The Science of Stardom
The Science of Stardom
Monroe Mann
Published On: Oct 23, 2024
Editor’s Note: On all blog posts, we try to edit the writing as little as possible to preserve authenticity, personality, and writing style. We typically fix spelling errors, but minimally modify grammar and sentence structure (just enough to ensure readability).
Name: Monroe Mann Break Diving Level: Level 1 Number of Certified Dives: 14 From: United States In: United States
Monroe Mann holds a PhD in psych, is a filmmaker, and is also an actor.
(Originally published in 2017)
Part 1
He sold out Madison Square Garden on August 31, 2010 (will no opening act) in 16 seconds, less than three years after officially starting his career, and based solely on his first album. Having achieved this amazing feat, whether you like it or not, he is now considered among the ranks of musician legends Michael Jackson, U2, Madonna, and the Rolling Stones.
His name? Justin Bieber.
Ozzy Ozbourne asks in the television commercial, “What is a Bieber?” The answer is not, “A random fluke success story.”
In this article, I aim to explain why Justin Bieber succeeded, and how anyone else (i.e. you too) can copy what he and his team did to try to reach similar results. While not everyone will have his level of success (and so quickly)… someone has to. As I like to say, “Someone has to be on the cover of the next People Magazine… and it may as well be you.”
Folks, contrary to popular belief, his story is not all about luck (which I do not believe in) and has nothing to do with his talent (there are more talented artists out there). It has to do with what I am calling:
The Science of Stardom.
I saw the movie Never Say Never about five years ago. Never Say Never is the totally inspiring documentary about Bieber and his rise to stardom. After I left the theater, two conflicting thoughts came to my head:
HOW INSPIRING. It was so eye opening to see what is possible in this world; to see that it is certainly not impossible to go from obscurity to stardom in just two years (and in Rebecca Black’s case, just two weeks). It really was wonderful to see that the underdog can succeed in the hardest business of them all.Watching the movie, however, also brought this second thought to mind:
HOW DEPRESSING. I thought, “But it was so random. What does this say about my whole theory that there is no such think as luck? Did his success happen completely on a fluke? This can’t be!”Well, fortunately, on this second point: that’s where I was wrong.
That night after the movie (when I should have been sleeping in prep for day 2 of the California bar exam, lol), all I was doing was tossing and turning, trying to reconcile these two conflicting thoughts in my head. It bothered me SO much that his success was a ‘fluke’. That someone just ‘discovered’ him on YouTube and off went his career. It bothered me so much because I don’t believe in luck; I wanted there to be some method to the madness that is Bieber Fever; I wanted there to be some science behind his stardom.
Well, the following night—after much tossing and turning in my bed—I figured it out. No joke: I figured out exactly what had happened.
His Story
First off, if you have not yet seen the Justin Bieber movie, “Never Say Never”… go see it.
Whether you like Bieber or not is irrelevant—I want you to watch it for the lessons you will learn.
I am not so much a fan of Justin Bieber as I am now a huge fan of his story. Further, after you watch the movie, my article here will make a lot more sense.
For those who have not seen the film, his story is relatively simple on its face: Justin Bieber was born in Canada. At a very young age (2 or 3), Justin showed an amazing talent for rhythm and playing the drums.
Shortly thereafter, he began to play guitar and sing and years later, he entered a talent show.
What happened next is the chain of events that led to his stardom:
His mom recorded on video each of Justin’s performances singing each of the songs during the multi-day competition (and other videos) and posted them all on YouTube.He received a huge amount of viewership hits on YouTube from fans.A new talent manager from Atlanta, GA named Scooter Braun found the videos on YouTube in 2008 while searching for another artist and flew Justin and his mom down to GA.Scooter introduced Justin to the rock star/R&B musician Usher.Usher introduced Justin to the record producer L.A. Reid.L.A. Reid ultimately secured Justin Bieber’s signing to Island Records in 2009.Bieber sold out Madison Square Garden about one year later.Yes, the above story is simplified, but it is adequately inclusive for the purposes of this article.
All I want you to do is reread that chain of events. Try to formulate in your own head what happened. How could everything have happened so quickly, and apparently so seamlessly?
Think about how amazing it is for an artist to sign to a record label in one year as a total unknown, and then to sell out Madison Square Garden (20,000 capacity, plus or minus) one year later. In what seemed like 15 seconds! THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN PEOPLE!
Well, clearly, it can, and does happen. Because it did.
And if you follow what I am about to share with you in the blog posts that follow in this series, you can put your best foot forward to try and mimic what happened with Bieber… with your own career.
His name? Justin Bieber.
Ozzy Ozbourne asks in the television commercial, “What is a Bieber?” The answer is not, “A random fluke success story.”
In this article, I aim to explain why Justin Bieber succeeded, and how anyone else (i.e. you too) can copy what he and his team did to try to reach similar results. While not everyone will have his level of success (and so quickly)… someone has to. As I like to say, “Someone has to be on the cover of the next People Magazine… and it may as well be you.”
Folks, contrary to popular belief, his story is not all about luck (which I do not believe in) and has nothing to do with his talent (there are more talented artists out there). It has to do with what I am calling:
The Science of Stardom.
I saw the movie Never Say Never about five years ago. Never Say Never is the totally inspiring documentary about Bieber and his rise to stardom. After I left the theater, two conflicting thoughts came to my head:
HOW INSPIRING. It was so eye opening to see what is possible in this world; to see that it is certainly not impossible to go from obscurity to stardom in just two years (and in Rebecca Black’s case, just two weeks). It really was wonderful to see that the underdog can succeed in the hardest business of them all.Watching the movie, however, also brought this second thought to mind:
HOW DEPRESSING. I thought, “But it was so random. What does this say about my whole theory that there is no such think as luck? Did his success happen completely on a fluke? This can’t be!”Well, fortunately, on this second point: that’s where I was wrong.
That night after the movie (when I should have been sleeping in prep for day 2 of the California bar exam, lol), all I was doing was tossing and turning, trying to reconcile these two conflicting thoughts in my head. It bothered me SO much that his success was a ‘fluke’. That someone just ‘discovered’ him on YouTube and off went his career. It bothered me so much because I don’t believe in luck; I wanted there to be some method to the madness that is Bieber Fever; I wanted there to be some science behind his stardom.
Well, the following night—after much tossing and turning in my bed—I figured it out. No joke: I figured out exactly what had happened.
His Story
First off, if you have not yet seen the Justin Bieber movie, “Never Say Never”… go see it.
Whether you like Bieber or not is irrelevant—I want you to watch it for the lessons you will learn.
I am not so much a fan of Justin Bieber as I am now a huge fan of his story. Further, after you watch the movie, my article here will make a lot more sense.
