You, like me, will have flailed your arms to YMCA by the 1970s global phenomenon – The Village People.
They were huge ‘back in the day’ and when the money started to flood in, the famous ‘characters’ demanded more money.
And that was the rub.
Their manager politely told them that there was going to be no pay rise because they were all ‘commodities’.
The tale has it that he said, ‘You’re known as Leather Guy, Construction Worker, Native American Chief… no one knows your names or anything about you. And that means you can be replaced.’
Wow!
And they have been replaced … on multiple occasions.
There have been over 20 members of The Village People over the years. I bet you can’t name one of them.
That’s why you must stand out!
Be known for something. Something that can be associated with your name.
Originally, my company was called Zoom! A strategic branding company insisted I change it, commenting that, ‘No one says I’ve been on a Zoom course. They say I’ve been to a Michael Heppell event’
The key part of the word authority is author. When you’ve written the book, you are the authority. Your name is on the cover.
Over the last 10 days I’ve been running my Write That Book Pop Up Group. It was incredible. There’s so much talent out there and so many NAMES that you will be seeing on books in 2021.
The pop up ends tomorrow, but my Write That Book Masterclass starts on November 24th. And you’re invited. Imagine your book published in 2021? That’s the promise for members.
You can find out all the details here: www.michaelheppell.com/masterclass
And if you would like to watch a replay of my Webinar from Monday, then just reply to this email and we’ll send you the link (it’s on replay until Friday night).
Be Brilliant!
Michael
PS We love to know what you think. Am I right, wrong, what have I missed? Please leave your comments below.
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The irony of originally calling your company Zoom, and now being the No. 1 Zoom speaker in the World. People say I’ve been on a Michael Heppell Zoom course…now that is BRILLIANT!
Some of us like to build locomotives, others wish to run railways. Both can be very fulfilling. Both very challenging. Each needs the other to exist. The rewards and the challenges are as big. It depends on who and how you need to please
In my company, I am the ‘go-to’ person for file transfer (FTP/SFTP/encryption). Great for job security, great for demanding pay rises, terrible when you want to book a two-week break before the end of the year. I wish I was known for my skill in task delegation.
That’s a really interesting consideration as in my experience it can also work the other way. If you wish to scale up your company and eventually look to sell it, you’d be wise to consider that your name goes with the company. There are no guarantees the new buyer will represent the brand to the same exacting standards and your name is on the product/brand. I’ve witnessed the fallout.