The Alexander Report

The television show American Idol is once again roaring through yet another blockbuster season on Fox Network. Are there marketing lessons buried within the weekly contest that draws millions of television viewers every week? Yes! The same strategies that creates stars on American Idol can help YOU create some star power for your own online business.

Differentiate Yourself - Simon Cowell is often heard telling American Idol contestants that their performance was “totally forgettable.” Well, since American Idol is about more than just vocals – making yourself memorable comes from being talented, original, fresh and contemporary.

The only way to stay alive in the competition is to consistently deliver what the American Idol fans want (such as recent contestant Melinda Doolittle)… week after week. You need to stand out from the pack and stay there. Even as a viewer – when someone asks who was the best on last night’s American Idol, it doesn’t say much for the show when there isn’t a performance that jumps out at you. Often times people are talking more about which performances were down right awful.

Differentiating yourself by showcasing your best gifts and strengths is how you will make yourself memorable – whether you are a contestant on American Idol or marketing yourself online. Your website, your tagline, your email signature and resource box for your articles should all work hard to make your business “memorable.”

Play on Your Strengths - So many American (more…)

By Dina Giolitto

I have never been a fan of Paris Hilton.

I see her parading around in her odd-looking clothing choices, leading her loyal following of giddy anorexic schoolgirls around by their noses, and I think, “Skank.”

I saw Paris condescend to the working class farmers of America, and I didn’t like it at all. So I decided not to watch her show.

But I will say one thing about Paris. She’s got branding down to a science.

First she gets folks talking with that sex tape of hers. Nice hook, Paris.

Then she buddies up with Nicole Richie for the spoiled rich girl’s crash course in Reality 101.

Then she starts saying this one phrase, all the time, “That’s hot.” She says it any time she can’t think of anything else to say, which is often, but she does it with that uppity girl sneer that makes the fellas drool and makes other girls want to imitate it.

Then she gets some show on MTV where she gets to sit on a judging panel and rate young, good looking people’s outfit choices. “That’s hot,” she says, smiling in her dingy way. “That’s hot.” (more…)

Britney Spears(edited photo), originally uploaded by J.V. Alves.

By Sopan Greene

How would you like to sell as much in one year as Britney sells in one day or in one hour? Have you put much thought into how marketing empires are created? If you’re selling anything then you’re a marketer and you should study the biggest successes to follow in their footsteps.

We’ve all heard of branding, but do you do it? Have you branded yourself? If you have, are you expanding your marketing opportunities with your brand?

Once you’ve created a name, built successful marketing campaigns and gotten people to know and like who you and your company are don’t stop there.

The real money is in building multiple streams of income. Once your brand begins to build you can diversify to create your own franchise. Think Star Wars, Harry Potter, the books for “Dummies.” You don’t have to be a celebrity or an acclaimed author to cash in, but we can definitely learn from them.

Here are some examples: (more…)