For those who have not seen the film, his story is relatively simple on its face: Justin Bieber was born in Canada. At a very young age (2 or 3), Justin showed an amazing talent for rhythm and playing the drums.
Shortly thereafter, he began to play guitar and sing and years later, he entered a talent show.
What happened next is the chain of events that led to his stardom:
His mom recorded on video each of Justin’s performances singing each of the songs during the multi-day competition (and other videos) and posted them all on YouTube.He received a huge amount of viewership hits on YouTube from fans.A new talent manager from Atlanta, GA named Scooter Braun found the videos on YouTube in 2008 while searching for another artist and flew Justin and his mom down to GA.Scooter introduced Justin to the rock star/R&B musician Usher.Usher introduced Justin to the record producer L.A. Reid.L.A. Reid ultimately secured Justin Bieber’s signing to Island Records in 2009.Bieber sold out Madison Square Garden about one year later.Yes, the above story is simplified, but it is adequately inclusive for the purposes of this article.
All I want you to do is reread that chain of events. Try to formulate in your own head what happened. How could everything have happened so quickly, and apparently so seamlessly?
Think about how amazing it is for an artist to sign to a record label in one year as a total unknown, and then to sell out Madison Square Garden (20,000 capacity, plus or minus) one year later. In what seemed like 15 seconds! THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN PEOPLE!
Well, clearly, it can, and does happen. Because it did.
And if you follow what I am about to share with you in the blog posts that follow in this series, you can put your best foot forward to try and mimic what happened with Bieber… with your own career.
Part 2
The Media Ladder
Years ago, I wrote and published a motivational book called, The Theatrical Juggernaut – The Psyche of the Star (which by the way has over 35 five-star reviews on Amazon).
In the third edition, which I have been working on for years and may end up just published here on this blog (haha), I have been writing about something I call The Media Ladder™.
The Media Ladder is my theory on the easiest way to ‘make it’ to the top. I came up with this theory long before I ever heard of Justin Bieber, and you’ll need to understand it before we move on to the next part of my theory.
At the top of the ladder is YOU. It progresses as follows:
YOU
|————-|
YOUR FANS
|————-|
THE MEDIA
|————-|
THE INDUSTRY
|————-|
THE BROKERS
It’s pretty simple to understand: You are at the top of the ladder—along with your talent—and if you follow it, rung by rung–STARTING FROM THE TOP AND MOVING DOWN–you will soon be at the top, i.e. the proverbial ‘top’.
You see, once you start performing or doing your thing, soon enough, you should have some fans.
Get enough fans, and the media is going to take notice. For instance, if suddenly you have 10,000 fans screaming at a show, the media is going to want to interview you. That’s a guarantee.
Next, if the media is publishing articles about you, and you are being interviewed on tv talk shows, you can bet that the industry too is going to start to take notice. For instance, if some unknown artist suddenly appears on the cover of People Magazine or Rolling Stone, record labels and movie producers are soon going to be calling that ‘unknown’ artist to get them into a contract.
Finally, once you’re with a record label, or in a movie, or on Broadway or whatever, the brokers (i.e. the talent agents and casting directors, etc.) are finally all going to want to work with you.
Now, this is the surefire way to make it to the top. Is it easy? Nope. But it helps explain something: most people never make it to the top because they fail to follow the rungs of the ladder consecutively, and in most cases, they simply fail to amass a large enough fan base.
Most aspiring professional actors/musicians I know constantly bemoan the fact that they don’t have an agent, and yet, where are the agents on the ladder? The bottom! Why is everyone reaching for the bottom rung on the ladder when the closest one and easiest one to grab (the fanbase ladder) is just a foot away from where they actually are?
This doesn’t mean that agents are not important—but ask yourself this question: who is ultimately more important to an artist’s career longevity—his agent or his fans? If a star has to choose between his millions of fans, or his agent… the choice should be clear. Ditch the agent. With a million-person fanbase, another agent will quickly come along.
So this is the first reason why most people do not ‘make it to the top’—they are focusing on the wrong end of the ladder. While they should be focusing on developing a fanbase, they are focusing on ‘getting an agent’, or ‘getting a publisher’. Folks: it is SO much easier to get a devoted fan than it is a devoted agent or publisher–just share the awesome stuff you are doing with others around you! And ultimately, the power of a fanbase is more powerful than the power of any agent, despite what agents would like you to believe.
That being said, can you skip the rungs on the ladder? Of course. Some people get a great agent or manager first, and that team member helps develop a larger fanbase. But don’t you realize that the agent actually became a FAN first?! And that the agent saw the potential of that artist to amass a fanbase, and get media and industry attention, and that is why the agent picked up the artist?
Folks, no agent will work with someone he is not first a fan of in some capacity first. No agent or manager will work with someone who he doesn’t think has potential to create a large fan base that will ultimately pay the agents’ commissions! Do you get this?
Yes, the whole idea is to garner the attention of the media, and ultimately the industry—but that happens most assuredly by first having a strong fanbase. Make sense? The fans create the desire within the media and the industry and the brokers to work with you—and in return the media, industry, and brokers work together to create for you an even larger fanbase. Back and forth; back and forth. Making sense?
But there’s a big caveat here: yes, you can skip rungs on the ladder, and yes, you can still become a success by skipping the middle rungs. But if you do skip rungs on the ladder, and you do become a success, the odds are that you will become a ‘one-hit wonder’. For instance, look at American Idol. This show allows artists to skip many rungs on the ladder, as it attempts to create stars without the artists first having created devoted fanbases. The show attempts to ‘manufacture stardom’. While it is indeed true that the contestants attract fans along the way, it’s not the same thing as a fanbase grown organically. Which is better: real sugar or an artificial sweetener? Many think the artificial sweetener is all the rage, but I’d prefer the real thing any day, and that’s why all the marketing labels on drinks today now are starting to say, “Made With Real Sugar”. A real organically created fanbase is better than a manufactured one. They both may sorta do the same thing, but the real one is better, and I’ll explain.
You see, this ‘manufactured stardom’ is why—in my opinion—most (but not all) of the contestants (and even the winners) are no longer in the limelight a couple years after their appearances on the show—the fans were manufactured so quickly that they disappeared just as fast. These fans were not there through the artist’s many years of difficult struggle so they don’t have all that much invested in this artist’s longevity.
Have some American Idol contestants gone on to stardom? Yes, but the biggest stars in the music business (and also showbusiness and entertainment in general) still appear to be those who followed the rungs of the ladder consecutively, or at the very least, amassed an appreciable fanbase independent of and prior to any major manufacturing help from the industry.
