Category: Marketing

Here’s the thing: Tiger Woods business isn’t anybody’s business! However, Tiger Woods wouldn’t be Tiger Woods, if no one cared about his business!

There in lies the juxtaposition so many celebrities face. “Just leave me alone. I want my privacy!” they plead.

Many professional athletes have sympathy for Woods, too.

NFL football player, Jason Taylor, of the Miami Dolphins was in the locker room and saw ESPN running a tease about Woods. He reached up and turned off the TV. “Nobody’s damned business,” Taylor said.

Do you really want people to not care about your business Tiger (or Jason)? The reason why athletes and celebrities get mega-endorsement deals is because so many people are so emotionally invested in them. So many people do care about them and their business.

If Tiger endorses Nike and uses their clubs (or gets them used on him) then I want to use them. If he puts his name on it, he must believe in it. And if he believes in it, it must be good enough for me the conventional thinking goes. If I love rapper 50 Cent then why shouldn’t I drink his Formula 50 beverage or buy Britney Spears perfume?

Growing up when I thought the NBA was a legitimate career option, I idolized Michael Jordan. I drank Gatorade, got his sneakers and wore Air Jordan clothes. I tried to look, dress and act like him when I played basketball because I wanted to be like him.

That’s why companies pay gazillions of dollars to celebrities. People emulate highly successful people. They buy and do what highly successful people tell them to do because they aspire to be like them.

Companies only spend the bazillions because it works. Want to know if an infomercial product is selling? If you keep seeing the commercial over and over it’s working!

No one cares about the worst players. And if no one cares about your business, no company is going to want you to endorse their products.

So embrace it Tiger. You certainly can’t fight it at this point!

Ironically, one of my post popular posts “Why you shouldn’t hit the snooze button ever again, according to Tiger Woods“, includes an interesting nugget from him.

He said, “The greatest thing about tomorrow is, I will be better than I am today. And that’s how I look at my life. I will be better as a golfer, I will be better as a person, I will be better as a father, I will be a better husband, I will be better as a friend. That’s the beauty of tomorrow. There is no such thing as a setback. The lessons I learn today I will apply tomorrow, and I will be better.”

How many times can someone say they are going to retire?

Retirement in the sports and entertainment industries has become somewhat of a joke.

Jay-Z convinced us that the Black Album was going to be his last album. He’s released 3 albums since his supposed retirement.

Brett Favre announced his retirement from the Green Bay Packers. He has since gone onto play with the New York Jets and after announcing his retirement yet again – is supposedly under contract with the Minnesota Vikings.

Michael Jordan announced his retirement to pursue baseball and came back to win three NBA championships in a row. And then retired again, only to come back and play for the Washington Wizards.

The examples are endless. And the demand you can create if you’re an artist or sports figure is incredible. Especially, if people believe you.

Everyone wanted to see Mike Tyson’s last fight. Or Michael Jackson’s last tour. His planned European tour quickly sold out all 50 dates.

The more demand you can create, the more money you can command. Everyone wants to see your last hoorah!

And that’s why artists have an advantage over athletes when they ‘retire’ and announce one last tour, concert or CD as opposed to one last season.

But money talks for some people! And enough of it will ignite a comeback!

Or, too little of it will force a retirement.

Who can forget Latrell Sprewell’s public outrage. He said, “I have a family to feed” after the Minnesota Timberwolves offered him a 3-year, $21 million contract extension, which was substantially less than what his then-current contract paid him.

He felt that if he held out he’d get what he wanted. Sprewell’s agent, Bob Gist, said his client would rather retire than play for the NBA minimum salary, telling Sports Illustrated, “Latrell doesn’t need the money that badly. To go from being offered $7 million to taking $1 million would be a slap in the face.”

In February of 2008, Sprewell’s home was up for foreclosure and he was forced to sell his yacht.

I don’t blame him. He has a family to feed!

Ultimately, I think suggesting your retirement whether you’re a boxer or a singer or a basketball player is the fastest way to create demand for your services.

But who can trust when someone ‘retires’ these days? And how many times are we going to fall for it as consumers?

We all want that encore!

But sadly, the only time we can be certain we’re not going to get it is when the artist passes away.

