Maybe it’s just me, but in my recent trips to bookstores, I’ve noticed an inordinate amount of “wife” titles in the fiction section. The Aviator’s Wife, The Paris Wife, The Time Traveler’s Wife, The Senator’s Wife, Ahab’s Wife, The Shoemaker’s Wife… and a Goodreads search of “wife” will yield many more.

My initial reaction was to slap my forehead in frustration at the sheer number of fictitious tales of women defined in opposition to their husbands, rather than the exploration of their personal identities. My frustration mounted with the realization that nearly all the authors were women. I’ve read enough feminist blogs and articles on the Huffington Post’s Women’s section to know that women who are also wives and/or mothers can feel they lack personal identity, especially when being called “so-and-so’s mom” or “so-and-so’s wife.”  I felt there could be no other explanation for the wife fiction phenomena than female authors caving in to social pressures to subvert women’s wills or imply women lack intrinsic value in absence of a husband.

Like any good frustrated feminist bookworm, I did some research. I started reading “wife” books. But I was pleasantly surprised at what I found.

The female protagonists in the books weren’t at all what I expected. They weren’t lacking personal identity. Rather, their fierce individualism shone in spite of society relegating them to the strict, gendered role of wife. It’s well documented that, all too often, women have been written out of history, and these fictitious accounts allow readers to empathize with the woman, thereby giving her a voice.

For example, The Paris Wife follows Hadley Richardson, Ernest Hemingway’s first wife, during the time they lived in Paris in the 1920s before Ernest had really made a voice for himself. In the end, Ernest leaves Hadley for another woman (this is said on the book jacket, so it isn’t a spoiler). Being a famous writer, I doubt he was harshly chastised for this (celebrities still get off with a mere slap on the hand), yet the book illustrates what that must have felt like for Hadley.

Likewise, I read that Ahab’s Wife was conjured from a passing mention of Ahab’s wife in Moby Dick. I realize that Hadley Richardson was indeed a real person and Ahab’s wife Una was fictitious, but Ahab’s Wife still provides an important rendering of womanhood in nineteenth century America.

It seems that, counterintuitively and contrary to my initial reaction, these fictitious accounts from the wives’ point of view are showing the value of the female experience and fighting against the sexist biases of historic accounts. The eras may be past, but my hope is that these novels will make readers think of them more broadly. You know what they say, better late than never.

Mandy Shunnarah is a freelance writer and editor, and an aspiring novelist. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading, learning to letterpress, watching Downton Abbey and Game of Thrones, and finding stray cats to cuddle with. Follow her on Twitter at@fixedbaroque and @awhitewrites.

If you were to ask me the best book I’ve read in the past two years, I could tell you without thinking about it. Yet, as much as I have loved A Partial History of Lost Causes by Jennifer duBois, I’ve actually avoided writing a book review about it. It’s not because I want to keep it to myself, but because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to adequately articulate just how much I love this book.

Despite listening to a myriad of book podcasts and keeping up with a number of book news websites, I’ve heard nothing of A Partial History of Lost Causes from any sources. I found the novel one day while in Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi. The book wasn’t displayed prominently on a table. It wasn’t featured in the store’s newsletter. It wasn’t chosen as a staff pick. I was walking past a row of shelves and it called to me.

The novel follows Irina Ellison, a thirty-year-old working toward her Ph.D. in Russian literature at Harvard. She fears she has inherited Huntington’s disease, which claimed her father’s life. When her father’s mind was still intact, he admired Alexandr Bezetov, a young Russian chess prodigy who later became world chess champion. When shuffling through some of her father’s papers after his death, Irina finds a copy of a letter written to Bezetov asking him a poignant question—how do you proceed gracefully in a lost cause? This discovery propels Irina to leave everything behind to find Bezetov in Russia. Her father never received an adequate answer, and Irina feels she must retrieve it, for her father and for herself.