Take note: this applies not only to music, but also books (John Grisham, who sold thousands of copies of his books out of the trunk of his car before becoming a bestselling author) and movies (Jim Carrey and Steve Martin, who toured for years as struggling standup comics before becoming movie stars). But does it apply to up-and-coming actors too, I am often asked? Many up and coming actors bemoan this theory, telling me, “But authors and bands and comics are different—they all create their own “shows” so it’s easy to get fans!” And my response is always the same: “Then produce your own shows you lazy bums!”
First off, if becoming a professional actor really means that much to you, then get off your ass and produce your own shows and films in which you star so you too can amass fans! Hello?! What are you waiting for?
Second, they are not different. There is absolutely NO movie or Broadway star today who doesn’t have thousands and thousands of fans—the fans may be audience members visiting from Kansas… or those within the industry that had faith enough in the actor to cast him—BUT ALL SUCCESSFUL ACTORS HAD FANS TOO ON THEIR RISE TO THE TOP.
And incidentally, sometimes, it just takes one fan to get on the road to stardom. Buuuut, it’s a very special fan with four very special qualities that I call the four pillars of stardom—which I’ll be talking about in the next blog post in this series.
Bottom line: when it comes to success, and to amassing a fanbase, you can’t focus on the reasons it won’t work and the obstacles in your way—you need to focus on the reasons it will work, and figure out ways to overcome those obstacles. I read recently that when President John F. Kennedy said to his think-tank of scientists, “I want a man on the moon,” they all responded, “It can’t be done.” Kennedy apparently then asked them to make a full list of every reason why it could not be done. Then, he thanked them, and took that list, and gave it to a new think-tank of scientists and said, “Here are the reasons it won’t work—I want you to find a solution to each obstacle.” And… they did. And the rest is history. [In case you didn’t know, yes, we put a man on the moon!]
Are there exceptions, i.e. those who made it to the top in other ways besides amassing a fanbase? Yes, of course, and if you can do it in some other way—great! But you’re now banking on luck (which is a poor investment of your time). The better strategy is to invest your time pursuing a strategy that is guaranteed to succeed. I don’t want to tell you ‘good luck’—I want to tell you ‘put this surefire plan into action’. And I am going to do that in this article by providing you with something tangible—a formula that you can follow. I want to provide you with some type of blueprint that you can emulate to get noticed, and ultimately get to the top.
And that—ladies and gentlemen—is coming up in part 3.
Years ago, I wrote and published a motivational book called, The Theatrical Juggernaut – The Psyche of the Star (which by the way has over 35 five-star reviews on Amazon).
In the third edition, which I have been working on for years and may end up just published here on this blog (haha), I have been writing about something I call The Media Ladder™.
The Media Ladder is my theory on the easiest way to ‘make it’ to the top. I came up with this theory long before I ever heard of Justin Bieber, and you’ll need to understand it before we move on to the next part of my theory.
At the top of the ladder is YOU. It progresses as follows:
YOU
|————-|
YOUR FANS
|————-|
THE MEDIA
|————-|
THE INDUSTRY
|————-|
THE BROKERS
It’s pretty simple to understand: You are at the top of the ladder—along with your talent—and if you follow it, rung by rung–STARTING FROM THE TOP AND MOVING DOWN–you will soon be at the top, i.e. the proverbial ‘top’.
You see, once you start performing or doing your thing, soon enough, you should have some fans.
Get enough fans, and the media is going to take notice. For instance, if suddenly you have 10,000 fans screaming at a show, the media is going to want to interview you. That’s a guarantee.
Next, if the media is publishing articles about you, and you are being interviewed on tv talk shows, you can bet that the industry too is going to start to take notice. For instance, if some unknown artist suddenly appears on the cover of People Magazine or Rolling Stone, record labels and movie producers are soon going to be calling that ‘unknown’ artist to get them into a contract.
Finally, once you’re with a record label, or in a movie, or on Broadway or whatever, the brokers (i.e. the talent agents and casting directors, etc.) are finally all going to want to work with you.
Now, this is the surefire way to make it to the top. Is it easy? Nope. But it helps explain something: most people never make it to the top because they fail to follow the rungs of the ladder consecutively, and in most cases, they simply fail to amass a large enough fan base.
Most aspiring professional actors/musicians I know constantly bemoan the fact that they don’t have an agent, and yet, where are the agents on the ladder? The bottom! Why is everyone reaching for the bottom rung on the ladder when the closest one and easiest one to grab (the fanbase ladder) is just a foot away from where they actually are?
This doesn’t mean that agents are not important—but ask yourself this question: who is ultimately more important to an artist’s career longevity—his agent or his fans? If a star has to choose between his millions of fans, or his agent… the choice should be clear. Ditch the agent. With a million-person fanbase, another agent will quickly come along.
So this is the first reason why most people do not ‘make it to the top’—they are focusing on the wrong end of the ladder. While they should be focusing on developing a fanbase, they are focusing on ‘getting an agent’, or ‘getting a publisher’. Folks: it is SO much easier to get a devoted fan than it is a devoted agent or publisher–just share the awesome stuff you are doing with others around you! And ultimately, the power of a fanbase is more powerful than the power of any agent, despite what agents would like you to believe.
That being said, can you skip the rungs on the ladder? Of course. Some people get a great agent or manager first, and that team member helps develop a larger fanbase. But don’t you realize that the agent actually became a FAN first?! And that the agent saw the potential of that artist to amass a fanbase, and get media and industry attention, and that is why the agent picked up the artist?
Folks, no agent will work with someone he is not first a fan of in some capacity first. No agent or manager will work with someone who he doesn’t think has potential to create a large fan base that will ultimately pay the agents’ commissions! Do you get this?
Yes, the whole idea is to garner the attention of the media, and ultimately the industry—but that happens most assuredly by first having a strong fanbase. Make sense? The fans create the desire within the media and the industry and the brokers to work with you—and in return the media, industry, and brokers work together to create for you an even larger fanbase. Back and forth; back and forth. Making sense?
But there’s a big caveat here: yes, you can skip rungs on the ladder, and yes, you can still become a success by skipping the middle rungs. But if you do skip rungs on the ladder, and you do become a success, the odds are that you will become a ‘one-hit wonder’. For instance, look at American Idol. This show allows artists to skip many rungs on the ladder, as it attempts to create stars without the artists first having created devoted fanbases. The show attempts to ‘manufacture stardom’. While it is indeed true that the contestants attract fans along the way, it’s not the same thing as a fanbase grown organically. Which is better: real sugar or an artificial sweetener? Many think the artificial sweetener is all the rage, but I’d prefer the real thing any day, and that’s why all the marketing labels on drinks today now are starting to say, “Made With Real Sugar”. A real organically created fanbase is better than a manufactured one. They both may sorta do the same thing, but the real one is better, and I’ll explain.
