Entrepreneurial Artist: Russel Fugett
I had the pleasure to attend Russel Fugett’s Entrepreneur talk on October 17th. He is the founder of Good Word Digital and a 5th generation entrepreneur. You could say it runs in the family. Good Word Digital wasn’t his first investment. It all started back in grade school at 7 years old when his friend made fortune tellers and origami. Then gave them away for free. He told his friend why give them away if you can sell them? Fugett began to fall in love with this idea of his. He slowly evolved into doing baseball cards and eventually investing into little leagues.
Investing in little leagues was his first big break and his biggest learning curve. Why invest in little leagues? Fugett did his research. Studies showed that most women bought tickets to little leagues to take their kids too. This happened in the summertime when the kids were out of school. It gave kids, something to do and it was pretty cheap to go too. He then furthers his research into the market of baseball which the little leagues apparently didn’t know much about. Fugett saw this as the perfect opportunity and take a risk. Sadly, it didn’t work out so well, but he learned so much from this experience. He did everything right by trying to be ahead in the business. Knowing the trends and markets is key when becoming an entrepreneur. Know what you are investing in.
At the end of the talk, he told us his many tips in order to be successful. One of them being advertising. Setting up social media accounts. Putting your product out there. This will help you build a reputation and make you known out in the real world. I have an Instagram where I post stuff that I have done throughout the years and show what I’m currently doing. It’s great to see how much I’ve improved and that I’m still pretty active. If people have seen previous stuff of yours and like it, then they would potentially like and try out your new idea. I could even start posting my animation videos on YouTube, so everyone can see and enjoy them. Its better put your piece on social media because it shows that you are here. Otherwise, they won’t know that you even exist. Communicating with the people will build up your reputations potentially getting opportunities would expect of getting.
Before you even invest, ask yourself. Will someone pay for what you created? Can it do something? Does it solve 1 problem? Can you be the first to do it? If the answer is yes, pursue. Don’t be upset if it doesn’t work out or you’ve reached a rough patch. Don’t give up. Just remember to do your research, work, build a team, make connections, and be humble.
