Steve the Owl's Blog

When it comes to TV, I am usually more of a fan of comedies (I usually prefer drama in movies because I think that the nature of commercial TV makes it harder to get involved with some stories.) but my wife tends to stick with reality shows. Our favorite reality TV show to watch together is Cake Boss. This show centers around a family of famous bakers in Hoboken, New Jersey. The title character, for lack of a better word, is Buddy Valastro, the head baker at Carlo’s Bakery. What first drew our attention about the show was the fact that they made cakes that were such works of art that you almost felt bad when you realized that they would be eaten after they delivered them to their clients. However, what amazes me so much about the “Cake Boss” has been the way that he has shown aspiring businesspeople the smart way to expand a brand.

You, Inc.

If I had a dollar for every time I saw or read that phrase online, I would be rich. Basically, “You, Inc.” is the concept that what you do establishes your personal brand. There are two dangers in this: the first danger is to spread yourself too thin, and the second is to focus too narrowly. (For example, you may really, really be interested in Spanish Baroque art from the late 16th and early 17th century, but I don’t think that there are enough people interested in the same thing to make a business or a blog work.)

Warren Buffett warns investors that one of the biggest mistakes most businesses make is trying to expand a business into an area that takes away from one’s business advantage. For this reason, a lot of people who worry about You, Inc. are very reluctant to expand their niche. However, I think that Buddy Valastro shows one of the smartest ways to do this.

Expanding the Sphere

Buddy started by working in his family’s bakery at a young age. At the age of 17, after his father’s sudden passing, Buddy took over the family business. He focused most of his efforts on building his bakery and trying to expand its reach after being known for its specialty cakes for 15 years. Two years ago, Buddy entered into a deal with TLC to show the workings of his bakery. It goes from meeting with clients all the way to the finished cake. They have had episodes where they’ve been commissioned to build cakes for customers as far away as St. Louis, and they are always amazing.

Then, in 2010, Buddy decided to expand by using something he knows a lot about (cakes) to make his own cookbook, which is based on the show and includes stories about his family. A month later, TLC premiered a spin-off, The Next Great Baker. This show follows the “reality contest” format, with ten contestants vying for a $50,000 prize and a job at Carlo’s Bakery. (The season finale aired January 24. I don’t know when it will air again, but TLC tends to show a lot of reruns, so you may still be able to catch it.) Finally, today is the premiere of Kitchen Boss, a cooking show with Buddy as the host and appearances by members of his family.

Smart Expansion

This is what makes Buddy smart when it comes to his brand. He spent 15 years establishing himself before going on TV, meaning that he really had his act together before he did so. Then, he made sure that he had success in TV (including testing the waters as a contestant on Food Network shows) before launching his two spin-offs. I don’t know what the future will hold for his newest venture, as it is the one that branches out the most from his expertise, but I think that, overall, this is a lesson in the right way to expand one’s business model.

One of the things that I enjoy the most about the world of online business is reading blogs of others who are working to carve out their piece of the pie. One of the keys for anyone who is trying to build a business is to discover his/her niche. However, there are times when I wonder if people cater to their niche to such an extent that they leave a lot of people outside of their niche.

Some Examples in Reading

One of the things that surprised me in reading so many blogs is how many of them work so hard to appeal to one particular demographic at the expense of all of the others. One of the biggest examples of this involves gender in family roles. I clicked on some blog titles that I found interesting, and some of them seemed to emphasize efforts to reach out to women, and some reached out to fathers. As a man with no children, I know that I don’t fit these demographics, but I found out that there was valuable information for me.

Are You Too Specialized?

I am not saying that there is a problem with trying to focus on a niche. However, I think that there is a difference between saying that the target demographic is the only group that is welcome. I think that one of the key ways to tell if there is something that is too specialized is whether or not the information is specialized or generalized. If the information really is geared towards a specific audience, there is nothing wrong with having a very narrowly tailored marketing effort.

However, if the information really is general information, is it something that people outside of the demographic can find value? If it is, this means that you now have a question about the way you market to your niche. One of my very good friends in the world of blogging says that women are the target demographic, but I noticed that men were well represented in the top comment section of her blog. So, I think that this means that, while she may have a target demographic in mind, she has cross-over appeal to other demographics.

Another blog that I saw had a target demographic, and even though some of the posts tended to be more generalized, toward the end, the call to action almost always addressed only the people in the target demographic. Maybe this person is doing fine with the target demographic, but knowing that I didn’t fit the demographic, I couldn’t help but wonder how many other prospects were left on the table because of that idea.

Ways to Avoid Narrowing

In the world of politics, I learned that one of the worst words that someone can use is the word “too.” The reason for that is that it is a defensive word, as per the following examples: “Democrats care about national security, too.” “Republicans care about children, too.” Now, imagine how each of these phrases sound when the word “too” is eliminated. I think that it works the same way in marketing. I remember a few years ago when the men’s grooming trend was on the rise, and I saw a hair dye for men with the tagline, “because you’re worth it, too.” I have seen other commercials for hair dye that were geared to men that did not use the word “too” at all and branded itself “the leader in men’s hair coloring.” I don’t think you have to try very hard to guess which one sold more products. (Note: I am not endorsing hair dye, just giving an example of defensive thinking and marketing at work.)

So, with this in mind, whatever your niche is, always try to find the balance between targeting a group, and saying to others that they just don’t fit in.