I recently came across a story in a Jacksonville, Fla. newspaper about a soon-to-be opened specialty shop. The shop is called “Sauce-a-holics” and they will be selling gourmet salsas, hot sauces, rubs, snacks, etc.

What caught my attention was the story behind the opening of the shop and how it relates to personal branding and branding companies. One of the owners, Don Smith, was looking online for some Christmas gifts for a colleague, and was surprised to find a huge niche market of hot sauce and salsa connoisseurs. After spending a good portion of his money on shipping, he thought that it would have been great to just go to a local store and purchase the products. When he looked for local stores, he saw that there were none.

So did Don just leave it at that? No. He spoke with some good friends, and after some calculating and deliberation, they decided to open up a shop of their own. The owners are also certainly aware that their odds of succeeding aren’t necessarily great, since according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, about 650,000 businesses opened and another 575,000 closed each year from 2004 to 2008.

However, I think that they may actually have a good chance.

If their marketing and branding efforts are creative and efficient, they can tap into that niche market that Don found on the Internet. They have already taken the first (and sometimes most difficult) step – they found a market that was underserved in their community and have taken steps to fill that need.

Just like many small businesses, the competition may seem to be a hurdle that is too hard to jump. In this case, Sauce-a-holics will be competing against the large grocery chains like Publix, who offer a pretty good variety of these items, along with larger specialty stores like Total Wine, where they have a somewhat large selection of sauces and gift items that often accompany beer and wine stores.

So what do they need to do? They need to market themselves as being the go-to experts in all of Jacksonville. They have to give customers a reason to specifically go to their store to buy these items. The best reason? These guys know everything there is to know about salsa and hot sauce. Specifically, Stephen (a nephew of one of the owners tapped to run the store) can post a weekly blog about the latest trends in the business, new products, gift ideas, etc. Perhaps Stephen or Don can pitch a recurring segment on the local news to show ways to spice up everyday meals. Pretty soon, people will be saying “if you want sauce, go see Don.” Don’s personal brand as the Jacksonville’s sauce expert will help drive business, because why would you buy from someone who isn’t an expert? You get the idea.

Their name will also help tremendously in this. Just by hearing “Sauce-a-holics,” customers know exactly what they provide – sauces – and most importantly, passion for sauces. If sauce-a-holics can convey their passion for these items effectively, then they can hope to “create” passionate customers. And as well all know, passionate customers are the best kind! They are the lifeblood of your business.

So today’s personal branding lesson is? Find a market that is underserved, fill the need and brand yourself as the go-to expert and passionate advocate of that market – and open your doors to passionate and loyal customers.

We live in strange times. It’s hard not to turn on a radio or a television set without seeing advertisements for identity theft protection or reputation defense. It’s not only imperative now to physically protect our home, family and possessions – it’s also extremely important to protect our virtual “possessions” as well as our reputation.

With the exponential growth of the Internet over the last 2 decades, the use of online social networking, paying bills online, and the vast personal information available through social media sites has made the risk of identity theft an increasingly growing problem.

Our personal lives are quickly becoming a huge set of data points. Naturally, businesses, large and small, are no exception to this reality. There’s really only one sure-fire solution to protecting your personal information, your reputation and even your personal brand – control your information!

I know this sounds simple, but in reality, it’s easy to get caught up in thinking that what we say and do stays only with our “inner circle” of friends and business associates. This is simply not the case anymore. This kind of thinking can lead to major problems in your business (and personal life.) How many times have you heard of someone getting fired over Facebook pictures? Or an ill-advised “tweet?” How many businesses have had to “clean up” a mess after a leaked memo, or distance themselves from an employee or spokesperson’s statements? It happens more than you would think.

With our branding agency, when focusing on personal branding for our clients, one of the most important things we try to do is “protect the brand.” Sometimes a person’s personal brand is the most valuable asset that they possess. It’s what makes customers choose to do business with them as opposed to their competition.

In order to protect your personal brand, first and foremost, you must be aware of your image. How do your customers and potential customers view you and your business? What attracted them to you in the first place? If you have a successful personal branding strategy, then the answer is…your personality!

We have always said that “People Buy People.” But don’t forget the inevitable hidden truth to that – “People Return People.” Yeah, it sounds a little corny, but it’s true…as quickly as your personal brand can attract customers, it can also cause them to “return” your services and go with someone else. This can only happen if you betray the trust that your clients or customers have in you – whether it is your fault or not! Have a plan in place to defend yourself and your brand, if you find that someone has challenged it.

Defending your personal brand online is key to making sure that your clients are always getting the true representation of your brand in everything you do. Your choice of employees, the tone of your marketing campaigns, your social media activity and your public speaking or sales events – all should revolve around one thing – the lifeblood of you business: your personal brand.

Just by staying actively involved and being aware of how your brand is being perceived will keep you ten steps ahead of the competition. Make sure you know what your customer’s preferences are. Make sure you know immediately if they have complaints – and find a way to rectify them. Not only will you understand your customers better, but they will also respect you more, knowing that you have your head in the game.

Have a game plan. Be involved. Defend your personal brand when necessary and never stop proactively showcasing who you are and why you should be your client’s first choice.

By: Nick Nanton & JW Dicks

How Writing Your Own Book Makes You the Center of Conversation

In “The Relationship Age,” it’s sometimes really difficult to be heard. Everyone else is texting and Facebooking, not to mention IM-ing and emailing, and sometimes it seems the longest you can get someone’s attention is for 140 characters or less.

Talking in Twitter-sized bites, however, doesn’t really help you get a lot of meaningful ideas across. For example, here’s how Honest Abe Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address would have gone if he had tried to Tweet it from an iPhone…

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the propositi

Never really was able to get even close to the point, was he? Hey, I even took out two commas, and I still couldn’t get to the end of “proposition.”

