Where does fame come from? Creativity, hard work, perseverance, and . . . in at least one case, eBay.
"Did you hear about the guy who's selling his ex-wife's wedding dress on eBay?" About fifty people asked me that during a 48-hour period a year or so ago. Most of them emailed me a link to the eBay auction, and when I finally clicked on the link to see what everyone was talking about, I lost it. I just lost it. Whoever this strange person was, the image of him wearing that wedding dress was about the goofiest thing I'd ever seen, and the coffee I was politely sipping ended up abruptly leaving me through a couple of orifices that I'd rather not discuss in this space. The ad copy struck me as raw, witty, real, and funny beyond belief. Anyway, the image of that eBay character stayed with me.
So, yes, I grinned from ear to ear when I received an email a few months ago from "The Wedding Dress Guy," and I was on the phone with him in about 12 seconds introducing myself to him. It turned out that his name was Larry Star, and he'd written a book -- a very funny one that some lucky book publicist would get to promote.
I turned out to be the lucky book publicist. I also made a new friend, so please indulge me if I insert a commercial for him into this case study of where fame comes from.
Larry Star was recently featured on KING-TV's "Evening Magazine," and you can enjoy the video online, if you're interested. Click here to see "The Wedding Dress Guy" in action. If you enjoy Larry's humor and style as much as I do, please also check out his Web site. It's WeddingDressGuy.com. And feel free to buy the book. (I think that wedding dress is still for sale, too, if the price is right.)
And, next time you ponder the question of where fame comes from, you might come to the same conclusion Larry Star arrived at. Fame can come from just about anywhere if you take risks, do something different with humor and integrity, strike a responsive chord in enough people, expect nothing and hope for everything, and somehow figure out that elusive game they call "viral marketing" . . . and if you happen to be doing all of those things in exactly the right place, at the right time.
Go, Larry! I'm watching you and learning.
book promotion
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