It's no secret... America is a nation of voyeurs... Addicts who can't get enough of peeking behind closed doors... getting the inside scoop, celebrity ogling.. sniffing out all the dirty laundry... laughing at the foibles of the RICH AND RIDICULOUS...sitting glued to one reality TV program after another.



In an era where major newspapers are poised on the edge of extinction, "serious" magazines are bleeding subscribers, newswire services are cutting to the bone, and television news has lost a lot of credibility, it is very telling that the only print publications experiencing GROWTH are tabloids and "Peephole-type" celebrity rags and that there are reality TV programs with bigger audiences than the nightly news.

You must be wondering..."What does this have to do with ME and my business?" If you're smart you'll view this in two ways: First you'll realize you ought to be using celebrities in your marketing to get more qualified insurance lead (or leads for any business for that matter).

We hired Miss Hawaii in the past and now have the new Miss Hawaii to endorse our company. The results have been OVER THE TOP with us getting almost more qualified leads than we can handle! We certainly believe this will work for some of you in the financial services industry, but we'll leave this topic for another time because... Most of you will easily be able to accomplish the SECOND powerful way you can leverage celebrity infatuation into more qualified financial leads...

The second way is simply using this obsession with celebrity to your advantage by becoming a celebrity in your local area, IN YOUR NICHE. Becoming a celebrity achieves many of the same things you get when you hire a celebrity endorser, but is much more attainable for the average insurance agent or financial advisor

We all know a few very smart business people who have strategically used their own personalities and names to build huge personal fortunes through celebrity status. They know that becoming even a little famous reduces their need to spend money buying leads or lists or advertising that doesn't work.

These celebrities no longer need to advertise their companies or services or cold call or purchase marketing systems. Obvious examples include Donald Trump, Dave Thomas, Oprah, Warren Buffet, Dr. Phil, Richard Branson, and George Zimmer. Celebrities add value to everything they do just by putting their names on things. The thing they all have in common is that they are students of their particular niche and are richly rewarded as a result.

Donald Trump puts his name on a building, and instantly the value of that building jumps by 20-40%. Warren Buffet invests in a company and the value instantly skyrockets. Oprah endorses a book or product on her show or in her magazine and sales go through the roof. Celebrity status is the REAL Midas touch.

A perfect illustration of the Celebrity Midas Touch happened to us recently... My partner and his wife were shopping at a strip mall with a Mens' Warehouse located nearby. They decided to check it out. ("I guarantee it!)

As they were walking in his wife turned to him and said "I feel like when I come here I'm going to see that guy that is on all the commercials." He laughed and said "George Zimmer?" "Yes," she said "I feel like I'm buying from him when I shop here."

Great things happen when you do a good job of turning yourself into a celebrity and putting personality into your marketing? My partner's wife actually felt like she was doing business with a person- an individual who has feelings, personality, family, etc. instead of some cold corporate clone store with 4 walls, some merchandise, and a burning desire to empty your wallet.

George Zimmer won her over.. she was buying from "THAT GUY." You need to become THAT GUY OR THAT GAL... A cliché, but one worth remembering: All things being equal people will do business with people they like...all things not being equal (like price!) people will STILL do business with people they like.

People like George Zimmer. They see him on TV, and hear him say how he cares about how you look. George KNOWS his NICHE, he knows what they think. what they feel.. how much they appreciate help with their appearance. And he does a great job of convincing everyone that "they are going to LOVE how they look." He guarantees it...

It's as if George himself is overseeing the fitting of each and every suit and is going to kick some serious butt to ensure that you look AWESOME. You can be a George Zimmer to YOUR niche and reap the rewards... Celebrity positioning allows you, like George Zimmer, to develop a RELATIONSHIP with prospects without even meeting them. It allows your clients and prospects to brag "My agent/advisor is that guy from the radio. that columnist in the newspaper...that bestselling author.." THAT GUY!

That's fine for George and Oprah, but how does a small business like mine achieve the sort of celebrity that results in lots of exclusive, high-quality leads?

That's a valid question and one which happily, can be answered in four words: "You don't HAVE to." You don't have to get bad and nationwide like Oprah or Angelina Jolie or George Zimmer... You only have to get a LITTLE BIT FAMOUS...maybe only in your own hometown.

Did you know that MACK at Gallery Furniture WILL SAVE YOU MONEY? You do if you grew up anywhere near Houston, Texas. Everyone there can tell you about watching commercials with "Mattress Mack" from Gallery doing exactly what Mom told you never to do .

Yep, there he was... JUMPING ON A BED, fistful of cash in one hand, screaming at the top of his lungs "Gallery Furniture SAVES YOU MONEY!"

People outside of Houston might be a little dismissive of Mack and his bed-jumping ways, but his local celebrity status has made Gallery a top furniture store in the Houston area and allowed Mack to live an enviable lifestyle. The guy knows celebrity positioning and he knows his niche inside out, another important component of celebrity success.

"Know thy niche." We aren't talking about knowing their postal codes or the yearly household income. Those are givens. Even the crummiest sales leads company gives you THAT kind of information.

As a celebrity expert you need to dig deeper...much deeper. You need to be able to read their minds, be able to give solutions to problems that they may be too scared to even voice, but which occupy their every waking moment, know their desires and hopes and dreams.

You must grasp all the nuances of your chosen market: what's entertaining to them, how they spend their off-hours, what foods they like, charities they support... the things that turn them on and off, where they socialize... By doing this, you will avoid some of the more heinous sins of marketing, namely being BORING (a major no-no) and being irrelevant. You'll become your target market's "personal celebrity" and be able to down a lot of the walls that keep them from BUYING