Synopses & Reviews
Turning passion into business while still being as weird as you wantBestselling author and successful entrepreneur Chris Brogan has created a real-world business playbook for everyone out there who simply doesn't fit in. In recent years, the business world has changed dramatically, and there have never been more opportunities for the freaks, weirdos, and misfits among us who are unwilling to conform to traditional business structures and career paths. Disruption has become the norm in business. But this doesn't always mean massive and world-changing disruption. Sometimes, it just means that the world is a bit more open to conducting business the way you'd prefer to do it these days. The Freaks Shall Inherit the Earth turns conventional business wisdom upside down and shows the freaks among us exactly how to make their entrepreneurial dreams a reality.
Are you a freak? This books help you to answer that question and to embrace the fact that you think differently from most business professionals. Chris Brogan explains how to harness the power of thinking differently to overcome your fears of entrepreneurship, establish a structured vision for your venture, and begin your journey toward making your business dreams come true.
With a straightforward approach and inspirational examples, The Freaks Shall Inherit the Earth pushes readers to take the plunge into entrepreneurship and explains how to truly enjoy the adventure, even if the first attempts fail. The book also offers insights and ideas for Employeepreneurs, the people who prefer to focus their creative and innovative abilities on making their employers the best they can be.
Even though freaks, by definition, think outside of the box, the author points out that entrepreneurial success still depends, to a large degree, on establishing the proper structure for your venture and committing to a system of work that will ensure consistent productivity. This book helps you understand how to build the right structure to fit your personality and your business model, and also offers specific insight on how to market your business and to leverage the power of communities of like-minded freaks.
The Freaks Shall Inherit the Earth takes readers from a promising idea to a functional business venture, all without compromising the unique mindset and personal values that make you a freak in the first place.
Synopsis
Personal businesses are built on the premise that factory-minded businesses are falling down around us. People used to want a job with Miller or Budweiser, but instead, they’re opening their own craft beer shops. Why work for “the Man” when you can craft together a business built around your skills?
The book is a mix of recipes for action plus interviews with successful personal business professionals, from watch makers to barbershop employees to cafe owners to digital entrepreneurs to even the big companies that are equipping the personal business revolution. The book includes tips such as
- How to make your own label
- How to be as weird as you want while providing a viable business structure to support it
- What most people are missing from the basic frames of doing business
- The basics of how to turn passions into business
- How to build out the Digital Channel (i.e. what Kickstarter and Square mean for the future of business)
- Recipes for starting your revolutionary business
Synopsis
Turn passion into business while still being as weird as you wantWhy work for "the Man" when you can craft a business built around your skills? The Freaks Shall Inherit the Earth offers a mix of action plans and interviews with successful personal business professionals, from watchmakers to barbershop employees to cafe owners to digital entrepreneurs to even the big companies that are equipping the personal business revolution. This book shows you the basics of how to turn your passions into business.
- Describes what most people are missing from the basic frames of doing business
- Explains how to build out the Digital Channel (i.e. what Kickstarter and Square mean for the future of business)
- Written by Chris Brogan, CEO and President of Human Business Works, an education publishing and media company dedicated to helping professionals work the way they want, only better
Get the recipe for starting your revolutionary business. You can be as weird as you want, but now you'll have the tools you need to build a viable business structure to support your endeavors.
Synopsis
Do you ever wonder where you fit in? Do you sometimes get that feeling that you have something much bigger to offer the universe, but then it fills you with fear and anxiety, so you think maybe I’ll just pay it safe? But what is safe? The factory job? The cubicle job?
Factories all over have been converted to open spaces for startups. Skyscrapers have entire floors open for lease because the “same as everyone else” class of jobs have dried up. Many of us were raised to seek out a job that required us to fit in, to conform, to adapt until we fit the mold.
The Freaks Shall Inherit The Earth is a guide for the kind of person who wouldn’t normally pick up a business book.
