For those wondering where I have been…
I’ve been cuddled up with my favorite books lately.
I could use a business mentor…
But until then, a recent visit to Barnes & Nobles coupled with downloading the kindle app on my IPAD have been fulfilling my need to learn more about my business.
I don’t know it all… as a matter of fact, I want to go back to school in the Spring and Learn, Learn Learn.
A tidbit that some people don’t know..
When I started my website NecoleBitchie.com in December 2007/January 2008, it was because I was trying to build a portfolio so that I could get a job. But how do you build a portfolio of work when you are not working and you have no clients?
For months, I had been trying to obtain a job in the marketing department of a music label so that I could assist in the marketing and branding of upcoming artists with my overall goal of starting my own marketing company 5-10 years later. Unfortunately, I had a lot of cool ideas but my resume didn’t reflect any real experience.
So after interview after interview without no real job offers, I was sent back to my hometown to figure out how in the world I was going to make it happen.
One day, after I had started the site and was playing around online, a light bulb went off.
Use yourself as a case study.
I then began to put together a one year plan, using myself and my website as the product that I was going to market, brand and promote.  My initial idea was that, if I showed companies what I could do with my own site as well as marketing myself in a year’s time, that they would hire me in my dream job.
The Marketing and Branding begun..
While building up my website brand, I also went on an empowerment tour, did radio shows, took on side jobs with Fuse and Global Grind and made a few appearances at events as a ‘blogger personality’.  I marketed myself in the same way that I would have assisted in marketing and branding an artist and it worked.  Meanwhile, without even knowing, I began creating a blueprint for other aspiring black bloggers that were coming up.
My year past by very quickly and when I looked at the one year plan, I had accomplished every single thing on that list and more.
But what happened next?
I didn’t take my portfolio to a label or marketing company and say ‘hire me’ The checks started coming in and some of those checks trumped anything I would have ever made at that ‘label job’ that I sought.  So I kept at it….
The problem I have faced over the past few years is this: When you work in corporate america or in the music industry or what have you, you normally have several people that you are working under and look up to and that you learn from every day.  Unfortunately, I’ve been my own boss for almost four years now, so instead of being taught how to do things: Such as business, how to manage people, how to handle advertising, how to create company budgets, how to take on meetings with companies to create partnerships that make sense, etc, I kind of had to learn on my own.. and that has sort of stunted my overall growth as my brand became bigger. On the outside, it may look like we are growing at a rapid rate, but the company logistics could use some tweaking. I’m currently more involved in the overall day to day of my company than I would like and the refusal to delegate tasks has caused certain areas of the business to suffer, especially the website content.
This is why I always stress the importance of education. When Tyra Banks decided to end her talk show so that she could go back to school and take business courses. I totally got it.  I said to myself, ‘she’s serious about her business, brand and building an empire”. Yes, people look at this new industry of blogging and say, I don’t have to have a degree or work experience to do this but technically you better have some type of book smarts and know how to deal with people or you won’t get very far.  If you want companies to start putting real money (high 5-6 figure dollars) of their marketing budget into advertising on your website, you have to know how to deal with those companies on a corporate level, speak their language or at least find someone that does.
The other week I wrote a blog about the ‘Acknowledgment of an Obstacle’ and I listed the fact that I didn’t have a degree as an obstacle.  The overall message of the blog was that I could still make it without one and I started listing people who did, however most of the people that came to mind in entertainment (even the tech world) who didn’t have some type of talent (singing, modeling, acting) where men…white men. In the music industry, the Kevin Liles and Russell Simmons of the music world don’t have degrees, but guess what…they are men.  The Oprahs and Michelle Obamas of the world are educated. After I wrote that blog, my friend and I sat all night bouncing names of black women who didn’t have degrees that were in high positions of power or had huge brands off of each other and we were coming up real short.  I used Lisa Price from Carol’s Daughter as an example, but even she eventually brought it Steve Stoute as a CEO/Managing Director of her brand recently to obtain the ultimate level of success. (Steve helped her generate investment dollars from people like Will Smith and Jay-z and her products can now be found in Macy’s of most states and she has begun to cross color lines. I predict she will eventually go global).
While dissecting this information, I began having an ‘eek’ moment… and it wasn’t pretty.
I say all of this to say that, education and being knowledgeable is definitely key. Yes, you can hire people to fill in where you are lacking, but how are you going to really manage those people when you have the slightest clue of what’s going on?  I’ve ran in to this situation numerous times as I added writers, consultants, sales staff etc over the past year or two.
Right now, as I figure everything out, I’m enrolled in a few courses and I’m reading books.  Tons and tons of them.
My favorites books to recommend to those interested in marketing/branding:
Chasing Cool: How To Stand Out In A Clutter Marketplace
Lovemarks: The Future Behind Brands
100 Great Business and The Minds Behind Them
The different examples used in these books and case studies from brands that are already highly successful and dominating the marketplace are phenomenal and will get your creative juices flowing.
So for those who have reached out to me for advice, guidance and a proper reading list to get started..
I hope this helps.
______
 
(Sidenote: I left college in 2004 with 24 credits left to graduate. That equals a semester -_-. I was THAT close but no cigar. Even if I did obtain my degree back then, knowing what I know now, I would have definitely enrolled in a Master’s program)

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