A Partial History of Lost Causes is literary fiction of the best kind. While every sentence is crafted into a museum-quality work of art, it’s not off-putting by being intentionally difficult to read in order to uphold the dignity of the literary arts. It reads like a story written by an author who knows she has nothing to prove. And duBois doesn’t—I mean, she recently won a MacArthur Genius Award for pete’s sake…

What drew me into the novel was that without an ounce of magical realism, Irina embarks on an adventure—both literally and of self-discovery—that doesn’t hinge on a romantic relationship. And although her journey doesn’t lead her to a concrete answer for how to proceed gracefully in a lost cause, she learns so much along the way that, as the reader, you hardly notice that she doesn’t technically succeed in her quest. In truth, there are no concrete answers to life’s toughest questions because the answers are different for everyone’s experiences. For this reason, I appreciate that duBois didn’t try to fabricate an answer because it would have ruined the novel with its dishonesty. And, contrary to what the fiction genre implies, it’s heavily rooted in the truth.

Furthermore, because of the circumstances of Irina’s health, she presents herself as cold and standoffish since she fears making human connections knowing she may not be around long enough to see them flourish. Despite her seeming coldness, as a reader and a woman, I readily related to her. Any woman who has ever wanted to do something “drastic” that she knows will give her life meaning and has faced opposition by friends and family as a result will understand the urgency of Irina’s quest and respect the boldness of her will. Irina’s adventure masks another prominent question that A Partial History of Lost Causes asks: What would you do if you knew you only had one year to live? I found that Irina’s journey inspired me to ask myself some tough questions.

Amid the philosophical complexities of the novel, the story is laden with Russian history and politics. However, duBois is careful not to overwhelm the reader with extraneous details—each detail presented moves the story forward. duBois minces no words and wastes no sentence. As you read, you’ll likely find yourself underlining captivating phrases. Even with as many books as I consume, duBois strung words together in a way that rendered me in awe of the beauty of the English language.

For more information on Jennifer duBois and A Partial History of Lost Causes, check out duBois’ author page and learn more on Goodreads.

Mandy Shunnarah is a freelance writer and editor, and an aspiring novelist. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading, learning to letterpress, watching Downton Abbey and Game of Thrones, and finding stray cats to cuddle with. Follow her on Twitter at@fixedbaroque and @awhitewrites.

Many writers have dreams of hitting the literary big time, but would like to eat something other than Ramen Noodles while working toward that goal. Peter Bowerman, commercial writer and founder of WellFedWriter.com, offers some advice about finding well-paying freelance gigs writing for businesses with marketing and promotional needs.

“Writing commercially doesn’t involve selling your soul or going to the dark side,” Bowerman said. “People say they want to write about something they believe in, and I say, ‘Do you not believe in building materials or home security systems?’”

Businesses are hiring freelance writers these days for a number of reasons. If a company has downsized, there may no longer be a proficient writer on staff, or the company may have never employed a strong writer. Companies may need an outside voice to translate the message of the business without jargon. For larger companies, most employees know their department, but may not know the workings of the company as a whole. Additionally, it’s cheaper for companies to hire freelancers than to have writers in-house because they don’t have to pay benefits for freelancers and they only have to pay for the work they need. Most importantly, though, companies need expertise. Not every writer is good at writing everything.

“Of course there are benefits for freelancers, too,” Bowerman said. “With a diverse portfolio, you can lose a client and it won’t hurt you nearly as bad as losing a full time job. Plus, companies tend to pay well because they know cost is secondary to quality.”

And there’s more good news for freelance commercial writers: companies don’t expect commercial writers to be prolific. They just want a clear message that attracts customers’ attention.

“A lot of what commercial writers do, in addition to writing, is being able to structure information in a logical way. Structure is more important than good writing in commercial writing. In this field, success means writing like you’re verbalizing an infographic,” said Bowerman.

As you’re structuring the information, remember to constantly reiterate the benefits of choosing that company’s product or service. Ask yourself who the audience is and what moves them.

Along with structuring information effectively, successful commercial writers must also learn to estimate the number of hours to be spent on a project.

“With magazines, they don’t care if you take five hours or fifteen minutes on a piece, you get a flat fee. But with commercial writing, you’re paid for all your time, provided you estimate your hours correctly,” Bowerman said. “It’ll take practice, but eventually you’ll get it.”