You see, this ‘manufactured stardom’ is why—in my opinion—most (but not all) of the contestants (and even the winners) are no longer in the limelight a couple years after their appearances on the show—the fans were manufactured so quickly that they disappeared just as fast. These fans were not there through the artist’s many years of difficult struggle so they don’t have all that much invested in this artist’s longevity.
Have some American Idol contestants gone on to stardom? Yes, but the biggest stars in the music business (and also showbusiness and entertainment in general) still appear to be those who followed the rungs of the ladder consecutively, or at the very least, amassed an appreciable fanbase independent of and prior to any major manufacturing help from the industry.
Take note: this applies not only to music, but also books (John Grisham, who sold thousands of copies of his books out of the trunk of his car before becoming a bestselling author) and movies (Jim Carrey and Steve Martin, who toured for years as struggling standup comics before becoming movie stars). But does it apply to up-and-coming actors too, I am often asked? Many up and coming actors bemoan this theory, telling me, “But authors and bands and comics are different—they all create their own “shows” so it’s easy to get fans!” And my response is always the same: “Then produce your own shows you lazy bums!”
First off, if becoming a professional actor really means that much to you, then get off your ass and produce your own shows and films in which you star so you too can amass fans! Hello?! What are you waiting for?
Second, they are not different. There is absolutely NO movie or Broadway star today who doesn’t have thousands and thousands of fans—the fans may be audience members visiting from Kansas… or those within the industry that had faith enough in the actor to cast him—BUT ALL SUCCESSFUL ACTORS HAD FANS TOO ON THEIR RISE TO THE TOP.
And incidentally, sometimes, it just takes one fan to get on the road to stardom. Buuuut, it’s a very special fan with four very special qualities that I call the four pillars of stardom—which I’ll be talking about in the next blog post in this series.
Bottom line: when it comes to success, and to amassing a fanbase, you can’t focus on the reasons it won’t work and the obstacles in your way—you need to focus on the reasons it will work, and figure out ways to overcome those obstacles. I read recently that when President John F. Kennedy said to his think-tank of scientists, “I want a man on the moon,” they all responded, “It can’t be done.” Kennedy apparently then asked them to make a full list of every reason why it could not be done. Then, he thanked them, and took that list, and gave it to a new think-tank of scientists and said, “Here are the reasons it won’t work—I want you to find a solution to each obstacle.” And… they did. And the rest is history. [In case you didn’t know, yes, we put a man on the moon!]
Are there exceptions, i.e. those who made it to the top in other ways besides amassing a fanbase? Yes, of course, and if you can do it in some other way—great! But you’re now banking on luck (which is a poor investment of your time). The better strategy is to invest your time pursuing a strategy that is guaranteed to succeed. I don’t want to tell you ‘good luck’—I want to tell you ‘put this surefire plan into action’. And I am going to do that in this article by providing you with something tangible—a formula that you can follow. I want to provide you with some type of blueprint that you can emulate to get noticed, and ultimately get to the top.
And that—ladies and gentlemen—is coming up in part 3.
Part 3
The Foundation of Stardom
I just provided above a theoretical foundation for my theory of stardom. That being said, time to get to the main event here: the science of stardom.
First off, the talent is NOT why someone succeeds or does not succeed. It is merely one ingredient. And frankly, as far as I am concerned, the foundation is NOT amazing talent. Talent, folks, is assumed. Either you got it or you don’t, and frankly, it doesn’t matter whether you do or not. Case in point: how many movie, tv, and rock stars do you know of who you think absolutely stink? Well, somehow they made it. Think about that for a moment and then… case closed. Clearly, they had something else. Yes, the right attitude and business sense (as I have always said), but more importantly, they probably had a large enough fanbase.
You see, your fanbase is what assures your stardom; not your talent. Your talent is merely what will get you a fanbase. And in fact, in many cases, you don’t even need talent to have a fanbase. Check out the folks on all these reality shows: they display no talent, and yet, they sure do have a fanbase.
Bottom line? The foundation of stardom is YOUR FANBASE. And everything you do from this day forward needs to be the development of that fanbase.
The Four Pillars of Stardom
However, a fanbase alone is—as I said—just the foundation. You still need to build up your career, and this happens by building what I call the four pillars of stardom.
The four pillars (and this is what I figured out when watching the Justin Bieber movie) are: Belief, Connections, Influence, & Resources. First I’ll explain the four pillars, and then I’ll explain how Justin Bieber’s rise fits into this theoretical framework like a cookie cutter.
PILLAR ONE IS BELIEF: You need someone who believes that you are the greatest thing on the planet and who supports you one-hundred and ten percent. Not a he’s pretty good type of belief but rather an I unequivocally believe in his greatness and that he is the next big thing! type of belief.
PILLAR TWO IS CONNECTIONS: You next need someone who already has the first pillar who also has connections with people with influence and resources. You see, a lot of people have connections. The question is, “what type of connections does this person have?”PILLAR THREE IS INFLUENCE: You next need someone who has the first two pillars (belief and connections), but more importantly, influence. In other words, what good is a huge supporter who has powerful connections if that person has no influence over those powerful connections? You need someone who believes in you, who also knows powerful people, and who has the power to influence those powerful people.PILLAR FOUR IS RESOURCES: Finally, you next need someone who has the first three pillars (belief, connection, and influence), and also resources. In other words, what good is a huge supporter who has influence over powerful connections if ultimately those powerful connections do not have the resources to help promote, market, and ‘manufacture’ your platform for stardom?Bottom line, it doesn’t matter how strong your foundation (i.e. your fanbase) if you lack any of these four pillars.
Here are some examples:
You can have a team that has belief, connections, and influence… but if you lack the team member with resources, it doesn’t matter how much the team is behind you—you simply cannot sustain your drive to the top.You can have a team that has belief, connections, and resources… but if you lack the team member with influence to make things happen and get the ball rolling, you will remain mired in a hope and a dream.You can have a team that has belief, influence, and resources… but if you lack the team member with connections, then you’ll have no one to influence.You can have a team that has connections, influence, and resources… but if you lack the team member with belief in you, then you’ll have a ready-made machine, with no one inspired to put it in motion on your behalf.Now, some of you may have realized something. What is a fan? In my opinion, after watching this Bieber movie, a true fan is simply someone who… a) has an unequivocal belief in your greatness, has connections, has the ability to influence others, and resources to show their support. In other words, a fan is someone who thinks you’re awesome, has lots of friends, has the ability to turn their friends into fans, and is someone with the money to buy your CDs, movies, tshirts, books, etc.
Think about all this for a moment, and you’ll realize that it makes complete and perfect sense: who is at the top of the media ladder? You are. Next? The fans. And therefore, the fans are pretty powerful. That’s why they are the foundation of stardom.
