Link Bait Me

Scott Baio is probably best known for his roles in Happy Days and Charles in Charge throughout the 80s and late 70s, but lately, he’s revamped his career with last year’s return to television in VH1’s show all about Baio, himself, Scott Baio is 45 and Single. Now he’s pregnant.

OK, so maybe Scott isn’t pregnant, but he’s about to be a father, so the title is a little true and it got your attention, so it did its job. That’s what VH1 was thinking when they renamed the show for this season, Scott Baio is 46 and Pregnant, and that’s what this post is about: how to re-invent yourself and then do it again.

The 80s (and Scott Baio’s career) faded away
I have nothing against Scott Baio, but let’s face the facts. After Charles in Charge, he pretty much faded away and people forgot about him. That happens in Hollywood, but if you’re smart, and you were an 80s teen idol, you make a reality T.V. comeback. I don’t know what Scott did for the last 15 years, and I don’t much care. The thing to note is that few people do know what he’s been up to.

Baio, reinvented… twice
Last year, while watching television, I found myself viewing a teaser for a new show. That was Scott Baio is 45 and Single. At that moment, I wasn’t thinking about the marketing angle. The last time I saw this 80s star on the tube was, well, in the 80s. My jaw dropped just a little and my wife and I started talking about it. I don’t think we were the only ones who remembered “Chachi” and became immediately intrigued about what this child star was doing in his forties on VH1. Looking at Google trends, I KNOW we weren’t the only ones.

While I was sitting around, not thinking about how Scott Baio was marketing his name to a whole new generation, people around the world were typing his name into Google. Likely, some were trying to figure out who this “old dude” is that their parents are reminiscing about, while others closer to my age were catching up on Baio’s last 15 plus years. What’s clear is that people were once again paying attention to Scott’s still charming smile and watching his every move. My wife and I watched a few episodes for nostalgia’s sake, but we’re not reality T.V. fans, so the show became something we forgot about again.

While I payed attention to my own life, Scott was busy. He straightened out his life a little, went on some dates, found love, became a father-to-be, and got married. Married? Married. Of course, you can’t star in a reality television show about being single if you’re now married and have a child on the way. What you CAN do is re-invent yourself again, and that’s what Scott did. While it won’t create as much buzz as Scott popping up from out of nowhere with a new show, it definitely keeps people interested and talking about him.

Tonight, the new season came on while I happened to have the channel on. Coincidentally, I work in my living room and I was paying more attention to my laptop, trying to think of my next blog post. I let myself slip into the show for a little bit before I realized that I was watching my next blog post.  Now I wonder what’s next.

Aren’t you famous yet?
Scott Baio’s advantage is that he was a household name in the 80s and people remembered his name instantly when he came back. Don’t worry, though. You can enjoy your own success, even if you weren’t a teen idol. Think about what you consider “success” in regards to your internet fame. Is it an Alexa rank under 10,000? Maybe you want an unsolicited rave review from John Chow or Shoemoney.com. Whatever it is, you’ll need to figure it out so you know how to plan. Once you know what you want, think about how to get it. Maybe you need a unique image like Perez Hilton. Maybe you just need to redesign your blog. Maybe you could buy some name recognition like Gyutae Park of WinningTheWeb.com. Take a look at some of the top bloggers and ask yourself why they’re on top and if any of what they’re doing applies to you. Then put together your game plan and a time line to reach your goals. Take a cue from Scott Baio and invent or re-invent yourself to find your own success.

Popularity: 33% [?]

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 19th, 2008 at 9:38 pm and is filed under Linkbaiting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

| Stumble it! | |  Print This Post