Estimating your hours correctly is especially lucrative for repeat jobs. For example, you charge $1400 for a job you expect to complete in 12 hours. If it’s a repeat job, you’ll get better with practice, so after a few months it may only take you, say, only 7 hours. The faster you can complete the job, in theory, the more your hourly rate increases.

Further on the matter of hourly rate, Bowerman has a few suggestions.

“Don’t discuss your hourly rate with clients because they’ll likely think worst case scenario, like the job will become a runaway train. Or they may only want to pay you for two hours when it’s a ten hour job,” Bowerman explained. “Instead, ask what their parameters are for a specific project and define those parameters as specifically as possible, including what information they will provide to you and what you’ll have to research and the deadline, then give them an estimate for the whole project. If the client says the estimate is too high, don’t just drop the price because they’ll wonder why you didn’t just offer them the lower price initially. Look for parts of the service to remove so you can lower the price.”

Be sure to discuss fees in the beginning. Clients are expecting you to discuss money and not doing so will leave both of you confused. Bowerman recommends making short contracts such as “When I get _____, I can do ______, which will cost you $_____.” Particularly for lengthier projects, it’s acceptable to ask for a down payment of a third or half of the total project cost.

Likewise, Bowerman suggests never meeting with clients just to discuss ideas.

“The client needs to be sure they want to do something since that’s how you’ll get paid anyway. If they do want to meet to discuss ideas, let them know that’s your time on the clock,” said Bowerman.

At the end of the day, a good commercial writer needs companies to write for. Bowerman says there’s a sweet spot: “You want small to medium sized companies, ones that have 50-200 employees, because they’re not large enough for in-house ad staff, but big enough to have money,” Bowerman said.

The commercial writing sweet spot can also include not-for-profits, particularly larger organizations. “Not-for-profit is an accounting term–it doesn’t mean they don’t have money,” said Bowerman.

For help finding clients, reference the previous article on Bowerman, “How Writers Can Build and MaintainBusiness Contacts,” posted recently on See Jane Write Magazine.

For more information on Peter Bowerman and commercial writing, check out his website, WellFedWriter.com.

Mandy Shunnarah is a freelance writer and editor, and an aspiring novelist. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading, learning to letterpress, watching Downton Abbey and Game of Thrones, and finding stray cats to cuddle with. Follow her on Twitter at @fixedbaroque and @awhitewrites.

Peter Bowerman, commercial writer and founder of WellFedWriter.com, spoke at the Alabama Media Professionals Fall Workshop on Thurs., Oct. 10. While the focus of Bowerman’s talk “Love to Write, But Hate to Starve?” was how to be a successful commercial writer, he mentioned a number of networking and marketing techniques that most any kind of writer can use to find rewarding, high paying work.

In an age where social media reigns supreme, it’s easy to network online, but that doesn’t necessarily make the kind of lasting impression that will lead to more writing gigs.

“You have to proactively network, not just online,” Bowerman said. “People get endorsed by strangers every day for skills they don’t have on LinkedIn, so if you want to leave a lasting impression, you have to contact people directly.”

For many, that’s easier said than done. But, Bowerman argues, contacting people directly can leave a more lasting impression. Bowerman suggests first building a website, then making a list of people and companies who might be interested in your writing services, cold calling those on the list, and, lastly, following up with those who were interested.

“As far as a website goes, you need something simple and effective. You’re a writer, so companies aren’t expecting you to have a perfectly designed website. As long as you have your contact information, portfolio, and what you can do for them on the home page, that’s good enough,” said Bowerman.

From there, Bowerman suggests making a list of people and companies who might be interested in your writing services. Depending on the type of writing you do, the list will vary from well-known publications to industry-specific titles. While various publications may first come to mind, Bowerman encourages writers to think outside the box by contacting graphic designers, marketing firms, PR firms, and companies in industries with which you are familiar because they will need writing services or they will likely know someone in need of writing services.

“Writing is not something that companies are going to outsource to another country. They’re going to need writing services at some point, so they’re going to either use someone in house, hire out through a marketing or PR firm, or use a freelancer. That’s why you network with as many people as you can. If you’re persistent, eventually you’ll catch someone at the right time when they need you,” Bowerman said.

Bowerman warns that while 80% of those you call won’t be interested, they’re usually nice about it.