Lincoln wouldn’t have been the only one caught in mid-sentence. Here’s how far baseball great Lou Gehrig’s famous Yankee Stadium goodbye speech would have gotten through Twitter:

Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the

On the face of the what? The clock on the wall?

To be fair, let’s get away from the speeches – they always have way too much set-up anyway. Let’s try Tweeting the 23rd Psalm – that’s a little more direct:

The Lord is my shepherd – I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures – he leadeth me beside the still waters – he restore

Wow, that’s a letdown. We’re all set up to relax in the pasture and by the still waters…ready for the great, good thing that’s going to happen…and bam! We’re left bereft of restoration of whatever was going to be restored (in this case, your soul – kind of an important detail).

It’s kind of interesting to put the Twitter 140 character limit on all kinds of things – famous songs, poems, jokes, whatever – but I’m not doing this just to play a game. I’m also doing it to make a very important point: that is, today, in our constantly-communicating ADD society, it’s hard to really put your ideas out there in a meaningful way.

We see this in politics – the constant repetition of out-of-context sound bites that often trivialize a candidate’s viewpoint – and we see this in movies and TV shows, which keep being edited faster and faster in an attempt to retain a viewer’s interest. The pace of all of our social interaction keeps accelerating to faster and faster speeds that make it increasingly difficult to make anything stick beyond catch phrases and slick slogans.

So how do you have the kind of lengthy conversation you need to have in order to build your circle of influence and establish your name—to build a relationship with a potential client or customer? How do you communicate who you are and what you have to say in a way that has lasting impact and in a way that has a long marketing afterlife?

The answer lies in something basic that existed ‘way before’ our current electronic age – a book.

THE OLDEST FORM OF SOCIAL MEDIA

I quoted the Bible before – and that wasn’t a random choice. Books like the Bible were the original form of Social Media. Would Christianity have grown to the size it is today without having the Bible as a cornerstone of the religion – a book with all the religion’s philosophy contained in it that could easily be passed around? It would have been a lot more difficult, at the very least. And consider the fact that, in its time, the Bible was even interactive, as prophets and apostles of the time added on to it as events kept occurring.

Books have usually been the basis of any major movement – and that fact still holds true today. Major motivational speakers like Anthony Robbins and Jack Canfield depend on regular book releases to continue to grow their base. And superstars in sports, politics and entertainment make it a point to get a book out, even though it’s usually ghostwritten, to expand their ‘brand’ and put out their side of the story, without a reporter or interviewer beside them ready to instantly poke holes in it.

That’s why I say books are the oldest form of social media. Social media is anything that starts a conversation and builds a relationship – and for hundreds of years, books have prompted millions of hours of discussion, have created relationships between writer and reader, and still do. That’s why thousands of people participate in social book groups all around the world – there’s even this woman named Oprah who happens to have a very famous book club of her own, don’t know if you’ve heard of her…

At the same time, authors are also seen as unique and smart. It’s a hard, time-consuming task to finish a tome of your own – especially when most of us really don’t like to write. It just feels like leftover homework from English class in high school. That’s why most people would never think of attempting to write a book – and anyone who actually does finish one, let alone have it published, is instantly held in higher regard.

And that’s always a good thing.

HOW A BOOK BOLSTERS YOUR BRAND

Let’s return to what we talked about at the beginning of this chapter – how hard it is to impart your ideas to an audience when everyone is chattering away in tiny texts and status updates on their electronic gadgets.

A book is the ideal base for you to have the conversation you want to have with people. It gives you the opportunity to craft your message and have it delivered without any interruptions. When somebody reads your book, you get to go inside their head for hours and hours, so you can make your case in the most impactful way possible – and again, no one’s there to argue against you, except the reader. You’re no longer just a sound bite or a one-liner – you’re someone who has a fully realized vision of how something should work—you now have a “platform.” And again, that brings you instant respect.

Of course, the argument to all that is…who has time to read anymore? People don’t want to be bogged down with a book, they want to watch what they have recorded on their DVRs, play videogames or hang out on their favorite websites, however they like to spend their leisure time.

Well, this is the best part. It doesn’t matter if people read your book or not.

Some will, some won’t…but keep in mind that I said the book was the ideal base for your conversation with people. But it’s certainly not the be-all and end-all. As a matter of fact it’s really only the starting step to a whole world of marketing opportunities.

I always like to use Donald Trump as an example of a guy who knows what to do with a book. The Donald puts out a new book one, two, sometimes even three times a year. He certainly doesn’t need to for the money – no, he does it for his brand.

Think about it – when you see him on Larry King Live or The View or a late night talk show, it’s usually because he’s got a new book out. It gives the show a reason to book him, it gives him something new to talk about and it continually refreshes his brand. He will also then usually spin off other products from the book… a motivational CD, an online sales course, speaking engagements, etc.

His main business may be property development, but Donald Trump does the best at selling Donald Trump – and he uses his books as the platform to do it. If he just came on talk shows and discussed his latest condo project…well, let’s just say he’s sharp enough not to be dull.

THE POWER OF THE BOOK PLATFORM

Of course, there aren’t many Donald Trumps out there – and odds are you’re not going to get yourself booked on Larry King (at least not right away!) simply because you’re not that kind of media celebrity. Again, this is not a problem.

So how do you leverage a book that you’ve written and published?

There are literally thousands of ways to do it – to endlessly reuse, reformat and recycle the content you’ve created – but let’s break it down into three stages:

1) YOUR PRE-LAUNCH SEQUENCE

When a big movie is coming out, the studios want to make sure you and everybody else in the world knows about it. You want to treat your book the way a studio would treat the next “Transformers” sequel, and spread the word every way you can.

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. Create Tweets and Facebook posts about the preparations you’re doing for the book’s release – create an air of anticipation.

