The first decision you have to make is whether being in the limelight is for you

As aspect of managing the Personalized publicity for previous BBC Dragons’ Den star Duncan Bannatyne, portion of my transient was to discreetly source the Sunday Instances Wealthy List researchers with proof of his value, push cuttings and the like, to assure Bannatyne was billed effectively forward of any of other Dragon – especially Peter Jones in conditions of his private Web Worthy of.

Duncan was definitely obsessed with staying witnessed as the greater standalone Dragon in phrases of particular worthy of in the Sunday Instances Rich Record. Remaining at the top rated of that record was a badge of honour for Bannatyne. Far from operating for deal with and not wanting his personalized really worth recognized, Bannatyne was pretty the opposite and could not do plenty of for researchers via myself in conditions of serving to them create a strong photo of his net really worth. He was gutted with the onset of Peter Jones vehicle on ITV, Tycoon (which fell fairly flat in phrases of rankings) and generally desired to discover a way to outdo him.

In distinction, I also represented for a time the greatest guy at Duncan’s marriage to Joanne McCue on the 11th November 2006, John Moreton, who was wholly the reverse to Bannatyne in conditions of his outlook to personalized publicity. Moreton established the Southern Cross Nursing House Group and had painstakingly had himself extracted from the Sunday Occasions Rich Record. He begged to be taken out. He didn’t want to be a concentrate on for the hundreds of persons and groups that would focus on him for handouts.

Bannatyne, prior to moving into the Dragons’ Den, previously experienced his coronary heart set on Tv set and Film stardom.

As a jobbing actor he was humiliatingly lining up at auditions for bit sections in movies, winning some and losing some. Just one that landed was enjoying the non-talking part of a useless man in a pool for the BBC’s Sea of Souls. The non-action role involved him floating lifeless previous the digicam under drinking water. An additional aspect resulted in him spending £6,000 in a charity auction to look really briefly on monitor as ‘Derek’s Friend’ in the 2004 film ‘School of Seduction’ which saw him appear together with Kelly Brook set in Newcastle. Then he performed a bar operator in ITV’s Girls’ Club, also established in the North East of England.

A producer ultimately said to him, ‘You might be in luck, Why really do not you audition for the BBC’s new collection named Dragons’ Den, centered on the American demonstrate ‘Shark Tank’?’

The timing was fantastic. He obtained the part and the rest is record.

For Bannatyne, he was as a great deal interested in propelling his persona into the national media, not just in order to promote Bannatyne Overall health Golf equipment or his Bannatyne Hotel in Darlington but to make himself the brand name. He wanted to be the product folks paid to take in.

He also comprehended the energy of picture in terms of marketing your own brand name. Fairly than just a flat month-to-month retainer for inserting stories about him in the nationwide media, he also handsomely bonused me for finding stories to run in the media that also ended up accompanied with a photo of him. He realised that a image is indeed well worth a thousand words and phrases. And so I did almost everything possible to get his image to run in stories. That was really a great deal element of the temporary.

He was single-minded and experienced a program.

The publications that followed authored by Bannatyne were being a person major products output of the Duncan Bannatyne manufacturer. His 1st reserve was ‘Anyone Can Do It: My Story’ in 2006. This was to the horror of a different one of my shoppers Sahar Hashemi, the co-founder of Coffee Republic whose bestselling autobiographical business enterprise reserve in 2004 was entitled, you guessed it, Everyone Can Do It: Building Espresso Republic from Our Kitchen area Table’. Bannatyne would never ever let another person else receiving in 1st prevent him duplicate and pasting a good notion and jogging off with it.

With a workforce of ghost writers assisting, Bannatyne launched Wake Up And Change Your Everyday living in 2008. Then ‘How To Be Wise With Your Money’ in 2009 adopted by ‘How To Be Clever With Your Time’ in 2010.

His personalized manufacturer was driving high and generating a good deal of cash.

Then arrived the talking engagements. By possessing Television exposure, he could command up to £20,000 for a 40-minute speak to a Deloittes, JP Morgan or Ernst & Youthful. That fee ongoing to rise in parallel with his ascending Tv set stardom.

Yet again, Duncan Bannatyne was the merchandise that people today had been paying out to take in.

What took the flogging himself to the subsequent level was why I almost certainly secured a position at the top rated desk of his wedding in 2006. I had currently sold his engagement shots for a 5-determine sum to Ok! Magazine. The prepare was to go once more with the wedding photographs which I was there principally to orchestrate.

I was on a coach with Deborah Meaden, Theo Paphitis and Duncan and many others likely from the Church to the reception held in a corridor with eighties legend, the true Mark Almond undertaking.

All the Dragons acquired suspicious about the shots I was carefully co-ordinating involving them all collecting in teams and smiling for the celeb photographer, as opposed to normal wedding day photographer.

It was Theo Paphitis that finally spouted off “How much is Duncan finding for these photographs then?”

This is the juncture where you want to determine very carefully and consciously what route you want to consider with your individual publicity.

Are you likely to be the products and make money from your have private model? Or is your own profile only there to support raise your many business pursuits?

Or are you a hybrid becoming both the merchandise but also your profile boosting all of your other organizations?

There is one more option for the faint-hearted.

Possibly you’ve made the decision, soon after a great deal soul looking, that the limelight is in reality not for you right after all and you’d relatively enable your companies talk for them selves?

You really do not want the hazard of ridicule on social media or journalists having pot shots at you the moment they temper-swing.

Study on if you are in the former categories. It will be a white-drinking water journey. If you get it appropriate, the benefits really outweigh any negatives.

Richard Hillgrove

Richard Hillgrove is to the go-to guy for all entrepreneur’s PR requirements. At the start of BBC organization present, Dragons’ Den, he represented BBC Dragon Duncan Bannatyne OBE for 3 many years. Then James Caan CBE for 7 decades. He even looked right after former Dragon and Yo! Sushi Founder Simon Woodroffe OBE. He’s seemed immediately after scores of the Channel 4 Solution Millionaires. Hillgrove has represented the Godfather of Promoting, Charles Saatchi via to Dame Vivienne Westwood, Amber Heard, Rose McGowan and Hollywood actor, Steven Seagal – all entrepreneurial in their possess proper, though not your ‘serial entrepreneur’ in the strictest perception of the phrase. For World Entrepreneurship Week 2014, Hillgrove organised the landmark ‘Haka for Business’ in Piccadilly Circus profitable the High Impact Award. Now he’s educating you how to bootstrap and Do-it-yourself your very own PR to media and economic achievement. You can reduce all the crap, push off-road and make a significant effects.&#13
He can be attained on: [email protected]