How do you get the attention of a celebrity/expert for product/service endorsement?
I am launching a new teen magazine with a strong message and cause behind it. My business coach says I need to get a celebrity endorsement, no idea how to do that on a shoe string budget.
I know it's not an easy feat but I also know it's not impossible, especially if the cause is one that is current and that the celebrities care about.
I am in the process of finding seed money, so once that comes in it may help, but having the endorsement on board would probably make that part easier too.
Expert Answers
Sort by Date
Sort by Votes
Sep 14, 2016
I work with celebrity endorsements for entrepreneurs daily and Brandon is right. I'd suggest you take his advice and if you can, hire him. :-)
Feb 11, 2014
Hey Jessica,
Coincidence, you are asking about celebrity endorsements, I just got this article in my e-mail and tweeted it... See this http://www.marketingcharts.com/wp/television/are-celebrities-that-influential-38018/?utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_source=mc&utm_medium=textlink
You'd be surprised, like I was.
Feb 1, 2014
Hi Jessica! I would suggest you use Twitter to connect with celebrities, experts and other influencers online to evangelize your cause with them directly. This strategy will also help you increase your twitter following, which only further promotes your cause. If the celebrities or experts your interested in still aren't responding to your enquires, I would recommend you use IMDb to look up their agent's contact information and send them a formal proposal. Good luck!
Feb 1, 2014
Great advice thank you :)
iMDb is great, I always forget it has so much information on there.
Feb 1, 2014
Hi Jessica,
Where do I start...
Lets start with your business coach, I think you need to challenge them a bit and ask them which teem magazines have they launched that has received an endorsements right from the start. I would like to know. I have worked with several startup magazines and there was not endorsement deals from the start. They had to build their audience first before the deals started to come in.
Now I'm assuming your Teen magazine has no audience/followers right now, is that correct?
If that is the case you are going to have to pay for an endorsement from a celebrity if you want them to endorse your magazine. Which is going to be big bucks an only a small endorsement for you 15min in fame. Which will sizzle off very quickly as well. Remember celebrities get approached by thousands of companies asking them to endorse their latest, greatest, product, service...etc. Unless it is something that touches them emotionally like you are saving baby Panda's from being slaughtered for fur and you have a strong track record of doing this. You are going to have a very very hard battle trying to get an endorsement.
Now that being said, there is another strategy and I am surprised your business coach has not informed you of. Write about the celebrates, what is going on with them that is news worthy. Like Justin Berber getting arrested in Toronto. You might not know this but right now that story is going global. It is one of the hottest trending searches on Google. If you want to get noticed and build your brand as a teen magazine write about what is news worthy so teens will read your magazine.
Once you get some brand recognition and a following, don't worry about endorsements, get interviews. Once you establish you have a strong following that is engaging. You can start interviewing celebrities, they are more liking to accept an interview that will get them more exposure then do an endorsement. Which will give you an endorsement you don't have to pay for. See how that works.
Here are some things I don't know if you discussed with your business coach and I am telling you this because I have worked for several magazines:
1) Have you setup your teen magazine website. What is the user experience when people come to the site? Is it very visual, easy to navigate around? Easy to find what a visitor is looking for? Are you going to incorporate image marketing, video marketing...etc? Leading edge technology? Is it responsive so teen's can read it on their phones, iPad...etc?
2) Technically have you put your site on a strong service that can support high traffic volume, have you SEO'd the site to make sure you have the right keywords, in the code, copy...etc?
3) What is your content schedule, research methods, how are you going to be up to date with the leading teen news?
Remember you have a 6 month to 1 year battle of building your audience and your brand. There are lots of teen magazines in the market. It's going to take a lot of work and sweat equity to build it. I am not saying it's not possible but you are going to have to work hard to make it happen.
Remember if you want to be noticed and engage with celebrities, write about them and be authentic, give massive value. Then when you are ready to approach them for an interview they will know who you are. Then once you get established and have a brand, you can then look at endorsement deals. Which might be companies vs. celebrities, to be honest they will be more interests in paid advertising if you have the audience. You get 4 to 5 companies paying $1,000 to $2,500 a month in banner ads you will be doing pretty well for a new magazine.
Good luck Jessica, I hope that helps.
Feb 1, 2014
Hi Brandon,
Thank you for the detailed and obviously well thought out response to my question, your time and expertise is very appreciated :)
I suppose I should have expounded more on where I'm at; you are correct in assuming I am in the planning stages, at the moment I am putting my business plan together, having the logo designed as well as the app and the website (nothing has launched yet) I am also planning the content for the first issue which will launch in June (if all goes well)
I obviously would love an endorsement right out of the gate but my plan is to build up 15,000 subscriptions first before I approach any advertisers or celebs; Right now I am editor in Chief at Lifestyle For men Magazine
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lifestyle-for-men-magazine/id559776724?mt=8
This took about a year to get to achieve so that is what I am expecting for my magazine.