Next come the four pillars. And think about all this a little more: each pillar (i.e. each member of your team) must first and foremost become a FAN before they can become any of the other pillars. If you have any member of your team who does not first satisfy the test of the first pillar, i.e. unequivocal belief in your greatness, then that team member is essentially useless. For example, what good is someone with connections without a belief in your greatness—for without that belief, they will not use their connections on your behalf. Nor will they use their influence. Nor will they particularly use their resources.
Anyone and everyone who is on your team must first believe 110% in your awesomeness, and believe that you are going to be the next big thing.
If not, then you are wasting your time with that person or those people, because they are never ever going to get off their ass and actually do something for you.
Coming up next—what I have been promising the whole time: explaining away the ‘luck’ that everyone claims was responsible for Justin Bieber’s rise to the top.
I just provided above a theoretical foundation for my theory of stardom. That being said, time to get to the main event here: the science of stardom.
First off, the talent is NOT why someone succeeds or does not succeed. It is merely one ingredient. And frankly, as far as I am concerned, the foundation is NOT amazing talent. Talent, folks, is assumed. Either you got it or you don’t, and frankly, it doesn’t matter whether you do or not. Case in point: how many movie, tv, and rock stars do you know of who you think absolutely stink? Well, somehow they made it. Think about that for a moment and then… case closed. Clearly, they had something else. Yes, the right attitude and business sense (as I have always said), but more importantly, they probably had a large enough fanbase.
You see, your fanbase is what assures your stardom; not your talent. Your talent is merely what will get you a fanbase. And in fact, in many cases, you don’t even need talent to have a fanbase. Check out the folks on all these reality shows: they display no talent, and yet, they sure do have a fanbase.
Bottom line? The foundation of stardom is YOUR FANBASE. And everything you do from this day forward needs to be the development of that fanbase.
The Four Pillars of Stardom
However, a fanbase alone is—as I said—just the foundation. You still need to build up your career, and this happens by building what I call the four pillars of stardom.
The four pillars (and this is what I figured out when watching the Justin Bieber movie) are: Belief, Connections, Influence, & Resources. First I’ll explain the four pillars, and then I’ll explain how Justin Bieber’s rise fits into this theoretical framework like a cookie cutter.
PILLAR ONE IS BELIEF: You need someone who believes that you are the greatest thing on the planet and who supports you one-hundred and ten percent. Not a he’s pretty good type of belief but rather an I unequivocally believe in his greatness and that he is the next big thing! type of belief.
PILLAR TWO IS CONNECTIONS: You next need someone who already has the first pillar who also has connections with people with influence and resources. You see, a lot of people have connections. The question is, “what type of connections does this person have?”PILLAR THREE IS INFLUENCE: You next need someone who has the first two pillars (belief and connections), but more importantly, influence. In other words, what good is a huge supporter who has powerful connections if that person has no influence over those powerful connections? You need someone who believes in you, who also knows powerful people, and who has the power to influence those powerful people.PILLAR FOUR IS RESOURCES: Finally, you next need someone who has the first three pillars (belief, connection, and influence), and also resources. In other words, what good is a huge supporter who has influence over powerful connections if ultimately those powerful connections do not have the resources to help promote, market, and ‘manufacture’ your platform for stardom?Bottom line, it doesn’t matter how strong your foundation (i.e. your fanbase) if you lack any of these four pillars.
Here are some examples:
You can have a team that has belief, connections, and influence… but if you lack the team member with resources, it doesn’t matter how much the team is behind you—you simply cannot sustain your drive to the top.You can have a team that has belief, connections, and resources… but if you lack the team member with influence to make things happen and get the ball rolling, you will remain mired in a hope and a dream.You can have a team that has belief, influence, and resources… but if you lack the team member with connections, then you’ll have no one to influence.You can have a team that has connections, influence, and resources… but if you lack the team member with belief in you, then you’ll have a ready-made machine, with no one inspired to put it in motion on your behalf.Now, some of you may have realized something. What is a fan? In my opinion, after watching this Bieber movie, a true fan is simply someone who… a) has an unequivocal belief in your greatness, has connections, has the ability to influence others, and resources to show their support. In other words, a fan is someone who thinks you’re awesome, has lots of friends, has the ability to turn their friends into fans, and is someone with the money to buy your CDs, movies, tshirts, books, etc.
Think about all this for a moment, and you’ll realize that it makes complete and perfect sense: who is at the top of the media ladder? You are. Next? The fans. And therefore, the fans are pretty powerful. That’s why they are the foundation of stardom.
Next come the four pillars. And think about all this a little more: each pillar (i.e. each member of your team) must first and foremost become a FAN before they can become any of the other pillars. If you have any member of your team who does not first satisfy the test of the first pillar, i.e. unequivocal belief in your greatness, then that team member is essentially useless. For example, what good is someone with connections without a belief in your greatness—for without that belief, they will not use their connections on your behalf. Nor will they use their influence. Nor will they particularly use their resources.
Anyone and everyone who is on your team must first believe 110% in your awesomeness, and believe that you are going to be the next big thing.
If not, then you are wasting your time with that person or those people, because they are never ever going to get off their ass and actually do something for you.
Coming up next—what I have been promising the whole time: explaining away the ‘luck’ that everyone claims was responsible for Justin Bieber’s rise to the top.
Part 4
Justin Bieber as an Example
Okay, after all this, here is what I have been promising this whole time: explaining away the ‘luck’ that everyone claims was responsible for Justin Bieber’s rise to the top. If you haven’t yet watched the movie, “Never Say Never”, I again urge you to watch it as soon as possible because everything here will click that much more with you once you have.
So, here is the cast of characters:
--JUSTIN BIEBER (Talent)
--HIS MOTHER (Belief)
--SCOOTER BRAUN (Connections)
--USHER (Influence)
--L.A. REID (Resources)
--HIS FANS (Belief, Connections, Influence, and Resources)
First off, yes, Justin Bieber has talent. Is he the most talented singer in the world. Nope. The most amazing dancer in the world? Nope. Is he the most gorgeous man in the world? Nope. But… he has something. Something on which to build a career. And that’s all you need. You don’t need to be THE BEST—you just need to be ‘good enough’. That’s it folks! In other words, YES, you too have more than enough talent to make it to the top.
Second, Justin’s mom believed 110% in his son’s greatness. ONE HUNDRED AND TEN PERCENT! She supported him in every way she could. She encouraged him. She supported him. She recorded his ‘talent show’ performances, and put them up on YouTube. And that’s how everything really started. Why did his videos take off rather than other videos? I’ll answer that in a moment. But for now, just realize this: you too need (and can find) that someone (or someones, plural) who believe 110% in your greatness. It’s not luck—it’s about being persistent in your search for the perfect cheerleading squad. You need people supporting you who not only think you are amazing, but think you are SO amazing that they bend over backwards to help you. In my opinion, you don’t need fans… you need RABID AVID fans. His mother was a rabid avid fan, with 110% belief in his greatness. Is that luck? No. It might have been convenient that his mom was his biggest fan, but that doesn’t you can’t find someone just like that too? For me, it’s a woman named Debbie Bordelon, who lives out in Indiana. She LOVES me and supports me SO MUCH that she goes to the ends of the earth trying to promote me and my music and my projects in every way she can. She is my BELIEF. Who is yours?
