franchise legal work and business consulting are all extended over at least 12 months instead of charging the full fee or requiring the total to be put on a credit card and the client getting killed by interest. We are convinced it has made a tremendous difference in everything we do and why our business is growing rapidly even in this economy.

We aren’t alone and several of our clients including Orthodontist, Donna Galante and Paul Cater (www.CGBraces.com) have added monthly payment programs to their standard pricing. Clearly others should consider doing the same no matter what your business.

If you adopt a variation of the lay-a-way plan in your practice we encourage you not to add interest. All of us are very serious about our dislike of interest payments right now, and we all would love to avoid paying it when we can. You will make more sales by not charging interest and that alone will increase your bottom line.

Co-Authors Of ‘Celebrity Branding You’ And Founders of ‘America’s PremierExperts™’ Tap Into The New Model Of Our Celeb-Driven Media Culture To Make Business People ‘Stars’ And Drive Mass Awareness Of Their Products and Services.

By Jonathan Widran

Every summer, thousands of young men and women around the U.S. travel great distances and brave the odds in the hopes of becoming the next American Idol. The show, watched by over 30 million viewers a week, taps into our greatest collective fantasy that is truly the 2000s version of the American Dream: that ordinary people like us can outlast the competition and become stars.

You may not be able to sing like Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood, but no worries. Maybe you’re not hot enough to be America’s Next Top Model—so what? If you’re a doctor, lawyer, dentist, orthodontist, fitness guru, portrait photographer, real estate or financial whiz, corporate CEO or even a small businessperson and you’ve got the goods, you’re just one step away from being a business celebrity thanks to the new “Kings of Hollywood,” J.W. Dicks, Esq. and Nick Nanton, Esq.

Florida based attorneys by trade, Dicks and Nanton, principals in Dicks, Nanton & Glass Celebrity Branding Agency™, co-authors of the bestselling book Celebrity Branding YOU™ and co-producers of the TV enterprise America’s PremierExperts, are dedicated to developing the Celebrity Branding® potential of small business owners, professionals, authors, speakers, corporate CEOs and more.

Perfectly tapping into the distinctly 2000s era zeitgeist—maybe it all started with Season One of “Survivor” in 2000–that embraces the notion that regular Joes (or “Joe The Plumbers”) can become media icons, the charismatic duo creates, as Nanton puts it, “niche busters, not blockbusters.” They accomplish this by discovering what’s unique and fascinating about their many clients and prepping them to become celebrity experts in their niche.

Breaking fertile new ground in the realm of global minded business development, Dicks and Nanton meld the traditional outlets of print and television and the burgeoning world of online social media to create momentum, start a buzz and drive attention to their clients.

Celebrity Branding You™ may not be “Sunset Boulevard,” but in their world, everyone’s a potential Norma Desmond, ready for Mr. De Mille to give them their close up. The upshot, of course, being that the world will embrace you and forget all about your competition.

“We believe that people would rather do business with folks they know, like and have confidence in,” says Nanton. “They want to believe they’re dealing with the ‘best in the business.’ To convey that feeling to your potential customers, we Celebrity Brand You as the expert in your field, and once we’ve done this, we can leverage your Celebrity Expert Status to create product and service lines that you endorse to create additional income streams for your business.

“We’re taking the control of who becomes a celebrity out of Hollywood’s hands by bringing the town’s classic star-making machinery to people whose talents lie outside show biz,” Dicks adds. “The truth is, typical Americans today don’t want Hollywood shoving celebrities down their throat. They’re more discerning and want to determine for themselves who they want to hear from. Nick. and I find people that society needs to know about and we use a mixture of classic and cutting edge strategies to help them achieve credibility, status and visibility in their niche. In our book, we lay out the five stages of the Celebrity Branding® process: finding your niche, creating your brand, developing your Celebrity Expert Status, Rollout-Expanding Your Celebrity Branded Business and Selling Your Business and Creating ‘Legacy Dollars.’ Whether you run a single person business or a multi-million dollar operation, we offer you the opportunity to create a unique brand that cannot be duplicated.”

