Wednesday, July 15, 2009

It Takes a Village

“IT TAKES A VILLAGE”
Hillary Clinton


Two wise women are in my thoughts today. When Hillary (now Secretary of State) Clinton, coined her now famous quote, she was referring to the raising of children. We at Simply Licensed believe it is equally true in our business community. A community of artists, manufacturers, agents, lawyer and accountants who work in tandem to create the products that adorn and enhance people’s lives.

Judy Rebick, an activist, author, and academic, believes technology and globalization have put power in the hands of the people. In an interview on March 16, 2009 with Antonia Zerbisias, a columnist with the Toronto Star, Judy addresses what can be accomplished when we all work together:

“The other important idea [in her book] was having a different kind of leadership, one that helped us do things for ourselves. That's what we're seeing in Barack Obama. He always talks about how "together we can do this."

We can harness the power of this online community to forge our own path in business – to better control our individual and collective destinies.

Many of you tell us that you regularly refer your artist friends to our website. And we appreciate it, for as you know, we need to build the Simply Licensed community in order to maintain its vitality. But there are many others in your life that could benefit from logging on to the site. Do you know of a bright person who is looking for a new career and loves your artwork? Well, send them to Simply Licensed to learn about the field cost effectively. Then empower them to approach manufacturers on your behalf for a percentage of your royalties. In other words, you don’t have to wait for an established agent to agree to represent you; you can train your own using Simply Licensed and all the other wonderful online tools easily accessible.

The greater your presence online, the more likely opportunities will find you. Link all your social networking sites to each other, including your Simply Licensed page. You never know where the next best lead will come from.


Terri Mandel, co-owner