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) PUBLICATION PUBLICITY

Once your book is published, you can now use it to your advantage to get your own media bookings. Again, a real author gets attention – and you should at least be able to ‘nab’ some local air time.

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 RTIR.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.

Consider continuing 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.

Finally, remember to distribute blogs and articles online based on your book. You can use excerpts from your book for the articles and write about the experience of being a published author on your blog. Spin off as much content as you can to establish yourself as an authority in your field.

3) LENGTHENING THE 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 put the name of the book and a link to it in your email signature.

You can also break down a chapter and make it into an ongoing free special report, available on your website through an opt-in box. Definitely 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.

Those are just a few of the ways you can continue the conversation you start with a book. The book is the vehicle to get you in the door – for interviews, for speaking engagements, for online content and for every other kind of publicity opportunity you can work. And you work it as much as possible so that people will begin to hear your name in different venues – and always in an authoritative, knowledgeable context.

At our Celebrity Branding Agency®, we help our clients do all this and more – and we add 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 getting them inducted into the National Academy of Best-Selling Authors™ – and send out another round of press releases noting their honor and best-selling status, which opens up more major marketing opportunities – still from the same book.

A book establishes you as an authority in your field. It gives you credibility and influence – and it also gives you the launching pad for an incredible marketing ride. The opportunity to have lengthy, persuasive conversations are rare in The Relationship Age – but a book allows you to have that opportunity and maximize it over and over to your advantage.

A book stands out. You stand out. And that’s the essential element to any marketing triumph.

By JW Dicks

As a small business owner or entrepreneur, the ability to find new ways to market yourself and develop your personal brand, can be the catalyst to unlimited success.

About 2 years ago, I became a proud grandfather! Other than the obvious joys that this brings into my life, I have also been reintroduced to one of America’s national treasures: Sesame Street. Yes, Sesame Street.

This American children’s television series premiered on November 10, 1969 and is still a daily fixture in homes all across the country. Sesame Street is one of the longest running children’s programs in television history. I can remember my girls watching this show when they were young, and now my granddaughter finds the show completely amusing!

Why am I writing about Sesame Street today? Because we can all learn a valuable lesson about personal branding from this quintessential American brand.

How has Sesame Street lasted so long? Two main reasons come to mind. First, their content – educating young children through a quickly paced fun format – is top notch and something that most parents welcome into their home. The producers of this show have created a formula that works – it educates effectively while successfully keeping the attention of the young ones. If you’ve ever tried to hold the attention of 3-year-old for more than 15 minutes, then you know why this is such a big deal!

The second reason that this brand has been able to enjoy incredible longevity is through its creative and unique characters. Much like Disney, Sesame Street has developed their brand through the use of fun and interesting personalities. In the seventies and eighties, it was hard to find anything involving Sesame Street that didn’t feature the loveable character Big Bird. From movies to lunchboxes, Big Bird was the superstar of children’s television.

Then something (or someone) interesting happened. Elmo.

In the last 15 years or so, Elmo, the little red 3½-year-old Muppet who often refers to himself in the third person, has become the new face of Sesame Street. Big Bird has not gone away – but he is no longer the focus. You would now be hard pressed to find any promotional materials or product line for Sesame Street that doesn’t have Elmo’s smiling face in the forefront. Elmo has starred in two full-length motion pictures and has appeared on The West Wing, Emeril Live and The View, among many others. He’s an international superstar!

There’s nothing wrong with Big Bird, of course. He is still one of the main characters on the show. But Elmo has clearly become the new focus of the show. The core purpose and theme of the show (and their brand) has not changed at all – it has merely shifted focus.

So what can we learn about personal branding from this change in focus?

Sesame Street is a business just like any of ours. Even when we think that we have developed the perfect personal brand, there may always be an opportunity to change the focus of that brand. I’m not advocating changing the things that have made your business brand a success, just finding a way to re-focus your brand to a new audience that will not alienate those who have come to trust and respect your brand the way it is.

Is your personal brand built on being wholesome? Traditional or cutting edge? Is your brand and reputation built on customer service? Reliability?

These things do not need to change (and shouldn’t for that matter.) These traits are ones that will be relevant to generation after generation. However, the next time you are thinking about how your personal brand can last for generations, think about what each generation finds the most appealing.

Try to think of ways you can re-focus your personal brand that appeals to the new generation – without sacrificing the traits that made your brand the success that it is!

by J. W. Dicks, Esq. & Nick Nanton, Esq.

Akira Mori, president and chief executive officer of Mori Trust Company, Limited, said, “Past success stories are generally not applicable to new situations. We must continually reinvent ourselves, responding to changing times with innovative new business models.”

Nothing could ring truer in this New Economy where seemingly every attempt to draw on past success strategies is met with less than stellar performances. The reason for that result is that economic change, while appearing to be the same, is always based on a different set of circumstances than ever before; the flaw is to assume “a recession is a recession just like the last one” and that the results are the same each time. They are not.

Our current economic crisis is the modern-day economic equivalent of the “perfect storm” in which multiple disparate factors collide to create something different, something unexpected, something that doesn’t react very well to the old traditional forms of economic stimulus.

The reason for the slow recovery of the economy is because we are not just seeing an economic crisis, we are seeing a fundamental shift in the nature of how business works; and the recovery, when it happens, will not come from the same old stimulus methods but instead will sprout from a more fundamental change of the very nature of business growth. For the economy to return to a healthy status and for business to resume the mode of successful commerce, the consumer must be listened to and catered to like never before. Today’s consumers are no longer bound by the offerings of their neighborhood store. What the consumer wants may be thousands of miles away but must be deliverable tomorrow on the buyer’s doorstep without the frustration or cost of time and travel.

