I was talking with a friend the other day who was telling me how cool it would be to work for one of these web celebrities. Then I peed in their cheerios telling them I don’t know of many celebrities who have ever done many successful businesses.
There have been many successful business people who turn into a web celebrity and then their business sense goes in the shitter.
The truth is its VERY rare that any celebrity has much business sense including former successful people who turn into celebrities.
The only exception I can think of is Donald Trump. He has managed to go on to do even bigger things after becoming a celebrity.
I am not going to call out certain people but search a round a bit for .com zillionaires who became famous then have not done anything since…
At some point being a celebrity becomes your business… that scares me.
About the author...
Jeremy Schoemaker – who has written 2415 posts on ShoeMoney.com.
Hi I am Jeremy Schoemaker and ShoeMoney.com is my blog. 99% of the post here are done by me but you will see others occasionally make guest posts. This blog is fun to write but for my day job I run several online companies.
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Hmm… is true when you are famous sometime is either your mind will bypass what you should be doing in business into doing something else.
As for web superstar, I always think Frank Kern, doesn’t know why but I love to watch his video whenever is posted is sort of like celebrities in the internet marketing world to me…
Out of curiosity, who would you consider a web celebrity?
uh oh, I think I know who this is directed to! Actually, quite a few people
Yeah I kind of agree with this, it’s like after a while they’re just working on being famous… the actual business part stops being important.
But hey, maybe they make more money by just being famous?
As for IM celebrities, I’d have to agree with Frank Kern… he’s got a lot of personality, and it means that his delivery actually adds to the content. That’s pretty rare.
I guess the same can be said for Jason Moffatt too, although I guess he’s not as famous.
-David Raybould
I agree with your point of view Shoe. Once you become Famous enough many a times online business and planning goes for a toss completely. Like recently Tech Crunch group has written article for the legal case which is going on between you and Google.
I would like to know according to your point of view who are web celebrities at this point of time ??? Can you name few Shoe ??
So.. if a web celebrity is a person who had some business sense and then lost it after they realized they had a claim to fame, are they just making money off of endorsements and such? How are they able to continue to let it all go to their heads if the money isn’t coming in anymore?
they make money from being a celeb… speaking/endorsements etc..
Well, on a big scale. I’ve always thought Mark Cuban was kind of a “web celebrity”. He basically sold an unprofitable company at the peak of the .com bubble and that’s where his fame came from. I don’t know much else he was successful at.
On a smaller scale, a lot of the popular IM’ers (kern, schefren, filsaime, stompernet) are pretty business saavy. John Reese, a brilliant marketer, is basically what I would consider a “web celebrity” at this point. He relies on his name and aura to still be a top affiliate, but he’s not really what I would consider a saavy business person. If he was, he’d probably be making 50x the money he is now.
Again, it’s not a bash on reese. I like his teaching and think he’s super smart. But, you see guys just release so many great products/training/membreships/ and all that and really take it to the next level. He’s content just making money off emailing his list. Which I guess might be a pretty good way to go through life. Just seems more like a personality at this point. He’s definitely not rocking the market like he was in 2004.
Mark Cuban is a perfect example of someone who was destroying it then became a celebrity and has not been able to do much other then be a celebrity.
Shoemeister…Take it easy man, you must have had a bad dream last night…
You are doing just fine bro, your still the Shoemeister…
I guess it would be hard not to be complacent if one has $40 million in the bank. Boo hoo.
Simon Cowell? But I suppose his business was built around other celebrities anyway so this case may be an exception.
My view on this is that once you’ve become a celebrity, your focus on business can be easily distracted.
I think there are numerous examples of celebrities who have gone on and continue to do great work. Yeah – money can be a distraction, but most people achieve success exactly because they understand goals and execution. Let’s take Brad Pitt – HUGE celebrity but still making great films like “The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons” or Magic Johnson – few sports stars are bigger except now he’s also now a major entrepreneur. The list is long.
That’s not to say people don’t crash and burn. They do. Money can make you soft.
Not so sure how successful Donald Trump is anymore. He has lost a fair bit during this recession. And he is very very quiet!
Richard Branson is still fairly successful even though he is a celebrity. There are some around.
Yes it happens sometimes that once you become a celebrity you assume there is no way up and stop growing both as an individual as well as a business person.But that need not always be true.If you are the sort of person who just thrives on making yourself better everyday and in every possible way I don’t see any reason why you end up stagnating as a Web Celebrity.But it is real food for thought.Where do we go once we reach the pinnacle?
This is whole total different field and to get famous in this they will have to start from scratch. Although their celebrity tag can do the wonder for them. and can make their task easier but not successful.
What the hell are you trying to say half the time?
Simple – Web Celebrity and their internet business.
I have the great relief of knowing this will never happen to me.
