GLM's Road Map OR Building a Brand Corporation as a Social Experiment

If talent, time, skill, and money were no objects these are the founding visions GLM ultimately strives to follow. Some of these ideas represent road blocks either from a technologic, economic, or social lack of feasibility. But its been done before in numerous ways, and can be done again, especially with the pervasiveness of many technologies already in use.

Having a set of goals bolsters GLM invaluably.

 You would do well to not only recognize this as a "corporate" mission statement, but as also an honest and open manifest. Note that I am publishing this document knowing that I may not succeed myself in this.

I realize I'm probably not the only person to come up with these ideas. In fact, I've been influenced by many to come to pen this. However, if I shall do prove to be a strong influence on you with these theories it would be morally obscene to hold back society because I'm not the largest benefactor. If you are so inclined, however, I beseech you to not forget me.

Perhaps the last few pieces of this puzzle clicked together in response to the economic woes countries the first world over are experiencing. I won't deny with purity, capitalism works. Or that democracy isn't without its faults.

But I've often sought after a business model that would not only be so radical as to be a selling point to investors, but also to be brutally honest with its self as to be utilitarian.

Lets face it: we're materialistic.

The goal of a corporation is to either produce goods people want and/or need, or to have a too often devious ability to make people want and/or need said product. The goal of course is to sell a bunch of stuff, make your board and CEOs happy, while presenting an opportunity to investors. The further up the tree you go, however, the fatter the wallets get.

The greatest question yet asked about the stock market is....What if its no longer an applicable utility? 

The ideas I may propose in this document will seem at times heritical to some. I have not any agenda, here, however. This is by design a thought experiment that I feel has a good chance of being pulled off. I am giving this my best shot with the most pure intentions.

As a species if we ever are to attain peace we are going to have to make sacrifices. Beyond religion, beyond politics, and yes, beyond some monopoly laws, we may have to realize at some point currency is just one tool in the aresenal of creating thriving industries. 

Used effectively brands are a corporation's ultimate defense for its patrons and weapons towards its competitors. Brands are easily slappable on anything that can be decorated. They also can stand behind a product line as small as a tag on a garment.

Lets face it: "life style" brands are a thriving industry when the money flows. They too often tap into some cultural nerve and run amuck with your feelings.

But instead of putting your brand and corporation on a pedestal, why not bring it down to your audience and producers?

The flexibility of a label is unique in leveraging it easily against the competition. However, the way its handled could be more lean. And by making it leaner, the benefits are numerous.

The first founding pillar of GLM is transparency. For example...notice the self serving title of this paper (GLM's Road Map OR  Building a Brand Corporation as a Social Experiment) ? So do I.

If GLM is to build confidence in consumers and producers alike it has to always have clear, concise, and consistent information made available to all that want to know. Investors may call this "trade secrets," but what it really is "easily hidden bullshit." By hiding so many of our actions, we're creating a culture that by definition doesn't believe that it can compete with it's self in an open manner.

In the end not everyone wants to know what you do, how you do it, and why. But it needs to be available in a human readable format for those who do. I'm not saying you can't keep a product under wrap, but if you kept the financial details secret you would be inclined to charge an obscene ammount for it. Supply and demand is by in large a good system.

But when something such as a film, video game, book, or audio recording is reduced to a digital medium the supply is effectively as limitless as  there are consumers to want to have it and hard drives that exist to store it.

Obviously, people are going to say "I'm a (programmer/author/music maker/artist/etc) and this work represents countless tireless hours of work!" This is true. But why is currency your ultimate form of payment? What other options do you have?

By creating a brand name, a flag to fly, and forming a community of like minded individuals you are in affect creating an ad hoc network of tools, distributors, and talent.

The second pillar is keeping the operation lean and mean.

How this is accomplished is more than operating on a budget. GLM is already lean by utilizing Hub Pages to publish its articles, My Space and Facebook to publish various music, and something like darkarts to publish its photography.

