ESPN is not your father's sports channel anymore! I remember when Bob Ley, Charlie Steiner, Chris Berman, Beano Cooke and Dick Vitale ruled the airwaves of this new channel on my cable box which was brown with a not so long wire. I remember the guy that came into my parent's house to bring the outside world of cable TV and ESPN to my home. It was incredible. It still is! Back in it's infancy, it didn't matter what was on ESPN, it was must see TV because there was virtually n competition. I became the center of my attentionREAD MORE
What is the best way to utilize a social media influencer? Curse at me all you want. Tell me about the one or two good results you have had recently. I am here to tell you the truth and nothing but the truth. Affiliate programs with micro social media influencers went the way of the dinosaurs! EXTINCT! DEAD! Yes, it sucks I know but it is true. I concede that programs using micro-influencers may still produce % victories but who the hell has patience for 3,500 mom content creators (PC for mommy bloggers) to take their 9,000 readers and returnREAD MORE
Social Media Star vs. Micro-Influencers: The best way to start this conversation about social media stars vs. micro-influencers is with an acknowledgement that yes, size does matter. Both big and small. At CelebExperts, we consult so many emerging start-up companies and brands that are constantly asking us how to gain traction, branding and sales for their upcoming campaigns? I don't consider CelebExperts to be a "social media agency", yet there is no question that our experiences have given us insights that even the most long in tooth social media shops don't have. I consider the question about Social Media StarREAD MORE
CelebExperts Breaks Down the Cost of A Celebrity Speaker This is the #1 question that I get everyday from prospective clients that reach out to my company CelebExperts from all over the world. "How much" is the rallying cry of the uninformed. And I have built a business on answering just that question. When it comes to the Celebrity speaker genre, it is completely commoditized at this point. What does that mean exactly? Well, unlike buying a page of advertising for People Magazine where there is a "rate card", when it comes to buying Celebrities it isn't always something thatREAD MORE
The simple answer is, it's not easy! There are so many great industries that have a significant need for a great salesperson. You know what that person looks like. Confident, educated, willing to learn, takes direction well. OK, so I just defined the "anti-millennial". Millennials distrust companies, don't like being told what to do, want to learn as act of organic nature, they disrupt industries, like to hack stuff and lastly amongst all other look at their phone as a friend not a tool for financial success. Sure they utilize it every second of every day as their primary communicationREAD MORE
Ok, OK Disclaimer! I SELL CELEBRITIES AND SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS FOR A LIVING! Who gives a shit. I have no conflict of interest anymore than a cardiologist does in promoting a low fat, low sugar, low sodium meal plan! Everyone has to stop with the bullshit about spending more time on motive and less time on what is being said! Here is what I know and can prove: I have spent 22+ years working with small businesses, emerging companies and now crowdfunded start-ups that are looking to differentiate and excel at revenue generation. Having a spokesperson who is a celebrityREAD MORE
Cost & Benefits of Hiring a Celebrity Spokesperson CelebExperts was founded almost 8 years ago essentially to answer two simple questions. How to hire a celebrity spokesperson and determine the costs of each. Now the business has exploded to include celebrity PR campaigns, speaking engagements, licensing, personal appearances and the creation of celebrity signature lines of apparel, apps and other consumer desired products. While the questions at hand are very simplistic, the answers are not always as easy as you might think. We employ some of the most savvy and experienced celebrity booking agents. They work tirelessly assisting clients all overREAD MORE
Ho Ho Ho, Oh No! Yep, its that time again! You or your client or you outside agency is scouring the earth for the perfect fit, the most authentic, the model of consistency, the highest likeability score to your core demographic, yep a celebrity or social media influencer to represent your brand and/or company. Are you prepared? What is your budget? How are you going to leverage your new spokesperson? Is this a long-term relationship? Are you addressing your needs? This is without question, the biggest challenge! What the hell are we expending the capital and time for? What areREAD MORE
CelebExperts Celebrates 4th Year in Business Incredible when you take an idea and turn it into a passion. I conceptualized CelebExperts at the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing, China. I was waiting for a cab in a rainstorm and no one would pick me up. It pissed me off that I was soaked and cabs kept rolling by me. At that point 75+ percent of my business was representing talent. Mostly current and former Olympic athletes. I started thinking to myself that recruiting 16 year old gymnasts at 40 years old when I was now older than their parents standingREAD MORE
Other than several athletes who did not do themselves any favors, should your company consider utilizing one of the Olympic athletes from Rio for your next event or campaign? Well the answer is yes with some conditions. If you were to book Simone Biles today, her fee would be absolutely at the highest peak you could acquire the Rio Olympic Gold Medalist in 4 events. That doesn't mean you shouldn't, but someone like a Gabby Douglas 2012's All Around Champion might fit your budget better? So if price is no issue, Simone is your person. If you are a bitREAD MORE
How To Utilize Social Media Stars in the New Digital Age We get 3-5 new account leads every day. Usually from emerging companies contacting us to help execute a social media influencer campaign with social media stars. They are looking for someone with a large follower base in a certain demographic. Their goal is to influence their follower base to be consumers of the contract company’s product or services. The vast array of products range from supplements to skincare, from inflatable swans to haircare, from jewelry to healthy home delivered meal choices, from activewear to energy bars and on and onREAD MORE
It’s easy to say utilizing social media stars to affect your company and/or brand’s fortunes have become so challenging because the flood of influencers and the seeming endless lack of real data anyone of them can provide. But the truth is it is far more basic than that! Social media platforms have decided it’s time to make money. See, I told you this would be easy. But very, very complex. What does this mean exactly? Truth be told it means many things but mostly when a social media star takes on an engagement from a brand in the past, theREAD MORE
The Summer is usually so slow for most talent acquisition agencies. Just not this Summer. Between the Olympics, social media stars gone wild and every beauty and health brand dying for a new face, this Summer has been insane... And I love it. In the last 30 days we have done almost $1 million USD in deals. Now that is what I call a HOT Summer. Why are so many brands leveraging celebrity to energize their campaigns? Its because it works! It seriously works. I tell my corporate clients all the time whether you are a direct marketer or sellingREAD MORE
Let's start off by telling the truth. Muhammad Ali was neither a savior or a saint. His flaws as most people, were obvious but maybe just more public by being the most famous man on the planet. He was very much a product of his times yet way ahead of his generation. It could be said that Ali was the 1st rapper for the way he spit lyrics. Ali was a bully in many ways. All you need to do is to look at how he spoke about and to Smokin' Joe Frazier calling him a "gorilla". I am quiteREAD MORE
As I prepare to attend the Inpex Inventors Show in Pittsburgh, PA next week I was thinking about how inventors have changed over a very short period of time. Historically you would think of Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin, Nikola Tesla, Henry Ford, the Wright Bros., and many others iconic inventors. Inventors like the Wright Bros below were visionaries who had a steadfast passion for solving problems and wouldn't take "no" for an answer. And thank goodness for these lions of innovation. Today the landscape is so much different for inventors on many different levels. There are just a sheerREAD MORE