The first step in the branding process involves gaining credibility through mainstream media outlets. This past year, Dicks & Nanton took a group of diverse clients on a whirlwind tri-city tour. In Orlando, where many of today’s biggest stars got their starts, they were photographed professionally by Brook Pifer, the Rockstar Photographer® who is known for her work with various American Idols and Grammy Award winners. The groups’ next stop was Hollywood, where they shot segments for the Celebrity Lawyers’ TV show “America’s PremierExperts™”; the show airs at various times on different NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox affiliates around the U.S.

In conjunction with this show, these experts joined many others whose information and businesses are part of an extensive database on the corollary website associated with the show www.AmericasPremierExperts.com, which is which is quickly becoming a goto directory of experts for major media outlets as well as consumers seeking the input of those who possess expertise in a certain arena.

The last stop on the tour is New York, where they visit with national book publishers and radio and TV producers. In addition to forging the groundwork by which each client/expert will contribute one chapter to a new book, each client was interviewed by a nationally renowned journalist for a regional feature in USA Today and also for appearances in the Wall Street Journal and Newsweek. Over the course of the 12 months, these clients edged closer to their dreams becoming reality—sound familiar? Who needs Simon Cowell when you’ve got Dicks and Nanton steering the boat?

The next step for these and other clients is taking their newfound regional and national exposure and growing celebrity status and applying it to the ever-growing network of hundreds of social media outlets that are becoming the springboard for celebrities of all types. From there, the Celebrity Lawyers target outlets related to the client’s particular business, profession or expertise to circulate press releases, newsletters, magazines, etc. and work individually to create personality driven websites. These sites, also known as CelebritySites™, help create a personal bond with the consumer, convert the visitors into prospects and ultimately make more money for the clients.

“The secret formula is taking the credits we help them get in mass media and inserting them into targeted media,” says Nanton, “which puts the business celebrity in front of consumers who are hungry for what they offer and turns them from ‘unwelcome pest’ to ‘welcome guest in the eyes of their prospects.’”

Dicks and Nanton each bring a unique set of personal and professional experiences to the Celebrity Branding® table. Dicks has spent his entire 35 year career building successful businesses for himself and his clients, bringing his golden touch to the marketing and sales of over $500 million of products and services. He is the senior partner of Dicks & Nanton P.A.: The Business Growth Lawyers™, representing clients in the growth of their business using franchises, area exclusive licensing, coaching, idea licensing, info-marketing, joint ventures, syndications and explosion marketing to accomplish their goals.

Dicks has worked with a diverse set of clients ranging from an Inc. 500 fastest growing company with sales over $250 Million, to public companies and down to a small start up that made fishing lures. In addition to coaching and consulting with clients nationwide, he is also a successful entrepreneur. He has built his own businesses, with annual sales over $35 Million, developed real estate in excess of $200 Million and both created, and sold intellectual property rights for multiple millions of dollars.

Known as “The Celebrity Lawyer” for his role in promoting, marketing and creating Celebrity Experts across such diversified fields as entertainment, health and fitness, law, medicine, personal development, finance, and real estate, Nanton represents many top Celebrity Experts and serves as the Producer of America’s PremierExperts™ television show. He also produces The Next Big Thing™ radio show, designed to recognize the top Celebrity Experts and bring their solutions to consumers and media outlets alike.

Nanton has been named “Best of the Bar” and has even been referred to as “One of Orlando’s Top 10 Young and Powerful.” Prior to becoming an attorney, he spent more than a decade immersed in the entertainment industry. As an award-winning songwriter and television producer, he has worked on projects and negotiated deals from large-scale events to reality television shows—involving celebrities from a wide array of genres including President George H.W. Bush, Bill Cosby, Don Shula of the Miami Dolphins, Legendary College Basketball Coach Bobby Knight and Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Famer Stan Lynch of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers fame, among others.