While I have no doubt that ultimately this will have to change in some way, to bring together all parts around a central repository, any corporation should do well as to re-use the tools and gifts of society that have been put in place. By keeping your brand "fluid," and "ubiquitous" you are not diluting it but bestowing your success upon those you work with.

I'm not simply speaking of doing PSAs or lending a name to a cause, either. No one can measure success today in any truly tangible way right now except for market share, networth, and fame. We may be missing the most key, basic metric.

Companies often bestow awards upon each other. A thriving industry surrounds award shows, consumer advocate groups, and grant money. But there is no greater reward than helping your peers in a project that deserves your attention.

So GLM is a flag, a cause upon it's self, a microcosm and niche by design. And by inviting and utilizing the talents, skills, and social tendancies of your fellow humans, you now have formed a rather useful community.

By acting consistently, openly, and morally, GLM is no longer an iconic brand but again a cooperation between its devotees that again can be leveraged against the competition.

There's many reasons why a corporation would want to value everyone that helps it exist. People start a corporation by having a product. GLM's brand in this case however is its product. Its a sacred cow that should not appear to tarnish it's self in any way.

Keeping it lean helps with the operating costs. So how does it get investment capital for a product? In reality, it already has it. From the community.

In fact, the less GLM creates it's self the better off it is. If a brand is both defense and artillery the network of people it forms is the cannon. By having a discerning eye and bridging the gap between producer and consumer you are opening a new door to a third currency. A currency we've long forgot we have at our disposal: bartering and trading.

Think about it. Billions of dollars a year are spent on demographic research. With a community backed corporation the tools of democracy can be used to dictate how GLM uses its assets. Facebook, Twitter, tracking cookies, product reviews, seller ratings, buyer ratings, eBay, Flooz, Digg, Writing.com....why has't Web 2.0  as yet to connect the dots in the right way?

Because today an idea/product is created from need or on the premise it can be sold well enough through clever marketing as to become profitable. It exists to make moolah. But why should you absolutely require numbers in a bank to shift from one account to another? Why limit yourself to an often fluctuating in value currency? Capitalism isn't failing Wall Street, Wall Street is failing captailism. 

A potentially global society that can be connected together cheaply to achieve common goals under one brand is an economic system unto it's self.

By now you're beginning to see a fuller picture of what I'm proposing. In fact, to some, it may sound dangerous or crazy. Maybe even a little bit of both. But as a society centering around central banking systems keeping the idea of a hallucinatory currency alive we've long lost our sense of adventure. By creating a company in the way this document describes you're splitting work, risk, and investment between all producers and consumers you attract.

If this idea is to work, some truths need to be spoken. Fears need to be faced. A company working in this manner cannot socially, economically, or morally be allowed to take missteps of a nature in which it affects the community. Bernie Madoff now can't exist, mind you, because while he may have a lot of currency in a bank his talent and usefulness to a community is based on his actions and reputation, not a dollar ammount.

I'm not at all trying to imply this will work for all industries. Especially for technology and gadgetry. But it certainly can be applied to some now, and as other segments open up it can be freely adaptable at a later date.

So we have our brand wherein we are open about our business in an easily understandable manner. We're consistent, creating a flag people would associate with a reasonable expectation of quality and reputation. How does it function?

What is currency? Its been at times a means to an end, but its really just a third party application that everyone has agreed to use. If we've formed a community in a social networking format, GLM as a brand can be pasted on things people like.

However this can only be done to a tangible product. In a sense it can be a risky idea to promote music, art, fashion, and other goods where a consumer is especially fickle. Thats why in this system not only is the producer burdened with the task of creating something a consumer wants, the consumer is also held liable for making it clear what would please them.