Jack Welch, chairman and CEO of General Electric between 1981-2001, faced facts when he said, “The Internet is the Viagra of big business.” Just like that, the guy who increased GE’s market value from $14 billion to more than $410 billion—and was named “Manager of the Century” by Fortune in 1999—recognized that where he had taken GE in the past was no longer the route for the future.

The reality is, the Internet has changed the fundamental nature of competition and doing business. And although it has teased us for many years with its false promises and failed attempts at success, including its own industry meltdown and economic crash, that fall was just the foundation being laid for what has emerged in what now seems like the blink of an eye. New ways of building and delivering online products and services have emerged and, whether you know it or not, instantly your competition has increased exponentially. Your established competitors are now joined by new companies, fresh innovations and ideas, and ever-improving processes and products.

This is the real crisis that faces most businesses today, and unfortunately most haven’t even realized it yet. Instead of trying to rapidly adapt, they are desperately clinging to old ways of running a business that won’t work in the New Economy. And it isn’t event the issue of bricks and mortar that was the center of cocktail discussions prior to the dot-com crash; it is a case of “best practices” for the industry or sector you are in.

For example, if you are in the haircut business, bricks and mortar will still prevail because you need to physically go to a location to get the service performed. But if there is any opportunity for you to do your business or service in the virtual world, the preference for most consumers will be towards that—unless they can somehow otherwise be enticed by an element of experience or entertainment.

When it comes to reaching consumers today, it’s clear that you can’t just go on doing “same old, same old” and hope for the best.

The wired world is a universe in constant flux. Bill Gates once called the new Internet era “an environment of constant change” and, more incisively, “punctuated chaos.” As all financial players are digitally connected, any downturn or upturn in a major market creates overnight reverberations in other markets. The digital world is demanding that companies react to change, but the good news is that it includes the tools they can use to stay ahead of the curve. The key is connecting your business strategy with a streamlined response.

So how is business to survive? By understanding the fact that as business climates change, the methods of marketing for those businesses are also “upside down” and in need of change if success is what you are after. Where, normally, you would think global economies would mean larger markets, in reality, for small companies, entrepreneurs, and professionals, the opposite is true because they simply do not have the economic firepower to try and reach everyone or satisfy everybody. In fact, the media has become so fractured it is almost impossible to reach the masses.

Therefore, to be successful in the New Economy, you must think in terms of specialties or niches within broad markets where you can be a difference maker. In fact, the more narrow your focus, the more power you can yield within that niche; and based on this fact, your financial leverage can be multiplied.

A Change of Focus

Instead of the reliance on mass media, your focus needs to be on “targeted media.” Businesses haven’t stopped using traditional media to get the word out, and indeed, it’s often an effective launch point for an ad campaign if you can control the cost and monitor your return on investment (ROI). Clearly, however, the gulf between traditional advertising and online advertising has widened over the past few years as audiences fragment and the Web grows to provide a new media approach.

Mass media of the last century offered a relatively simple structure, with large audiences congregated at a few outlets for a few kinds of programs. But the Internet provides seemingly infinite choices, and it appears difficult to capture the attention of an individual user when that person has split him or herself among a number of destinations for very brief periods of time. One of the biggest challenges for marketers is understanding this self-fragmentation and how to overcome it.

Reaching the individual who is your target customer first requires your understanding of who your target consumer is, and then your application of market segmentation, the process of pulling apart the entire market as a whole and separating it into manageable, disparate units based on demographics. The market segmentation process includes:

1. Determining the characteristics of your target market, then separating these segments in the market based on these characteristics.

2. Analyzing whether the market segments are large enough to support your product or service. If not, you must return to step one (or review its product to see if it’s viable).

3. Once you’ve chosen a target market that has the size to produce your needed sales levels, you can develop your marketing strategy to target that specific market. Your focus is smaller, but you are reaching the specific buyers you want.

After creating this group of prospects, you must develop your market’s buying metrics to learn how many prospects it takes to produce a sale, what your conversion ratio is, and how that affects your bottom line.

Shotgun vs. Specialists

So how does this apply to today’s online realities? In the past, advertisers had only one choice—they took the shotgun approach, scattered themselves to every mass media outlet they could afford, and hoped a percentage of those people might pay attention. It was about trying to be all things to all people. It was spending money on local newspaper ads, cable television spots, etc., and hoping potential customers would catch a glimpse of them as they turned the page.

It’s the equivalent of the long-ago era of the general practitioner whom everyone would go to no matter what his or her medical condition. Just as patients now go to specialists who can help them treat their specific injuries and illnesses, consumers have become selective about where they go to get their goods and services. Online it looks something like this: health conscious individuals who might have subscribed to a general magazine on health are now signing up for blogs, newsletters, podcasts, user groups, e-mail lists, membership sites, and more to address their exercise regimen, a preventative medicine program that suits their lifestyle, their specific heart condition, their type of diabetes, etc. More and more people are taking advantage of outlets with increasingly specialized information.

With so much out there floating around and vying for consumer attention, today’s savvy marketers are likewise getting more specific in order to forge a competitive advantage. They’re identifying who their potential customers are, cultivating these relationships, and in many cases even charging them for the privileges of membership. Let’s say you have a dance studio in town that offers salsa lessons. In the past, you’d put a medium-size print ad in the local paper, maybe shoot a local TV commercial, and hope for the best. Now, you can create a sizzling, colorful Web site with step-by-step instructions and high-energy videos of those lessons that “students” can pay an online subscription fee to see. Seeing is believing. Even if folks never step into your studio for the real deal, you get them to subscribe to your service to learn how to dance from home.

It can work the same in the sports world. If you give golf lessons in real life, you have to hope people see those local classified ads, right? But if you give golf lessons online and charge a fee to help your students’ progress, you’ve taken the world in your hands without paying any attention to geographical boundaries. You can now teach at any level you want, whether that market exists in your locale or not! Someone might buy an issue of Car and Driver for five bucks, but fans who want to go behind the scenes and into the pits of NASCAR can probably find a better outlet, which they’re willing to pay more for, to really get them into the action and on the inside of the sport they are ravenous fans of. The list of industries and examples goes on and on!

