Celebrity Leverage >>

Step Into the Spotlight!

I just finished reading a great new book by my friend Tsufit, "Step Into the Spotlight! A Guide to Getting Noticed."

If you yearn to stand out in a crowd, then this book is a must-read.

It's a fresh, fun, fast-paced book that reveals the secrets to stardom and showbiz tricks of the trade that any business (or anyone) can use to stand out and get noticed.

I highly recommend it.

But don't just take my word for it.

Look what others say about "Step Into the Spotlight!":

"A necessary and delightful book."
- Tom Peters, Co-Author of "In Search of Excellence"

"This book cuts to the chase. Getting noticed is everything; not getting noticed is oblivion. It's must reading."
- Jack Trout, Co-Author of "Positioning"

"We live in a celebrity-driven world and Tsufit tells you how to take advantage of that fact."
- Al Ries, Co-Author of "The Origin of Brands"

"It takes a star to teach a star and it takes a star to want to learn stardom."
- Jay Conrad Levinson, Author of "Guerilla Marketing"

"We'd be fools not to pay close attention."
- Robert Cialdini, Author of "Influence"

Get Tsufit's "Step Into the Spotlight" today!

Stephen King on Celebrity Book Endorsements

In my Celebrity Book Endorsements Toolkit, I teach writers exactly how to approach celebrities to ask for book endorsements (this assumes, of course, that you've written a book).

This weekend, Stephen King's column in Entertainment Weekly caught my eye, because it's aptly titled "Fast Blurb Nation."

"I've only blurbed three or four movies in my time, but I've lent my name to perhaps a hundred books.

The first one, I admit, wasn't very good (in fact, it was pretty terrible), but that was over 30 years ago and I was flattered out of my socks just to be asked.

Since then, I've done it only for books I honestly loved, and for a very simple reason. Early on, nobody blurbed any of mine.

"Carrie," "Salem's Lot," and "The Shining" were published before the art of blurbing had been perfected.

In the old days, children, the back cover of novels was usually reserved for a black and white photograph of the author (often holding a cigarette and trying to look cosmopolitan). Nowadays, the back cover tends to be Blurb City.

"And really, maybe that's not so bad. Young writers and filmmakers need a hand up, because it's a hard world out there.

That alone doesn't justify a blurb, but in in most cases, good work does. It isn't just about the artist, either.

A blurb is sometimes a better way to point people toward the good stuff than a 2500-word review. It's certainly more direct."

So if you've written a book or are in the process of writing one, ask Stephen King for blurb. If he likes your book, you may just get one!

Oprah's Big Endorsement: New Earth Teleseminar

Oprah's live teleseminar book endorsement last night on Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth" ran a little short... on bandwidth.

But who can blame her? She had 500,000 people on the call!

Most marketers would freak out if over 1,000 people called in, even using services like Xiosoft's Instant Teleseminar that let's you conduct a phone teleconference with a 2,000 line Webcast.

Here's what O had to say:

"Harpo Productions, Inc., Move Networks and Limelight Networks recognize that interactive Internet broadcasting to a mass audience is still an emerging medium, and we’re proud to have been pioneers in pushing the industry forward. We deeply regret that some of our audience did not have an optimal viewing experience and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. The first session of the webinar will be available in its entirety for viewing on Oprah.com or for downloading as a podcast on Oprah.com or iTunes (later today)."

The problem didn't stop "A New Earth" from staying at #1 on Amazon!

And according to Publishers Weekly, "The book holds the record for the most copies ever shipped by Putnam USA in a four-week period -- a total of 3.45 million."

Why Consumers Believe Celebrity Endorsements

I just finished reading Pat O'Bryan's new book, "Your Portable Empire" about how to make money anywhere while doing what you love.

In it, Pat has an interesting perspective on celebrity endorsements:

"When you see an athlete promoting an automobile, you're seeing a psychological principle in operation.

"In your mind, you may already have a relationship with the athlete.

"If he tells you to buy a certain automobile, he sets up a quandry for you:

"To retain your relationship with the athlete, you have to believe what he says.

"If you use your critical thinking ability to question what he's saying, you run the risk of losing your relationship with the athlete -- and you value that relationship."

Bill Zanker & The Learning Annex

How did the Learning Annex grow to be so huge? Two words: Celebrity Leverage.

As Bill Zanker, Founder of the Learning Annex, recently told Inc. Magazine: "We add celebrity."

Inc. says, "In business classes, that could mean Russell Simmons or Master P on the music business.

"For real estate and wealth, it's the likes of George Foreman and Tony Robbins and, most of all, Donald Trump, Zanker's keynote speaker. [Zanker co-authored Trump's new book, 'Think Big and Kick Ass'].

"Zanker recently inked a deal to do tours for the stars of The Apprentice and Survivor and is already prepping a second major seminar tour."

* Inc. Magazine, January 2008, Page 98.