And truly, once I read “peed in their cheerios” it’s hard for me to read further. It’s one of those phrases that just makes me curl up inside!
the thing that gets most people is the cash and they lose all there biz sences its crazy
but at the end of the day if you got cash to spend spend it haha
I agree. Celebrity and businessman don’t mix. Either, or.
Aren’t you a web celebrity too?
Well ..Shoe is Great Celeb for sure but the only difference is Shoe has not yet started doing something wrong ..lol
Celebs are someone you will look at for, but these guys just go overboard in my opinion.
repute means fortune
It’s better to be quietly successful than to be a celebrity.
I’m not sure what this article is referring to? People who are rich businessmen and then get fame? But to get rich they obviously would have an “angle” which got them popular in the first place – hence they’re already “celebrities”.
Not sure about the Donald Trump angle, he’s always been famous since he was a kid working for his Dad. It’s part of this fame that got him rich in the first place.
What about yourself Shoemoney? Will you branch out of the Web and hit the celebrity circuit?
Have to vehemently disagree. Mark Cuban has enhanced his businesses by becoming a celebrity.
I’d like to successful, but not a celebrity. I think it’s too tiresome
hi Jeremy:
Do you consider yourself as one of those rare cases?
i.e. doing something bigger after getting all the attentions.
This post was in directly placed for a few people indeed.
Dinono.com
if you are succesful in anything you become a celebrity, you could be a small celebrity or a big celebrity but you will become one of those. For example you work in a small company and you become succesful your boss always is happy with you and saying great things about you in that small place you become a celebrity for the easy of the people that works there and for that few hours you become a celebrity, also we have the case of donald trump that is a big celebrity because he runs his own business and become a big investor, o the example of jeremy shoemaker that I am in Panama central america and all the people that I know for this country or other latinamerica countries that works in the internet marketing I recomend this page so you are about or you are rigth now a big celebrity
This is why fame is NOT on my list of life time achievements.
$$$$$$…..YES……….FAME……NO! What a headache it must be to be famous. No thanks.
What are you talking about crazy pants? Donald Trump doesn’t do anything he has a board that decides on what to do with his business. He just rides around in his private jet with his fake barbie doll wife and gets paid by his company. I’m waiting for the board to vote him off just to hear someone say to him “You’re Fired.”
I just want to be rich, not famous like you Shoemoney.
What is the criteria of web celebrity according to you ?
Web celebrity and the dangers. I have seen many of the superstars have faded from the public memory after being crowned. Many sporting stars outside the web. But this celebrity status gives one a chance to assert themselves and do more. There are many more Donald Trumps out there and you missed many successful web celebrities.
Interesting post. I know some Internet Marketers who gained a lot of attention online – “celebrity”-like status – and then moved onto basically selling themselves for profit. I happened to have dated a well-known public speaker – who worked with one of the most “famous” internet marketers, and I saw a lot of corruption among them. Most of them knew so very LITTLE about Internet Marketing, SEO, working online – yet they were getting paid thousands of dollars to speak and teach others. They used their charm and status to reel people in – then sell their coaching services which offered very little value.
If you are some type of celebrity online or offline – I think you have some moral responsibility to not lead with deception. I think it’s great to be in a position that gives you a voice – what you do with that can affect a lot of people. A lot of marketers I know, unfortunately, make all their money from their speaking engagements and selling coaching.
Jeremy aren’t you a web celebrity yourself? With all the followers you have I think you can consider yourself so.
Are you scared that the dangers you mentioned might happen to you? To be honest I think that you’re motivated and focused enough not to let your business sense dry off. In my opinion you are making use of your web celebrity to grow your business which is great. You are doing a great job.
On a more general note I believe that a business man doesn’t just loose his business sense when he becomes a celebrity; what he might loose is his motivation therefore affecting his business sense. Once he becomes a celebrity he might give more importance to him being a celebrity than being a business man. Do you agree?
Web celebrity status is kind of better. I remember the top cricketing maestro Sachin Tendulkar saying “I wish I could go out with my family like a common man to a theater”. web celebrities do not have these kind of problems. they have fame, yet they have the freedom
“BALANCE” it’s all about balancing what goes on in your life and it could be done. “Shoe” your one to talk … your a web celeb !!!
Maintaining a balance is always difficult. We have heard of some many celebrities, not just famous internet marketers, getting the success into their head and then they just fade off after a couple of years.
It is very important to maintain a balance. The reason for the lack of balance in internet marketing celebrities is the fact that when they are famous they are approached by a lot of people for business. These celebrities often, do not consider or, analyze if, the offer is beneficial to the general human being and go on to support it. Gradually they loose followers and quality, and fade off in a couple of years.
Ultimately it is all about how you plan and what is the timeframe at which you are looking.
Do you consider yourself a web celebrity Jeremy?