So I was brainstorming was to release my eBook, create some buzz, and give brand new bloggers some exposure, when a fellow blogger suggested to me a great way for me to help you by helping me help you (did that make sense?)

For the month of December, I am having a guest post free-for-all. As long as your post fits the theme of this site, and is profanity free, I will post it, along with all your original links (so you get paid and get traffic).

To spice things up a lil bit, The ebook is finally finished (but lacking a title). The guest post with the best reviews receives a FREE copy of the book on DECEMBER 21. Reviews are based on comments, and the only thing I will add to your post is a short opening paragraph telling readers that this is a guest post, and if they like what they read, post “thumbs up” in the comments section.

(Note: You can promote your guest post by any means you see fit: retweet it, myspace it (of you still use myspace), facebook it, and pass out flyers.)

Also, since Im taking time away from you posting on your blog, I will write a guest post for your site on a subject of your choosing with the same terms.

So you got less than a month to get your guest post submitted to me at ceo@arthurpledger.com. Tell a friend and get it crackin. I put my heart and soul into the eBook, so it will be worth getting in your hands early! Squash the Competition!

Popularity: 12% [?]

Dont take this article too seriously. I had fun writing it, so just have fun reading it. No hateful comments. Deal?

Also,  Im not saying I have ever done any of these things…Im just sayin. Whatever works.

Dont you feel that hunger for recognition? – to know that strangers recognize your name, to watch and stare when you walk into the room. Thats what fame is: the recognition of strangers. Have they noticed me yet? – Power Money Fame Sex: A User’s Guide

Men were once famous for being great warriors or scholars. Now men are famous for having “swagg”.

WTF.

Women were once made famous for their purity (See Elizabeth I of England, or geisha in ancient Japan that commanded large sums of money for their virginity), now they are made famous for leaking sex tapes.

WTF.

You might not like the famous, or agree with how they got their fame, but it is only natural to be envious. Everyone wants to be noticed and heard, so we talk over other people, hate on those more talented, and go to great lengths to make sure our haircut is perfect, we are the first ones wearing the new Jordans, and we are doing the Stanky Leg in the middle of the dance floor (where everyone can see). But these lame attempts at creating a buzz only serve to make us look stupid. Instead, there are four more effective ways of getting the fame that you know you deserve:

Fame Frottage

Frottage means the act of rubbing up against something, therefore, Im talking about rubbing up against other famous people to become famous yourself. Derrick Watkins, aka Fonzworth Bentley, went from being former personal valet and assistant to Sean Combs to having book, music, and television deals.

Sometimes its just as well to be in the same room with celebrities. You are a member of the BET Awards audience and manage to get a picture with Rick Ross. You buy your way into the most exclusive section of the most exclusive club in the city to rub elbows with other hustlers. The haters will take note, see you in the mall, and spread the word about you (“Thats that MF that was in the Centurion Lounge”). You get to be a contestant on a reality television show. Notice that without Flavor Flav’s show, there would be no New York (Tiffany Pollard). Without New York, there would be no Real or Chance (Ahmad and Kamal Givens), and without them, there would be no Kamille Leai aka “Hot Wings”. Flav frottage created 5 generations of celebrities.

Frottage could also mean having a tight and well known entourage. Joining a clique gives you an identity greater than yourself. “Im a member of Cash Money/Young Money, the Royal Ballet School, the Shaolin Temple, Yale Debate Team, etc”.

Inherit Positional Fame or a Family Name

All men are not born equals. Paris Hilton, Miley Cyrus, Ivanka Trump, Blanket Jackson, and Ken Dart were born into their positions of fame, wealth, or power. If you werent born into fame, resort to frottage. Become Paris Hilton’s new BFF. Become Miley Cyrus’ overseas manager. Become Blanket Jackson’s babysitter. You will gain more from these menial positions than you would working at your fame for years on your own.

Achievement

Michael Phelps. Albert Einstein. Barrack Obama. The Octo-mom. These men have all achieved something notable and, as a result, they become famous household names. Actually achieving something is the hardest way to become famous. Ironic, since thats the only fame that actually means something!

