Success Principle from David Cook and American Idol

Looking for a marketing inspiration to write about for the small to medium size business, I found the answer in an unusual way. It's funny to think of where I got it from, but there are some principles to succeeding in business and I was inspired by a musician. Marketing is about exposure and creating a positive image that causes people to purchase.

I was watching American Idol last week and listened to David Cook. It was amazing. He was the winner from the previous year and at the end, they presented him with a Platinum Album. He sold over 1 million copies in the last months (maybe weeks) and it was incredible. What I thought was interesting was that he said he produced an album a few years ago, before Idol, and only sold a thousand in a year. "What?" how can he go from only a thousand in a year to over a million in just a few months?

Here is the principle, "Reach a larger audience." It's simple don't you think? He had a great product, it wasn't that. It was that he didn't have a large enough audience.
So what are you doing to reach a larger audience? Here is a way to get a larger audience if you can't hit a stage like American Idol. Develop a list of people you already know, use a system to communicate to them regularly, ask them to return and bring a friend, or pass on your information to others.

Everytime you send them something, offer something of value. Creating more value creates more clients and increases your audience. Focusing on your loyal customers will also bring a lot of additional customers.

Set a goal and then determine the activities you must do to reach an audience that size and watch your business go "platinum" too.