The Ideas Blog

By Jim Connolly
In part one of this article, we looked at the power of celebrity and how your business and marketing can benefit massively from it. I showed you to to become ‘almost famous’ through media exposure; and how such exposure can lead to literally transformational marketing results. If you have not already done so, I strongly recommend you read part one of this marketing guide before proceeding!

Part one can be found by clicking here!

In the second and final part of this marketing guide , I am going to show you some other ways for you and your business to benefit from the power of celebrity; based around endorsements.

In the past we have all made bad purchasing decisions! We have all bought something that was either not as good as the advertising suggested or which did not live up to the salesperson’s promises. In order to avoid making the same mistake the next time we purchase something, we need reassurance. The most powerful reassurance is the kind we get from someone we know - or know of!

Celebrity endorsements
Following decades of marketing research into “why people buy”, we know that potential clients treat the endorsement of a celebrity as a short-cut in their decision-making process. If someone they have heard of says that yours is a great product, the are massively more likely to buy from you! That’s why huge companies like Nike pay Tiger Woods millions to endorse their products. It is also why a regional double glazing company will pay a former ‘soap star’ a few thousand to do exactly the same on a regional basis. Another form of celebrity endorsement can be achieved if the media endorse your product or service. This is covered in more detail in part one of this article.

Industry-insider endorsements
Endorsements need not come from a ‘celebrity’ in the traditional sense of the word; they can come from people who are only well-known within a particular industry or profession. So long as the person is known to, and preferably respected by your target clients, their endorsement can help you dramatically increase the volume and value of your future sales! It is marketing gold dust!

Company endorsements
For small business, perhaps the most powerful type of endorsement does not come from a person at all - but from a well-known organization instead! Small businesses often find it really challenging to gain credibility in the mind of potential clients. A superb way to effortlessly overcome this (and gain an enormous marketing advantage over your competitors), is to get the endorsement of a well-known organization. You just need to make sure that they are, or have been, a client or customer of your business and that you have their permission to list their name in your marketing as a client or customer of yours - that’s it!

The reason endorsements are such a powerful tool is that you gain not only from the celebrity factor that I mentioned in part one of this article, but also from something known as ‘association’. When your company is associated in the mind of a potential client, with a ‘famous’ company or person; you are elevated in their perception!

An example of ‘association’
A great example of the power of association, came a few years ago when I attended a charity function and spent some time in the company of Olivia Newton-John. Whilst we were together, a chap asked Olivia for her autograph, which she willingly gave him. However, he then passed ME his autograph book and asked me to sign it too!

ME? - Why me? I’m just a marketing man!
Because I was speaking to (associating with) such a well-known person, there was an automatic assumption that I must be either important, influential or famous too. When you are associated with a person or business, people mentally place you in the same ‘group’ as that person or business. This is why the power of association is so great - it will instantly transform the way people think about you and your business! So, if you have already worked with a well-known organization and providing they are happy for you to do so, you should always let future clients know that you have worked with them.

Once you have permission to use your endorsements - USE them!
Your endorsements should appear on your web site; in a ‘testimonials‘ section as well as within the actual ‘copy’ that sells your product. For example, I placed endorsements on my web site for my Motivation Master Class audio program; in the testimonials section as well as the actual online store. When these endorsements were posted on the site, sales increased by almost 100%! As well as your web site, put your endorsements in your brochure, your marketing letters and also within any relevant press releases that you send.

If you do not already provide your services to; a celebrity, a well-known industry person or a well-known organization, there are many ways to do so. The most common is to send one of your products to a suitably situated celebrity or organization free of charge; in an effort to gain their approval and permission to quote their approval as an endorsement. This may or may not suit you based on the cost of your product etc, however, it is a proven route to generating endorsements.

You may decide to send your product into a magazine, TV or radio show or web site for a 14-day ‘review’ - after which point the product is returned to you and can then be re-sent to another media outlet. The choice is yours.

What next?
Make a ‘dream list’ of those who you would like to see endorsing your services and then get in touch with them. You CAN handle the process of developing your PR yourself. However, the single most effective way of getting the best results is to employ the services of a proven PR expert. Find a consultant or company with a checkable track record - after all, you do not want to use a PR firm with no endorsements do you?

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PS:
If you found this useful, there are dozens of other free articles, guides and even a free audio program on my main website: www.jimconnolly.com