Whether it’s a league-leading baseball team, a top-seeded tennis player or a gold medal athlete, people love to associate with winners. They’ll flock to them like bees to honey and shower them with adulation.

Winning carries with it a certain cache. There’s a strange aura that surrounds a winner; it’s as though these individuals (or teams) have cracked a mysterious code or figured something out that the rest of us can’t or ever will.

The rise in popularity as a result of winning is a powerful marketing strategy. It explains why so many top athletes and business executives are called upon to endorse products, write books and speak publicly, after they’ve reached the top of the mountain.

We want to hear from Lance Armstrong because he won the Tour de France seven consecutive times. Who wants to hear from the 10^th place finisher?

We’ll read a book about Larry Ellison because he presides over the world’s largest enterprise software company. Who wants to read about a mediocre CEO whose company never made a dent?

Conversely, when you’re losing, support is hard to find, except if you’re the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team. The Leafs are that rare exception in professional sports, a team that continues to lose, year after year, and yet fan support never seems to diminish.

When you’re losing in sports, business, entertainment or politics, you need all the free publicity you can get. But there’s the rub; you’re not going to get that publicity until you start performing at a high level.

If you want to generate some additional attention about yourself, your company or your product, without spending an extra nickel, then learn how to be a winner.

As your game improves, people will start to pay attention. Become tops in your chosen profession and watch the bees start buzzing.

Ghostwriting could involve writing ghost stories, I suppose, although I’ve never been approached with such a request.

In the writing trade, ghostwriting refers to any writing assignment, where an individual pays a professional writer to write a book, an article, speech or other written material, for which he takes credit.

The person who pays the writer claims ownership of the work by putting his name on it. In other words, the payee gets the glory, while the ghostwriter gets paid for her services.

If the ghostwritten material happens to be an autobiography or a memoir, a ghostwriter’s name may appear on the book’s front cover in smaller type, below the main subject’s name.

When professional athletes, big-name CEOs and famous entertainers want to write their memoirs, they often turn to a ghostwriter for help. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, former GE CEO Jack Welch and high-profile entrepreneur Ivana Trump are modern-day examples of famous people who have hired ghostwriters to pen their respective autobiographies.

Many politicians, business executives, association members, entrepreneurs and academics have also been known to seek the assistance of ghostwriters, when writing speeches, newspaper columns, magazine articles and research papers.

Is ghostwriting a legitimate enterprise? Absolutely. If you are not a skilled writer (and have no intention of becoming one), then hiring a ghostwriter is a sensible and practical solution. Ghostwriters provide a valuable service for those who don’t have the time or the expertise to write at a competent or professional level.

Often the work of a ghostwriter involves conducting research, interviews, fact-checking, writing, re-writing, editing and proofing. There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes that the client never knows about (or needs to know about.).

If you’re thinking about hiring a ghostwriter, they aren’t hard to find. A quick Google search will yield a roster of talented scribes in your area. Or, try contacting a local writer’s group or a professional writers’ association.

Before hiring a ghostwriter, it’s best to meet with the individual first, before making any sort of commitment. You want to make sure that your personalities mesh, since you’ll likely be spending a good deal of time working together. I would advise interviewing two or three writers before hiring one.

As for rates, ghostwriters tend to charge according to their level of skill and experience. Rates vary from $50 to several hundred dollars per hour.

For a book-length project (200-300 pages), the minimum fee in Canada is $25,000, according to the Writers’ Union, with additional fees for research. Rates are usually negotiated in advance and fees are paid at different stages of completion. Writing agreements should include provisions in the event that an assignment changes.

If you’ve been asked to write a speech, a guest column or a research paper, or you’re thinking about writing your memoirs, then contacting a ghostwriter may be your answer. In certain instances, going this route will save you a lot of time and aggravation.

By Lisa Fattori

In order to grow a business and compete in today’s global marketplace, it is becoming increasingly important for companies to implement a branding strategy.

We all know, even as consumers, the tremendous power of a brand name. Microsoft, Proctor and Gamble and McDonald’s spring to mind, but there are a host of others that have successfully carved out a space in the consumer’s psyche. For many small and medium-sized businesses, the task of becoming a household name appears daunting.

If we dissect what branding really is, though, and break it down into manageable parts, then we can lay the foundation upon which to build. I’d like to outline a couple of strategies to help bring some definition and direction to your branding game plan.

