The Slightly Famous You

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by Steven Van Yoder

Some business owners seem able to attract clients and customers by magic. Their marketing seems effortless: they may not have made a cold call in years, they may not spend a dime on advertising. Yet somehow they’re regularly featured in newspapers and magazines and get invited to speak at conferences. Everyone knows their name, and they get all the business they can handle. It’s almost as though they were famous.

In fact, they are, but not in the way movie stars and athletes are famous--they’re just slightly famous. Just famous enough to make their names come to mind when people are looking for a particular product or service, and they reap the benefits. They get more business—not only more, but the right kind of business—and they don’t have to work so hard to get it.

Want to join them and enjoy this ideal state of affairs, where customers come to you? You can, but it may require a new way of thinking and a new marketing strategy. And though it may seem effortless to the outside observer, it does require work.

The Slightly Famous You
In a crowded marketplace, where your potential clients and customers have lots of choices, you can stand out by being just slightly famous. This is the exact opposite of mass marketing. It's not about being all things to all people, but being a mini-celebrity to the right people. It’s about targeting your market and developing a reputation as a great resource—trustworthy, knowledgeable and close at hand.

Your goal is to become the lord of a small, profitable domain of your choosing. Within that domain, you will attract more customers and clients, including those you want most.

Naturally, such results require thoughtful and consistent efforts. These efforts will take many different forms, but underlying and guiding them are just six basic principles:

1. Targeting the best prospects
2. Developing a unique market niche
3. Positioning your business as the best solution
4. Maintaining your visibility
5. Enhancing your credibility
6. Establishing your brand and reputation

Working on these principles is your recipe for getting out of the anonymity trap, creating a slightly famous you, and building a successful business.

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Credit:
Steven Van Yoder is the author of Get Slightly Famous: Become a Celebrity in Your Field and Attract More Business with Less Effort.

Click here to read the book and learn about "slightly" famous teleclasses, workshops, and marketing strategies to help small businesses and solo professionals attract more business.

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