A lot of these opportunities lend themselves to a virtual delivery with cutting-edge technologies, but some of this ongoing flow of information extends to tangible media as well. There has been a resurgence, for example, of paper newsletters and, although still virtual, teleseminars as well, neither of which are considered new technology. Most of these models of selling information, or ideas, offer the basics for free up front, but if they want what you’ve got to offer, and you promise to go deeper, they’ll be happy to pay for the privilege of regular updates and insider opportunities.

The key to setting the world (or at least your bank account and profit margins) on fire in this world of new media is niche-ing down your market to create value in the people you’ve niched into. By building your audience, you build your value, and that in turn increases your roster of consumers who will be willing to pay top dollar for the incredible things you offer. Remember—the power is all in the presentation to the right audience.

So, when thinking about growing your business during the current economic shift, think big; but then make sure you think small with regards to what niche you can ultimately serve to prosper the most. After you figure that out, if you take the time to determine the best format or combination of formats to deliver your products and services to your audience, you will find a formula that is wildly profitable!

By Nick Nanton, Esq.

It is often joked that the most common words heard in a lawyer’s office are “it depends.”

Being a lawyer, I do find this quite amusing. It’s very true. In law school, we were taught to always think about the different paths that clients can take to leverage the situation they may be in – and offer as many options as possible. It’s funny if you think about it, Lawyers are some of the only people in the world expected to understand how grey something looks and then present it as if it’s black and white. Chew on that!

Why do people hire lawyers in the first place? They need to know what their options are. More importantly, they are seeking their professional advice on which option to choose. It is no different when you apply this to businesses. Why do people seek out your services? They need problems solved.

As a branding agent, I often ask clients, “Do you have enough knowledge in your field to be able to say ‘it depends’ when a client or customer asks for your advice? More importantly, do you have enough knowledge to be able to inform that client which option is the best for them?” Here is an example:

A few months back, my wife needed to get new tires for her mountain bike. I would say that I know a few things about a few things, but mountain bike tires are not on that list! When I went to the store, I told the salesperson that we needed some new tires for the bike and asked what he recommended. His answer? “Well, it depends.” Slightly annoyed, I said, “Okay, depends on what?” The man started asking me where my wife usually rides the bike, what kind of surfaces were the most common for her to ride, how often she rides, etc. These are things that hadn’t even crossed my mind. I gave him as much information as I could, and he was able to show me 3 or 4 different brands, different price ranges, warranty options and so on.

The most valuable thing that he told me that day was “If I were you, I’d go with these,” pointing to a moderately priced set of tires. He then proceeded to tell me exactly why he would choose that brand of tire, at that price, etc. I had just found my go-to expert on mountain bike tires! I was impressed with his knowledge, but even more impressed that he had a solution for my problem. He had enough confidence in his knowledge of the products that he was comfortable telling me “it depends” and then offering his advice.

This trip to the store got me thinking about many of the clients of our branding agency. Many of our clients are experts in their field and are offering their expertise on their particular niche to those who don’t have the same amount of education and training, etc. Many of them have used personal branding to brand themselves as the go-to expert in their field.

As many of us get comfortable in our line of work, surrounding ourselves with people who have similar interests, and who work in the same industry – we sometimes forget that there are so many people out there that don’t know anything about the intricacies of what we do – even the things that we think are common knowledge. When people seek your advice, they are looking for you to cut through the clutter and solve whatever problem they may have.

As hard as we try, we can never know everything about everything. We need experts! From mountain bike experts and personal branding experts, to mortgage loan experts and business marketing experts – there are experts everywhere! There are those who spend their career perfecting a skill so others can go to them for solutions in that area.

Do you have the knowledge in your line of work to be able to say “It Depends” and do you have the confidence in that knowledge to provide the right solution?

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

I (Nick) was sitting in a sushi bar in Los Angeles, thousands of miles away from my hometown of Orlando, FL. Having found a table, I asked the waiter to assemble my usual selections which included one order of Maguro, one order of Yellowtail, and one Steamed Shrimp, Cucumber and Cream cheese roll with a drizzle of eel sauce (the Nick Roll, as my friends have come to call it), and then I began to do what I do most of the time when I’m alone – I took out my iPhone to occupy myself.

I checked emails, read and posted a few tweets, and checked my newsfeed on Facebook to see what my friends were up to. I also engaged in a newer activity, “checking in” via geotargeted apps and games like Loopt and Foursquare (If you don’t know what these are, you should! Just Google them!). This particular meal was during a period of time several months ago, before Foursquare had been brought to the iPhone, so I checked-in via Loopt. Much to my surprise, I noticed that a friend that I went to law school with and who also lives in Orlando, had also checked in on Loopt and was just a few miles away from me in Los Angeles. I immediately sent him a text to say ‘hi!’ and to tell him I was just a few miles away. This prompted us to try and coordinate a chance to meet; the meeting would be for the sake of novelty, if nothing else.

This occurrence prompted us to take stock of what many of us do to bide our time (check-in, tweet, post on Facebook), and how it was not only becoming second nature, but what that means for the way we are going to conduct business in the future. Based on these hyper-connected, entertaining, and informative ways of passing information from person to person, we are really leaving behind a trail of everything we’ve ever done, everywhere we’ve ever gone, every opinion we’ve ever had, and, thanks to some less than scrupulous folks who tend to overshare and take pictures with their phones, everything we’ve ever eaten. You might be wondering where this trend is headed and what it all means.