Third, enter Scooter Braun. Scooter found Justin’s videos on YouTube while looking for another artist. Do, does that mean he ‘found him by accident’? No, Justin’s mom put his videos up on YouTube, and in searching for videos, Scooter came across Justin. Guess what? You can do the same thing: post your videos up on YouTube! What is stopping you? Shortly, my first official music video off my new album will be posted up on YouTube too—for my song, “The Sun Is Always Shining Somewhere.”
Guess what? Maybe someone will notice it. Is there any guarantee it gets noticed? Nope, but if they do, it won’t be because of luck. If they do, it’ll be because I wrote a good song, tracked it professionally, shot and edited an entertaining music video, posted it up online, and marketed it well enough that someone… with CONNECTIONS (like Scooter Braun) finds it. Think about: this blog post too is me taking the ‘luck’ out of the equation, cause right now, you are reading about my music video! You are reading about my song! You know that my name is Monroe Mann! You know that I wrote a song called, “The Sun Is Always Shining Somewhere”! You know that you can actually watch the video right here, right now, on YouTube!
Hey, maybe you are the CONNECTION that my song and I need to ‘make it big’. If you are, it’s not luck that you are reading this, I assure you of that.
But there’s more. I realized something about agents/managers as a result of the Bieber movie as well: they are completely useless unless they believe 110% in your greatness! You need people on your team who believe in the greatness of what you are trying to do. You need people on your team who believe that with their help, you can become the next big thing. And most importantly, you need people on your team who believe SO MUCH in your greatness (and POTENTIAL for success), that they are willing to WORK THEIR ASSES OFF to help you get to the top. In other words, it’s useless to ‘have a manager’ or ‘have an agent’ unless he (screw political correctness, sorry) is one of your number one RABID AVID fans. Starting to get it?
So, do I have a manager right now? Yes and no. Yes, myself. No one is ever going to manage my career better than myself, and those who put their blind trust in a manager is a total idiot. But technically, no. Am I looking? Sure, but it’s gotta be a really special person—it’s gotta be someone who I can call a RABID AVID FAN. And it’s gotta be someone who believes that Monroe Mann is the next big thing. If someone is lukewarm about me—I am not interested. (It’s the same thing with romantic relationships, fyi. Do you really want to be with someone who isn’t head over heels for you? I sure don’t).
My point so far is that it’s because of Justin’s mother’s BELIEF in him (and subsequent action) that Scooter Braun (a man with CONNECTIONS) found Justin Bieber. That’s the first part of the puzzle.
Fourth, enter Usher. At first, if you saw the movie, Usher was just a guy with CONNECTIONS and INFLUENCE. He amassed those connections and influence because of his stature as an R&B star, i.e. a rock star. But at first, what did he not have? BELIEF. He had no belief in Bieber at first, and even he said, “I almost passed him by the first time I met him.” Just as I said, it doesn’t matter if you know people with connections and influence unless they BELIEVE IN YOU (110% unequivocally, in your greatness!)
I’m sure all of this is starting to come together for you now. It wasn’t until the 2nd time Usher met Bieber that Usher became a FAN, and ultimately had BELIEF in Justin.
Now, at this point, you might be thinking, “But clearly Scooter Braun had INFLUENCE too—or else he would never have been able to have scored the meeting with Usher.” You are right—Scooter DID have influence too. But compared to the influence that Usher had, Scooter really had none. And yes, Justin’s mother had influence too—but on an even smaller scale. You see (and I’ll talk about this more later), every single person on your team has a little bit of all four pillars. The question is: do they have enough? I.e, do your fans have ENOUGH belief in you? Does your publicist have ENOUGH connections? Does your manager have ENOUGH influence? Does your record producer buddy have ENOUGH resources? Those are the questions that must be answered.
Back to the story: so Usher and Scooter ultimately drafted a joint management agreement for Bieber. They had everything they needed: BELIEF, CONNECTIONS, & INFLUENCE. But they lacked one thing: RESOURCES. Enter L.A. Reid.
Fourth, L.A. Reid came onto the scene. Yes, Usher had resources too, but did he have as many resources as a mogul record producer like L.A. Reid? In comparison, no, he did not. So Usher used his BELIEF in Bieber, and his CONNECTION to L.A. Reid, and his INFLUENCE as a successful rock star to bring L.A. Reid on as Bieber’s record producer (which ultimately led to Bieber signing a record deal, I believe with Island Records).
In the movie, Reid’s monologue talks about how he came to BELIEVE in Justin Bieber. You see, L.A. Reid had the last three pillars (CONNECTIONS, INFLUENCE, & RESOURCES), but unless he became a RABID AVID FAN, i.e. 110% belief in Justin’s greatness, Usher and Braun would have been stuck. The only reason Reid agreed to help is because Reid became a SUPER FAN of Justin Bieber.
To answer the above question: why did these people become super fans of Bieber? Why did all those girls go crazy for Bieber? Why are they still going crazy for Bieber?
IT IS BECAUSE THEY LOVE HIM!
Why do they love him?
IT IS BECAUSE HE MAKES IT EASY FOR PEOPLE TO FALL IN LOVE WITH HIM.
He gives off an aura of greatness. He has a warm and welcoming smile. He is charming. He is mysterious. He is an enigma. He is good looking. The list goes on.
And guess what: you can do the same thing. How do I know? Because I too am doing it, albeit on a much smaller scale. I have super fans too. They are called—ha ha—eManngelists, and the girls all suffer from Mann Love. HAHA–I’m joking! But truly, I have people who write to me at least once every week telling me how much one of my books has changed their lives; how seeing me speak has given them such hope; how they listen to one of my songs over and over again in the car because it inspires them so much. Folks—it is not luck that I get messages like this. It’s hard work. I’ve been busting my ass for over 15 years now, slowly making a name for myself.
“Okay,” you think, “if your theory is so perfect, why did Bieber succeed in 2 years in making it to the top, and you are still relatively unknown?”
ANSWER: It’s not luck, BUT, it’s because for whatever reason, he just met the right people at the right time, whereas it’s been a more circuitous route for me (just as it was and has been for MOST stars—Justin Bieber’s quick rise to the top is the exception, and NOT the rule). However, and it’s a BIG however: do not let the timeline skew the lessons to be learned: you can do the same thing that Justin Bieber did (just as I am actively trying to do the same thing) by scientifically and methodically mimicking the steps of his career, and IGNORING the timeline.
