When people use your brand name as a verb, that is remarkable.
Sometimes in business and in life, who people think you are is just as important as—and maybe more important than—who you really are. Building a brand—personal, professional, or corporate—is key in a world where marketing and PR often decide success or failure. Individuals, companies, entire cultures and societies respond negatively or positively to that brand. It may seem crass, but build the right brand and you can conquer the world, or at least survive another day.
The following are the stories of three deliberate, well-orchestrated brands.
According to data collected by marketing research company BrandZ, the top 10 most valuable brands in the world in 2011 were:
1. Apple
2. Google
3. IBM
4. McDonald’s
5. Microsoft
6. Coca-Cola
7. AT&T
8. Marlboro
9. China Mobile
10. GE10
Conspicuous by their absence were Amazon, Verizon, Walmart, UPS, Hewlett-Packard, and Visa.
And Virgin. Yes, that Virgin, the hugely successful brand created, nurtured, and dominated by Richard Branson, an entrepreneur celebrity who has become a brand unto himself.
To be correct, he’s Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson, a British baron, knighted in 2000. His Virgin Group includes more than 400 companies worldwide. He’s the 5th richest person in the United Kingdom and the 254th richest in the world. The following are just a few of the companies wearing the Virgin brand past and present. The list also gives an indication of the diversity of Branson’s talents and tastes:
Virgin Records
Virgin Games
Virgin Atlantic Airways
Virgin Holiday
Virgin Megastore
Virgin Publishing
Virgin Radio
Virgin Vodka
Virgin Cola
Virgin Brides
Virgin Trains
Virgin Cosmetics
Virgin Mobile
Virgin Australia
Virgin Energy
Virgin Cars
Virgin Galactic
Virgin Money
Virgin Healthcare
Virgin Racing
Whew! And that’s just some of them. Why “Virgin”? Well, back in the early 1970s, when the young Richard was selling records at a discount through the mail and even out of the boot (trunk) of his car, one of his early employees suggested the name for the company because all of them, Richard included, were virgins in the business world.
Branson wouldn’t remain one for long, of course. In 1972, he launched Virgin Records and was soon producing albums for the likes of the Sex Pistols and discovering new acts such as Culture Club. Branson sold Virgin Records to EMI in 1992, primarily because he was so busy with other ventures, including his now-famous airline, his mobile phone company, and even his Australian wine company. One of his most fearless and crazy moments was his 1993 decision to get into the railroad business, with his launch of Virgin Trains. The UK railroads were a financial mess and had a deservedly poor reputation for service. Branson jumped in anyway.
And he pressed on, looking for newer, even crazier opportunities. Why? As he explains it, “My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them.”11
Case in point #1: In 2004, he launched Virgin Galactic, whose name hints at the mission: space flights for members of the public, with tickets priced at something like $200,000. He is working with Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen and visionary engineer Burt Rutan on the ambitious goal to make (potential) astronauts of us all. Apparently, the sky is not the limit for Branson.
Case in point #2: In 2006, he launched Virgin Fuels to respond to global warming concerns and to explore alternative fuel sources. Most corporate leaders shy away from environmental controversies, but Branson embraces them and champions new solutions and possibilities. Virgin Fuels is now Virgin Green Fund. The fuels and green initiatives led naturally to Branson’s 2007 announcement of the Virgin Earth Challenge, a global science and technology prize of $25 million to the individual or group that submits “a commercially viable design to achieve the net removal of significant volumes of anthropogenic, atmospheric greenhouse gases each year for at least 10 years without countervailing harmful effects.”12 Branson is putting his money where his passions are.
Branson’s high-profile lifestyle often eclipses even his famous companies. The shaggy-headed, wide-smiling star seems to be everywhere. He has set a variety of high-speed ocean sailing records. He has crossed the Pacific in a hot-air balloon and even attempted to circumnavigate the globe in a balloon. He has made numerous appearances in TV series and films, often playing himself. He even had his own Fox network reality show called The Rebel Billionaire: Branson’s Quest for the Best.