Well, in the context of “The New Economy”, this trail is essentially a “Personal Brand Map”. It’s a record of our thoughts, feelings, and experiences, all mapped out in chronological order, from which anyone in our networks (or increasingly, even someone who we haven’t allowed in our networks yet) can review and form an opinion about us.

In the New Economy, some might say that our Personal Brands are increasingly important. We’d go further, saying they’re all we’ve got left.

Think about it. The internet and technology have brought about the following changes:

• Removed the barriers of information flow, allowing us to find anything we want, anytime we want it.

• Made transparency a way of life, allowing the general public to piece together a story even if you aren’t telling it yourself – you can’t hide most things anymore even if you wanted to!

• Leveled the playing field by giving everyone on Earth an instant platform to publish anything you can think of, including thoughts, muses, obsessions, hobbies, photos, videos, business ideas, invitations to social events, collaborative efforts, and more.

We’ve seen this technology bring about the rise of the Personal Brand, while we have simultaneously witnessed the downfall of the institutions that we grew up believing in. This is a total game changer.

We’ve seen the banking industry fail us through credit crises and mortgage meltdowns. We’ve seen over-inflated real estate prices which are due, in large part, to the previous bottleneck on real-time information flow. In the past, we’d have to wait for all the data from real estate sales to drip down from title companies and city and county records in order to get a gauge on what was happening. Even worse, we might have to go to a physical location to view the records. Now you can find that all online, from anywhere in the world, with the click of a mouse. Simply revolutionary!

We’ve witnessed many a corporate meltdown due to lowered barriers to entry. For instance, it is now a very acceptable practice for any business person to schedule a meeting at a Panera Bread or Starbucks location. No formal office is needed, just a place to meet. We’ve also seen the increase in shared spaces replacing the more traditional executive suites and even some less traditional solutions like existing businesses renting out offices that aren’t being used to new businesses. We have seen increased international competition from countries like China and India, who are in a venerable race to bring their high-talent, low-cost human capital to America, with no plane tickets needed, using nothing but Skype and email. And, finally, we’ve witnessed those willing to compete and incur lower overhead in order to gain market share that previously would have seemed untouchable. This accumulation of corporate meltdowns has left many unemployed and without the pensions, retirements, or the security we always thought would be there.

This is a major shake up. In spite of the fact that many are calling it a “lost decade” (2000-2009), we instead look back and see a time of painful discovery and major shifts in the way information is shared, received, and processed. No longer do we look to journalists in last Friday’s newspaper to determine what movies we want to watch or what restaurants we should try out; rather, we look to social networks to see what our friends think and where they are right now.

There has been a shift of power. Power is now at our fingertips – in the hands of the many, not in the hands of the few.

So, how do all of these powerful cultural and economic shifts affect you? You, as an individual, have become your own brand, whether you like it or not. You can control your brand to your own advantage or you can let your personal brand be run by others who comment on what you are doing. In fact, whether you choose to document your life and your business or not, chances are someone around you is going to document it for you. You don’t have to post photos of yourself on Facebook or videos of yourself on YouTube for such photos and videos to end up there. You don’t have to post your thoughts on a particular concept or issue online, for them to end up on Twitter, as those around you are doing it for you whether you like it or not. So, the real choice you need to make (before someone does it for you), is to control your personal brand.

The good news is, if you learn how to effectively control your brand, you can also control your life in ways that were never before possible.

Think about it this way: in the past, if you were a superstar employee, you still got paid what your employer thought you were worth. Now, you can take your brand as a superstar employee to the internet, sharing your knowledge and building a following of people who are interested in your ideas and the projects you are working on. You can become an “internal evangelist” and a thought leader for your industry – all while working for someone else. This buzz about you in turn raises your profile and credibility, which then gives rise to the notion that no longer will you be an employee with limited options. You will now be a free agent operating no differently than the sports stars who are able to offer their skill(s) to the highest bidder.

This new ‘free agent’ marketplace is already occurring in limited scope through the use of social media sites like LinkedIn that are dedicated to connecting people for business, as well as through sites like Facebook that allow you to share text, video, audio, and even create custom apps to let people know what you do. Not to mention, we are just now in the early stages of internet platforms and tools to make those kinds of connections work to your advantage. The future will give rise to more of what one of our clients, Chuck Boyce, calls the “Independent Executive”. This label applies to someone who takes their knowledge from previous employment and sets out to create their own destiny, lifestyle, and income on their own terms. This philosophy takes personal branding to the next level, because it is not just important for the professional or the entrepreneur, but it is now very important for employees who are happy to work in someone else’s environment but who want to be recognized, both financially and emotionally, for their very real contributions.

In the past, an unhappy employee had limited choices:

• Do nothing but complain (with increasing disgruntlement)
• Quit and go look for a new job (which has no guarantee of being any different)
• Beg the boss for a change in circumstances (power, money, responsibility) without having any real say in the process

Now, in the new “Branded Economy”, you are all allowed to play the role you want in building your brand and building your value. If you don’t take control, you will risk becoming irrelevant and relegated to the position of a cog in someone else’s wheel. You will be at the mercy of a third party whose self-interest will always outweigh your own – just like the players in the sitcom The Office and the comic strip “Dilbert”.

Now that the game has changed, what will you do to control your own destiny? As we have gotten known for telling our clients, we’ll now tell you the same: You have the choice, to Brand or Die!

by Nick Nanton, Esq.

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
– Lao Tzu

I am willing to bet that almost every single one of you reading this article has read the above quote – or had it quoted to you – in the course of your life. You’re starting college and it’s rough – somebody tells you about that first step. You’re having trouble getting a new business off the ground – somebody tells you about the first step. Whenever you’re at the initial stage of anything – you hear about ‘that thousand miles’ and ‘that first step’.

And to be fair, you can’t argue with it – it’s true. That ‘thousand mile journey’ starts with that first step.