Look, folks, the odds are absolutely against you (and me)(or anyone) repeating what Justin Bieber did in such a short time. But… and again, it’s a BIG but—this doesn’t mean you cannot repeat what he did ultimately—even if take you two times, or four time, or forty times, as long.
And here’s the key note: you should not be in show business and entertainment and entrepreneurship if you are putting a timeline on your success. Those who do are just wasting their time, because the odds are infinitesimally small that ANYONE becomes a star in 2 years, 5 years, or even 10 years. Success in most cases takes a lot of time, so if things happen more quickly (like with Bieber) then hey—more power to you—but don’t count on it.
But what you CAN count on is this system working, if you methodically apply it, and objectively pursue your goal.
So now let’s talk about how you can actually apply what I’m sharing with you to your own life and career. Ready?
Applying the Science of Stardom to Your Own Career
1. Do something that you are or can be really great at, and that comes easy for you. For me, my current best talents are a) writing books, b) motivational speaking and inspiring people, c) my music, d) foreign languages, and e) computer/web programming. Those are my primary focuses now that I realize that they are my strengths. I have other strengths (acting, writing screenplays, traveling, etc.), and I am still actively pursuing these endeavors, but in an ancillary fashion.
2. Develop your fanbase. This is HARD WORK, but you can do it. Setup your website. Setup your facebook and twitter accounts. Collect email addresses wherever you go. Give performances/presentations as often as possible. Remember your foundation is your fanbase!!
3. Find super fans. You need super fans—those who are going to do more than just say, “Oh yeah, I’m a fan.” You need one, or an army of those who support you 110%.
4. Find those with CONNECTIONS. You need these people. Find them. Use Guerrilla Networking tactics if you have to.
5. Find those with INFLUENCE. You need these people. Find them. Use Guerrilla Networking tactics if you have to.
6. Find those with RESOURCES. You need these people. Find them. Use Guerrilla Networking tactics if you have to.
7. Practice PATIENCE: Patience does not mean ‘waiting’; it means ‘being steadfast despite opposition’. Look it up. You’ll see. This—patience—is ultimately what will determine whether you ‘make it’ or not. So… keep going. Keep Going. KEEP GOING. Got it? Get it?
Meet you at the top!
-Monroe Mann
Break Diving, Inc. is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Read all about our amazing mission at www.BreakDiving.org
Join our free community at www.breakdiving.io
Like what we do? Please make a feel-good donation!
Remember to tell your friends about this www.BreakDiving.blog
Read More Blog Posts on the Break Diving Blog Homepage
Okay, after all this, here is what I have been promising this whole time: explaining away the ‘luck’ that everyone claims was responsible for Justin Bieber’s rise to the top. If you haven’t yet watched the movie, “Never Say Never”, I again urge you to watch it as soon as possible because everything here will click that much more with you once you have.
So, here is the cast of characters:
--JUSTIN BIEBER (Talent)
--HIS MOTHER (Belief)
--SCOOTER BRAUN (Connections)
--USHER (Influence)
--L.A. REID (Resources)
--HIS FANS (Belief, Connections, Influence, and Resources)
First off, yes, Justin Bieber has talent. Is he the most talented singer in the world. Nope. The most amazing dancer in the world? Nope. Is he the most gorgeous man in the world? Nope. But… he has something. Something on which to build a career. And that’s all you need. You don’t need to be THE BEST—you just need to be ‘good enough’. That’s it folks! In other words, YES, you too have more than enough talent to make it to the top.
Second, Justin’s mom believed 110% in his son’s greatness. ONE HUNDRED AND TEN PERCENT! She supported him in every way she could. She encouraged him. She supported him. She recorded his ‘talent show’ performances, and put them up on YouTube. And that’s how everything really started. Why did his videos take off rather than other videos? I’ll answer that in a moment. But for now, just realize this: you too need (and can find) that someone (or someones, plural) who believe 110% in your greatness. It’s not luck—it’s about being persistent in your search for the perfect cheerleading squad. You need people supporting you who not only think you are amazing, but think you are SO amazing that they bend over backwards to help you. In my opinion, you don’t need fans… you need RABID AVID fans. His mother was a rabid avid fan, with 110% belief in his greatness. Is that luck? No. It might have been convenient that his mom was his biggest fan, but that doesn’t you can’t find someone just like that too? For me, it’s a woman named Debbie Bordelon, who lives out in Indiana. She LOVES me and supports me SO MUCH that she goes to the ends of the earth trying to promote me and my music and my projects in every way she can. She is my BELIEF. Who is yours?
Third, enter Scooter Braun. Scooter found Justin’s videos on YouTube while looking for another artist. Do, does that mean he ‘found him by accident’? No, Justin’s mom put his videos up on YouTube, and in searching for videos, Scooter came across Justin. Guess what? You can do the same thing: post your videos up on YouTube! What is stopping you? Shortly, my first official music video off my new album will be posted up on YouTube too—for my song, “The Sun Is Always Shining Somewhere.”
Guess what? Maybe someone will notice it. Is there any guarantee it gets noticed? Nope, but if they do, it won’t be because of luck. If they do, it’ll be because I wrote a good song, tracked it professionally, shot and edited an entertaining music video, posted it up online, and marketed it well enough that someone… with CONNECTIONS (like Scooter Braun) finds it. Think about: this blog post too is me taking the ‘luck’ out of the equation, cause right now, you are reading about my music video! You are reading about my song! You know that my name is Monroe Mann! You know that I wrote a song called, “The Sun Is Always Shining Somewhere”! You know that you can actually watch the video right here, right now, on YouTube!
Hey, maybe you are the CONNECTION that my song and I need to ‘make it big’. If you are, it’s not luck that you are reading this, I assure you of that.
But there’s more. I realized something about agents/managers as a result of the Bieber movie as well: they are completely useless unless they believe 110% in your greatness! You need people on your team who believe in the greatness of what you are trying to do. You need people on your team who believe that with their help, you can become the next big thing. And most importantly, you need people on your team who believe SO MUCH in your greatness (and POTENTIAL for success), that they are willing to WORK THEIR ASSES OFF to help you get to the top. In other words, it’s useless to ‘have a manager’ or ‘have an agent’ unless he (screw political correctness, sorry) is one of your number one RABID AVID fans. Starting to get it?
So, do I have a manager right now? Yes and no. Yes, myself. No one is ever going to manage my career better than myself, and those who put their blind trust in a manager is a total idiot. But technically, no. Am I looking? Sure, but it’s gotta be a really special person—it’s gotta be someone who I can call a RABID AVID FAN. And it’s gotta be someone who believes that Monroe Mann is the next big thing. If someone is lukewarm about me—I am not interested. (It’s the same thing with romantic relationships, fyi. Do you really want to be with someone who isn’t head over heels for you? I sure don’t).