His love of the spotlight allows him to shine a bright light on many causes that are important to him. His nonprofit foundation Virgin Unite established the Branson School of Entrepreneurship in South Africa in 2005. He has used his money and notoriety to work for energy solutions, to push for the elimination of nuclear weapons, to support humanitarian initiatives in Kenya and Sudan, and to promote universal access to broadband services. The list of his charitable, political, and environmental interests could nearly match the list of his Virgin companies. Still in his early sixties, he’s unlikely to slow down anytime soon.
“For me business is not about wearing suits or keeping stockholders pleased,” says Branson. “It’s about being true to yourself, your ideas, and focusing on the essentials.”13
It’s about being true to the brand.
In 1993, it brought the slimy, scary Menendez brothers right into our living rooms. In 1994 and 1995, it was O. J. Simpson, Judge Ito, Johnnie Cochran, and Kato Kaelin. There were hundreds more, of course—the famous, infamous, and unwashed nobodies. Defendants, lawyers, witnesses, bailiffs, judges, and juries. Our living rooms became courtrooms. It was Court TV, and it was a small-screen sensation.
It began just a couple of years before the Menendez trial, in 1991. The cable network was a joint venture owned by Liberty Media, Time Warner, and General Electric (NBC). The face of Court TV was law writer Steven Brill. But other familiar TV journalism names also put in stints at the network, including Jack Ford, Dan Abrams, Nancy Grace, Cynthia McFadden, Savannah Guthrie, Terry Moran, and Star Jones.
Court TV was dedicated to live trial coverage—almost always homicides—and a variety of other criminal justice programming. Anchors provided analysis. Thanks to Court TV, America had a seat in front of the judge’s bench to watch as justice was and wasn’t served and to be reminded that real-life courtroom proceedings are often far different from those seen in TV drama series and movies.
Brill left the network in 1997; a year later NBC/General Electric sold its share to Time Warner. That same year, the network began running several original and acquired programs in prime time, such as Homicide: Life on the Street and Forensic Files.
The branding and programming evolution continued. In 2004, Court TV split into two divisions. Daytime trial coverage was branded as Court TV News, and prime-time and weekend programming was branded as Court TV: Seriously Entertaining.
Time Warner bought full control of Court TV in 2006 and began running it as part of the Turner Broadcasting System. And it was the Turner executives who decided it was time for a step-off-the-cliff, fearless-and-crazy rebranding: a whole new name and more.
Yes, Court TV had become something of an institution in the ever-changing, ever-expanding world of cable television entertainment. But the daily courtroom shows on many of the traditional network channels—The People’s Court, Divorce Court, Judge Judy, Judge Hatchett, Judge Maria Lopez, Judge David Young, and on and on—were capturing much of the buzz and more and more of the eyeballs. Plus, many “real” judges throughout the country were allowing cameras in the courtroom, so America was often getting the inside look on network news and documentary shows. In addition, reality shows of one kind or another were everywhere and were not just a passing fad. They were not only here to stay and capturing growing audience share, they were also relatively inexpensive to produce. TV wasn’t what it used to be.
So in 2008, Court TV changed its name to truTV. As such, it bills itself as “television’s destination for real-life stories told from an exciting and dramatic first-person perspective and featuring high-stakes, action-packed originals that give viewers access to places and situations they can’t normally experience.”14
Whew. But a look at the lineup tells you what the network means to say. Among truTV’s prime-time fan favorites are the original series Operation Repo, truTV Presents: World’s Dumbest . . ., Hardcore Pawn, Lizard Lick Towing, Disorder in the Court, Forensic Files, Las Vegas Jailhouse, Top 20 Most Shocking, and Bait Car.
