On becoming known

Let's assume you want to become famous. How do you become known? How do you become famous? You start by developing your talent, your personality and your character. By character, I don't mean some fictitious person you want to play, but the things about you that make you a descent human being.

Visit http://www.charactercounts.org/defsix.htm where you can learn about the six pillars of character (Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, Citizenship).

What are you doing to focus on your talent?

If you are a writer, are you writing and publishing frequently? Are you building your contact list of publishers, editors, agents, and resellers? Do you submit your work for publication online? Do you have a blog to post your daily thoughts? Build up your network, and actually talk, not just share emails with your contacts. They will be the ones deciding on whether to back your work.

If you are an aspiring actor or actress, are you building your demo tape? Have you auditioned for your local news companies? Do you make your own youtube videos as samples of your abilities and appearance?

If you are a professional or other business person and want to become more well known to gain a customer following or demonstrate some sort of professional expertise by consulting, you can easily audition for a talk radio show. Many talk radio stations are always on the lookout to fill a block of time with a host who knows something about his or her subject area.

If you are a comic, do you go to the local comedy clubs and get in front of a crowd? If so, try to get into additional clubs on alternating nights, or travel to a nearby city for more venue opportunities.

The secret to becoming famous is to get your act/art/music/knowledge/secret/invention/whatever into the hearts and minds of everyone else around you, and for those people to echo your name and body of work.

Continuous improvement in your field or talent, continuous advertising, networking within associations, businesses and clubs relating to your talent or subject matter. You cannot just wish fame into existence, you must work at it constantly.

How to become famous

So, you want to learn how to become famous.

The first question you want to ask yourself is what does fame mean to me? Next, should be the question of how famous do I really want to be?

There are many good reasons to become famous, from basic great personal reasons, such as being the center of attention, being held in high regard by others, or even to better your chances at making a profit or finding a mate.

What makes someone famous? That depends. It depends on what level of fame you are seeking. Do you want to be known for some expertise or talent in an area of business, academia, athletics, or entertainment? Can you sing, dance, write, speak, motivate, cultivate, draw, act, make something unique, influence others?

How long do you want to be famous for? Are you looking for your fleeting 15 minutes of local newspaper press, a television or movie career, have political aspirations or want to sell a zillion widgets? Are you looking to have your autobiography enshrined in the Library of Congress? Do you want your manuscripts, books and papers to be read and studied for the next five centuries like Plato or Aristotle? Do you want to be as revered, influential or polarizing as [you pick a name]? Just how famous do you want to be?

Well, there are ways to become famous, stepping up from their own circle of friends and family, to becoming a well recognized personality. Just about anyone with a little determination, winning personality and a desire to inspire can become famous. I mean famous, not infamous. Its great to be known as an expert in something, or to have a particular talent that everyone adores, its another thing to be known for something illegal, immoral or just plain stupid.

Some people think that a name will help make you famous, but in reality, your name or image is how you are recognized, not what makes one famous. What makes someone famous is their ability to be recognized for something. What thing did you invent? What talent have you shared with the world? What words did you write that were circulated by friends, teachers, peers, or other leaders?

For now, really concentrate on what you have that can make you famous. Write it down. Study it. Practice it. Say it out loud. Soon we will discuss practical ways of becoming famous, from the inside out.