Cultivating the Fame you Already Have

Cultivating your fame means maximizing and publicizing your talents – not being an attention whore! Some people capitalize on their unique traits and develop those into a persona other people are interested in. Whatever advantage that you have over others, no matter how small, exploit it and cultivate it so that you become known for it. Sex used to be an easy way for women to do this, but it takes more than a big booty nowadays. For instance, there are millions upon millions of Asian women more beautiful and talented than Tila Tequila, but none cultivate their presence the way she does. Her social networking savvy led her from nobody to MTV.

To cultivate the fame you already have, assess your talents. Got a big butt? Pose for Black Tail. A natural piano player? Insure your hands for a million dollars. Make sure the local newspaper knows about this. A talented singer? Audition in front of a celebrity. You dont have to get signed, but you should always mention that “Babyface was so interested in my natural abilities that he let me audition for him”. Make sure you get a picture with him to validate the story. Tariq Nasheed was famous on a small scale for being a mack and street hustler. Then he wrote a book. And spoke at Yale. And then was given an MTV spot. Now his fame is international.

The Last Ingredient: Scandal

Sprinkle in a little scandal and you’re good to go…because who would really give a damned about the Kardashians if Kim hadn’t leaked the Ray J sex tape? Who knew Bernie Madoff before he was busted? OJ Simpson’s jerseys were worthless until his infamous car chase.

Start a fight in the middle of a radio show event, as close to stage as possible, and in sight of people that know you. Take the mic out of the hand of one of your competitors in mid sentence while she is on stage (yea, we all saw through that, Kanye). Rant out loud in disagreement to your professors lecture, then when he asks you to be quiet, stand up and rip your shirt off in protest of his stifling your freedom of speech. Storm out before he calls campus security. Acts like this will propel your legend to the far corners of the earth and keep your friends in suspense (“What will he do next?”)

Once you have the fame you deserve, you can assume the role by making ridiculous demands (“all red M&M’s on my tourbus!”), and spend life partying and looking for new BFFs on MTV.Then, the only thing you will have to worry about is another Soulja Boy coming out of nowhere and dethroning you.

Popularity: 25% [?]

In my last post entitled Ideas are Useless, I talked about how important it is to crap or get off the pot when it comes to business ideas you may have. After that post, I went back and looked at some of the ideas that I had and noticed the reasonI didnt take action on them was because of lack of capital. I discussed that fact with one of my mentors who told me to either find an angel investor or join a cooperative. I had never heard the word Cooperative in any of my business classes, so that prompted me to do some research and seek out African American Cooperatives (I found none, at least not online).

As I dug deeper into what Cooperatives were, I realized that I had heard the principles of Cooperative Enterprise talked about by guys like Freeman (owner of Rise and Grind)

I asked myself:

How are people able to save up enough money to buy apartment buildings?

How are individual investors able to purchase large shares of stock at one time?

How are these people able to make major money moves without taking on debt?

The answer is Cooperatives. Ace Hardware, Jackson Electric, Floridas Natural Growers, and The Pentagon Federal Credit Union are all examples of people joining together to create an enterprise.

What is a Cooperative?

A Cooperative is the professional title for a group of people working together for mutual benefit.  A cooperative business belongs to the people who use it – people who have organized to provide themselves with the goods and services they need, while making money at the same time. Member-owners meet regularly, present and hear reports on their business and investment activities, and hire General Managers to handle day-to-day affairs in their companies. Members invest in the businesses to provide capital for a strong and efficient operation,  and once the businesses start making money, the profits are returned to co-op members. There are over 100 million people involved in 47,000 U.S. cooperatives that are in every sector of our economy.

Bottom Line: A Cooperative is a group of investors who pool their money, ideas, and education together to create enterprises that make them more money.