What people don’t discuss, however, is the 4634th step. Or the 5489th step. When you’re so far from the beginning that you’re in danger of forgetting where you’re going – and when you’re still so far from the end, you think you’ll never make it there.

When you’re in the middle of the grind – when it feels like the pay-off will never come – and when you may be so tired you don’t think there ever will be a pay-off – that’s when it can be incredibly difficult (maybe the most difficult) to take the next step.

I firmly believe that when you get to that tough slog where it just feels ‘like you’re grinding it out for no reason’, that’s actually when you’re in the middle of the real hard work that’s going to ultimately validate your efforts. This is when it’s most important to follow through on the process and systems you’ve set up – and not forget what got you as far as you already are. That’s when you need to power through with your process and get what you originally wanted with it.

But let’s not start with the 5489th step. Let’s take Lao Tzu’s advice and start with the first.

THE FIRST STEP AND WHY IT’S CRUCIAL

Someone who I recently learned of, and am enamored with, has become an inspiration to me and a whole lot of other people, …former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden. He always had an interesting first step for his players at his ‘first talk’ of the season. It probably wasn’t so interesting for the seniors to hear the exact same ‘first talk’ they heard when they were freshman – but Wooden was a man who believed in the proper process, which is one big reason he was voted “Coach of the Century” by ESPN.

That first talk of the season was not about the goals for the team, who the captains would be, or any of the usual rally cries of a typical coach, nope, it was all about Wooden demonstrating, in meticulous detail, how the players should properly put on their socks and their shoes. Yes, he would actually show them how to do it. And yes, you usually don’t get that kind of instruction after you’re two or three years old – especially from one of the best college coaches of all time. Frankly, most coaches at any level above elementary school would think it was too trivial to deal with – and college boys should know how to dress themselves!

Wooden, however, knew that most good players ended up on the bench because they ended up with blisters from gameplay. And he knew most of those blisters could be prevented if players would simply take the time and put on their socks and shoes correctly.

Hence the lecture every year – even to the players who had already heard it!! It was a vital first step to Wooden’s process – and do you really argue with a guy who ended up with an over-80% win record? …who won ten national championships? …who is regarded as America’s ‘winningest’ coach? I certainly wouldn’t!

By building from that base, Wooden created teams that knew basketball inside and out. He gave them a process that enabled them to do their very best – and turned him into a legendary coach.

It’s what all of us need to do in our individual businesses. Your first steps, in any venture, should be about finding out what works, from the bottom up. ‘Fine-tuning’ will obviously come as you continue along the way, but if you nail down the process that works for you personally, it’s a template that can take you to where you want to go — if you learn the basics, remember them and continue to implement them.

Some aspects of that process are generic – they’re essential to anyone trying to do what you’re doing. Others are personal – making use of your specific talents and what works best for you. Out of all of it, however, you build your own unique process by seeing what’s effective and what isn’t. Once you have it all put together, you drill that process into your brain at every given opportunity. And you never forget why you use the process you use – because it works …for you. Not for the guy down the street, or somebody two office doors down from yours… for YOU!!!!

And it has to be the process that’s going to serve you all the way down the line. I have to hand it to my four year-old son Brock’s T-ball coach, Coach Will, because he showed me this power principle in action and how it’s relevant at any age.

The kid that was playing pitcher (no, really, in T-ball they have one, they just don’t actually pitch!) in the game ran from the pitcher’s mound to run down another kid running to home plate – and pulled it off. He got the out. But the coach told the pitcher that’s not what he wanted to see. That’s not how the game is played. It’ll work out in T-ball, but that play won’t work when the kids get a little older, and a little faster. He said, “You might get an out this year with that play, but we’re not here to get outs, we’re here to learn how to play baseball.” Wow! Now that’s what I’m talking about! Coach Will wanted them to learn how to play the right way for the long run – now what worked just for now – so as they moved on, they could power through with the proper process.

With any first steps, you should be doing the same thing – finding out how whatever “game” you’re learning works, and how best to play it – whether it’s the game of life, the game of business, or a true game. The principle is the same.

THE FIRST STEP AND WHY IT’S OVERRATED

No, I’m not getting into an argument with myself, it’s true…first steps are absolutely crucial and also amazingly easy!

First of all, people are always incredibly encouraging when you start something new (unless they know you well enough to sense you’re heading for disaster). It’s exciting to them and they live vicariously through you trying something for the first time. Why? Because you have to do all the hard work and all they have to do is watch!

Seriously, how many quotes and advice do you see on beginning something, whether it’s a business or a relationship or just a workout regimen? Whereas, when you’re in the middle of something and whining about it – well, everybody’s in the middle of something and whining about it. And they’d rather listen to themselves whine than listen to you do it!

The first step also often means you’re not putting that much at stake. There’s not a lot invested in it emotionally, physically or financially yet. It’s basically setting a goal and beginning to figure out how you can achieve that goal.

Taking that first step usually means:

• You’re beginning something you want to get done.
• You haven’t faced serious opposition to your goal.
• You’ve psyched yourself up to get going – so you’re ‘pumped’ to see it through.
• Nobody expects a lot from you – because you’re just beginning to find out how it’s done.

In other words, sure, you’re nervous – but you’re okay to start that long ‘thousand mile’ journey, whatever it is. It’s not so bad. You’re choosing to do it. And nobody will be too hard on you about it.

The first step is also generally not that complicated. Remember what the first day of school or a class was like? It was the teacher telling you what you were going to be doing the rest of the semester or year and that’s about it. You didn’t have to worry, at that point, about having homework done or passing any tests. You were just there – trying to stay awake until the bell rang. Hey, even with Coach Wooden, all they had to do was figure out how to put on their socks and shoes the first time he talked to them! Most of us can handle that kind of pressure.

