Posts Tagged ‘Richard Branson’

The Value of Free Marketing: Publicity

With all sorts of marketing tools available, it’s easy to forget that basic marketing tools work just as well – and sometimes they work even better.

We are talking very basic marketing. So basic, you might slap yourself on the head when you hear what it is.

Publicity.

See? It’s a very simple thing. And free!

Now you may be wondering, “What could I possibly do for my business that generates so much publicity that it could replace an advertising campaign?”

Here are two examples to jump start your brainstorming:
Tourism Queensland took out an advisement to recruit an “island caretaker” willing to spend six months exploring the land and waters around the Great Barrier Reef for $150,000. Exploring by scuba diving and taking in the magnificent views every day…and get paid $150,000? Rough life.

The post, titled ‘The Best Job in the World,” required the chosen candidate to move into a rent-free three-bedroom villa, complete with pool, on Hamilton Island.

The publicity stunt generated tens of millions of dollars in free publicity for tourism in the Australian state of Queensland.

Another example: Sir Richard Branson was in Las Vegas and there was a video of him jumping
off the Palms Resort Fantasy Tower in a tuxedo…with a harness.

All the news channels and newspapers were out to videotape the event that he was celebrating :his new Virgin Atlantic flight from San Francisco to Las Vegas.

That day Richard Branson received hundreds of thousands of dollars in  no-cost advertising.

Those are just some ideas and examples as to how free, massive publicity can generate massive leads and results. Great ideas like these are just some of the ideas generated in a free business coaching session.

Should you become an “outlier”?

How do successful entrepreneurs like Brad Sugars or Richard Branson or any great celebrity achieve so much?

Maybe it’s because they decided being “normal” and getting “normal” results isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

So much of the culture in any country is centered around people being more “normal” … but to achieve abnormally great success, maybe you HAVE to start BE-ing more “abnormal” …

Now that doesn’t mean becoming strange or eccentric … unless that entails developing a mindset that focuses on the positives and what you want … instead of the negatives and what you don’t want in your life.

Is this easy?

Maybe it’s simple, but it’s not easy.

It’s also probably why so few people make it into the top 10%, top 5% or top 1% of their professions or every fully realize the full potential of their earning ability.

The ubiquitous … and possibly nefarious … bell curve. Getting into the 90% percentile may mean developing new habits … like looking up new words you may not be familiar with!

The ubiquitous … and possibly nefarious … bell curve. Getting into the 90% percentile may mean developing new habits … like looking up new words you may not be familiar with!

While culture wants to put you in the middle of the “bell curve” with all the other “average” thinkers, earners, doers, etc. … to get into the top 10% … you have to think, do and be different than everyone else.

That may mean extra phone calls or research at work while your colleagues are enjoying an after-work outing to the pub or bar, or turning off the TV and developing new sales or computer skills that can leverage your efforts at work or in your new or current entrepreneurial venture.

Years ago, I remember a print ad for a car maker that read, “Disobey the law of averages.”

I don’t know how many cars it sold, but it’s still great advice for getting to the top.

What do these 3 men have in common?

Angry Donald Trump

Donald Trump

Richard Branson

Richard Branson

Bill Gates (Lecture)

Bill Gates

According to science – more than you would think?

The nature versus nurture question has sparked debate in the business world. Is being an entrepreneur something you are born with, or something that can be learned?

I remember when studying a professor professing that medical science had found the specific chemical that exists in entrepreneurs.

Googling just now I found this excerpt from a recent article:

Scientists have said successful small business owners have a different chemical make-up in their brain and now say that chemistry could be replicated in a pill to help other entrepreneurs become successful.

Last year, scientists at Cambridge University in the UK made the discovery of what apparently made successful small business owners different than those who could not make it work.

Barbara Sahakian, the researcher who led the study told Fortune Small Business that it might be possible to create an “entrepreneur drug” that could help make people better small business owners by changing the way they would deal with certain situations.

“Entrepreneurs must be able to tolerate risk. At some stage you have to take that little leap of faith and say, ‘This is going to work, and I’m doing this,’” Sahakian told the news provider. “And cognitive flexibility is important because an entrepreneur has to solve problems, and sometimes your first idea for a solution doesn’t work.”

So does this mean that I could soon take a pill to be a successful entrepreneur?

I am not sure I subscribe 100% to the “nature” side of the debate. After all it does not explain why countries have different levels of entrepreneurship.

I tried searching on Brad’s views on the topic and found this YouTube video.

Apparently it is not a chemical in the brain or where you are born – it is a ladder. I am heading down to the local hardware store now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X9RESH9kVM

Brad Sugars Business Is Booming Tour