Those of you who have enjoyed success in business over the years have no doubt received invitations to be accepted in the prestigious Who’s Who listings. If you haven’t, you have probably seen is listed on people’s resumes, lists of accomplishments or memberships on their Web sites and brochures. From Marquis Who’s Who, Strathmore’s Who’s Who, Who’s Who Online, Who’s Who America, Europa’s International Who’s Who and the new ones that rise each year,is there any value in being included? Each of the companies practice marketing claims that standards for inclusion are strict.

Upon receiving a couple of email invitations recently from one of these companies I decided to look into it a bit further. What I like to call my intuition or what others may consider my cynicism, has kept me from writing any of these companies an annual check to have my name and accomplishments included in their “exclusive” publications. One article on the subject I found credible with good content was The Hall of Lame published in the Forbes Magazine March, 3, 1999. This article cites interesting statements from some Marquis Who’s Who board members. Another resource is Larry Bodine’s LawMarketing Blog. My research supports my opinion that most of those who apply are accepted and many of the biographies are self reported and unchecked. Now, for those of you who send your check annually to one or more, I don’t think it is going to hurt anything. However, if you are one of my client’s, please don’t ask me to send out press releases or run full page ads announcing your new claim to fame!