The personal business revolution is upon us. Here’s your recipe book for starting your revolutionary business, including some of what you will learn:
- How to be as weird as you want while providing a viable business structure to support it
- What most people are missing from the basic frameworks of doing business
- How to turn passions into businesses
- How to build out the Digital Channel
- What Kickstarter and Square mean for the future of business)
Take the plunge. Learn to fail and then win. Dare to do something that “everyone else” doesn’t. The Freaks Shall Inherit the Earth will help.
Bestselling author and successful entrepreneur Chris Brogan explains step-by-step how to build your business from the ground up, all without compromising the unique mindset and personal values that make you a freak in the first place.
Synopsis
Praise for The Freaks Shall Inherit the Earth"This book is pure Brogan. Helpful, excited, practical and willing to challenge both the status quo and our deepest fears."
Seth Godin, author of We Are All Weird
"I wouldn't have called myself a freak, but I see where Chris is going with this. Freaks unite! I'm one of you."
Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art
"Chris' madman enthusiasm for the newfangled art-life-business blur screams and punches right out of these pages, which read like a manifesto for a new class of weirdo makers."
Amanda Palmer, Piano and Ukulele Slayer
"Chris's Freaks book is about being who you really are and the systems it takes to make that a success. If you're happy not fitting in but want a big future, this is your book."
Anthony Robbins, entrepreneur, author, and Peak Performance Strategist
"Chris Brogan not only wrote the exact book I wanted to read, he wrote the book I wanted to write. But he did it better justice than I could've. Now, the freaks really will inherit the earth."
James Altucher, author of Choose Yourself!
About the Author
Chris Brogan is Publisher and CEO of Owner Magazine, a business magazine helping you improve your worth by growing your capabilities and connections. He is a sought-after keynote speaker who has addressed crowds of thousands, been on the Dr. Phil show, and once presented to a princess. Chris has consulted with companies you know like Disney, Microsoft, Coke, Titleist, Pepsico, Google, Motorola, and many more.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Business New and Old and New Again
Okay, What Does This Really Mean?
Am *I* A Freak? Are You?
Is There Some Age Limit To Freaks?
But What Does This Have To Do With Business?
You Don’t Have To Wait For Permission
Can You Be Sure Of The Outcome Before You Start? Not A Chance!
Freaks Often Find Their Own Distribution Paths
Challenges That Stand In Your Way
Business Is About Belonging
Chapter 1.5: The Wild Colors and the Solid Spine
What Makes Some Freaks Successful And Other Freaks Beggars?
Our Fear And How It Messes Up Our Businesses
Fear Is Probably Your Business’s Worst “Competitor”
Missing Ingredient: Discipline
Willpower Will Let You Down
Discipline Is Where It’s At
“Should” Means “Won’t”
The “Experience” Lie
Chapter 2: Choose Your Own Adventure - Defining Success
What Does Success Look Like To You?
Ingredients For Your Own Personal Success Recipe
Failure Is Most Definitely An Option
Quitting Is An Option, Too
Success Comes To You From Weird Places Sometimes
That Mix Of Wild Success And Finding Other Successes
Success Rarely Just Happens
Be Ready For Success
Chapter 3: Skill Building for Your Business Goals
The Real Basics
Business Is About Belonging
See The Territory, Not The Map
Hone Your Understanding With Questions
Sketch Simple Business Models
Master Time
Strip Away Complexity
Chapter 4: Fall In Love With Not Knowing
Everything We Know How To Do Starts With Not Knowing How To Do It
Try It
Want To Know Something? Ask Good Questions
One Good Way To Get Answers Is To Figure It Out
Some Things Are Un-Knowable
Be Willing To Be Dumb And Wrong
How To Be Wrong
Curiosity Gets Such A Bad Rap (R.I.P., Cat)
Explore So Much, You Make Dora Look Like A Homebody
The Secret Prison Of Not Knowing “Regular” Stuff
Testing And Stats And Analytics: My Story Of Not Knowing
Not Knowing Versus Not Thinking Something Through
A Fun Project
Chapter 4: Structure A Framework For Your Days
Structure Gets A Bad Rap
Cure Your Procrastination
Build A Long View: Days Must Serve Our Weeks, And Our Larger Goals
A Daily Framework
What Not To Do
Commit To Two Months With A List
But Frameworks Aren’t All Lists: Habits And More
What Comes Next?
