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

As component of managing the Own publicity for previous BBC Dragons’ Den star Duncan Bannatyne, portion of my brief was to discreetly source the Sunday Instances Loaded List scientists with proof of his value, press cuttings and the like, to assure Bannatyne was billed very well ahead of any of other Dragon – significantly Peter Jones in terms of his individual Net Truly worth.

Duncan was unquestionably obsessed with becoming viewed as the greater standalone Dragon in conditions of individual well worth in the Sunday Situations Rich Listing. Currently being at the top of that listing was a badge of honour for Bannatyne. Far from working for address and not wanting his particular worth recognised, Bannatyne was pretty the opposite and couldn’t do sufficient for researchers by using myself in terms of supporting them establish a robust picture of his web truly worth. He was gutted with the onset of Peter Jones car or truck on ITV, Tycoon (which fell to some degree flat in conditions of scores) and usually required to obtain a way to outdo him.

In contrast, I also represented for a time the greatest man at Duncan’s wedding day to Joanne McCue on the 11th November 2006, John Moreton, who was wholly the opposite to Bannatyne in conditions of his outlook to particular publicity. Moreton founded the Southern Cross Nursing Residence Group and experienced painstakingly experienced himself extracted from the Sunday Occasions Loaded Record. He begged to be taken out. He didn’t want to be a focus on for the thousands of people today and groups that would target him for handouts.

Bannatyne, prior to entering the Dragons’ Den, by now had his coronary heart established on Tv set and Movie stardom.

As a jobbing actor he was humiliatingly lining up at auditions for little bit elements in movies, successful some and getting rid of some. A single that landed was taking part in the non-speaking part of a useless person in a pool for the BBC’s Sea of Souls. The non-action purpose included him floating lifeless past the digicam beneath water. One more section resulted in him having to pay £6,000 in a charity auction to appear extremely briefly on display as ‘Derek’s Friend’ in the 2004 movie ‘School of Seduction’ which observed him look along with Kelly Brook established in Newcastle. Then he performed a bar owner in ITV’s Girls’ Club, also established in the North East of England.

A producer at some point said to him, ‘You could be in luck, Why do not you audition for the BBC’s new sequence known as Dragons’ Den, primarily based on the American demonstrate ‘Shark Tank’?’

The timing was excellent. He bought the aspect and the rest is background.

For Bannatyne, he was as a lot intrigued in propelling his persona into the nationwide media, not just in purchase to promote Bannatyne Overall health Golf equipment or his Bannatyne Resort in Darlington but to make himself the brand. He wanted to be the products men and women compensated to consume.

He also understood the electricity of graphic in phrases of marketing your individual brand. Fairly than just a flat month-to-month retainer for positioning stories about him in the countrywide media, he also handsomely bonused me for having tales to operate in the media that also have been accompanied with a photo of him. He realised that a image is without a doubt really worth a thousand words and phrases. And so I did all the things attainable to get his impression to run in stories. That was extremely significantly portion of the temporary.

He was single-minded and had a plan.

The guides that adopted authored by Bannatyne had been 1 important product or service output of the Duncan Bannatyne brand. His very first ebook was ‘Anyone Can Do It: My Story’ in 2006. This was to the horror of another a person of my purchasers Sahar Hashemi, the co-founder of Coffee Republic whose bestselling autobiographical business enterprise ebook in 2004 was entitled, you guessed it, Everyone Can Do It: Creating Espresso Republic from Our Kitchen area Table’. Bannatyne would under no circumstances permit somebody else getting in to start with prevent him copy and pasting a excellent notion and working off with it.

With a workforce of ghost writers aiding, Bannatyne introduced Wake Up And Change Your Existence in 2008. Then ‘How To Be Clever With Your Money’ in 2009 adopted by ‘How To Be Intelligent With Your Time’ in 2010.

His own brand name was riding substantial and building plenty of dollars.

Then came the speaking engagements. By possessing Television set publicity, he could command up to £20,000 for a 40-minute communicate to a Deloittes, JP Morgan or Ernst & Younger. That price continued to increase in parallel with his ascending Television stardom.

Once again, Duncan Bannatyne was the products that folks were spending to consume.

What took the flogging himself to the following amount was why I almost certainly secured a position at the best table of his marriage in 2006. I experienced by now sold his engagement pictures for a five-figure sum to Ok! Journal. The plan was to go all over again with the wedding day pictures which I was there principally to orchestrate.

I was on a coach with Deborah Meaden, Theo Paphitis and Duncan and other people going from the Church to the reception held in a corridor with eighties legend, the true Mark Almond performing.

All the Dragons obtained suspicious about the photos I was thoroughly co-ordinating involving them all accumulating in teams and smiling for the celebrity photographer, as opposed to standard wedding day photographer.

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

This is the juncture exactly where you need to have to decide diligently and consciously what path you want to acquire with your individual publicity.

Are you heading to be the merchandise and make revenue from your personal private manufacturer? Or is your particular profile only there to enable raise your many small business pursuits?

Or are you a hybrid being both of those the product but also your profile boosting all of your other enterprises?

There is another selection for the faint-hearted.

Maybe you’ve made a decision, right after much soul seeking, that the limelight is in point not for you after all and you’d instead enable your businesses converse for themselves?

You really do not want the possibility of ridicule on social media or journalists getting pot shots at you as soon as they mood-swing.

Read on if you’re in the previous groups. It will be a white-drinking water ride. If you get it ideal, the rewards definitely outweigh any negatives.

Richard Hillgrove

Richard Hillgrove is to the go-to male for all entrepreneur’s PR wants. At the beginning of BBC business demonstrate, Dragons’ Den, he represented BBC Dragon Duncan Bannatyne OBE for 3 yrs. Then James Caan CBE for 7 years. He even looked following previous Dragon and Yo! Sushi Founder Simon Woodroffe OBE. He’s seemed following scores of the Channel 4 Top secret Millionaires. Hillgrove has represented the Godfather of Marketing, Charles Saatchi through to Dame Vivienne Westwood, Amber Read, Rose McGowan and Hollywood actor, Steven Seagal – all entrepreneurial in their have proper, whilst not your ‘serial entrepreneur’ in the strictest perception of the term. For Global Entrepreneurship Week 2014, Hillgrove organised the landmark ‘Haka for Business’ in Piccadilly Circus winning the Superior Impact Award. Now he’s teaching you how to bootstrap and Diy your personal PR to media and money results. You can reduce all the crap, generate off-highway and make a key impact.&#13
He can be reached on: [email protected]