Consider these two aspects about branding: first, that there is an integral relationship between branding and corporate vision. If you don’t know who you are, then the consumer certainly won’t. Second, branding is a journey, rather than a corporate identity that boxes you in and seals your fate. Brand awareness piggybacks the natural evolution of a company, with its own twists and turns on the road towards growth and success.

The first step is to differentiate yourself from the competition. Simply saying that you are the best is not enough to set you apart from the pack. If you brand yourself with generalizations, such as quality products and excellent service, rather than distinct benefits to the consumer, then you’ll see little return on your marketing investment and you risk joining the pool of mediocrity. Consumers will not see unique identities, but rather, a mass of hands in the air, all waving madly, vying for their attention.

Building brand awareness is a grassroots endeavour that begins with the corporate vision. Business goals and objectives must articulate a company’s essence – that intrinsic spark that says who you are and what you promise. Think of branding as your company’s DNA, shining brightly on a marquis for the entire world to see.

Your DNA – that blueprint that defines who you are – is there; but, too often, it’s hidden beneath the clutter of mission statements and corporate literature peppered with industry jargon. You need to dig for that DNA, mine it and extract it. Then, once you have it, wrap it around everything that you do.

Branding is not simply a strong logo or a dynamic slogan or jingle. It’s marketing, to be sure, but it’s also how you answer the phone, how you deal with suppliers, and how customer complaints are resolved. The look and feel of your premises, the quality and consistency of staff training – the list goes on – all say something about who you are. From the back end to the front end of your operations, a chain reaction is occurring that is establishing your brand.

And let’s not forget about the virtual storefront. A company’s website should be representative of its bricks and mortar location. Outdated information and stale content are the equivalent of dusty window dressings. Website neglect not only weakens your online branding efforts, it will have potential customers questioning whether or not you are even open for business.

The little things that appear insignificant on their own, propel a strong message in their entirety. Slight differences add up in the end. They snowball and give momentum to your brand. The challenge is to maintain consistency. Your corporate vision should run like a thread throughout everything that you do and every decision that you make. Not only does this build brand awareness for consumers, it reinforces brand awareness in-house as well. Your employees are the cheerleaders of your corporate vision, and they require a comprehensive roadmap if they are to successfully execute a branding campaign.

Now, you’ve defined your corporate vision and you’ve tailored your operations to mirror that vision. Sometimes, though, the branding game plan gets pre-empted by challenges that can throw you off course. And this brings me to my final point – that branding is a journey.

At the core of your branding efforts should be an understanding of the financial investment that must accompany a successful branding strategy. Not everyone has a venture capitalist in his back pocket, who is willing to foot the bill for an expensive advertising campaign. But branding is not a do-or-die scenario. In most cases, promotional spending is incremental and in keeping with the growth of a business. Also, when there are little funds for advertising, then there is greater pressure for creative thinking.

In conclusion, a branding strategy is an ongoing process that requires evaluation, adjustments, and more evaluation. Your brand is the synergy of your corporate vision and the day-to-day operations of your business. It requires as much diligence as your core business, but the payoff can be tremendous.

And finally, branding your company should be fun. It’s a place where one can explore, get excited, and tap the creative genius that is within your entire organization.

The video was produced by Scholz & Friends, a European-based ad agency network that specializes in marketing and communications.

Check it out.

The collapse of the US financial system and automotive sector has some people questioning the inherent wisdom of so-called experts. If financial advisors are so smart with money, why were most of them caught flat-footed when the bottom fell out of the market?

To their credit, experts know a lot of information about their industries. They spend years working within a specific area of interest, which gives them unique insights that average consumers lack.

Still, knowing a lot about an industry and being able to connect the dots in meaningful and effective ways are two different things. Possessing knowledge for knowledge’s sake doesn’t give someone the talent to use that knowledge wisely and productively.

It’s interesting how entrepreneurs respond to experts. I’ve known entrepreneurs who have solicited advice from experts and consultants about growing their businesses or venturing into a new area. Often the experts advised against taking the risk, while the entrepreneur decided to move forward anyway.

By all means listen to experts, but when making critical decisions about your business it’s important to make your own decisions. The business world is filled with stories about entrepreneurs who pursued paths less popular and ignored the advice of experts, only to be vindicated for their efforts.