In other words, it’s not just courtrooms anymore. And that, of course, was the plan. Broaden, expand, rebrand—or be lost in the shuffle and slowly fade away. But truTV does not consider itself a reality network; instead it focuses on series that feature real-life situations—not the contests or highly staged events typical of reality shows. Thus the network’s tagline: “Not Reality. Actuality.” The line between the two is not always clear, however, and truTV has been accused of staging scenes in some of its more popular shows. But even such accusations end up being good PR for the new name and new lineup.
The rebranding seems to be working. Viewership is strong and growing. The risk was great: changing a name in such a crowded, chaotic field could easily have led to oblivion. Remember the cable networks America’s Talking and the Nostalgia Channel? Me neither.
But TBS and truTV execs were not completely crazy. They did hedge their bets and keep significant courtroom coverage in their programming lineup. In fact, they gave that coverage its own name, In Session, a new brand within the new brand. It runs from 9 A.M. to 3 P.M. each weekday, after which truTV programming kicks in.
In Session continues to provide the same important service as its ancestor, Court TV: It is the only television network to serve as a window into the American justice system. It offers live coverage of criminal and civil trials from around the country, as well as expert analysis from the network’s award-winning legal journalists. The network (old name and new) has covered more than 950 trials since its inception.15
So we still can watch the wheels of justice turn. A rebranding decision that was fearless and crazy on its surface but strategic and thorough in its execution will keep the gavels pounding—right in our home on our screens and monitors.
When we think of inventors, we think of men like Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell. When we think of reinventors, we should think of Sean Combs, a.k.a. Puff Daddy, a.k.a. P. Diddy, a.k.a. Diddy. What has Sean Combs reinvented? Himself. Again and again.
His list of roles is long: record producer, rapper, actor, fashion designer, TV producer, restaurant owner, fragrance creator, vodka promoter, philanthropist, and business school founder, among others. His career has had more ups and downs than an amusement park roller coaster, and he has earned a few honors and mentions along the way:
MTV Music Video Award winner in 1997 and 1998
Grammy Award winner in 1998 (twice) and 2004
Fortune magazine’s 40 Richest Under 40 list for 2002
Menswear Designer of the Year for 2004
Time magazines 100 Most Influential People list for 2006
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special (A Raisin in the Sun) in 2009
But things didn’t start out too well for Sean Combs. He was born in a public housing project in Harlem and grew up in Mount Vernon, New York. When he was just a boy, his 33-year-old father was shot and killed in his car outside a Manhattan party.
Sean graduated from Mount Saint Michael Academy in 1987. It was there that he earned the nickname “Puff” because he would huff and puff when he got angry.
He then attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., and quickly demonstrated a natural talent for marketing and promotion. Even though he was living and going to school in the nation’s capital, he made a fearless and crazy decision to take an unpaid intern job at New York’s Uptown Records. He traveled back and forth between the two cities, juggling class work and intern work. When he quickly moved all the way to the top of the corporate ladder at Uptown, he left his school days and Howard University behind. An entrepreneur was about to be born.
The list of music artists he would discover and develop began to grow, starting with Jodeci and Mary J. Blige. But the Uptown job didn’t last; he was fired in 1993 and quickly started his own company, Bad Boy Records, taking then-new-comer The Notorious B.I.G. with him. The breakout success of B.I.G.’s Ready to Die LP allowed Combs to sign more acts, including Faith Evans, Father MC, and Total, as well as produce records for Usher, Lil’ Kim, Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, Aretha Franklin, and others. Bad Boy had become an East Coast music powerhouse, matched only by its West Coast rival, Death Row Records, led by Tupac Shakur and Suge Knight.
In 1997, Combs moved to the other side of the microphone and recorded his first commercial vocal as a rapper under the name Puff Daddy. His debut single, “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down,” spent six weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and his debut album, No Way Out, won the 1998 Grammy for best rap album. A star was born.
With everything going his way, he made another fearless move and started his own clothing line, Sean John, also in 1998.
