I am writing this blog on my flight back from New York City after some great meetings. I flew up yesterday to speak at the New York/Northern New Jersey chapter of Glazer-Kennedy Insider’s Circle on my book tour to promote Jack and my new book, Celebrity Branding You. You can check out some pictures here:
When I finalized my trip to New York, I decided to take up George Ross, Donald Trump’s Lawyer and Chief Negotiator as well as his board room co-star on The Apprentice, on his offer to visit him at his office next time I was in the city. So I emailed George and we set up a time to visit yesterday morning.
You can see a picture of George and I in his office as well as a short 2 minute video I recorded after our meeting by clicking here:
Photos: http://tinyurl.com/5peokz
Video:
In the short video I reveal a marketing lesson that George and I discussed that you may not be aware of but it’s a great way to isolate yourself from the current economic situation and gives you a tip that you shouldn’t be ignoring in your business.
George and I disagreed a bit on a few issues, but it was a healthy discussion and I am sure George and I will continue to stay in touch and even debate a bit here and there. Hey, we’re lawyers, what do you expect!
Another profound comment that George made, which I think will be useful to you is the fact that:
1. he has been practicing law for over 50 years
2. has been teaching a course on negotiation at NYU, one of the greatest educational institutions in the world, for many years, and
3, has been involved in negotiating some of the biggest real estate deals in history for that past 30 years alongside Donald Trump, who is one of the biggest Celebrity Experts in the media today
but until he got on the Apprentice, no one really cared. He was known in small professional circles and certainly to those who were looking to do a deal with “The Donald,” but he certainly wasn’t known to or revered by the general public the way he is today. Now, George is a very highly sought –after (and highly paid!) lecturer and speaker brought in to many organizations and conferences to reveal his art of negotiation. And the funny thing is he’s no better at it than before he was on the Apprentice! Before, his target audience just didn’t know who he was or what he was great at.
The key point here is: his credentials are secondary to his celebrity status. To paraphrase his own words, he said its awful peculiar how sitting at a board room table sparring with eager young minds once a week for a few months a year, at the right hand of Donald Trump has completely changed his life and gained the respect of the American public as a whole. Isn’t it neat what kind of credibility you can have virtually “assigned” to you just by being in the media with the right message at the right time? I agree and its one of the strategies I teach when I’m lecturing on Celebrity Branding®™. I encourage you to think about how you can reach out to your own audience in a similar way to increase your visibility, your demand and your fees.
By the way, if you’re looking for a way to get the George Ross/Apprentice effect in your own business and personal life, shoot me an email at Nick@CelebrityBrandingYou.com. Jack and I have found a way to guarantee that 20 business owners and entrepreneurs will be seen on NBC, ABC, FOX and CBS as well as seen in USA Today, The Wall St. Journal and Newsweek all within the next 12 months.
Alright, that’s about it, hope you have a great rest of the week. As for me I’m heading off to St. Lucia with my wife for our anniversary this weekend. See you when I get back!
Dedicated to bringing out the Celebrity in YOU!
Nick















When I met Nick and Jack, my business was called Total Census Solutions, which was relevant to the niche I first started in (Senior Housing), but to the rest of the world it was confusing and very forgettable. Just by reviewing my Bio, before we even had much time to speak, Nick and Jack shot back a bunch of ideas about how my business was really centered around getting people the maximum ROI in their advertising, and spun out The ROI Guy brand for me. In the past 2 years since they helped me reinvent my brand, my business has taken off! Now everywhere I go, people call me the ROI Guy, which is fun, however, the most important thing is they also know where to call when they need solutions for tracking their marketing campaigns and getting the greatest ROI! Oh yeah, and they also like to have a bit of fun too!
- Richard Seppala, The ROI Guy, 
Jack & Nick have brought about more expansion in our business in the past three months than we thought possible. They got us to see the big picture while explaining everything along the way. Jack and Nick took the time to understand our business goals and tailored their approach to us. We wouldn’t trust our company with anyone else!
Jon Ruhff & Yeosh Bendayan – Push Button Productions LLC
“I mentioned to you while we were in Hollywood that the day before I came, I got a call from a producer who found me through a press release and my participation in America’s PremierExperts®. I had a phone interview and received an email inviting me out for an all expenses paid shoot for a TV show, where they want me to talk all about my business and what I do. I just wanted you to know how much I enjoy working with you all and think what you are doing is terrific. The fact is, what you guys are doing works. There is absolutely no way they would have found me, nor would I have this interview without you guys. The great thing is I can use whatever they produce in my arsenal now and hopefully get more interviews. So, again, thank you for everything—it works!!!”
–Jennifer Myers, Realtor, First Time Homebuyer Expert
“I chose Dicks Nanton Agency because they get it. A lot of people provide marketing and PR but I was impressed with their ability to understand what drives a customer to do business with you. That’s pretty rare. I really felt that I needed a fresh vision in my business to help us pull off the extraordinary for our clients. I’m looking to Dicks Nanton Agency to provide fresh insight into Florida Leisure Vacation Homes and to help me take it to the next level,”
When we first met Nick and Jack, we were floundering a little with our training business…we had all of the pieces, but didn’t have a cohesive vision or strategy of where it could take us. Since working with them, we have put more systems into our office, we are looking at the marketing (and the results of that marketing!) in a whole new light, our website actually looks like a professional did it, AND we have an awesome vision for our company that will allow us to retire in just a few short years. Sometimes we get so busy in the day to day “stuff” of our businesses that we forget to stop and look AT our businesses, The Dicks + Nanton Agency has afforded us an impartial outsiders’ view of our own business and the potential that it has.
Andy Tolbert, The Blue Jeans Broker,
“Nick, the weekend in Hollywood was great… your program is terrific and I really appreciate the speakers you brought in.”
-Ben Glass
