Another brand shoots itself in the foot. Botox, the popular anti-wrinkle drug, and its competitor, Myobloc, have both been officially linked to dangerous botulism symptoms. In a few cases, the symptoms were so bad that children given the drugs for muscle spasms have died, according to the Food & Drug Administration.

This should not be a shocker. Don’t these wrinkle-challenged women (and men) realize that Botox stands for “botulism toxin?” Score one for truth in labeling, at least.

Don’t they realize they’re letting (in many cases, encouraging) their doctors to inject a deadly poison under their skin — all in the name of vanity?

Is it the doctors? Haven’t plastic surgeons been diligent enough in informing their patients about the risks?

Or is it those damnable TV ads for pharmaceuticals, the ones aimed directly at consumers. You know the type: “Ask your doctor whether this crap is right for you.”

This kind of advertising is outlawed in every country in the world — except two. (The other, I believe, is New Zealand.) And it ought to be outlawed here. Creating a demand for your product or service is one thing. Creating a demand for dangerous drugs is another. It seems to me it’s only a short hop from there… to the creep dealing smack or crack on the street corner. He’s creating a demand, too. “Psst. Hey, man — the first one’s free.”

Wouldn’t it be nice if your business had no competitors? Imagine — if customers wanted to buy what you were selling, they’d have to buy it from you. Or do without.

Think again. If your small business really had no competition, something would be very wrong. It could mean there’s simply no market for your product or service. Maybe others tried it and failed, or customers simply don’t want it. As old-time movie mogul Sam Goldwyn put it, “If people don’t want to go see your picture, nobody can stop them.”

Besides, people often grow to hate companies that don’t have competition. Look at Microsoft (especially in the past). Look at the growing grudge many people have against Google. (Not only for their past privacy intrusions but now — yikes! — their takeover of DoubleClick. If that doesn’t prompt you to start dumping your browser cache and deleting your cookies, I don’t know what will.)

Maybe the best example is cable television. You could hear the cheers all over New York after the stranglehold monopoly of cable systems within apartment buildings, condos and co-ops was struck down by the FCC.

Now if only those of us living in small cities had the same choices. For many of us, we have two options: one overpriced cable system — bloated with hundreds of channels we don’t even watch — or rabbit ears. Do I really have to pay $100+ a month to watch Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert a few times a month?

I wish I had a competing cable system to choose. I know that would drive down prices. Or maybe someone will finally introduce something all cable systems hate and fear: a la carte pricing. That is, you pay only for the channels you want. For most of us, that would probably be 10 or 20, not 200.

Actually, when it comes to television, this guy probably has the best idea.

Southern California isn’t the only place that’s burning. A big chunk of Hollywood box office is in ashes, too. Sunday’s New York Times examines the cause of several of this fall’s big-name box office disasters.

“Gone Baby Gone” tanked, despite star Ben Affleck appearing on virtually every talk show except “Wall Street Week.” The heavily-promoted “Rendition” also went into the crapper, despite its cheerful theme of torture. “Things We Lost in the Fire” starring Benicio Del Toro and Halle Berry also sank with barely a bubble.

The culprit in all these big name failures: lack of focus. They’re not targeted at any particular audience. As the Times put it:

“That doesn’t mean they’re bad pictures. It means they have no obvious appeal to any of the four big demographic groups at which Hollywood has typically aimed its wares: males 17 to 24 years old, males 25 to 49, females 17 to 24 and females 25 to 49.

What has this Hollywood stuff got to do with small business marketing and attracting more customers? Everything. Your small business needs to do exactly what these movies didn’t do. You need to focus on entertaining — uh, I mean serving – a narrow niche audience.

The headline of the Times piece says it all. It’s “How to Find an Audience? Try a Zoom Lens.” link

The quickest way to failure is to try to be all things to all people. If you stand for everything, you’re remembered for nothing. If you don’t create your marketing message for a tightly-designed market, you’re doomed to fail — whether you’re a CPA or a Hollywood producer.

“… if the movie business is to keep making these smart little dramas in which ambitious actors and prize-hungry filmmakers take their annual shot at the (Oscars), it will have to start doing what car makers and packaged-goods companies have always done: sharpen the message and narrow the targets.

Give something away! Something big, something that appeals to your target market. Something that vividly shows prospects (that’s what they are, right?) how great your service or products are.

That’s the time-honored marketing strategy, and it’s exactly what IKEA is doing to promote its new website aimed at small businesses (rather than home furnishings). An online video contest, “Small Business, Big Dreams,” will award a design makeover to not one but a group of small businesses from the same neighborhood (a nice touch). To enter, entrepreneurs submit a short video showcasing unique aspects of their business and its role within the community.

Not surprisingly, the Ikea business site also includes a forum to share tips and techniques for creating the ideal business space, including visitor-submitted photos and videos of their workspaces.

The only gripe I have is the use of Flash animation to open every section. Even with my (fairly peppy) broadband connection, I find animations slow-loading and annoying. But hey, maybe that’s just me.

Have you ever given away a sample of your work (website design, for example) as a way of attracting a new set of prospects? Thinking about it for the future? Post a comment and let’s talk about it.

Imus in the Morning used to promote itself as “This ain’t your mother’s morning show.” Actually, it turns out, it is. And your grandmother’s too.

The comments I’ve received suggest that Imus fans are not predominantly male, as one might have expected. There are lots of females, too, as young as college age and extending well into their 80s. A lot more older women than I would have expected.

Other comments reveal:

• They don’ t mind being called I-Hos. (Even the guys.) One told me, “Being an I-ho sure beats being a media ho!”
• Petitions are now being circulated to pressure MSNBC and CBS to bring him back.
• A rally will be held in NYC on June 29, when the petitions will be presented to the three media outlets. Imus supporters are coming from as far away as Washington State — now that’s a dedicated fan!
• Somebody has started a “fake” Imus blog. A commenter tipped me off to it, and I must say, it’s pretty funny. The guy writes like Imus talks, so if your ears are offended by vulgarity, don’t go there.Wait a minute, what am I saying? These are Imus fans!

With apologies to Steven Stills:

“If you can’t watch the Imus you love,
now you can read the Imus you’ve got.”