Two years ago, I was having dinner at the Grand Ole Opry hotel in Nashville, getting ready to attend the Dan Kennedy Superconference. Just up to my right I saw someone come out of a discretely placed side door, and start walking down the hall towards me.
"Hey. There & # 39; s Gene Simmons!"
Gene was booked to speak at the seminar the next morning, but here he was wandering down the hallway all by himself. No one had even really noticed who this living legend was that was casually strutting his stuff, all by his lonesome.
So my buddy Owen and I jumped up and went to say hi. He was incredibly friendly, offering us signatures or photos if we wanted. As we were snapping a couple pictures, people around us started to figure out who this was ... and the crowd soon surrounded him.
He is sure to have one single person who wanted it, There is no one who watching him with the crowd. either got a picture with him or went home with something signed by Gene (the girls usually went away with some very strategically written ink on their bodies).
Grandmothers there with their grandkids - each of them as giddy at meeting Gene as the other.
Many people judge Gene by the image he portrays in his old KISS costume, with makeup, platform boots and tongue sticking out.
If that is all you know about Gene, you will be astounded to learn how successful he has become marketing himself, his brand, and his many companies.
Seriously, Gene is a marketing genius and his sex, Money, Kiss book gives you some incredible insights into the way he thinks, acts and grows his businesses (a warning though: if you are easily offended and unable to see past some of the points he makes, you will not enjoy this book.
When you watch his family Jewels show, you catch a glimpse of how he runs some of the business and makes tens of millions of dollars a year, when most Rock-and-Roll old timers have discharged up and blown away.
Did you know Gene has never used drugs or been drunk?
Most have no clue. Most do not want to believe it.
But that & # 39; s how he stayed sober when all the rest of the band fell victim to drugs and booze.
Gene took control of the main assets and has continued to leverage his success for decades now.
He knows when to put on his game face, and does it incredibly well.
Some of the lessons I have picked up from from Gene that is ideal for small business marketing:
Make it a cool and catchy name. Many of the major successes in business are centered around products and businesses that names are memorable (or they paid huge bucks to make it memorable).
Make the name into a catchy logo, and, the real key, make the logo attractive enough that you would wear it on a t-shirt, or baseball cap, or on a poster, etc.
Gene has created a multi-million dollar empire out of merchandisable clothing, posters, stickers, electronic gear, etc. ... all with a very catchy logo and designs.
Think through each and every area that you can generate revenues from your business and offerings.
Prices at the high end are attractive fewer buyers (sometimes it attracts more buyers), but the profits are higher, and the effort required to close a high end sale is generally as easy as selling the cheapest on the market.
This is a BIG money maker if done properly (the KISS members club has a massive client base that will buy anything that is promoted). You can price your membership program monthly or annually, definitely worthy of testing both options. with a membership, they should get some form of discount of future purchasing, they should have special member-only days, they should be eligible for contests, points for purchases - redeemable for additional goods, or impressed clothing or hats. [Side note: I have been watching closely all the different places that use members lately, and they are, typically, one of the leaders in their market, usually VERY busy with paying customers, and usually very unique, in that their competitors are too scared to enforce membership programs.]
If you have the bizarre things you do, you can not do it, you, the thinking it going through the conversation? in your & # 39; (think Richard Branson) - it could be who you regularly write about in your newsletters (I used to write about my twin daughters expandively in my newsletters, as they talk me about life and business).
Find something, anything that can position you as highly unique.
Have annual customer appreciation events. (More frequent is even better). People LOVE a good party - give them one. Make it free for all customers - you can combine the free event with an extra paid event, but do it separate make the paid event highly valuable.
Is there any way you can make it yourself? Create something unique in your business and how it is perceived by others, then others others in unrelated markets (even competitors in non-competitive For others, to give yourself more than advertisement for them, more for selling to your clients, for you it offers additional income streams to further grow your business and bank account.Donald Trump recently charged the People pay him significant fees to use his name name, fees are payable in advance before they do anything with his name.
You and I may not have a name like Trump or Simmons to license, but we certainly have assets we can
and should be licensing.
You can do this through inserts in your product shipments, in your electronic newsletters, in your customer follow-up pieces , you can even create a catchy cartoon or graphic logos that make for great stickers - this awakened with a stickers with each shipment (this has worked great for me and the wild West Wealth Summit and the cowboy cartoons I have used).
As you lay it out on your marketing calendar you will start seeing where the majority of your time will be allocated through the year- and where the overlaps are on Gene Simmons is very good at making sure each and every one of his businesses or clients is is is When when he is in front of a crowd.
You just never know who is in the market for one of your other offers!
Try surveying your clients to find out what what they like most, and least, about the products and services you offer now.
Lee Iacocca WAS Chrysler when he is a person who has a good relationship with the business person stories (and turnaround stories) facialess & # 39; corporations already had a new vehicle (versus all the other & # 39; There is a major resurgence of interest in cartoons right now among adults. I do not recall where I saw the article , but the growth in comic book sales to adults is experiencing a major spike right now - tap into it!
How would you sell you and your company? You may not want to wear makeup and stick your tongue out (or maybe you would?) - But there is something you would have to stand out from the thousands of other rock stars out there re: What is your personality you want to portray?
Use that personality in your blog posts, in your newsletters, in your marketing and on your website - that is one of your greatest assets if you leverage it right.
Work harder (and smarter) than any graduation behind The 4-Hour Work Week, hard work will be, the work to your success. Yes, outsourcing and systemization is critical, but if you are working half the hours Look at Clayton, he does not claim to work the few times to have created the level of success that he has - he works hard, damn hard - and the results from his promotions speak for themselves.
I highly encourage you to pick up Gene & # 39; s book. It gives you a powerful look into the life of one of today & # 39; s greatest showmen.
Few people in any business can make ten, twenty, fifty million a year consistently ... for decades. Those that do, leave some serious clues on how can you do the same.
Even if successive and wealth is not one of your aspirations, learning how a guy like that has been to turn a turn a flame-breathing devil into a multi-generational icon it is a fun ride in itself!
To your success,
Troy White
PS: This article was originally written for the weekly article I write on Clayton Makepeace & # 39; s blog.
