Jessica Simpson, Madonna, Paris Hilton.
Love them or hate them, these ladies are the main power brokers for a gem that is more rare and precious today than diamonds: attention.
There are powerful self-promotion lessons to be learned from these ladies.
Here are 5 PR Power tips you can apply to get your business and ideas the attention and name recognition they deserve.
1. Let your personality shine
Drop the grey, corporate talk now, let your own unique personality shine through.
Share more about your own story. What personal challenges did you have to overcome to get to where you are today? Are you natural in what you do? When did you realize you were going to make this your chosen career?
2. Share your problems and challenges
Jessica Simpson’s popularity skyrocketed when news of her ruined marriage broke. We easily relate to others who are facing issues that we ourselves struggle with.
So inspire your target audience to keep working to overcome their challenges by sharing your own personal battles and triumphs.
3. Develop your own following, who can share your story for you.
The average citizen can give you a brief description of the lives of Paris, Madonna and Jessica in fifty words or less. Are you leveraging the experiences of your satisfied customers to tell your story?
When a client is satisfied with your services, get more than a verbal thank you.
Have them send you a letter, preferably with a photo of them using your product, that you can use as a testimonial.
4. Move beyond the boring traditional boundaries
Madonna has successfully reinvented herself decade after decade by taking calculated risks, pushing the envelope. Likewise, she can raise her profile by stepping out of her industry’s soapbox. Support local charities with more than just a check, start your own awards service, start a podcast. Remember that no one ever talks about plain vanilla.
5. Escape the perfection trap
Can you name any major talents that Paris Hilton has?
She’s a good actress and supporting singer at best, but she doesn’t let that stop her from doing her job.
Stop waiting for your ideas, projects to be perfect, they never will be.
Do your best to get your ideas out there and let your audience tell you what’s good enough.
As the level of advertising noise and daily distractions increase, it becomes increasingly difficult to find a way to get noticed in your market.
Free advertising is now even more valuable than paid advertising as your audience becomes more limited, ad-weary and cynical.
So what’s a hardworking author, real estate agent, chiropractor or small business owner to do to get a piece of the advertising gold mine, if they don’t have the family fortune to hire a publicist with a monthly advance of $10K?
Fortunately, with the rise of web 2.0 and user-generated content, web 2.0 advertising is turning many mom-and-pop stores into local backyard celebrities.
The key is the ability to win the web2.0 advertising game. The bottom line in the free web 2.0 advertising game is creating an effective profile on MySpace.
The best part is that MySpace is free to join and you can set up your own profile in five minutes or less, with a host of free tools that MySpace puts at your fingertips.
I see you inside.
