The 'Entrepreneur' I choose to be...

A cloudy morning and a grumpy me! Thought of writing today to lighten up my mood and hoping for a sunny day.

After having found a job in London (sighhhhhhh!!!!), blogging has taken a backseat! Well, here is a new post from me in the festive season of Onam, like the generous King Maveli who comes once a year to meet his people! Quite an analogy, right?

This new job has brought back the Old me. Work has brought  new challenges into my life, and has put an end to this lull and dragging phase.

The job profile here has landed me in a whole new territory. Which means I have to do continuous research, experiment (more failed though ;) ), just like a scientist in a laboratory. Everytime I fail, it intrigues me more.

So, the other day, as part of my research, I learnt the importance of 'Avatar' in video marketing.

Yes, you guessed it right! I am a Digital Marketing Assistant!

Whatever!
Brits find fashion and style statement in 'Everything'.. Let alone fancy job titles!

'Avatar' in video marketing is to have a face for your potential, your client or cold prospect. When we have a face, it is necessary that we need a name, say Mike.
Then we decide what would Mike be like.

Is Mike looking for my service offering?
Where is Mike looking for this service?
Does Mike have a convincing Social proof?
What are the Social Media platforms that Mike is using?

Such questions and many more define  avatar and more Mikes our niche.

Having said all this, I would like to create my Avatar with a Twist. I would like to add a face to the Entrepreneur I want to be. After all, Marketing doesn't need to have hard and fast rules , right?

So, what will I call my Avatar? Hmmm.. let me think... How about Mr.Wilson? Why not? I suppose he is one of the finest vegetable personification onscreen. Thanks 'Cast Away' and of course Tom Hanks. :)

Mr. Wilson it is..!

How will Mr. Wilson, the entrepreneur, be?

1. Mr. Wilson Will be Crazy
Damn crazy.. pardon my choice of words..but, Mr. Wilson will derive his energy from his craziness, triggered by his passion, his ideas, fuelled by his Dreams.

2. Mr. Wilson exactly knows what he wants
So he does.Clarity of thoughts defines the persona of an entrepreneur. Having many ideas is not enough, but linking these cloud of ideas , presenting them on paper(Trust the paper medium, basic and can beat any technology in many things!!!), and has the ability to explain it to others easily.To get this right, clarity of thoughts is essential and definitely Mr. Wilson will have that.

3. Mr. Wilson is compassionate

Compassion and entrepreneur? You might wonder, how can these go together? I have realized in the past few days that this characteristic makes a big difference. A successful entrepreneur is one who is compassionate at, about an for work.
Compassionate about work because unless and until you love and enjoy the work you do, you would never be on track and you can not see the results coming your way
Compassionate at work is a most important factor for the success of an entrepreneur. In this era of economy, where services are dominating, 'People' is an important element. I was quite impressed by what Mr.Vineet Nayar had to say in the book "Employees First, Customers Second: Turning Conventional Management Upside Down". I recommend this book, do read it.
Compassion for the people whom you work for, yes, your customers. I do not think I need to emphasize more on this.
My dear Mr.Wilson will definitely be compassionate!

4. Mr. Wilson knows the value of time.

If you want to get things right, you need to get it done in time and in style! Time is a crucial factor, all your commitment is at stake. Delivering on time builds trust and confidence in your clients, since even they are battling with time. High response times are deal breakers and bring loss to business. A good entrepreneur not only does his work on time, but has to enable his people to operate within deadlines. For which he needs to establish self-sufficient systems and processes, which he needs to foresee. Hence a visionary.

5. Mr. Wilson is free and respects freedom.

Another book that I would like to suggest here is Sir Ken Robinson's "Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative". As the name suggests, he talks about operating in this creative economy, where every idea is valued, developed to concept, modeled and finally created (be it product or service. In such an economy, freedom of thought and expression plays a vital role. Mr. Wilson will offer his People, the time and space and freedom to operate without inhibitions. He would create an environment where thoughts pour in, build and generate.

Quite a complete person Mr.Wilson would be! Now that I have shared my Avatar, what is yours? Does your Avatar have a name? Share it in the comments box below.

Alrighty!! Here comes the sun and here I go!

Catch you all on my next post!

Cheers!!

" 'geek' is the new SEXy"

It so happened that I posted this picture of mine on FB and as usual, I received many likes and comments! ;) I have always loved my friends' generosity who take their time out and write few beautiful words on my posts. My cheekiness extends to a point that I turn it to a platform for catching up with friends living far away but yet close to the heart. At times these turn out to be lengthy conversations, discussing life, books, music, movies and the essential GOLIs (philosophical advice that we give each other) for life. Not that everybody is an expert, but sometimes you get to know a person better!

As I scanned through all such lovely comments against the pic I posted, my dear friend Halley had commented: Geek is the new Sexy! I paused! I liked the comment and then took a moment and wondered in this world where all want to look like Ken&Barbie, with new cosmetics,customized cosmetic surgeries (Imagine, all in a box, sold off the shelf!!) reaching the market everyday ,apparels not considered anymore as a basic necessity but an everyday style statement, has this world evolved to the statement: "Geek is the new Sexy!"?

I remember watching Marilyn Monroe's 1953 romantic comedy, "How to marry a millionaire?" I recommend her fans to watch this, not just for her, but how have they shown the sophistication of New Yorker girls even during the early 50's. Marilyn portrays the role of a late 20-something, one of the three main characters, based out of New York, seeking tips from her counterparts as to how to move up the ladder in life. As the title suggests, how to marry a millionaire? She assumes that there is only one obstacle in her path to success and that was right on her nose! Yes.. her spectacles! She considered her short sighted vision, the reason for not making it. Every time she is on the socializing mode, she removes her spectacles, struggles her way through and as the plot moves on hilariously ,she finally meets the person of her dreams, who is not a millionaire, who likes the way she is, and one who also had the same social behavior as hers! And they flaunt their accessory in the end!!

Mr. Ken Robinson in his famous book: Out of our minds:Learning to be creative, has very effectively sighted the progress made by this world from a war based economy to a knowledge economy and slowly towards a creative economy. At the same time, according to him, the education system per say has not evolved and has continuously produced human capital that has failed to translate into industry needs and standards in the recent past. The world, currently driven by technology has seen a number of creative forums and start ups sprouting in the last few years, where creativity is the foundation, while Information and Knowledge are the keys and technology of course the driver. His question is: Has the formal education systems around the world changed themselves or are they still a formality?

Having said all this, our first question still remains unanswered. Applying the above analogy, we have to say macho-ism or good looks are babies of the war based economy. Bullying is outdated and not considered cool anymore! In this world, Information and knowledge is Power! Nerds are in again! And definitely,"'geek' is the new SEXy"!