What Tori Spelling Can Teach Us About Business

Regardless of your personal opinion of her, we could all learn from Tori Spelling. Best known for her role as Donna Martin in the original 90210 series and the daughter of Hollywood producer, Aaron Spelling, Tori has managed to create a name for herself and is quickly creating her own empire. She is an actress, an entrepreneur – creator of a jewelry line sold on HSN, a children’s clothing line, and an author of three books and soon a children’s book as well, all the while juggling life as a mom to two young children.

I must admit in the last year, I’ve become a big fan. I got hooked on her reality show, Tori & Dean Home Sweet Hollywood, read her first book sTori Telling, second book, Mommywood, and just this last weekend, met her, Patsy (her baby nanny) and Mehran (her best friend and gay husband) at her book signing for her newest book Unchartered TerriTori.

She was very gracious and all three of them were as nice as could be. What made her really STAND OUT was she took the time to talk with her fans and posed for photographs even though the bookstore’s rule was there would be no personalization and no posed photographs. Although this slowed down the book signing process, it really made her fans feel special and made her more endearing to them.

I attended the book signing with my best friend and owner of kiddiegoodybags.com. She made these cool ribbon leis for Tori and her kids, along with a personalized goody bag. We were so amazed that she remembered the sample bags that were made for Stella and Liam’s birthdays and the sample baby shower bag for the Guncles. Photos of the sample bags were tweeted to her. To be remembered amongst the many thousands of messages you gets on a regular basis! Now we know that it’s really her online, not just an assistant and WOW! she actually takes the time to read her tweets!

So, my big indulgence was spending my Sunday reading her new book. I finished it in just a few hours, just like I did her other two books. They made me laugh, cry, and see her in a completely different light. I admire her for her honesty and authenticity talking about her experiences and struggles - similar struggles we all have – especially as mom-preneurs. I highly recommend all three books for its entertainment value and for how it can teach you to communicate. What makes her books so easy to read is it’s very conversational. You feel like she’s personally telling you the story. She writes like she talks. That’s what I love about how communication has changed. Gone are the days where business is so formal, stuffy and well, boring!

With the introduction of social media, it’s important that we all relate to our audience on a more personal level. Big businesses are seeing the importance of doing this and Tori, along with other celebrities, have embraced it as a way to connect with their fans.

So here’s what Tori can teach us about business…

1. Write like you talk – no more stuffy corporate speak. On your blog posts and in your ezines, communicate like you’re talking to your audience in person.

2. Put more of you into your business – let your customer’s know the person behind the company. Let them know you. This will endear them to you and build customer loyalty.

3. Tell stories about your experiences. This is a great way to show your prospects that you’ve had experience working on similar type projects or that you have worked with clients. You can draw from past experiences to advise clients on their home sale. It’s a wonderful, yet subtle way to build your credibility.

4. Leverage Social Media to build your brand and get the word out.

5. Let your customer’s know you’re paying attention to them. Make your customer’s feel heard and special by taking physical notes and mental notes of their lifestyle, likes & dislikes. When they sell their properties or send you a referral, you can send personal gifts using the information you gathered to make you stand out and look like a total rockstar.

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