“People always think calling strangers is scary, but when they actually do it, they find out it isn’t so bad,” said Bowerman. “The more you procrastinate calling, the scarier it is, but when people do it and find out it’s easy, they get on a roll.”

If you fear rejection, Bowerman suggests not putting all your prime prospects on a list to be called all at once. Mix the prime prospects in with some others that you’re not as anxious about to lessen the stress. Additionally, he suggests making realistic goals. For example, if you aim for 40 calls in a day versus three prospects and two jobs, the task will be less stressful.

“The more calls you make the more you’ll be able to keep your list relevant and only contact the people who will need you,” Bowerman said. “Remember that it’s a human on the other end of the phone. If you’re nervous, make a script.”

At some point you’ll call someone who says they’re not currently interested but to keep in touch, and Bowerman says that’s an opportunity to follow up with a postcard. Sending postcards is another way to make a lasting impression.

“Traditional marketing is not obsolete because of social media. Direct mail and brochures are still necessary and effective,” said Bowerman.

When it comes to direct mail marketing, frequency trumps creativity. Bowerman suggests sending postcards every two to four months.

At the heart of it all, remember to keep the focus on what you can do for your client.

“When people buy a quarter inch drill bit, they’re not really buying the drill bit, they’re buying the hole,” said Bowerman. “They don’t want to know how awesome you are, they want to know how you can help them.”

For more information on Peter Bowerman, including examples of his commercial writing and his books, check out his website, WellFedWriter.com.

Mandy Shunnarah is a freelance writer and editor, and an aspiring novelist. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading, learning to letterpress, watching Downton Abbey and Game of Thrones, and finding stray cats to cuddle with. Follow her on Twitter at @fixedbaroque and @awhitewrites.

You could say that Daniel Stewart and Alex Wier of Augusta, Ga., ad ageny Wier/Stewart are entrepreneurial soul mates.

“Most people will tell you business partnerships fail, but we had the same idea of what we wanted to do to be happy and the same idea of what wealth was, so we courted each other,” said Daniel Stewart, Studio Director of Wier/Stewart.

“We decided that we didn’t want to wake up in the morning, realizing we were just chasing money. My idea of wealth is being able to go to the grocery store and get whatever food I want without looking at the price,” added Wier/Stewart Creative Director, Alex Wier.

The team at Wier/Stewart lives by the mantra of finding happiness in your work and shared tips on how to find such happiness at the Southern Coterie Summit in Athens, Ga., on Aug. 1.

Stewart and Wier were joined by Wier/Stewart Agency Development Director, Lee Heffernan, who previously worked in New York City marketing women’s television stations to advertisers and designing the Martha Stewart Pets market campaign. The team’s synergy and family-like business relationship was apparent from the moment they took the stage.

Together they drafted 12 steps to help rising entrepreneurs love what they do as sole proprietors and in business partnerships.

Check Your Attitude: Sometimes your attitude is the only thing you have control over. Clients appreciate a good attitude because it makes achieving a mutual goal easier and bad attitudes are apparent from workplace morale. When hiring, be wary of bad attitude red flags because if someone does have a bad attitude, they’re not going to suddenly get a better one.

Set Your Goals: Think five years from now and plan every step to get there. Many small businesses fail because they become complacent. Imagine what your business could do if it got a big break and plan to make it happen.

Assemble Your Crew: Don’t try to do everything yourself. Find people who are good at doing what you need to be done and don’t be afraid to delegate. Get people who are dedicated to the same things you are. If you’re worried about hiring someone, give the potential employee a trial period before hiring. But in gathering your team, you have to be okay with people making mistakes. Just make sure they have a positive attitude and want to get better.

Have a Revenue Model: Hourly rates can put you in a corner because someone may only want to pay you for two hours when it’s really a ten hour job. Consider having clients commit to a minimum number of hours, or set up flat rates for specific tasks. Don’t be afraid to ask to be paid what you’re worth.

Develop Your Process: Do a good amount of work on the front end to establish yourself as an expert in your field. Have several meetings with the client to establish what they want the finished product to look like before you begin work. And if the client wants you to do something that you wouldn’t be proud to showcase, offer alternative solutions so you can both agree on a professional end result.