If in fact, they really did…

I love all types of music. I can go from listening to Jane Says by Jane’s Addiction (actually, I can’t get enough of this song lately) to Britney Spears (what can I say? It’s good gym music). I’m intrigued by her and unfortunately, she has turned herself into a ‘Paris Hilton’ type which is not smart because she has more to offer the world than just being fascinating.

So, I was looking forward to watching her MTV documentary and I finally got around to it. What a disappointment!

Here, she had a GIANT opportunity to totally clear the air and dispel all rumors and beliefs. No paparazzi, no reporters trashing her, nothing. Her and me! And I felt like she didn’t say anything! It wasn’t revealing, whatsoever.

I was hoping for a little more wisdom; a little more insight. Instead, she broke down talking about how lonely it is to be her. About how she wants to do nothing more than make music and dance yet 10 minutes later she said all she wants to do is be secluded on an island with a man she loves and her kids.

I wanted more. It almost seemed like the guy asking her these questions was probing too. But nothing!

I think there’s a huge paradox of being one of the most popular celebrities in the world.

On one hand, you expect her (and almost want her) to be this Goddess and ultra confident and untouchable superstar. After all, she’s Britney Spears. Yet, on the other hand, you want to see some vulnerability because it shows that she’s a real person.

I wrote about this with 50 Cent. If he was rapping about being lonely and Toyota’s it just wouldn’t be alluring. That’s why he can get away with rapping about how much money he is making off of his own fans. In fact, we like it!

I don’t care if 50 Cent or Britney Spears are lonely. That’s not what makes them intriguing. I only know each of them as international icons which is exactly why it was so fascinating to watch Britney self-destruct.

In the end, Britney left me feeling that she still has major issues to work through. She still doesn’t know who she is. And it showed. Because I have no idea who she is and she could have totally changed that after an hour of uninterrupted television.

Instead, it seemed as though Elizabeth Arden (the company that puts out her fragrance and sponsored this hour of mindless television) forced her to do this so they can sell a lot her perfume this holiday season. I think (and I could be very wrong), everyone at one point or another has fantasized about what it would be like to be famous.

Unfortunately, in this one hour of television I only learned two things. Always be you. No matter what. (Even if there’s not much depth to you.) And although I could care less about fame it’s not nearly as appealing as it seems.

The ironic part of all of this is that her fragrance is called ‘Fantasy.’

Sadly, about 15 months ago I thought I gave Britney some sound advice. Evidently, she’s not a slave for me and doesn’t read my blog!

According to the merriam-webster dictionary the definition for bonus is: something in addition to what is expected or strictly due: as a: money or an equivalent given in addition to an employee’s usual compensation.

With companies like Lehman Brothers going bankrupt, the emergency sales of Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual and federal rescues for the insurance giant American International Group and the mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac how can the word bonus even come up for discussion?

The fact that our tax dollars are being used to bail out these companies and many others and bonus talk is even going on is completely outrageous.

The sad part is these companies employ hundreds of thousands of people cumulatively but only a tiny percentage of the people in these companies brought this all on us. When I say this; I’m referring to the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. I’m referring to people who almost brought down the entire global financial system.

I’m referring to the companies that are going to get over $700 billion beans from us. And please spare me with, “The Government’s money is not being used for our bonus pool”, is what these companies are saying. I don’t care if my money or their company’s money is being used for a bonus. If they have enough money for a bonus why do they even need our money in the first place?

Now all of these guys who made millions and millions on the way up want money on the way down? Did they distribute their wealth when they were doing so well?

Nobody can make a bad business decision in America anymore? Business failure is just as critical for a free market (like the one I thought we lived in) to succeed.

Not every business can thrive (and survive!). Capitalism creates innovation. Innovation leads to a better standard of living because we get to enjoy a higher quality of products and services. Out with the old. In with the new. Survival of the fittest baby.

Unless, the old, is of course, still better. Either way, the free market dictates everything it wants to see more of.

If old systems and processes and ways of doing business (obviously) aren’t working then let them not work. But what’s the incentive for a company like Well’s Fargo (still doing relatively well) to innovate and not make reckless decisions? Why not go for broke if you’re just going to be saved in the end anyway?