TIGER 21

Tiger21 (an acronym for The Investment Group for Enhanced Results, 21st Century) is an insider group (aka a good ole boy network) for high net worth individuals. High net worth meaning you must have a net worth of $10 Million or more to be a member. These individuals attend private, day long gatherings where their investment portfolios are shared and dissected, business deals are made, and ideas are exchanged. Meetings begin with a World Update (to keep members aware of possible investing opportunities and threats), lunch consists of speakers from large investment firms who are called in to deliver presentations, and unmoderated group sessions wrap up the meeting. Tiger21 is probably the most influential, most productive, and least talked about Cooperative in America. What gives this group its power and influence is the fact that they are a group of people working together for mutual benefit.

The Worlds Most Famous Cooperative

The worlds most famous (infamous?) Cooperative, the Mafia, built their financial empire by utilizing the principles here. In fact, because of their collective intelligence, they have done very well during this recession by lending and investing what’s become a scarce commodity these days: a growing hoard of cash. (Bloomberg.com; May 2009)

Unlike over leveraged companies burned in the credit crisis, the Mafia and its cash-based, debt-free business model are breezing through economic hard times. With young, savvy leaders at the helm, organized crime is poised to expand as legitimate companies founder. “There’s a risk that Mafia organizations can profit from the current crisis by buying control of struggling businesses…”

Say what you will about La Cosa Nostra and their violent ways, when it comes to business these criminals are masterminds. Each and every member of the Family was dedicated to working for the greater good, and the enterprises they built are so far removed from the “gangsters” that created them that some of thos companies are now  publicly traded companies on Wall Street!

Ego, Trust, and Recruiting

There are 3 problems that one would encounter while trying to build a group: trust, ego, and recruiting:

A hustler is naturally proud of his ability to make moves on his own. Hustlers are solitary creatures that hunt alone, and the idea of joining a cooperative would interfere with their ego and the image they have built of themselves. This has to be overcome, since hustlers are just the kind of strong willed, intelligent, and able individuals that a group would need. But even if you were able to convince a hustler of the mutual benefit of joining forces, you would still have a major issue – trust. When it comes to trust, I believe the Mafia was so successful because of the fact that they kept their dealings in the family, and in most (not all) cases you can trust family more that strangers. A stranger could pick up and move to Japan and you’d never hear from them again, but if your brother did the same thing , he would eventually be ratted out by a call from your niece or nephew.

But how would you be able to maintain a level of trust with a group of people you arent related to? Questions would have to be answered like: Once money is collected for investing, who would hold on to it? Who would be able to access it? Once an enterprise is launched, how will all members be sure they are getting their fair share of the profits?

Recruiting individuals would be difficult, since recruiting means getting people to commit their time, energy, and money to a group of people they do not know. And also there is the problem of recruiting the right mix of people.

Wrap Up

If all these problems can be overcome, the result would be a group of investors able to launch enterprises, buy real estate (and split collected rents), and take on increasingly more lucrative and influential business endeavors. It can be done, as you have seen in the cases of the Mafia, TIGER 21, and probably in the company that you work for. The question remains for us in the black community; Who will do it?

Popularity: 16% [?]

Starbucks, Im ashamed of you. Letting Borders tear into your behind like that. I have been coming to Starbucks for 7 years now, paying $26 a month to use your wireless, dealing with hippie baristas that demand I call large drinks “Venti”s and blended drinks “Frappucinos”. (I dont care what you call it, just get it for me!).

Well, this relationship is over. Borders has free Wi-fi. And magazines. And space. And no hippies. I can study, get online, go get research material, and order drinks in English. Plus, they have happy hour specials, free cookies, etc, and in a Recession everybody knows that you have to cut prices or lose market share. You, Starbucks, are losing market share.

The business lesson in all this is that if you really knew your customers, you would have known that I only put up with Buckeys because I needed a place to work online away from the distractions of home. The only other people that go there are people who are conducting meetings and lonely hippies.

And with McDonalds getting into the coffee game, what reason does anybody have for going to Starbucks now?

I hate to say it Starbucks, but you saw it coming, insisted on maintaining the status quo, and now you may never see $40 a share again. Your quest for World Domination has come to an end.

What can you as a business or brand learn from Buckey’s failure?

Popularity: 26% [?]