Chapter 5: Are you an Employeepreneur?
What A Boss Wants
The Matrix (The Movie, That Is) And You
Communication And Word Choice
Get The Exciting Projects
Chapter 5B: Create Systems that Work for You
What Is A System?
Systems Don’t Exist Because You’re Weak
When Should You Use A System?
Interview With Ron Hood About Systems
What Type Of System Works Best For You?
My Compass
Some Of My Other Systems
Three Systems So Far And Counting
Something Else Ron Hood Taught Me
Interfaces And Translations
The Biggest Challenge With Systems
Chapter 6: Are you a Solo or Small Business Owner?
The Solo Business Owner Origin Story
Should You Work For The Big Guy? Why Are You Solo Or Small?
Solo And Small Isn’t A Placeholder
How To Be A Freak And Still An Owner
What Is Your Mortgage Math
Working With Other People: Should I?
When Your Business Hits The Wall
Above All Else: Serve Your Buyer
Chapter 7: Fall in Love With Not Knowing
You Only Have To Know Enough To Start
The Fear Of Not Knowing
Is It Our Education That Made Us So Afraid?
The Risk Of Specialization
Fear Of Failure
A Battle Plan For Failure
What It Takes To Fall In Love With Not Knowing
What The Interviewing Process Taught Me: Trying On Roles
Explore Daily
One Important Thing To Know
Taking On Too Many Exciting Projects While Not Knowing
Chapter 8: Worship Obstacles and Challenges
The Corporate Ladder Is Gone
Fear Of Failure Rears Its Head Again
So, There’s No Ladder. What Is There?
The Biggest Obstacle: No Loot
Rules? What For?
When Your Big Idea Craps Out
When The Money Isn’t Flowing
Chapter 9: Build Your Own Media Empire
Media Lets You Tell A Story
Why Should You Start A Media Project For Your Work?
Media Is The Campfire People Can Gather Around
But I Don’t Even Know Which Community I Serve!
What Kind Of Media Should I Make?
What Are The Stories You Should Tell?
How Should I Tell The Stories?
What Not To Do
Make Your Buyer The Hero
The Mirror Approach To Media Making
The Media Empire Mindset To Success As A Freak
Chapter 10: Connect With Your Freaks
You Are Not Alone
It’s Rare To Have People Understand A Freak
The Bat Signal Effect
Not Everyone Will Love You (But That’s The Point)
It’s All About The Monchu
Connect With Your Freaks
Chapter 11: Own Everything
Own Your Words
And Yet, Own The “Bad” Words, Too
Own Your Intentions
A Secret: Willpower Is Stupid
Your Vision Of You
Own The Mantle Of Servant
Own Your Freaky Self
Own Business
Own Your Future
Chapter 12: When It All Goes Wrong
Freaks Adapt
What Do You Do The Day After You Realize You Have Problems?
Thoughts On Failure
Depression And Other Excuses
Actions And Next Steps Is What Comes Next
Chapter 13: Take Action! Fight Crime! Save the World!
Step 1: Declare Your Freakiness (Even If Only To Yourself)
Step 2: Define Your Own Success
Step 3: Learn Some New Skills
Step 4: Work From A Framework Daily
Step 5: Define Your Path
Step 6: Fall In Love With Not Knowing
Step 7: Worship Obstacles And Challenges
Step 8: Create Systems That Work For You
Step 9: Build Your Media Empire
Step 10: Connect With Your Freaks
Step 11: Own Everything
Step 12: Be Ready For The Bad Times
Take Action. Any Action