Know What Works: Don’t be afraid to try new things and push the envelope, but know the basics of what works so you have something to fall back on.

Solve the Problem: The client may not know what the root problem is, but it’s your job to figure it out. Show people things they didn’t know they wanted. Think of creative ways to achieve their goals and help them reach new audiences.

Find the Void: Look for unique ways to capitalize. Think about your competition and evaluate what they’re doing, and, most importantly, what they’re not doing because that could be your ticket to a new opportunity. Be innovative with your business by finding the marketplace void.

Do Something Different: Step away from the traditional and think of ways you can incorporate new technologies into the client’s goals. Build better mousetraps everywhere you can.

Self-Promote: Do fun and creative things to get your business noticed. Try guerrilla advertising or fun office window decorations to attract passers-by.

Fire a Client: That’s right. Fire a client. If a client is unnecessarily difficult to work with and is making you hate your job, which means you’re not doing your best work, fire them. More than likely, if they treat you poorly, they treat others poorly, so potential future clients won’t think badly of you for firing them. In fact, firing a client commands a certain level of respect from people.

Plan for Growth: The No. 1 reason small businesses fail is because they didn’t plan for growth. Plan for the big order and the high profile client. And if a client asks you, “Can you get this done?” the answer is should always be “yes.”

About the Southern Coterie Summit: The Southern Coterie Summit, or Southern C Summit, is a conference series that brings the together “best of Southern brands, bloggers, businesses and an assortment of Southern creatives to collaborate, create and innovate.” The conference is an extension of The Southern Coterie: The Social Network of the South. For more information on the next conference in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 17, check out the Southern Coterie Summit website.

Mandy Shunnarah is a freelance writer and editor, and an aspiring novelist. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading, learning to letterpress, watching Downton Abbey and Game of Thrones, and finding stray cats to cuddle with. Follow her on Twitter at @fixedbaroque and @awhitewrites.  

The traditional steps in creating a brand include a logo, often with a specific Pantone color, a blog, and a multi-platform social media presence. Yet, the Olsen Twins have managed to capture the nation’s attention for 27 years, their entire lives, without the traditional approach. Jessica Nell Graves, Creative Director at Shops Around Lenox and early blog adopter at The Love List, explained the secret to the Olsen Twins’ branding success at the Southern Coterie Summit earlier this month in Athens, Ga.

“The Olsen Twins are a great example of branding success because they’re not just selling a product or information. They’re selling a lifestyle, which has evolved as they’ve gotten older. Because what they’re selling has changed over time and they don’t have the traditional branding logo and Pantone color, that means their brand has always been them,” Graves explained.

She urged bloggers and entrepreneurs to humanize their brand as a means of better connecting with followers. Seeing the faces behind the brand leaves followers confident in the brand’s transparency and helps customers identify with the brand.

“If you want to see how adding a face to the brand can boost business, just look at Jenna Lyons, the Creative Director of J. Crew. She’s almost as famous as J. Crew itself and international fashion magazines detail what she’s wearing each new season. The J in J. Crew might as well stand for Jenna,” said Graves.

Like Lyons, the Olsen Twins own their brand and they’re their own ambassadors. They’ve inserted themselves into their brand and found their voice in dialogue with their followers.

“Don’t be afraid to own your brand and post pictures of yourself doing so. Mary-Kate and Ashley aren’t afraid of being photographed slinking all over New York City in black, rockabilly garb and smoking cigarettes. They’ve nailed down who they are and are comfortable in their own skin. That’s what it takes,” Graves said. “Your face is your brand.”

Graves suggest openly sharing your ideas, opinions, and tastes, and writing in first-person to do so. Although there’s a certain vulnerability in doing this, it’s ultimately forwarding your brand, she argues. And if there comes a time when someone disagrees, don’t apologize for your taste.

“You have to defend your brand while showing that you don’t just have a knack for whatever you’re doing,” said Graves, “you have a unique take on it.”

Another way you can improve your blog, and therefore your brand, is to make it look more professional by forming a partnership with a local photographer. Having someone in charge of photography means better photos of you sporting your brand. It’s a partnership that’s good exposure for both parties and shows that you’re open to collaboration, which Graves says you shouldn’t be afraid to embrace.