Prior to founding the Dicks & Nanton companies, Nanton served as CEO of Cinemark Music Group LLC, a subsidiary of Cinemark USA, Inc., one of the largest motion picture exhibitors in North America with 3,288 screens in 33 States and internationally.

“The first step in the process of Celebrity Branding You™ is an initial consultation to learn about a potential client’s business, where they are currently, where they would like to be in the future, and to see if they’ve got what it takes” says Nanton. “We’ll give them enough of an overview that they’ll be able to see their business in a fresh light with new and exciting possibilities. With the leverage we provide them, they have the tools to reach so many more people. It’s very satisfying for JW and I to know that through our efforts, we are helping them make a difference in millions of consumers’ lives.”

I always love the New Year. For me, late December and early January have always been a time of intense planning. What changes should I make for the New Year? What are my income goals, and how do I plan to get there? These questions have always been part of my annual business analysis.

Once I have set my goals for the year, I review action ideas that I’ve used in the past and that I know will work. In this month’s issue is a series of quick-action ideas that I think might help your business. I have listed 41. You may be able to use all of them, but you need only one to make a difference in what you’re doing. The action ideas are not in any particular order, so consider each of them the same. It may be the first or the last you find most helpful, but consider them all your business New Year Resolutions!

1. Add a ‘call to action’ in all your advertisements. Give people a specific reason to call you now; give them a toll-free number to do it with, and specifically tell them to “act now.”

2. Review your old customer records. Write a specific letter to each of them offering a special discount if they will do business with you today.

3. Get testimonials from your customers. Use them in all your promotions. Third-party testimonials are considered the most powerful form of advertising.

4. Establish your own referral network. Get a group of business people together that are non-competing and pledge referrals to each other. Meet once per month to thank each other and give ideas of the type of customers and clients you may be looking for. Commitment if the key for each participant.

5. Become the expert in your business. Write a book, report, article, newspaper column, or seminar about your topic and publish it yourself to get it circulating. When you circulate your best ideas, good things happen.

6. Develop at least one add-on or “up-sell” to your main product. Always offer the add-on every time the main product is offered. It should be low cost, and high profit. Start now and it will help you make up any recession fall-off in your business.

7. Make it more convenient for your customer to do business with you. Increase your hours, add a toll-free number, accept credit cards, etc.

8. Raise your prices. Don’t be afraid to raise your rates sometimes. As an alternative, consider raising your rates for new clients, but discounting them for your current customers.

9. Do a cost audit of your business. Consider alternatives to every vendor or supplier you have. For example, competitively price your long-distance carrier. Compare UPS to Federal Express. Eliminate waste. A dollar saved goes right to the bottom line profit.

10. Consider buying “shareware” computer programs. Before you buy name brands, just as in the case of prescription drugs, generic software is much cheaper and will often do an equal job.

11. Trade high interest rate credit cards for low interest rate cards. If you pay off your balance every month, get a no fee card.

12. Before adding a new employee, try a temporary. See if the increased work is short term. Outsourcing jobs is a growing trend for all businesses.

13. Become tax smart. Learn all of the business deductions and be creative in how you can reduce your taxes. Deductions save you the percentage of your tax bracket. Tax credits save you dollar for dollar.

14. Incorporate your business. If you are a sole proprietorship or partnership, liability protection is extremely important in this day of never-ending lawsuits.

15. Set up a monthly automatic investment. Don’t put off your long-range planning. Set aside 10% of everything you make for investing in your future. The investment could be for more marketing.

16. Arrange for a discount with your suppliers if you are able to pay on invoice. If you are having cash flow problems, reverse the procedure and ask for 90 days same as cash.

17. Buy your office supplies from major wholesalers. Use Office Depot, Price and Costco, and don’t let individual employees order their own supplies. Adopt a set list of products a new employee can have and exclude anything else.