Success would not come easy, however, and not without controversy—plenty of it. In fact, controversy had saddled Combs even back in his Uptown Records days. In 1991, he had promoted a concert headlined by Heavy D at the City College of New York gymnasium. The event was oversold to twice its capacity, and thousands more without tickets crowded around outside the building the night of the concert. To keep those fans out, Combs’s people shut and blocked the only door to a stairwell. When the outsiders broke several glass doors trying to get in, a stampede ensued inside the gym as the concertgoers rushed the blocked stairwell door. Nine people died; Combs, Heavy D, and City College were found liable in a civil suit.
The negative headlines continued into the Bad Boy days, most famously in late 1999 when Combs and then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez were at Club New York, a trendy midtown Manhattan nightclub. Gunfire broke out, and Combs and fellow rapper Shyne were arrested for weapons violations and other charges. The case got dicier when Combs’s driver claimed Combs tried to bribe him to take the gun (and the fall) after the shooting.
Combs was represented by Johnnie Cochran and Benjamin Brafman in the highly publicized trial that followed. He was found not guilty on all charges, but Shyne was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Later, the driver sued Combs for emotional distress and settled out of court.
It was after all that stress and drama that Combs changed his stage name from Puff Daddy to P. Diddy. But there was even more controversy to come, this time with the clothing line. In 2003, reports surfaced that the Honduran factories producing the Sean John line were paying sweatshop wages and providing far-from-ideal working conditions. Within months, Combs made changes, greatly improving working conditions and even allowing a union. “I’m as pro-worker as they get,” he told the press.16
Then in 2006, Macy’s department store yanked Sean John hooded jackets from its shelves because it had learned the “faux” fur used for the hoods was, in fact, from a real animal, the raccoon dog. Again, Combs moved quickly to minimize the PR damage, stopping use of the fur in the hoodie manufacture and even appearing in a Macy’s commercial to smooth things over.
Through the ups and downs, Combs consistently demonstrated an ability to react to the next challenge, fix it, and move on. Slowly, his business acumen and instincts were acknowledged and even admired.
So what did he do during and after all that? He made even more fearless and crazy career decisions: he landed more acting gigs. Building on his acclaimed work in the movies Made and Monster’s Ball, he earned major roles in Carlito’s Way: Rise to Power and the critically acclaimed Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun. He broadened his musical producing and collaborations beyond rap, working with David Bowie, Britney Spears, and ’N Sync. In 2002, he made his own reality TV show, Making the Band 2. In 2003, he ran the New York Marathon, finishing in a respectable 4 hours, 14 minutes, and 54 seconds. In 2004, he headed the controversial “Vote or Die” campaign for that year’s presidential election.
In August 2005, he appeared on the Today show and announced he was dropping the “P” in his nom de plume and from now on would simply refer to himself as “Diddy.” But even this simple decision was not without controversy, as London-based musical artist Richard “Diddy” Dearlove sought an injunction from the Royal Courts of Justice. Again, there was an out-of-court settlement, and Combs remains P. Diddy—not Diddy—in the United Kingdom.
Then in 2006, he produced his first album in four years, Press Play, with guest appearances by a long list of recording stars. The album reached number one in its first week on the charts. He opened an upscale restaurant chain called Justin’s (after his son). He launched a cologne brand called I Am King, dedicated to Barack Obama, Muhammad Ali, and Martin Luther King Jr. He promoted his clothing line on huge Times Square billboards. He signed a profit-sharing agreement to develop and promote the Cîroc vodka brand. He acquired clothing line Enyce from Liz Claiborne. He established a business leadership school in New York City. He continues to act in TV series and movies, including two CSI: Miami appearances in 2009, a brief role in the 2010 film Get Him to the Greek, and a 2011 appearance in the CBS hit Hawaii Five-0. He released his latest album, Last Train to Paris.17
Sean Combs’s marketing and promotion tactics are at once simple and bold: He knows that he is the brand. He is not shy about promoting that brand anywhere and everywhere. He remains on the cutting edge of technology, using social media and online videos very effectively. He aligns himself with other successful brands. And of course, he reinvents himself again and again. The man and his life are never boring, never stale.
