Just for Research
I do harp on a lot about Me Inc. or if you like You Incorporated, for as you all know your face, attitude and business savvy etiquette is paramount to your success, particularly as entrepreneurs.
There are also other ways to use the Me Inc. to create greater brand awareness and off shoot business products based on this concept.
No one does Me Inc. better than English entrepreneur Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Records, Virgin Airlines, Virgin Mobile and countless other Virgin products.
He is at the head of every promotional campaign setting up elaborate PR stunts to launch his latest ventures. And just when you think you couldn’t get enough of him, out comes his autobiography (available to purchase on every Virgin Airline flight as well as selected bookstores).
Making your money then selling your story or expertise is the new product of the 21st century. Whether it is your autobiography, business seminars, how-to articles or trade journal contributions your expertise can not only be of interest to others but also heighten your business profile, highlighting your success (or your willingness to learn from your mistakes) to the general public.
Now you don’t have to be Richard Branson, Donald Trump or Martha Stewart to join the Me Inc. information explosion. Look at the many biographies out on bookshelves today are they all by famous people? Or are some of them by people who have a great deal of experience (good and bad) to share?
If you have been in business and failed why not do a ‘Scraping yourself back off the floor’ podcast or book? If you have run a successful business as a young entrepreneur why not package your experience and offer it to business schools as a seminar or create your own podcast series?
Yours truly, has just been commissioned to write a book on my experiences living in Harlem, entitled ‘Sunshine on Sugar Hill’. The blurb is as follows:
In a story that even she will admit borders on the surreal, Angela Gilltrap ex-ABC TV star finds herself living on Sugar Hill in Harlem, New York. From the shores of Bondi Beach to the six-floor walk up she shares with her boyfriend, a Harlem born and bred composer and international chess champion, she suddenly has to adjust not only to her new city but to the nuances of her immediate surroundings which happen to include the occasional drive-by, drug deals and daily arrests.
But for a performer who has always sung soul, jazz and gospel music it is a dream come true. She takes the ‘A’ Train home, lives down the road from the Apollo and sings at the New Ebeneeza Baptist Church.
Before long, she is at home living in her own ‘Spike-Lee’ film, the locals nicknaming her ‘Sunshine’ due to her eternally sunny disposition.
Sunshine on Sugar Hill is a journey through the many trials and tribulations of this epic move written with a sense of humor and wit that is guaranteed to entertain.
Now I tell you this not as a plug for the book (I still have to write it yet) but just to show you that your experiences count. Whatever you have gone through, someone else will be able to relate.
If you have chosen life as an entrepreneur you will no doubt be avoiding ‘dull as dishwater’ living therefore you are more likely to have way out, life changing experiences. Sharing these will create a higher profile for Me Inc. and validate all those crap times you had, after all, they were just for research weren’t they?
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