“Don’t get angry if others are doing something similar to what you’re doing. Either embrace a collaboration or move on because the idea is so old someone else is using it. Brand success doesn’t happen in a vacuum,” Graves said.

If you still feel uneasy about personalizing your brand start by focusing on and sharing who you are within the context of your brand. Later you can open up more as an individual in other contexts because you’ll then be identified as your brand.

About the Southern Coterie Summit: The Southern Coterie Summit, or Southern C Summit, is a conference series that brings the together “best of Southern brands, bloggers, businesses and an assortment of Southern creatives to collaborate, create and innovate.” The conference is an extension of The Southern Coterie: The Social Network of the South. For more information on the next conference in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 17, check out the Southern Coterie Summit website.

Mandy Shunnarah is a freelance writer and editor, and an aspiring novelist. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading, learning to letterpress, watching Downton Abbey and Game of Thrones, and finding stray cats to cuddle with. Follow her on Twitter at @fixedbaroque and @awhitewrites.  

Review by Mandy Shunnarah

If you’re like me, the idea of reading a historical fiction romance is more than a little gimmicky. It’s the sort of book I’m almost embarrassed to be seen with or admit I’ve read. But there was something about Nancy Horan’s novel Loving Frank that caught my eye, and I thank the book gods it did.

Loving Frank transports the reader to early 20th century Oak Park, Ill. (today a swanky Chicago suburb). Mamah Borthwick Cheney is in a complacent, yet loveless marriage and the irreverent and brazen Frank Lloyd Wright intrigues her. As Frank designs the Cheney’s family home, he and Mamah connect on multiple levels. In 1907, the pair decides to leave their families and start a life together in Europe. Over the course of several countries and 200 pages, the reader enters the couple’s tumultuous, hopeful, and deeply complicated relationship. In a time when women were still thought to be the property of the husbands, Mamah is guilted by her friends and family to return home at the expense of her happiness. This is further complicated by the media’s obsession with Frank’s architectural idiosyncrasies and family abandonment. Then, at the moment when freedom from the media’s blitz and incorporating each of their families into their relationship seems feasible, the sort of “divine retribution” their families and the media predicted occurs–and the hopscotch trail of foreshadowing is so masterfully rendered that you’ll read the chapter again and again.

I picked up Loving Frank because I was looking for a summer “beach read,” so I was surprised to find how much I learned from the book. Horan spent years researching Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture, family, and travels, as well as the little information there was to be gleaned about Mamah Borthwick Cheney, and it shows in her work. Many of the letters and newspaper articles were taken from Wright and Cheney’s archives. Far from reading like a history book, Loving Frank is an exercise in being intimately connected with strangers from the past.

Yet, Loving Frank doesn’t read like your typical steamy page-turner either. You won’t find any erotically descriptive scenes or unwarranted infatuation. Frank and Mamah fall in love for the most authentic and simplest of reasons: they understand each other. Their mutual understanding is spiritual, philosophical, artistic, and, above all, intellectual; it’s an understanding deeper than bodily admiration and the obligations of family. When asked how they can abandon their domestic duties, they answer that they wish to “live honestly.” The pair would rather spend a life together yearning for peace of mind from the public than a quiet life apart yearning for happiness in their failed marriages.

In this unexpected way, I found Loving Frank to be an oddly feminist novel. Mamah exudes the sort of unabashed realist feminism that the fiercely independent singletons often wish to condemn. Because Mamah is steadfast in her course to live honestly, never bending to the will of the society that damns her, I find her to be the accessible type of feminist that is militant and heroic in her own way, commanding respect with her lifestyle. Loving Frank’s plot may hinge upon a romantic relationship, but the protagonist Mamah is made of stronger stuff.

If you’re looking for a book that’s simultaneously surprisingly educational and pleasantly light, add Loving Frank to your shelf.

Do you have a book you’d like See Jane Write Magazine to review? Would you like to write a book review for our website? Send book review pitches to seejanewritemag@gmail.com. 