What next? Well, he’s Sean Combs, after all, and whatever it is, under whatever name, it will surprise and amaze. Certainly it’ll be a lot fearless and just a little crazy. And it will promote the brand—the man himself.
MY TAKEThe American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as a “name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.”18 Makes sense. That’s the traditional marketplace definition of brand; we usually think of something like that when we hear or read the word.
But that definition is just the beginning. A brand can be and should be so much more. A good brand:
Confirms your credibility
Connects with your target prospects emotionally
Motivates the buyer
Solidifies user loyalty19
A brand is something you build every day. You nurture it, you grow it, you shout it from the rooftops. Most important, you live it. You must spend time researching, defining, and building your brand. You’re thinking about your brand at every step in my life-wealth strategy—from vision, planning, and execution, on through marketing, networking, and being flexible to deal with the unknowns.
Your brand is your promise to your consumer; it’s the challenge to your competition and the threat to your enemy. A successful brand is so much more than a trademarked product name. It stands for something beyond the words. Sometimes the person—the entrepreneur, the celebrity, or the historical figure—is the brand.
Your brand resides within the hearts and minds of customers, clients, prospects, family, friends, and enemies. It is the sum total of their experiences and perceptions, some of which you can influence and some of which you cannot.
Let’s look at some types and characteristics of brands, as outlined by branding experts Merriam Associates:
Acronyms: names made of initials—UPS or IBM
Descriptive brands: names that describe a product benefit or function—Whole Foods or Airbus
Alliterative and rhyming brands: names that are fun to say and stick in the mind—Reese’s Pieces or Dunkin’ Donuts
Evocative brands: names that evoke a vivid image—Amazon or Crest
Neologisms: completely made-up words—Wii or Kodak
Foreign words: words adopted from another language—Volvo or Samsung
Founders’ names: the names of the people who started it all—Hewlett-Packard or Disney
Geographical brands: brands named for regions, countries, or landmarks—Canada Dry or Fujifilm
Personified brands: Names of mythical characters (Nike), fictional characters (Betty Crocker), or real people (Trump)
Brandnomers: Brand names that have become a generic term for a product or service—Band-Aid or Kleenex or Xerox20
Keeping all this in mind, let’s take another look at our three brand case studies. First, Virgin is an intriguing brand name, hinting at something a little racy or suggestive. But the brand’s high-profile, activist celebrity creator has never had a whiff of scandal, and Virgin has become a powerful business name with a sheen of innocence and integrity.
Second, truTV works beautifully as a brand, describing at a glance what it is (“actuality” television) and even using some alliteration too. Its former name, Court TV, was effective as well. You saw or read the name, and you knew just what you’d be getting.
Third, Diddy is a perfect example of deliberate, planned brand creation, brand management, and brand promotion. Sean Combs (in whatever name) is the master brand, with subbrands beneath the overall umbrella brand. Have there been starts and stops, flops and failures for the Diddy/Sean Combs brand? Certainly. After all, Combs is fearless and crazy. The man and his brand have become all but indistinguishable. He’ll be studied in Harvard Business School someday (if he isn’t already).
What about you? What do you do to promote yourself and to establish your personal brand? It all begins—and sometimes ends—with the basics. Because what people see is what they think they’ll get.
Whether you think of it as charisma or charm, fearlessness or boldness, the way you present yourself to people is going to have a major impact on your success, both in business and in life. In most business situations, of course, you are simply who you appear to be. As that tired old marketing saying goes, “Perception is reality.” But just because it’s tired and overused doesn’t mean it isn’t true. In fact, it’s a very profound statement—so profound it merits repeating: “Perception is reality.”
In essence, that statement says that regardless of what the truth may be, what someone believes to be true is more important, more commanding, and more powerful than the truth itself. (We’re talking marketing and branding here, not love and marriage.)
