I promise not to rip too much out of the e-book but I was told that this analogy works quite well (and I do like it myself) and I wanted to share.

Have you seen the new movie with Daniel Day-Lewis?

It’s 11 o’clock on a bright and crisp morning as I look out of the window. It’s 24th February 2008 and tonight it’s Oscar Award night. There is lots of coverage in the media about Daniel Day-Lewis and his performance in the movie “There Will Be Blood”.

This film has been heaped with critical acclaim and an Oscar for the leading actor seems a cert. Of course, he is a well known and respected actor, who has already received an an academy award for his role in ‘My Left Foot’ and has appeared in a string of films such as “Gangs of New York” and “The Last Of The Mohicans”.

The thing is, as an actor, Daniel Day-Lewis has credibility. Perhaps early in his career, before he had become well-known, he could have told you he was a great actor but he, and more importantly we, would not have had a frame of reference for his claims. Now, we have thousands of them.

What’s more, some of the frames of reference are very authoritative. For starters, he already has an Oscar (he did also win this year, so now he has two) in recognition of his acting ability from the most prestigious award committee in the industry. He has a back catalogue of films he has been in, which have also been critically acclaimed. We have seen for ourselves how good he is in other films.

Then there are film critics. We may not agree with all of them all of the time but they have credibility in what they do, critiquing films and acting performances, and so they carry weight. Put it this way, they have more weight when they say a film is outstanding than me or you.

All of this credibility adds up. And, it goes a lot deeper than I have highlighted, but the idea, broken down into some very simple parts goes like this:

1. Firstly, we know that he is an actor. More specifically he is known for a certain type of film. Could you see him in an all out action film? So, he has established who he is and what he does, specifically.
2. He has track record - We may have seen one of his films and this gives us a frame of reference going back. He may not be your cup of tea, in terms of the type of film he makes and this defines his offering. On the other side of the coin, you may have already bought into him as an actor and when his next film is released you will watch it regardless; until he lets you down.
3. He has authority - He has his Oscars, his other awards and some successful films. He has a fan base. What’s more, rather than take his word for it, he has critical acclaim. He has other people telling you how good he is; people who themselves have authority for talking about actors and films.

All in all, if Daniel Day-Lewis was a web site, he would have the right ingredients. He has the brand name, the offering, the authority and he has lots of other people telling the world how good he is (incoming links).