I couldn’t be more proud or elated for my girl Kim Kardashian as she recently graced the cover of Forbes Magazine. An accomplishment that can’t be reckoned with – she’s a rockstar who should be commended for her incredible business prowess, online presence and whose entrepreneurial lifestyle has achieved unfounded success. From appearances to clothing lines, endorsements and now a video game and social media presence with unparalleled success – she’s taken the world by storm and the cover of Forbes Magazine is exactly where she belongs. Here are a few highlights from the Forbes cover story:
“I should take a photo of myself in the Pablo one-piece, and you can use that,” the reality television star says, referring, in the true vertically integrated nature of modern celebrity, to her husband Kanye West’s merchandise line. Later she will Instagram a selfie in the swimsuit that her app developer, Whalerock Industries, will turn into an emoji and include in an app that her fans can download for $1.99.
But in obsessing over the details of an avatar, Kardashian has stumbled into an entirely new way to monetize fame, and she’s been shrewd enough to capitalize on a massive scale. Kardashian stars in a mobile game, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, in which players create their own celebrity, befriend Kim and work their way onto the A-list.
Vapid, yes, but the numbers look very smart. Since its June 2014 launch Kim Kardashian: Hollywood has been downloaded 45 million times and generated $160 million in revenue. FORBES estimates that Kardashian has pocketed $45 million from it over that period. This year she earned $51 million to land at No. 42 on FORBES’ Celebrity 100 list; 40% of her yearly paycheck came from the game.
“I became really intrigued with the tech world. I started spending a lot of time in San Francisco,” says Kardashian, without a hint of irony. “I realized this is really going to be the next cycle of my career and this is what I want to focus on.”
Kim has done what many of us dream of – built an empire by sharing the details of her life, family and day-to-day – but she has also capitalized on the power of social media in an intriguing way. By building a following she has also created a space for herself out there in the online world known as influencer business – using her social media presence to define and become her paycheck. Through endorsements and now a video game (which includes ads and endorsements), she’s transformed her entire business model.
For anyone out there wishing to do the same – you can! Just put your mind to it and be uniquely you. Kim has never claimed or tried to be anyone but her true self and that’s what people are interested in. The followers, the endorsements – it all came as a result of being her own authentic self – and it’s a model we all can learn from. If you’re interested in building an online influencer business, Kim is an incredible role model – she’s landed the cover of Forbes and is changing the way the world looks at social media.
Have you thought about changing your business model to build an online influencer presence?