And one last thing about the first step not really being all that bad – you can totally ‘bail’ before the second step. Seriously, most things won’t have horrible consequences if you bail early (guys, this is not an excuse the day after that bachelor party, don’t even think about it!). Maybe you say to yourself, “Hey, I want to learn Mandarin Chinese (I use this example in honor of Lao Tzu).” You take that first step – maybe you get an introduction to a beginner’s Mandarin Chinese book – and then the bolt of lightning hits your brain….“Hey! This is hard! I’d rather spend the effort on __________ (fill in the blank with your next goal).”

What did you lose? …that $9.99 you spent on the book? …and those ten minutes it took you to realize it was hard enough for you to learn English? …let alone this.

Taking one step on the thousand mile journey and changing your mind? No big deal. Getting five hundred miles down the road and changing your mind? Enormous deal. That’s why you can’t…

DON’T JUST MUDDLE THROUGH THE MIDDLE

So let’s talk about being five hundred miles down that thousand mile road. That’s what I like to call the unsung hero of heroic struggles – the middle.

They say the closer you get to the summit, the harder it is to reach it. I’ve chosen to consciously disagree, and you can too with the right mindset – and I talked about this a little at the beginning of this chapter. When you’re so far along, you forgot why you started – but you’re not far enough to see where you’re going – it’s easy to feel like you’re stumbling around in the dark, going through the motions, and completely not getting anywhere.

And that’s where you have to power through with your process. That’s where you have to put your socks and shoes on correctly and keep doing what you’re doing, if you’ve proven to yourself that it works. You may need some adjustments – that’s normal, because the world is always changing – but in general, you have to ‘keep on keeping on’.

I’m speaking from personal experience on that point. For example, a big part of our business involves me speaking at different events all across the country. They are great because they usually generate a lot of interest in our business and we get to build a list of prospects who were interested enough to come out and hear me, and give us their contact information to stay in touch – so it’s almost always a good decision to accept invitations to speak at events. It’s something I’ve learned works for us and it’s definitely a big part of my process.

Well, I was invited to speak at what was billed as a major seminar event in California – and I was told there might be a lot of influential people there that would be interested in doing business, and many of them had very large fan bases (sounds good, but believe me, I’ve heard it before and the delivery of those elements is usually far less than what has been promised). So I thought about it. It was a big commitment (a week in California, away from my family in Orlando), and a big financial commitment (not that it was overly expensive for the trip, but because of my marketing budget at the time, I had to choose between this trip and a new marketing campaign I really wanted to launch).

The California trip, more and more, just felt like a big hassle to me, and an inconvenient one at that. I was ready to skip it, when I remembered that this kind of thing – speaking at places where I could widen my circle of influence and boost my network – was really a vital way that we grow our business. So, I agreed to it.

When I got there, I was amazed at the number of top-tier speakers and writers that were in attendance – it was a room of about 100 people who were all seven figure speakers and authors. I won’t drop names, but I would be willing to bet you’d know at least half of the people in the room. We’re talking about men and women who literally fill STADIUMS with rabid fans wanting to hear them speak, and others who had collectively sold over 100 MILLION books! It was insane! Don’t get me wrong, the seminar was hard work – sessions night and day – but out of that came lots of things, including an invitation to speak at another event which proved to be a huge windfall, and there are many other opportunities still being fleshed out, all because I didn’t forget my basic principles, even when I was reluctant, and I powered through with my process.

PROP-UP YOUR PROCESS WITH PRINCIPLES

When I was thinking about whether or not to accept that speaking engagement, I didn’t think about making important new contacts or generating more business. I concentrated on the expense, the work and the inconvenience. Obviously, big mistake on my part.
Fortunately, I got back on my thousand-mile road because I remembered that the process didn’t exist for its own sake – the process brought results!!!

And that’s what we all have to remember. We must continually perfect the process – and sticking to that process is more important than anything else…because the process gets us to the goal line.

When Coach Wooden gave his annual “socks and shoes speech,” some older players would start to feel insulted that he was still teaching the ins and outs of footwear. They didn’t want to listen to it all over again.

But consider this – do you think Coach Wooden really wanted to tell players how to put on their socks and shoes every single year?

Don’t you think maybe one season, he said to himself, “Maybe I don’t have to do this anymore. Maybe these college kids can figure this out for themselves.” I’m willing to wager he did – and that he also went back to doing it because he once again realized that this was his process, it worked and he should stick to it. …and because it was also important to his players’ process.

After the newness of whatever you’re in the middle of wears off, it’s tempting to forget all the building blocks that got you there. It’s easy to be distracted by turn-offs on the thousand mile road and take another route …that will take you somewhere you really don’t want to go.

Both behaviors are dangerous to your business. Sticking to your the principles that you used to develop your process helps you avoid them. Maybe you have a choice between a lunch with somebody you like but isn’t going to do much for your operation – and somebody else you don’t know that well but could do an awful lot for you. You’re better off seizing the second opportunity, even though you’ll have to invest some time and energy in getting to know this person and selling them on you and your business.

Making productive choices that will further your process means you’ll keep getting the results you want. And, hey, you can always have lunch with the other friend on a day when there isn’t a conflict.

When the pay-off isn’t necessarily in sight, you simply have to trust that what you’re doing will work – and that your process will, in fact, see you through to the other side.

I will leave you with some very wise words from Coach Wooden: “Don’t be too concerned with regard to things over which you have no control, because that will eventually have an adverse effect on things over which you have control.”

You have control over what you do and how you do it. You can’t control the outside factors. Even if you’ve made your process the most powerful it can be, it still won’t work every single time. But if you fixate on the things that could go against you, you’ll have a hard time achieving what you want to achieve.

Life is all about making the odds work in your favor – and having a process that will allow you to power through to the end of whatever road you’re on – means that chances are you’ll get what you’re after.

So pull on those socks and lace up those shoes the right way – so you can win the game!

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.