Feb 1, 2014
Same as above...business coaches are not tasked to tell their clients what or how to do something, they are there to guide the individual to determine these things themselves. Consultants are more doers .... and I would have expected this from a business consultant.
Feb 4, 2014
Thank you Jessica. If you use the same strategies that Lifestyle For Men Magazine did to build a community and modify it for the teenage market you will be on the right track. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Feb 4, 2014
Hi Bernadette, I found that business coaches and business consultants now have to be able to wear both hats. Of course this is in my opinion and being working with clients since 2001, being a Holistic Lifestyle Coach and a Business Consultant. I have found there are times I have had to ask questions for my clients to guide themselves and then there are times I had to direct them because there were just to many factors that would of caused numerous challenges. They were just in to deep to their business to be able to step away from their business, see their present situation and the future manifestations of their decisions.
That is why I believe business coaches/ business consultants really have to be able to wear both hats to help their clients.
What do you think Bernadette?
Jan 31, 2014
First determine who you'd want as a celebrity endorser. Then find them, via the web and social media and start developing a relationship with them. Be transparent about what you want and where you are at. And follow the other advice offered as well.
Feb 1, 2014
thank you that is a great point, relationship building is a great way to go about it :)
Jan 31, 2014
Most celebrities have agents. Pick the celebrity you want and search for their agent online. Call their agent and discuss your needs. He or she will be
1. very easy to reach,
2. open to discussing price/cash, and
3. Will take your offer to the celebrity
Best of luck,
S
Jan 30, 2014
No offense, but your business coach should have also guided you on how to accomplish this. For example, if I told you as a business coach you needed a celebrity endorsement, I would recommend putting together some promotional material to showcase your magazine and highlight its key attributes. This would best be done in a press release and then distributed worldwide. It has the potential to catch the eye of someone's Public Relations manager and you could get a call.
If you have never written a press release, there are lots of resources online and this can even be done free. There are templates to use and you will ALWAYS want to provide your contact information so people know how to get a hold of you.
Good luck with the magazine and keep us informed of your progress! It sounds like a very cool concept indeed.
Feb 1, 2014
Christopher.... business coaches provide guidance, not instruction, as there are there to develop someone like Jessica into a leader themselves, not telling them what or how to do it. They would challenge you, but not tell you how to go about things. Consultants are more suited for that.
Feb 1, 2014
Good point Bernadette and that is exactly what my coach is getting em to do :) he thinks it is much better for me to do the work, the whole teach a man to fish thing. and look how much awesome advice I've received because of it. :)
Feb 2, 2014
I see your point Bernadette. I agree the work is all on the person, but it also helps to teach as well. For instance, to say go out and find a celebrity is a direct idea with no path for guidance. To leave them with that is the same as someone telling me I need to get a contract with Jennifer Lopez. Yes I can call her agent and MAYBE she will get the message, but I need to find other venues to pull her in. Maybe appeal to her causes or something along those lines. If I never had done it, how do I know where to begin? Who teaches me the techniques and tools I need?
A consultant would hep do the legwork or design an action plan to tackle that situation. A business coach gives you the tools and guidance to help you carry out your mission and goals and you do all the work. Perhaps we all have different views on coaching, but coaches are there to teach, and for me, personally, it gives us a way to share our knowledge with those who seek it.
Jan 30, 2014
Be bold, be daring, be original, Jessica. But, be respectful and non-intrusive.
For example, create a life-sized cutout of the celeb and have your photo taken handing a mock-up of your magazine to them. Then, send the photo along with your product sample, requesting their buy-in. Many celeb's will have their hands out and only endorse for money. Others committed to your cause will respond favorably.
Jan 30, 2014
Thank you everyone for such wonderful, insightful and helpful responses I really appreciate it and hope I can return the favour one day :)
Jan 30, 2014
Hi Jessica,
young generation celebrities are very keen to support causes they believe in. If appropriate you might want to start with young athletes, perhaps Winter Olympic hopefuls in sports that appeal to young people but aren't mainstream yet. They may welcome the opportunity to support your cause and be a spokesperson. People that come to mind are Genie Bouchard (teen tennis up and coming star),North American women's hockey team members, anyone in the snowboard, snowcross community. If you are looking for seed money you might want to look at the CYBF programs. http://www.cybf.ca/ Another connection you might want to make is the CEO of SheEO, Vicki Saunders
http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=383556&locale=en_US&trk=tyah&trkInfo=tas%3Avicki%20%2Cidx%3A2-1-2
All the companies (headed by women) that are part of the SheEO initiative have a social component. Vicki is well connected and responsive. She might be able to point you in the right direction. If you want a wonderful story about teens, check out these Halifax at risk kids that were featured on Dragons Den and on CBC The National .http://hopeblooms.ca/
Good Luck
thank you David :)