The freaks shall inherit the earth

May 4, 2015
By Lucy Bloom

I picked up a copy of Chris Brogan's latest book at Social Media Marketing World #SMMW15 in San Diego earlier this year. Chris was a speaker at what has become one of the world's largest social media conferences. I bought a bunch of books this year but it's this book that I have read first. The title spoke to me. I'm a misfit and a weirdo. World domination sounds good to me. And with endorsements from the likes of Seth Godin and Amanda Palmer, I was sucked into the pages like a moth to a flame. But this is not a social media book. It's a guide for the kind of people who would not normally read a business book.

Entrepreneurship for Weirdos, Misfits and World Dominators, by Chris Brogan. (John Wiley and Sons, 2014)

I picked up a copy of Chris Brogan’s latest book at Social Media Marketing World #SMMW15 in San Diego earlier this year. Chris was a speaker at what has become one of the world’s largest social media conferences. I bought a bunch of books this year but it’s this book that I have read first. The title spoke to me. I’m a misfit and a weirdo. World domination sounds good to me. And with endorsements from the likes of Seth Godin and Amanda Palmer, I was sucked into the pages like a moth to a flame. But this is not a social media book. It’s a guide for the kind of people who would not normally read a business book.

Chris mentions my tribe often. “You know, wild-colour people. They paint their hair…” And he writes in a conversational way that made me flip his pages fast. “Read on, superstar.”

The Freaks Shall Inherit the Earth explores how to do business successfully, even (and especially) when the way you think and the goals you have are not in keeping with conventional thinking. Chris’ philosophy is that if your business model serves a community, then with digital marketing and new distribution paths, freaks and weirdos can do extremely well in business. The trick is to be unconventional AND know how to run a successful business with structure and discipline.

Chris explores what you need to do to prepare to break out on your own or bust into the next level of business growth. He covers the essential skills for reaching your business goals, recommends systems that work and shares the secrets to his freaky success. This book gives detailed practical advice together with philosophical discussion on success, mindset and failure.

There’s a chapter for Employeepreneurs and one for solo or small business owners.

I found this book reassuring. I’ve always done business differently, always developed communities. I thrive in a high pace environment but I need structure and discipline for success. With a website, key social media platforms and an email database, lone weirdos can create their own video, podcast, blog content to serve their community in more cost efficient ways than ever before.

I would recommend this book for freaks who want to do their own thing but are not quite sure how or don’t have the confidence to break out just yet. But as Chris says in the final chapter, “This entire book is worthless if you don’t take action.” My next action, which has been inspired by this book, is to blog more often and take a disciplined approach to that.

I tweeted a quote which really stood out to me and then went to on have a Twitter conversation with Chris. He’s a generous guy and very personal. Those are important keys to developing a thriving community.

“Being different is the hardest thing to own sometimes. There is no shortage of people who want to take swings at you” @chrisbrogan #freaks

— Lucy Perry (@LucyPerryCEO) May 3, 2015