Build Your Brand: Become a Small-Business Celebrity!

Are you a business owner or self-employed professional looking for a competitive edge?  You should consider expanding your personal brand to become a subject-matter celebrity.

Yes -- I mean "celebrity." 

Celeb status isn’t only for movie stars, supermodels, and world-renowned authors anymore.  You need only look around to see an explosion of celebrities -- including bakers, chefs, authors, political pundits, health gurus, financial experts, and even long-haul truckers thanks to reality shows, cable television, and satellite radio. Would you like to join them?  

One business leader believes it can be a simple task to add your name to the “A” list -- and you'll get a lot more than just 15 minutes of fame.

A successful business owner, public relations expert, and radio personality, Marsha Friedman is the author of Celebritize Yourself.  She believes it has never been easier to differentiate yourself from your competition by sharing your expertise with others who may be in search of your wisdom.  

Friedman explains that there are so many tools available at little or no cost to savvy business professionals looking to share their wisdom, increase their visibility, and expand their business reach.  For example, social media, broadcast media, new media, mainstream media, and industry media are just a few of the outlets available to the business owner who wants to become the "go-to" professional in your industry.

Friedman offers two examples of formerly unknown professionals who were able to celebritize themselves: Julia Child and Erma Bombeck. Child took her passion for French cooking and turned it into a culinary dynasty. And Bombeck, a journalist and homemaker, took a three dollar per column job and turned it into nationally-syndicated success and a series of best-selling books. 

Friedman also cites another well-known figure from the financial-services industry. “Suze Orman, I think, is one of the best examples. Here is a woman who started out as a stock broker, but she didn’t want to be just a stock broker.  She really wanted to get to the top her game and she really wanted to be well known, make a lot of money and have a bigger business or a different business," Friedman stated.

"So she started out by writing a book, and continued writing books and had a radio show, and then a television show. Now, she is a household name!”

Friedman believes many business owners have what it takes to share their insights to expand their opportunities: “All it takes is somebody who really does have the expertise. Somebody who truly has a passion to share that expertise,” she added.

“We live in a celebrity driven world today; especially with the explosion of specialty shows on cable television," Friedman said. "There is a place for almost everyone who is an expert whether is home repair, gardening or food. The same thing with satellite radio; there are all these specialty outlets.

"So for anyone who has a business and wants to get to the top of their game it really is a great opportunity to position yourself as an expert.”