The statement applies to people at all levels of virtually all businesses. And it’s a companion piece to another old saw—one that’s almost its flip side: “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
The truth is that people all around you do just that. And when you’re striving to be successful, it’s important that you get people to judge you the right way, the way you want to be perceived. Depending on the situation and the observers, you might want them to see you as a stable voice of reason, the calm in a storm, a master of the universe. Other times, you may want them to be a little uneasy about you, not so sure. You don’t want to be predictable or easy to peg. So you do your fearless and crazy thing—not psychologically unbalanced and totally reckless but fearless and crazy with a plan.
In both social and business settings, people will immediately begin to form impressions about you based on how you appear and how you present yourself. And much of that evaluation will occur in extremely subtle ways—so subtle, in fact, that you will probably not even be aware of the “tag” a person puts on you.
If you’re perceived negatively in a social setting, the result may not mean more than a lost opportunity to meet someone special. But in a business context, it can mean a lost job offer, a lost promotion, a lost infusion of investor capital, or a lost million-dollar deal. And when you are taking the step to be crazy and fearless in your approach to business, you just can’t afford to lose because of something as changeable, as affected by your direct influence, as appearance and perception.
Knowing that perception does count will give you added strength as you travel in business and social circles. This doesn’t mean you should adopt a phony persona just to create the desired perception in the mind of the person in front of you at a particular time. It’s more important to be yourself, to be genuine and sincere, to be real, than it is to try to sell a fake image—which, sooner or later, will come crashing down around you.
Because you know how important perception can be, you can tailor your behavior so that it’s appropriate for the surroundings you’re in and for the people you’re among. You can avoid putting on false airs and be genuine, sincere, and real, even as you are perfectly attuned to the environment around you—be it a farm field in Iowa or a Tiffany’s in Manhattan.
As an example, I was recently in a very nice department store in Beverly Hills, and while looking at men’s fashions, I happened to overhear a mother in her late twenties talking to her six- or seven-year-old son, who was becoming more than a little rambunctious.
“No, Darren, please use your ‘inside’ voice,” she said to the boy.
She wasn’t telling her son not to be a six- or seven-year-old. She was merely asking him to be conscious of his surroundings and to modify his behavior so that it was appropriate for the sense of decorum and ambience in that store.
Obviously, it wasn’t the first time he had heard that request, delivered by her in a very warm, sincere, and loving—but firm—way, and he responded immediately. I could tell that this aware, caring mother was teaching her young son about personal bearing and his responsibility to his surroundings and the other people in the store.
I could also tell his character hadn’t been scarred, his soul hadn’t been injured, and his six- or seven-year-old self-esteem hadn’t been assaulted. He did as he had been asked, without a fight, without disagreement, and without complaint.
I’m sure that young mother has spent quality time teaching her son about the importance of being aware of who he is as a person and how his behavior affects the impression people have of him, and—more important—how his behavior affects the physical and mental well-being of those around him. In other words, if he’s a brat, he’ll ruin their day.
I’m sure she also has taught him the value of recognizing that a particular type of behavior may be acceptable in one environment but unacceptable in another. The way he acts on a playground is one thing, while the way he acts in a quiet, genteel department store is quite another. And of course, there is his school behavior, his dining room table behavior, his bedroom behavior, his in-the-SUV behavior, and so on.
The truth is that in business, as in life, behavior is situational. Obvious? Of course. But sometimes—and not just with six-year-olds—what’s obvious is far from common.
We all need to be conscious of where we are, who is around us, and what our objectives are at any given moment. We should be aware of how our behavior, dress, choice of words, and even thoughts may either complement our surroundings and our “mission” in that environment or clash with them and work against us.
Watching that interaction between the young mother and her son was confirmation for me that while perception is reality, we are continually in situations in which we can shape and influence the perceptions people have. By managing the perception, we create the reality.