This is why reputation (they don't lie, cheat, steal, or sacrifice their first born) is the new basic metric. Marketing is a dig me up or dig me down byproduct. GLM as a corporate entity is to enable the consumer to enjoy an environment where the tools are easily managed at their disposal to connect with who has what they like. Without a consumer participating through this forum not only are they making life harder on the companies who create goods for them based on necessity and desire, it can be argued they are not fulfilling certain obligations. If you don't use your voice, you're letting others have it. Sacrifices.

But as a flier of the GLM flag can be easily rated, so too can those who speak up to the producers of goods. If someone in a community is seen on either side of the bond as unkind, pedantic, or trollish, they then can find a new flag to fly.

By leveraging democracy we are empowering a brand to find its microcosm. Not everyone gets along, yet as a person grows from their mistakes they can inevitably find a group with common ground. 

So I've been bashing the absurdity of currency in numerous instances. But its not that I don't see the value of a unit that can be freely traded for goods and services, its more that we've been presented with a false sense of purpose by becoming a slave to it.

When a community grows it is inviting people to join a party, its pool of talent is a commodity. A go-between has been invented and re-invented numerous times in the guise of currency. But what if I belong to GLM and a band wants to record an album? As a producer, I can work with them offering my services to help them achieve their ends.

Reputation is a guideline metric to how reliable a merchant is. A third currency can be produced by spreading "points" around to those in the community. If I'm a consumer and I purchase some points with my money, my money can strengthen the GLM brand through GLM holding onto real world currency and trading it among markets.

If, for instance, I'm a huge fan of a band and I create a t-shirt design that has gained popularity a band would do well not to come swooping in and destroy the t-shirt. What should be forced upon in the community is cooperation in reaching a compact to keep producing the now famous t-shirt for the benefit of both the consumer and producer.

Why, for instance, do we pay people to create logos and products to promote our corporations when a community already exists to create a product by another entity? By cutting costs in production, by using each other as utilities, we are removing the inelegant solution of a blanket currency.

People today are feeling fearful of economic disaster. But just because money dries up it doesn't mean the talent, skill, and material to produce commodities no longer exist. In essence we have been misguiding our species by relying on one "currency" or method in doing business.

If GLM creates a community and gives people tools to communicate and barter, we can effectively help negate the need for currency in many instances.

Today the world over people are spending an inordinate ammount of time and effort in creating, growing, and developing a monolithic economy in the form of a corporation.

You're not designed to be a cube dweller.

The greatest pay off in reality isn't whether or not you have money in your bank account, but whether you have access to goods and services. We've long lost our sight and principles by tying ourselves to some mythical monetary value. Capitalism's fundamental beliefs in supply and demand as well as healthy competition is not corrupt. Spending time and energy on maintaining an infrastructure bent on viral growth at often the expense of the employees, devotees, and consumers is.

If we've a democratic system and a community of purpose, utilizing the fundamentals of capitalism becomes easy. With each new member that has access to the same pool of talent we are no longer dividing people by a perception of worth, but of bringing us back to realizing the innate self worth of the individual again.

Many people feel depressed, useless, and ultimately worthless. Is this why we exist as a society? To further the goals of a select few, to allow those with the cut throat depravity to climb to the top?

By reconnecting each other in a microcosm, in communities based around consumers and producers, we are ultimately freeing ourselves of the lies and false sense of hope a currency based society gives us.

By encumbering ourselves in the name of money, we create situations where functions are needed to be filled, yet are not particularly useful to the world. If we are to regain our sanity and sense of self, if we are to truly again come to a point of marching forward as a whole civilization, we are going to have to examine the fundamentals of how business transactions are handled.

Like I've mentioned before, I believe capitalism and democracy works whole heartedly well. When you create a bond between each other you are making praise become common place. You are giving everyone a fair chance to feel successful. And you are realizing numbers are merely illusions.

This document is simply a draft proposal. Not all ideas have been thoroughly explored yet, though I am continuing to do so in my own mind. I sincerely hope this provides you enough food for thought, and I welcome all feedback as long as its useful. This goes for both poistive and negative responses. Thank you for your interest, and I hope someday we can learn to pull this off.