18. Get a separate credit card for your business. All interest paid on that card can easily be determined as deductible.

19. Join the National Association for your business. Attend the national convention. This will keep you informed of the latest ideas in your industry. Also take advantage of discounts they arrange with vendors.

20. Buy a book on time management. Incorporate at least one time-saving idea into your daily life.

21. Consider bartering your services. Be liberal. The barter, even if worthless, may lead to a new client. You should also consider offering your services to non profits; it would be a way of meeting a new group of potential clients.

22. Raise your insurance deductible. There is a big premium difference between $250 and $1,000. Weigh the annual difference and consider self-insurance for the higher deductible.

23. Update your business plan with changes for the New Year. If you have never done one, now is a good time to organize your thoughts and plan your direction.

24. As long as you’re updating plans, review your specific marketing ideas and objectives for this year. Don’t just spend money on whatever comes along; plan your expenditures. Use only advertising that allows you to back your reason. If you don’t know your reason, you’re wasting money.

25. In 25 words or less, write out your Unique Selling Proposition. What is it that makes you better than your competitors? Make sure your customers know what it is.

26. Use free advertising by getting publicity. Do press release on newsworthy events. Create a scholarship for high school. Donate time and money to your local charity. In a nutshell, get involved and let people know it.

27. Consider joint ventures with other companies. You can piggy back on their business; be quick and ready to pay for referrals where payment is legally allowed.

28. Survey your customer or hire an outside company to do so. Find out what they really think. What they like and don’t like. Make changes which heed their advice.

29. Send thank-you notes for anything and everything done for you. Do it because it is the right thing to do, not just because it will help your business.

30. Do a profile on your customers. So that you can be a target market your advertising and promotions. Once you know your customers’ demographics, you can go after them more effectively and increase results from your marketing dollar.

31. Hire an outside person to be a test prospect. See how your customers are actually treated. Find out what your sales people are truly promising your customers. The outside company can quickly give you the inside on your company.

32. Focus on making your business profitable over and above what you take out as a salary. Remember, there is more to being in business than simply making payroll. Don’t just create a job for yourself.

33. Consider a home equity loan to expand your business. Refinance as rates fall this year and pay it back with a better business.

34. Step up your collection process. Use credit cards to get money faster.

35. Add shipping and handling charges to any order. Everyone has them, and it has become common place. If you are absolutely against them, make sure you promote the fact that you don’t charge for shipping and handling.

36. Make your life directly related to your business so that everything you do becomes deductible. Vacation on business and dine with business clients.

37. Maximize your retirement contributions. Get control of the investing of those dollars yourself. Don’t miss out on the time value of money and the enormous advantage of tax-free compounding.

38. Consider asset protection with everything you do. Incorporate your business and use estate planning strategies — not just to save taxes, but to minimize the chance of losing everything in a lawsuit.

39. Keep immaculate business records. This will save your neck in government audits and lawsuits. Use internal memos to the file and confirm everything in writing. If it’s not worth writing, it’s not worth doing.

40. Update your life and health insurance cost. For an independent analysis and recommendation of the cheapest insurance use an insurance audit.

41. Develop Additional Profit Centers for YOUR Business.

If you studied the preceding list, I know that you will agree there were some powerful ideas contained in a few pages. I would hope that you would save the list to review again in the months ahead. I find that as I scan through a list of powerful ideas, others will formulate in my mind. Sometimes even better ideas because they are usually directly related to my business; and that process is, of course, what psychologists refer to as imaging, and it is a terrific way for individuals to brainstorm with themselves.

While editing my list for publication to you, it occurred to me (through imaging) that one of the best resolutions of all (#41) would be to add an additional profit center to your business no matter what that business is. After all, you already have overhead clicking away, so anything you do to “add-on” makes your profits grow exponentially. When you consider this strategy, keep an open mind and consider not only new profit centers related to your business, but that it may actually be an entirely new business. For instance, this year we took one of our companies’ core competencies website developments and spun it off into a separate company doing outside work. This new business-in-a-business added a new six-figure income stream with little added overhead.