I recently told you about my top 3 female mentors so you won’t surprised about this topic around Zach Anner the winner of Oprah Winfrey’s « Search for the Next TV Star » competition. This article is an update of an article I published in April 2013, but that few of you were able to read. My goal with this blog is to make marketing understandable easily by anyone, and I also do so by explaining it with exemples that people can rely to. If you run a business as solopreneur, then no doubt,  you‘re trying to get noticed by your future customers in different ways,  but are you really getting the most out of it? Or are you loosing opportunities by not marketing yourself ?

Would you like to  know how to market yourself like Zach Anner ? Here are 4 steps I have noticed by looking, hearing and watching him.

Step 1 :  Be prepared

Before Zach gained world-wide attention with the submission of his video to Oprah Winfrey’s contest, he was already a stand up comedian. In 2005, he obtained celebrity interviews through a sketch comedy program on the university’s local Public-access television cable TV channel. In 2008,  Zach and fellow production mates started a comedy troupe called Lark the Beard, which produced a Streamy nominated web-series entitled The Wingmen, which has received a total of 250,662 views on it’s YouTube channel since its creation. Two years before the submission for the Oprah show. So the guy was aware of how things go on the web, knew your tube and also how to talk in front of a camera. In other words, he was prepare, ready to jump on a opportunity.

Step 2 :  Keep it simple

Zach knew about videos and your tube, he also knew that Oprah contest will surely be popular and that  he had to do something radically different to stand out of the crown. The great thing is that he really didn’t try to do fancy effect  because nobody ever says that different has to be complex. There are thousands of simple videos, projects and ideas out there, with no effect, simple light, simple set that has been the next big thing on your tube. Zach really maintained a focus upon his personality, around who he was, what he wanted to do, to share and he never try to reinvent the wheel. A simple change for the better is far more effective than five complicated changes for the worse.

Step3 :  Make an immediate, personal connection
Zach immediately create a personal connection with who ever was watching his video by talking about his so called “difference,” and made it that special bit of magic that sets him apart from others in a good way. Zach Anner has demonstrated a consistent ability to turn almost every word he says into a laugh. This immediately create make an emotional connection with the audience, even though we didn’t knew him two seconds before. Most of the time, people are uncomfortable with disease but Zach turn it so naturally as a part of himself that this builds empathy, which in turn encourages us to be more receptive to what you have to say.

Step4 : Have fun no matter what

Zach found a way to do his presentation that was enjoyable and that fits his personal style. Because you could feel that he likes what he was doing, people saw it and actually I show this video to friends that really aren’t english fluent but they really saw a guy who were enjoying himself and that really attract to him like a magnet. So if you aren’t having fun, you are doing it wrong mostly because when you are having a good time, chances are greater that you will be surround by a positive atmosphere that will inspire others. So don’t loose an occasion to smile and see the lighter side of life as Zach’s did.

I love this famous quote that says: « Luck is where preparation meets opportunity. » And I’m convinced that marketing yourself creates « luck. » Actually, although Anner’s OWN show  was cancelled due to poor ratings, the comedian is not wasting any time moping over the past, and I like that he’s moving to his next experience because life is a movement. You can watch on his your tube channel Riding shotgun on as Zach and his rambunctious crew travel the country to experience the perfect days of individuals in cities voted for by the Internet.

So according to you what other marketing step can we learn from Zach Anner  ?