Who wants to be famous?

Okay .... perhaps a more relevant question is: Who would like to be even slightly famous - recognized as an expert in your field and acknowledged as the go-to person on your topic of expertise?

My bet is that many of you would. I certainly would!

Last year, I took a great teleclass with two experts on "Growing your Business with Google". At its core, the class was centered on understanding how search engines work, and discovering how, using some inexpensive and easily available tools both online and offline, you could position yourself as a subject matter guru within a relatively short period of time.

One of the class teachers was Steven Van Yoder, author of "Get Slightly Famous: Become a Celebrity in Your Field and Attract More Business with Less Effort", which has recently been released in its second edition.

I was privileged to interview Steve for a podcast this week, and was able to explore on your behalf how, with a little strategic and creative thinking, you too can begin to craft your plan for getting your good name out, and attracting the attention you need to drive new business in through your front door.

The steps he outlines are available to both the small boutique or solo business person or practitioner, as well as the large organization.

Listen carefully to Steve's podcast interview (it's a little over 23 minutes) as he shares his wisdom and expertise about "thought leadership marketing", "cause marketing" and taking advantage of Web 2.0.

Hear how he makes this kind of marketing and PR accessible to even the smallest "shoestring" marketing budget. NO MORE $20,000 consultants with fancy marketing plans!!

And then order his practical and immensely readable book right away - it will take you gently and firmly by the hand, and guide you through the simple steps needed to get going.

And then rejoin us at The Entrepreneurial MD Blog to share your questions or comments!

Many physicians invent new devices as a result of their frustration with instruments that don't work well, or problems that must have some kind of solution. This frustration is coupled with the belief that they are the ones who have to find the solution or eliminate the annoyance!

One of the challenges for such physicians is figuring out how to materialize their ideas and then bring them to market.

At The Entrepreneurial MD, not only do I want to learn from successful physician entrepreneurs, but I am also committed to interviewing men and women who may not be physicians but who have much wisdom to share about how to accomplish certain business goals.

I had the privilege of interviewing Jim (James E.) Nicholson last year, and am using this interview to launch the "other half" of my Podcast series, called "Insights from the Professionals".

Jim is a special guy - a serial entrepreneur, an aeronautical and astronautical engineer, and holder of 38 patents (including the Venodyne compression system). In this 25-minute podcast, he outlines how he approached colleagues in healthcare to begin putting his prodigious engineering knowledge to use, to benefit patients. He also shares his experience with securing his inventions and bringing them to market.

Then join me back at The Entrepreneurial MD Blog to share your comments and questions.