Fame and fortune are as hard to find as a lightning strike. ~ P.N. Elrod
Fame and Fortune. Those two words always seem to be married together, especially when referring to those whom we all assume to be wealthy and successful. You know ...The Rich and Famous.
But is that always the case?
As business owners, can we really achieve fame and fortune?
Or perhaps the better question is -- should we pursue fame and fortune?
We've all heard about movie stars who surely are famous enough, but end up filing bankruptcy and losing their mansions. It turns out fame doesn't always equate to financial success.
Fame is fleeting ... so they say. And yet the pursuit of fame seems to be the most recent marketing strategy for business owners who are trying to build and grow their businesses.
To their demise, many entrepreneurs and business owners have wrongly assumed that becoming famous is automatically going to pay their bills.
To be fair, the newest online trends have been instrumental in creating this dangerous way of thinking. Social media has been the biggest perpetrator here.
Facebook Likes, followers, fans, friends -- the pursuit of popularity and fame has overtaken common sense.
There is even a name for measuring this social media activity -- vanity metrics.
Really? Since when has vanity paid your bills?
One main problem with the social media craze is that you can't control it. For example, you can't control if someone is going to Like your post, page or whatever. You can only hope and pray when you use social media strategies.
Strategies and systems for building and growing a business should involve activities that you can control.
According to Sam Ovens, an international digital marketing consultant, what you focus on is critical for the success of a business.
As Ovens shares:
There are people out there who will help you with branding. They'll have people do your logo. They might do a website and, of course, focus on social media. I think that stuff's important and you should definitely have that. But the piece that I focus on is just acquiring clients.
My activities are systems that typically generate phone calls, strategy sessions or consultations. I'll set up a marketing funnel for somebody that will get them scheduled calls with potential clients at a measurable price. Whereas a lot of other people will just help people with their image or how good something looks. Or they'll help them with social media strategy which just grows their fan base. That's the key difference.
My only concern is client acquisition and I don't really touch on any of the other branding stuff.
Ovens also feels that focusing on being known by 100,000 people using social media leads to the detriment of your own business and your clients. You'll spend more of your time feeding the needs of that fan base, rather than helping your clients and getting even more clients.
The properly focused systems and strategies such as those used by Sam Ovens lead to predictability of income.
In turn, predictability of income leads to many positive things in a business owner's life, such as lower stress levels and better quality of life.
So let me ask you. If you're a business owner, which would you choose? Fame or Fortune?