Charlie Sheen, the SECRET to WINNING ( I think)

Thursday

8:24 AM

Hey, top of the morning to you.

If you're reading this, you're probably interested in my blog, you're a business person who is really wanting to learn HOW to market yourself, or (c) you were reading my M.E.N. newsletter and decided to click on this.

Well today, even though it's early, I'm going to talk about good ole' Charlie Sheen.

The Charlie Sheen Guide to Winning! And let me qualify that statement: at Online Marketing

The Charlie Sheen Guide to Winning!

Unless you’ve been living without electricity for the last few weeks, you’ve no doubt witnessed what might be the biggest celebrity meltdown in the history of … EVER or the best way to brand yourself without trying to spend a MILLION.

Charlie Sheen has skated along what I would call a downward spiral, going from the highest paid actor in television --- to an unemployed “winner,” ranting about conspiracies, tiger blood and Adonis DNA to anyone who will lend him an ear or microphone.

Though we don’t know how this epic tale of the Malibu Messiah will eventually end, and it’s difficult to discuss without delicate considerations for drug abuse and Sheen’s questionable mental state, believe it or not there are a few things Sheen is doing right. Here are a few valuable branding lessons we can learn from this fiasco.

Before we get started, I am not suggesting you start taking buckets of drugs, which I would never recommend, kicking it like Charlie does with porn stars, or neglecting your young children. (In fact, please let me say this again. Don’t do any of these things.)

But here's the kicker. There’s no denying some of Sheen’s antics can work wonders in the attention-seeking world of marketing — as long as you find the balance at the lip of Crazy Canyon without throwing yourself over the edge. Now let's talk about...

Being yourself

Charlie Sheen lives without apology, embracing his vices, making love to his weaknesses, and getting high on a drug called “Charlie Sheen” If you don't believe that, watch some of his interviews. He'll tell you that he's the best at everything, straight out and that he is entitled to what he was being paid, plus more.

This has tremendous appeal. Sheen attracts people who dig his FREE spirit, along with those folks who love to watch the crazy train as it threatens to derail. It builds curiosity.

Fine-tune your public persona. Amplify certain angles, exaggerate others, and create the YOU that’s most appealing for your MARKET. Now if you're a chiropractor like me, you have to be careful. If you're an actor, then you have more leeway.

Never be a phony, but think of all the larger-than-life people you know — and how they present a side of themselves that’s fit for public consumption.

And if you happen to have Adonis DNA, by all means, don’t keep it to yourself.

Embrace the catchphrase

Sheen turned his “Duh, winning” into a marketable catchphrase, already being screened and inked on a line of tee-shirts. And you can almost 'smell the popcorn of the upcoming movie screening'.

Sheen took a phrase which was being used to mock him for his crazy rants and twisted it to his advantage, as though it was just another “torpedo of truth.”

Develop a catchphrase for your brand. You have to be clever though. Stop being boring. Jeez, you're never going to be what you want to be if... you're boring. In other words, get out of that box you're in. If your brand is tarnished, you might even find a way to inject humor into a catchphrase and hone it to your benefit.

Use your catchphrase in copy, video, and wherever else seems like a good fit.

One word of warning — it takes a special sort of personality to use a catchphrase without coming off like a phony. Be careful, but hey, if it's YOU, then by all means, go for it.

Build your tribe You can also call your tribe your followers or HERD.

Sure, Two and a Half Men wasn’t fine art, but it was a damned funny show. I thought the headline, Two and a Half Men was lame, but the show was good. I just stumbled onto it one night while surfing, and low and behold it was funny.

It was almost tailor made to Sheen’s public image, while glossing over it with a fine coating of lovable rapscallion (whatever that means), to make both the show, and its star, likable.

And while not everyone cares for that type of show or humor, you can’t be all things to all people.

Concentrate on what you do WELL, build your tribe (HERD) around it, and make no apologies to those who “don’t get it.”

You can get away with a lot –- if you deliver

Network execs and viewers overlooked Sheen’s partying and domestic violence allegations for years.

Why?

Because he delivered.

They were all making money, so everyone looked the other way.

He showed up to work and did an impressive job on Two and a Half Men, delivering laughs and ratings to what I call the Tiffany network.

Do something well enough and people will let you get away with a lot.

A lot!!!

Be a rock star.

Put yourself out there.

Say things that flip the status quo and shake every leaf from its tree. Wear glittery pants, if you want. Just make sure you’re damned good at what you do, and deliver on time.

Don’t trash the people you work for

This might prove to be the real reason Sheen got canned from Two and a Half Men. I'm not sure, but I think these people had money too and if you continue to TRASH anyone, they'll lose respect for you and then they'll resent you. When this happens, the outcome is not good.

Sheen went after show-runner Chuck Lorre with teeth bared and racist overtones; his vitriol spewing out and spilling over to other network execs. (I didn't make that sentence up. I used someone's sentence just to let you know. LOL)

People appreciate when you slaughter a few sacred cows. And you can always gather a heap of street cred saying the things others are afraid to say. (And I will say this. Most people are followers. They won't step out of line. They'll do what it takes to stay in line with the establishment) But there’s an uncrossable line you must consider.

Level personal attacks, particularly against the people who can help you, and you can’t be surprised when they come back and bite you hard.

Be unpredictable

When CBS ceased production of Two and a Half Men, Sheen could have (and probably should have) quietly retreated to rehab, or laid low, and let things pass over.

That would have been smart.

But Sheen, being the firebomb thrower he is, went on the offense, lashing out at his bosses, and taking his particular brand of dementia to the airwaves and Internet, because people would listen, because they didn't care about him, they just wanted the news. But he continued blistering critics with sound bites of awkward brilliance.

While this tactic got him FIRED, it also gave him a metric ton of buzz, and several rumored offers.

Be likable

While Sheen alienated his bosses, his biggest misstep might be his egotistical rants where he declared himself a winner with tiger blood, while castigating others as whining sheep with ugly wives and children who were just jealous of his awesome life.

People will let you get away with a lot like I said, BUT when you start insulting your customers (viewers in this case), taking them FOR granted and even looking DOWN on them, you will fall out of favor – lightning fast. You can be someone's hero, but if you constantly badger the little guy, you're going down. It may take awhile, but you're going down.

Soon enough, people will root for you to fail fast and fall hard. Yes, root for your demise.

People love to build you up, tear you down, then build you up again.

Everyone likes a story of losers turned into winners.It works and it'll work 100 years from now.

We all love stories of redemption. We like hope. It makes it easy to think, if “they” can do it, so can we. That's how you can sell and market anything. Give them a good story line and people will listen. Give them NO story and nothing happens. NOTHING.

Capitalize on that; share your story of how you overcame obstacles. Then watch what happens. People will root for you.

But be wary, because…

Familiarity breeds contempt

As much as we like to see people turn their lives around, there’s just as many people who take sheer delight in seeing people fall and fail.

READ that last line again.

The more successful the person, and the bigger the fall, the better. Don’t let people get so familiar with you that they start to root against you.

Be a winner!

Say what you want about Charlie Sheen.

Fact is, he’s got millions of people paying attention, eager to see what he’ll do next or what will happen to him next.

Here's the million dollar question. How many people are paying attention to your brand?

Dr. Carney

P.S.

Want the winning without the train wreck? Subscribe to the M.E.N. newsletter. I’ll help you turn that attention I'm talking about into a profitable business … without making an ass of yourself. If you're not reading my M.E.N., and taking action, you're not using your entire potential.