Today, I spoke to Jordan McAuley, who is the “King of Celebrity Contacts” and the author of Celebrity Leverage. In this interview, Jordan tells out the ways to get celebrity endorsements, how he got involved in this niche, his impressions of personal branding and a few success stories.
What are your top 3 ways to get celebrity endorsements?
- Having your photo taken with celebrities holding your product
- Getting verbal endorsements by having your product included at gift suites
- Paying for them
How did you get involved in the celebrity branding area?
I’ve been helping entrepreneurs and small businesses get their products to celebrities since 1996 with my Contact Any Celebrity service. I put together my new book, Celebrity Leverage to give examples and answer questions I’m always asked about how business owners can get their products to celebrities.
What is your opinion of personal branding? How have you built your brand?
Branding yourself is very important, but I think it’s more important to brand your business or product. Look what happened to Martha Stewart when she went to prison — she was the brand and her company suffered for it. There has to be a balance between the brand of the owner and the brand as a whole. Too much focused on the owner is mistake. I’ve built my brand by being consistent over the years, getting involved with various groups (the Independent Book Publisher Association, Association of Fundraising Professionals, Public Relations Society of America), and writing lots of books!
What success stories have you seen with people using celebrity endorsements to boost their careers?
There are many examples in my book. One is of a company called Wear You Manners, a child’s t-shirt line. They send their t-shirts to celebrities with children like Doug Savant (Desperate Housewives) and Laura Leighton (Melrose Place). Then when they get a thank you note, they ask the celebrity if they can use it and put it up on their Website. Another story is Amy Peters of Amy Peters Studio. She sends her jewelry samples to the wardrobe department on prime-time television shows, thus getting her jewelry worn by major TV stars!
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Jordan McAuley is known as the “King of Celebrity Contacts,” and his Contact Any Celebrity service is one of the most respected publicity resources in the world. McAuley and his books have been featured by USA Today, The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, Entertainment Weekly, and Star Magazine. He has also appeared on CNN, National Public Radio (NPR), E! Online, Gawker, Better TV, and Sirius/XM Satellite Radio. McAuley is featured in several best-selling books including Timothy Ferris’ The 4-Hour Workweek. McAuley is the author of the best-selling annual directory, The Celebrity Black Book, Secrets to Contacting Celebrities: 101 Ways to Reach the Rich & Famous and his latest book called Celebrity Leverage. McAuley got his start as an intern in the publicity departments of CNN and Turner Entertainment in Atlanta.
