Why You Should Run Your Business Like You’re in Show Business
by Carrie Hinkel on April 16th, 2008
If you’re searching for some business bling: bigger profits, more customers, an increase in traffic, etc., then start treating your business like you’re in showbiz, baby! What this really means is giving your business its own identity. You’d never see Jim Carey and Robert De Niro competing for the same role. Why? Because they have positioned themselves as different “brands”, or different identities. And you should do the same thing for your company or products. Having a branded image will help your company to stand out in an already overcrowded marketplace.
Take a look at your competition and find your “angle”. Something different and unique. Chances are, your competition is all very similar, and are using the same old selling points to attract customers. Just like any successful actor knows, getting people to remember your name, your look, or your image is what keeps them coming back for more. And the same holds true for companies and their products. Any car can get you from place to place, but certainly a Hummer has a different image than a Volvo or a Ferrari. And it’s that definitive image that has each brand standing out in the marketplace and appealing to a certain group of customers.
Once you have decided on your company image, it’s time to play the role of agent and start promoting it. Hard work can pay off with “gigs” in magazines, newspapers, local news, blogs, websites, etc. Just because you never worked for a fancy Madison Avenue PR firm doesn’t mean you don’t have the chops to get your company mentioned again and again and again. Start sending out press releases, email blog writers, and email sell sheets to editors and online reviewers. And just like in show business, it just takes that one “role” or mention, to start a snowball effect all across the nation. We all remember Alex Tew, the Million Dollar Homepage guy - that all started from a few blog mentions!
You’ll find that doing PR for your company gets easier once you get past the first few. You can then use those mentions as examples to show other potential media platforms, showing them how easy it is to write a sensational piece about your company or product. And, more importantly, that there is a newsworthy component that readers are interested in.
So now that you know the real star potential of your company, it’s time to play the role of agent and get your destined-for-stardom company in the spotlight. Most business owners never think of their company in this way, which may also be the reason why most businesses within an industry all seem to market themselves in the exact same way. Now that you have the methods to make your business shine, you’ll need a scrapbook to hold all the magazine and newspaper clippings!