Marketing Mondays: Get Internet Famous
Last night as we drove home from the Mane Event, my thoughts centered on the various clinicians who had taught over the weekend. For one in particular – Jonathan Field – the window of fame is currently wide open, most recently, propelled by his appearance in a Blackberry Bold commercial. As horsepeople we all appreciate the positive light shone on the horse world through this commercial, but the 75 second film has really brought Field's training program to the center of a world of attention.
This led me to thinking about internet fame. It may be unpredictable, fickle and short-lived, but if you have the opportunity to gain internet fame for yourself, your horse business, or your program, it's likely worthwhile to rein it in for as long as you can to achieve exposure for your business. It's about getting your brand out there!
Jayne Wayne of Jaynewaynedesign.com, a California-based horseperson and web designer, has blueprinted the websites of the like of Teddy Robinson, Sandy Collier, California Cow Horse and many more. I've excerpted this text from her site to share with you, her tips on what it takes to get us on the road to \”internet fame.\”
Focus on what might make you famous. While fame and becoming famous can be an elusive concept, what have you got to offer other people that will set you above the online masses?
Define your idea of “fame”. Do you want to be famous everywhere for being an amazing personality, a tech goddess, or the most followed social butterfly? Or are you more focused, hoping to become famous for being the best in a particular area, such as being the best blogger on women’s fashion, the best video creator of science fiction spoofs, the best nature photographer online, etc.? Determine your style of fame so that you can remain focused on your online purpose.
- If you’re wanting to earn a living from being famous online, remember that a lot of “Internet fame” leads to speaking engagements, books, and a following of people keen to trust your expertise.
Publicize yourself. Publicize your IM screen names, URLs, and Net addresses everywhere and often, and reply to everyone. Treat the web like your house: when people knock, be there to answer.
- Use real photos of yourself for avatars and profiles. People will want to be reassured that they’re connecting with the “real you”. Remember that the brand is “you”.
Build a website with personality if you want to build a fan base. People need to feel that you – and not an anonymous webmaster – are personally available at least on a regular basis, if not daily. Make sure to update every single day, and remember: if it’s not interesting, users will click to the next page and move on.
- Update your site with new audio and video clips as often as you can. Give your visitors stuff! For example, give them video, streaming audio, images for their PSP, etc. If you want to offer rich content, you’re going to have to spend a lot of time and a little bit of money, but it’s worth it.
Upload something that goes viral. Although it can be difficult to predict what will and won’t rock the socks off viewers, give things a go and publicize them well.
Realize the fleeting nature of fame. Fame comes and goes. Even movie celebrities have their zenith and tumble into obscurity or have their downward spiral “problems” splashed across the tabloids or blog equivalents. It always comes back to working it constantly, staying fresh, and enchanting your readers, followers and viewers. If you’re up to it, you might be able to maintain your online fame for a long while. Aim for fame of the sort that will cause you to be written up in the annals of Wikipedia, proving you’ve reached adequate notoriety. In this way, your fame will live on unassisted, unless someone deletes you, of course, but that’s the internet for you!
If you have a chance, check out Jaynewaynedesign.com, and read her entire piece on internet fame here.
Happy Monday!