I’ve been conducting random polls with friends, family members and customers of late, to see how many of them are using Twitter.

To my surprise, hardly anybody is using this service, and yet the media would have us believe that it’s the Next Big Thing on the Internet.

Twitter is the free micro blogging service that media outlets have been hyping for the past year. It allows users to communicate with text messages (140 characters or less) on their computers, cell phones and other Internet-connected devices.

The service has managed to attract some serious star power – not the least of which is President Barack Obama, who used the service to reach out to his followers during his Presidential election. Obama now boasts 623,164 followers on Twitter.

Other famous Twitter users include actor Christopher Walken (apparently his Tweets, or messages, are droll and irreverent), NBA star Shaquille O’Neal (who reportedly sends Tweets to fans during half-time), comedian Will Ferrell, musician MC Hammer, Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps, Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, Alaskan governor Sara Palin and musician Snoop Dog.

In the past week, there have been several articles and columns in Toronto newspapers, talking about the Twitter phenomenon. Ian Brown of the Globe and Mail even hosted a live conversation, where viewers were invited to contribute their two cents’ worth about Twitter in 140 characters or less.

Many of the responses posted within the Twitter format were either confusing or incomprehensible. But the responses posted to the ‘comment’ section were longer and had more substance to them. After reading these comments, it’s not hard to conclude that Twitter has its defenders and detractors.

I have to admit that I’m not sold on Twitter yet. I acknowledge that it’s a popular service that seems to be growing all the time. More and more of the viewers to my blog originate from Twitter accounts, and so I’ll need to explore this phenomenon a little further.

Is Twitter really the way of the future? Or is it a popular fad that is getting blown out of proportion because a few celebrities have adopted the service?

I’ll have more to say about Twitter in follow up posts.

The Star also maintained its lead in online readership (thestar.com) and is still the largest newspaper and web destination in Canada. Although its newspaper readership is down slightly from the 2007 (flat in Toronto, down in the regions outside Toronto), taken together, the Star’s newspaper and online readership are up slightly from 2007.

Here are the stats:

I say “almost” because I still get occasional calls from credit card companies. The thing that irks me about these calls is that they’re pre-recorded, and they usually end with an instruction to press “one” for more information. Click.

Why do companies insist on using pre-recorded messages, when they produce such a negative response? A pre-recorded message produces a negative customer experience and does little to enhance your business or your brand.

A client recently told me about a phone blast he did to several thousand clients on his database. He was promoting a sales event.

The phone blast produced an overwhelming response – but it was mostly negative. Many irate customers called to express their displeasure with the phone message and asked to have their names removed from the database.

If I were advising customers, I’d recommend that they think carefully before using this form of communication. There are reputable companies providing that service, and I’m not suggesting that this approach isn’t suitable in some instances.

Learn to communicate with your customers in a friendly and agreeable way, and they will be more inclined to do business with you again.

The campaign is called Hypercube, and the strategy is intriguing. Young creative types are invited to submit original work created in a social media platform, such as Twitter, Facebook or MySpace.

Five hundred entrants will be allowed to present their work to Nissan. Fifty winners will be chosen based on the originality of their work and how closely it is aligned to the brand. The winners will receive a Nissan Cube.

The target market for the Cube is people 25 and younger, a generation that is more wired and connected than any other. Marketing folks should be paying attention to this online-only marketing model.

If Nissan is successful in this approach to promoting its new Cube, then watch for other automakers to follow suit.

Even students and people entering the workforce for the first time need to be able to sell themselves to prospective employers.

If course, there is a traditional CV, which includes a person’s education, work experiences, professional affiliations and accomplishments.

But if you’re looking for way to highlight your strengths and make your resume stand out, then VisualCV is your answer. VisualCV is software available online, which allows users to include images, video and audio clips, links to other web sites, charts, graphics and other visual elements in creating their CV.

Let’s say you gave a speech or seminar that you’re particularly proud of. You can tell people in words that the event was a hit, or you can post a video and let your next employer see for herself.

This is a free service available to anyone with an internet connection. VisualCV has received a solid endorsement from the New York Times, Washington Business Journal and The Miami Herald.

The service has even attracted the attention of high-profile Internet players, including venture capitalist, Guy Kawasaki, who has his own VisualCV resume.

When it’s time to dust off that resume, you can add visual elements to it and turn it into an interactive presentation. This is pretty cool stuff.