My point so far is that it’s because of Justin’s mother’s BELIEF in him (and subsequent action) that Scooter Braun (a man with CONNECTIONS) found Justin Bieber. That’s the first part of the puzzle.
Fourth, enter Usher. At first, if you saw the movie, Usher was just a guy with CONNECTIONS and INFLUENCE. He amassed those connections and influence because of his stature as an R&B star, i.e. a rock star. But at first, what did he not have? BELIEF. He had no belief in Bieber at first, and even he said, “I almost passed him by the first time I met him.” Just as I said, it doesn’t matter if you know people with connections and influence unless they BELIEVE IN YOU (110% unequivocally, in your greatness!)
I’m sure all of this is starting to come together for you now. It wasn’t until the 2nd time Usher met Bieber that Usher became a FAN, and ultimately had BELIEF in Justin.
Now, at this point, you might be thinking, “But clearly Scooter Braun had INFLUENCE too—or else he would never have been able to have scored the meeting with Usher.” You are right—Scooter DID have influence too. But compared to the influence that Usher had, Scooter really had none. And yes, Justin’s mother had influence too—but on an even smaller scale. You see (and I’ll talk about this more later), every single person on your team has a little bit of all four pillars. The question is: do they have enough? I.e, do your fans have ENOUGH belief in you? Does your publicist have ENOUGH connections? Does your manager have ENOUGH influence? Does your record producer buddy have ENOUGH resources? Those are the questions that must be answered.
Back to the story: so Usher and Scooter ultimately drafted a joint management agreement for Bieber. They had everything they needed: BELIEF, CONNECTIONS, & INFLUENCE. But they lacked one thing: RESOURCES. Enter L.A. Reid.
Fourth, L.A. Reid came onto the scene. Yes, Usher had resources too, but did he have as many resources as a mogul record producer like L.A. Reid? In comparison, no, he did not. So Usher used his BELIEF in Bieber, and his CONNECTION to L.A. Reid, and his INFLUENCE as a successful rock star to bring L.A. Reid on as Bieber’s record producer (which ultimately led to Bieber signing a record deal, I believe with Island Records).
In the movie, Reid’s monologue talks about how he came to BELIEVE in Justin Bieber. You see, L.A. Reid had the last three pillars (CONNECTIONS, INFLUENCE, & RESOURCES), but unless he became a RABID AVID FAN, i.e. 110% belief in Justin’s greatness, Usher and Braun would have been stuck. The only reason Reid agreed to help is because Reid became a SUPER FAN of Justin Bieber.
To answer the above question: why did these people become super fans of Bieber? Why did all those girls go crazy for Bieber? Why are they still going crazy for Bieber?
IT IS BECAUSE THEY LOVE HIM!
Why do they love him?
IT IS BECAUSE HE MAKES IT EASY FOR PEOPLE TO FALL IN LOVE WITH HIM.
He gives off an aura of greatness. He has a warm and welcoming smile. He is charming. He is mysterious. He is an enigma. He is good looking. The list goes on.
And guess what: you can do the same thing. How do I know? Because I too am doing it, albeit on a much smaller scale. I have super fans too. They are called—ha ha—eManngelists, and the girls all suffer from Mann Love. HAHA–I’m joking! But truly, I have people who write to me at least once every week telling me how much one of my books has changed their lives; how seeing me speak has given them such hope; how they listen to one of my songs over and over again in the car because it inspires them so much. Folks—it is not luck that I get messages like this. It’s hard work. I’ve been busting my ass for over 15 years now, slowly making a name for myself.
“Okay,” you think, “if your theory is so perfect, why did Bieber succeed in 2 years in making it to the top, and you are still relatively unknown?”
ANSWER: It’s not luck, BUT, it’s because for whatever reason, he just met the right people at the right time, whereas it’s been a more circuitous route for me (just as it was and has been for MOST stars—Justin Bieber’s quick rise to the top is the exception, and NOT the rule). However, and it’s a BIG however: do not let the timeline skew the lessons to be learned: you can do the same thing that Justin Bieber did (just as I am actively trying to do the same thing) by scientifically and methodically mimicking the steps of his career, and IGNORING the timeline.
Look, folks, the odds are absolutely against you (and me)(or anyone) repeating what Justin Bieber did in such a short time. But… and again, it’s a BIG but—this doesn’t mean you cannot repeat what he did ultimately—even if take you two times, or four time, or forty times, as long.
And here’s the key note: you should not be in show business and entertainment and entrepreneurship if you are putting a timeline on your success. Those who do are just wasting their time, because the odds are infinitesimally small that ANYONE becomes a star in 2 years, 5 years, or even 10 years. Success in most cases takes a lot of time, so if things happen more quickly (like with Bieber) then hey—more power to you—but don’t count on it.
But what you CAN count on is this system working, if you methodically apply it, and objectively pursue your goal.
So now let’s talk about how you can actually apply what I’m sharing with you to your own life and career. Ready?
Applying the Science of Stardom to Your Own Career
1. Do something that you are or can be really great at, and that comes easy for you. For me, my current best talents are a) writing books, b) motivational speaking and inspiring people, c) my music, d) foreign languages, and e) computer/web programming. Those are my primary focuses now that I realize that they are my strengths. I have other strengths (acting, writing screenplays, traveling, etc.), and I am still actively pursuing these endeavors, but in an ancillary fashion.
2. Develop your fanbase. This is HARD WORK, but you can do it. Setup your website. Setup your facebook and twitter accounts. Collect email addresses wherever you go. Give performances/presentations as often as possible. Remember your foundation is your fanbase!!
3. Find super fans. You need super fans—those who are going to do more than just say, “Oh yeah, I’m a fan.” You need one, or an army of those who support you 110%.
4. Find those with CONNECTIONS. You need these people. Find them. Use Guerrilla Networking tactics if you have to.
5. Find those with INFLUENCE. You need these people. Find them. Use Guerrilla Networking tactics if you have to.
6. Find those with RESOURCES. You need these people. Find them. Use Guerrilla Networking tactics if you have to.
7. Practice PATIENCE: Patience does not mean ‘waiting’; it means ‘being steadfast despite opposition’. Look it up. You’ll see. This—patience—is ultimately what will determine whether you ‘make it’ or not. So… keep going. Keep Going. KEEP GOING. Got it? Get it?
Meet you at the top!
-Monroe Mann
Break Diving, Inc. is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Read all about our amazing mission at www.BreakDiving.org
Join our free community at www.breakdiving.io
Like what we do? Please make a feel-good donation!
Remember to tell your friends about this www.BreakDiving.blog