When you save industries like the car industry, or large Wall Street ‘Institutions’ or the airline industry what’s the incentive to innovate?

How come Herb Kelleher (one of my heroes) was able to build Southwest into such a profitable company while other airlines were begging for money?

I do understand if we didn’t bail out some of these companies they wouldn’t just affect the people in these companies. It would affect the entire world.

But there’s got to be a line drawn somewhere. This isn’t a risk free game. Or is it? And how in the world do these companies even have the audacity to give out bonuses?

Thankfully, MyBodyTutor is doing well but I’ll tell you one thing for sure – if I went out of business because I made bad decisions the government certainly wouldn’t give a flying f$$k!

But I’m so lucky to have clients like Wes. Read this blog post of his and this blog post of his. (Actually, read all of his posts at PickOnTheFatKid.com. My goal is to inspire him (and all of my clients) to be inspiring.)

And I’m so lucky to be doing well in this down economy with all this craziness that was brought on by these Wall Street guys.

It’s too bad I’m not like them. They are lucky no matter what.

(Hat tip: This article for making me ticked off enough to write this post and to Evan for also wondering what happened to a true free market economy!)

[Update: Apparently other US Taxpayers feel the same way! Check out this great article from Bloomberg here.]

The other night I happened to be flipping though the channels and stumbled on Snakes On A Plane. I had never seen it and who can resist hearing Samuel Jackson yell, “I have HAD it with these mothaf%$&*#g snakes on this motha%$%#*g plane!”

I never saw this movie, yet I immediately knew what it was going to be about. You know it’s going to be a thriller type movie that entails getting the mothaf*&^%ing snakes off the plane.

I knew what I was getting into. And that’s the idea.

Without anyone telling me anything they made a promise to me. It just so happens that the title was good enough to be able to do that.

When it comes to your business, usually you need more then your name (and tag line) to tell people what you do. You might have website copy or a pamphlet or a business card or all of the above.

In this day and age, sadly when a business keeps their promise it’s shocking. However, some people do expect a company to keep their promises. After all, why assume the worst?

But most people never say anything if they like something (because they expect a certain something – as they should). Think about it. You definitely are a customer of many places because they do something a certain way.

If they changed that certain something you might stop going. For example, when I used to go to the diner under my old building where I lived and I’d order my grilled chicken sandwich or turkey burger, every single time, my man Sammy would bring me like 10 pickles. He knew I loved pickles and I didn’t have to ask him for extra pickles.

Maybe it’s the way you joke around with your clients. Maybe it’s because your clients can relate to you with the stories you tell them. Maybe it’s because you treat them like family. Maybe it’s because you want the best for them…and they know it. Whatever it is.

Most people are too busy to say something nice though.

But if you believe in what you’re doing, and people are coming back and referring clients to you, don’t stop what you are doing!

It could be the smallest thing that people really enjoy…like free pickles. But the idea here is that I grew to expect those pickles.

The idea here is not revolutionary. It’s extremely simple.

Keep doing exactly what you do if people are coming back and referring customers to you. It could be the smallest thing that people love.

And the most important of all:

Keep your mothaf%$&*!g promises!

[My note: Is it possible to plagiarize yourself? Well, I originally wrote this article for Blogtrepreneur.com and it got some awesome and interesting comments. You can read the original piece by clicking here.]

Have you ever seen the gorgeous people on magazine covers, and thought “I know they’re air-brushed, but damn they still look good”?

Or, you may have thought, “If I had an army of people working for me, I could look like that too!”

Well, I recently read an article on Jennifer Lopez which included the following:

Her last album cover alone cost $60,000 in hair and makeup, lighting, photographers, re-touching, etc.

And that’s just what it costs to get the album out the door. Lopez performed on “Good Morning America” earlier this year, and all the costs were absorbed by the label.

Epic had to eat the cost for that entire performance. From her makeup — which typically costs in the neighborhood of $8,000 per day — to the backup singers, to the rigging, lighting and sound.

Makeup at typically $8,000 a day?!

Evidently, the woman requires everything short of flying dogs to get on a stage.

I think it’s safe to say musicians aren’t only selling music.

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