Mandy Shunnarah is a freelance writer and editor, and an aspiring novelist. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading, learning to letterpress, watching Downton Abbey and Game of Thrones, and finding stray cats to cuddle with. Follow her on Twitter at @fixedbaroque and @awhitewrites.  

When you think of good branding, the Kardashian family probably isn’t what comes to mind. But at the Southern Coterie Summit in Athens, GA, on August 1, that’s exactly how Shameeka Ayers, founder of blog and brand The Broke Socialite, kicked off the conference.

“Everything I needed to know about building my brand, I learned from the Kardashians. Yes, those Kardashians. They’re doing something right because they’re grossing $73 million a year. Now, that’s good branding!” said Ayers.

And she’s right. Before her sex tape faux pas, no one cared what Kim wore or who she dated, much less cared about the goings-on of the entire Kardashian/Jenner clan. So how did the Kardashians go from rich nobodys to overnight celebrities with their only claim to fame a leaked sex tape?

“It’s all because of Kris Jenner,” said Ayers. “Kris cleaned up the sex tape fiasco by making Kim out to be a princess. She used her powers as a junkyard dog to take Kim’s mess and spin it into success for the whole family.”

Ayers went on to say how everyone needs a junkyard dog, someone to stick up for you no matter what kind of mess you’re in, because that’s the secret to branding success. “And if you don’t have a junkyard dog, be your own. Protect your brand, perpetuate your brand, own your brand. Don’t take BS and do what it takes to further your brand,” Ayers added.

Ayers illustrated her point by playing “This Is Why I’m Hot” and suggesting that everyone adopt a theme song that gives them the confidence to own their brand amidst competition, naysayers, and media.

“Kris being an opportunist made Kim successful, but what keeps Kim successful is that she owns her brand. Kim walks into a room like ‘This Is Why I’m Hot’ is playing in her head and doesn’t slouch or apologize,” explained Ayers.

There’s power in self-confidence, working hard, and having a 15-second elevator pitch for your brand.

“If you don’t believe in your brand, neither will anyone else,” Ayers said. “You have to be infectious.”

Meanwhile, Kris Jenner is keeping the window of opportunity open for the Kardashian/Jenner clan by maximizing every favorable circumstance she can find and forging partnerships. Kris has strategically aligned the Kardashian brand with similar brands and like minds.

“Kris convinced Sketchers that people would believe those high-heeled tennis shoes would give you a Kim booty. But we all know Kim doesn’t wear Sketchers. Then Kris did the same thing with Sears for the Kardashian clothing line, with perfumers, and more,” Ayers said.

For the not-yet-famous, building strategic partnerships may include doing things in trade or complimentary. It’s nearly impossible to further a brand by isolation, so don’t be afraid to work with similar brands.

Last, though far from least, engage with followers online, but do so responsibly.

“Social media is a dialogue. Don’t just post information; expect to engage with your followers. If done right, it’ll be the game changer for your brand, so don’t be afraid to post,” said Ayers, who concluded by adding, “As my granddaddy used to say, ‘It’s a poor dog that don’t wag its own tail.’”

Now it’s your turn to learn from the Kardashians and wag your own tail as your own junkyard dog to become the entrepreneur you dreamed you’d be.

About the Southern Coterie Summit: The Southern Coterie Summit, or Southern C Summit, is a conference series that brings the together “best of Southern brands, bloggers, businesses and an assortment of Southern creatives to collaborate, create and innovate.” The conference is an extension of The Southern Coterie: The Social Network of the South. For more information on the next conference in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 17, check out the Southern Coterie Summit website.

About Shameeka Ayers: Shameeka Ayers knows something about going from “want-repreneur” to entrepreneur. She is the created of blog and brand The Broke Socialite, which combines her love of social media and PR. She’s the author of the novella Instantly! How Quickly I Realized I Hate My Job, and the founder of the nationally acclaimed Sugar Coma dessert festival. Check out The Broke Socialite blog, and follow The Blog Socialite on Facebook and Twitter.

Mandy Shunnarah is a freelance writer and editor, and an aspiring novelist. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading, learning to letterpress, watching Downton Abbey and Game of Thrones, and finding stray cats to cuddle with. Follow her on Twitter at @fixedbaroque and @awhitewrites.