Last week, best-selling author and former Mac evangelist Guy Kawasaki launched his latest book Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions to a packed audience at the South by South Festival in Austin, Texas. Three hours later, wine expert Gary Vaynerchuk took to the main stage to talk about his latest book, The Thank You Economy, resulting in a standing ovation and a long queue of fans waiting to meet their hero.
Kawasaki is also author of The Art of the Start and Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging and Outmarketing Your Competition. Vaynerchuk has written one previous book, Crush It, and gained a profile when he began video blogging about wine. He grew his family business from $4 million to $60 million in annual revenue from 1997 to 2008.
Along with the likes of Tim Ferriss, best known as author of The Four-Hour Work Week - but who was at the festival plugging his new book The Four-Hour Body - these authors are the celebrities of the business world.
They have unashamed fans who will wait patiently at book signings or summon the courage to ask questions in front of thousands of people, often just so they can say: "Oh by the way, I'm a huge fan" at the end of it. More important, from a business perspective, these are the customers who buy their books, products or services - and tell other people about them. It's not just about feeding their egos, it's about dollars and sense. Being a celebrity in the business world is about smart marketing.
Combining expertise with voice
Ohio University PhD candidate Shane Tilton, who researches the future role of communication technologies within society, gave a short presentation at South by South West called "Nanocelebrity: How to Combine Expertise with Voice", the factors often associated with a celebrity are reach, content and personality.
The authors above have all three in spades. When it comes to reach, you can certainly reach a lot of people when your book is a best-seller. As for content, have you seen the amount of data in Tim Ferriss's book or Gary Vaynerchuk 1000 video blog posts? And there is no lack of personality - Kawasaki is a consummate speaker; Ferriss had the audience riveted when he explained how to master the 15 minute female orgasm; and Vaynerchuk's expletive-infused speech contained 32 "f***ks", 24 "s**ts", 6 "ar**h**les and 1 "d**kf*ce". (yes, one fan counted).
The rise of the micro-celebrity
However, you don't have to be a celebrity on this scale in order to apply the same marketing principles to your business. According to Tilton, thanks to the reach and power of online mediums - such as social media and microblogs - we are seeing the emergence the micro-celebrity.
Tilton says the micro-celebrity is one that is focused on content creation, such as lifecaster iJustine, otherwise known as Justine Ezarik who creates Youtube videos. some of which focus on Apple. Another example is Australia's Natalie Tran, whose comedic home-made videos have made her Youtube's most subscribed user in Australia.
These micro-celebrities have gained a following as big and as loyal as celebrities who have achieved fame through traditional media such as television and film.
And now ... the nano-celebrity
Tilton also identifies the nano-celebrity. He says these nano-celebrities usually have niche appeal to a specialised audience. For example, you might have expertise in open-source platforms, or perhaps you've mastered a specialised form of yoga, or maybe you're an accountant who specialises only in expatriate tax loopholes. That is, you may not want the fame and profile of Tran or Ezarik, but you're well known in your community. It's an ideal path for many small business owners who want to experiment with non-traditional forms of marketing.
This opportunity is possible thanks to the internet. So how do you take advantage of this?
1. Publish and create content
To showcase your expertise, you need to publish and create content. Of course, you can still go the traditional route and speak at conferences and appear in industry journals. But you need to publish content online if you want your ideas or spread and if you want to be findable on Google. Thankfully, these days you can publish at the touch of a button through multiple channels:
(a) Put your articles on your website
(b) Keep your community up to date with your opinion via your blogs
(c) Use a micro-blog like Twitter to share links and resources
(d) Put your conference presentations on Slideshare or Sliderocket.
(e) Publish audio podcasts through iTunes
(f) Publish online video on Youtube, Blip.TV, Vimeo or any number of video sites
2. Share other people's content
Become a "go to" source of information on your area of expertise. Instead of just pushing your own content, share useful links and resources from other leaders in your industry.
I know some business owners who won't share content generated by other people, claiming they don't want to send leads away from themselves and potentially into the arms of their competition. This is short-sighted. That's because if you only push yourself ad nauseam, people will get sick of this heavy-handed marketing approach. Instead, become a useful and reliable resource - and your community will keep returning to you.
3. Style your online personality
Before you get your hackles up, I don't mean you should create an online personality that's different to your real one. Indeed, your online personality should be authentic and real. When I refer to styling your online personality, I mean you should be acutely aware of what you publish online. Because when it's "out there" on the internet, it's there to stay. Forever.
Sure, you can always delete posts or drunken Tweets that you regret later, but you never know if someone's taken a screen grab of it. Just ask Olympian Stephanie Rice, fashion designer Kenneth Cole or writer Catherine Deveny.
While chances are that you're unlikely to let loose with offensive remarks, also be aware of the image you are trying to portray. If you want to position yourself as an expert on bespoke tailoring or back pain, are you tweeting too much about what you had for lunch or how annoyed you are at your bank? (Note: there's nothing wrong with commenting about these topics, but if your Twitter account is for business purposes then consider the image you want to leave with people.)
The power to spread your message is now easier than ever. The technology is simple. The medium is free or low cost. If you gain a foothold before everyone else does, you'll be ahead of your competition.
What are your thoughts on becoming a nano-celebrity in your field?
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