That said, it should be noted that it is harder to change a perception already formed than it is to establish an initial perception. To use the fearless and crazy approach to business and life to your best advantage, you should not only use it at the appropriate times and in the appropriate situations, but you should use it after you have established a positive perception, a solid reputation, and a successful track record. If you’re already perceived as unstable, untrustworthy, and unreliable, then suddenly making a move that’s fearless and crazy won’t have much of an impact. People will shrug their shoulders and walk away.
One of my favorite pieces of image/branding advice is “Carry your briefcase, but wear your portfolio.”
At first blush, the line may suggest that you should walk around with a briefcase to send a message to those around you that you are a serious businessperson, a person of depth and substance. It may also seem to suggest that you should always wear expensive, top-of-the-line clothes, thereby sending a second message: I am so successful that I can afford to spend unnecessary money on business attire when everyday clothes would be just as good!
But that’s not what I’m getting at; that’s not what the advice means. The first half of the line—carry your briefcase—merely suggests that, yes, you can present yourself as a serious businessperson with the accessories and typical business tools you take with you, but you don’t necessarily need to carry phony props just to make an impression. And please don’t ever correct someone who comments about your briefcase by saying, “It’s not a briefcase; it’s an attaché case.” Ouch. Think about what kind of perception that creates.
The second half of the line—but wear your portfolio—doesn’t mean wear your stock portfolio or artwork portfolio or résumé or vita. What I’m talking about is your professional bearing. That’s your “portfolio” in this context, and it’s far more important than your net-worth statement. It’s what will allow you to grow and prosper, to accumulate wealth and income—in short, to be successful.
In fact, I recently had a discussion with a marketing consultant about this very point. I was talking about wealth and income, in that order, and he corrected me, saying that “income should come first, and that creates wealth.”
Well, to me, wealth is a state of mind. Once you have adopted that state of mind, you can then begin to generate the income you want. It may sound a little new age-y, like all you have to do is have happy thoughts about wealth, and the money will come rolling your way. No, not exactly. In fact, it’s much more than that. Don’t laugh and dismiss it just yet. It’s fearless and crazy, and trust me, it pays off. It’s what Chapter 1 was all about—life-wealth. If you live life in a wealthy, successful, confident manner, you are wealthy, successful, and confident. Wealth for life; life for wealth.
Wealth: think it, envision it, build it, earn it. That’s what I mean by wear your portfolio. Wear your success and achievement—your wealth—almost as if it were an article of clothing you could put on. If you do wear it everywhere you go—wear it, not flaunt it—you will quickly realize everything you do as a businessperson, including your behavior, your bearing, your actions and decisions, and even your thoughts, will manifest the new you, will create the perception of success and confidence—the perception of wealth. And that perception, that brand, will be your reality.
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10 Millward Brown Optimor, “BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands,” http://www.millwardbrown.com/BrandZ/default.aspx.
11 Richard Branson, Losing My Virginity: How I’ve Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way (New York: Three Rivers Press, 1998).
12 “Earth Challenge,” http://www.virgin.com/subsites/virginearth/.
13 Sir Richard Branson, “The Development of an Entrepreneur,” ReviewEssays.com, http://reviewessays.com/print/Sir-Richard-Branson-Development-Entrepreneur/52979.html.
14 “About Us,” trutv.com, http://www.trutv.com/about/index.html.
15 “The Leader in Trial Coverage,” trutv.com, http://www.trutv.com/about/inses-sion/index.html.
16 “P. Diddy in Sweatshop Row,” BBC News, October 29, 2003, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3222521.stm.
17 DiddyDirtyMoney.com, http://www.diddydirtymoney.com/default.aspx#!all.
18 “Resource Library: Dictionary,” American Marketing Association, http://www.marketingpower.com/_layouts/Dictionary.aspx?dLetter=B.
19 Laura Lake, “What Is Branding and How Important Is It to Your Marketing Strategy?” About.com, http://marketing.about.com/cs/brandmktg/a/whatisbranding.htm.
20 Merriam Associates, “Styles and Types of Company and Product Names,” http://merriamassociates.com/2009/02/styles-and-types-of-company-and-product-names/.