May I Have Your Attention, Please: Build a Better Business by Telling Your True Story [Hardcover]

Chris Hilicki (Author), Andy Andrews (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 24, 2005

What's a businessperson's biggest hidden asset? His or her own true story and authenticity
One's personal identity is the key to one's professional brand. In May I Have Your Attention, Please?, Chris Hilicki illustrates how everyone can be successful by applying their personal experiences to business. Using real-world examples of famous corporations, celebrities, and the guy next door, Hilicki gets readers to use their best-and often most untapped-assets to build a better personal and professional life. Complete with thought-provoking chapter questions and practical exercises that readers can immediately apply to their plans for success, this unique guide offers step-by-step strategies that help readers examine their identity, make a lasting impression, and turn it into a reputation that transforms their businesses.
Chris Hilicki (Nashville, TN) is founder and Vice Chair of Dalmatian Press, one of the U.S.'s most successful children's book companies. Formerly a scientist and now a publishing leader, she regularly speaks before industry leaders, live television audiences, and large conventions. Chris has been interviewed for Forbes, Inc., the Wall Street Journal, Southern Living, and Publishers Weekly and has appeared on television shows as an expert on building brands through the use of personal identity.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

A positive, recognizable brand identity is among the most powerful assets a company can have. Just ask McDonald's, or Microsoft, or Mercedes-Benz.

And it's just as important for individuals. In fact, personal and corporate brands can be woven together for the greatest kind of success. Whether you realize it or not, you have a brand that comprises everything you have done and accomplished in your life. It is the primary reason people give you attention and, because it determines the type of attention they give, your brand plays a major role in who you are and will become.

May I Have Your Attention, Please? outlines a three-step process for discovering and deciphering your true brand identity, then building on that to achieve financial, emotional, and spiritual success. This empowering book examines world-famous corporate, as well as individual, brands, to arrive at the true nature and value of brands; the true stories behind what have become history's most successful and enduring brands; and lessons you can learn from each that will allow you to create a brand that is both powerful, personal, and lasting.

Written by Chris Hilicki, founder of one of today's most successful children's book companies and a popular and dynamic speaker, May I Have Your Attention, Please? uses personal narratives, practical examples, question/answer sessions, and more to help you uncover the secrets to identifying and perfecting a successful brand identity. It will provide you with the knowledge and support you need to:

• Unlock your individual or corporate identity as you acknowledge and appreciate the true stories, experiences, and formative events in your personal or professional life that will set the foundation for your future success
• Use the insights gained to determine what is important to you, and what defines your values and beliefs
• Translate those values into a look, sound, and feel that is your unique identity—your authentic brand—and leverage that brand for personal and professional success

Your brand is the sum total of what others think of you, and improving that brand will improve your life. May I Have Your Attention, Please? will show you how to take charge of your brand identity by uncovering and revealing your true stories and unique values, translating them into a powerful brand identity that expresses the true you, and using that identity to outperform expectations, influence others, and find true success on your own terms.

From the Back Cover

Praise for May I Have Your Attention, Please?

"Chris Hilicki is a master brand-builder. She has given us a much needed awakening to the foundation for true success. Hilicki brings you to complete discovery and execution of brand awareness and wholeness. This book is a must-read for everyone in your organization searching for lasting and meaningful success."
—Tom Hill, founder of The Eagle Institute, coauthor of Chicken Soup for the Entrepreneurial Soul

"Chris Hilicki has a special talent of packaging her personal and professional experiences as a gift to all in May I Have Your Attention, Please? This book is packed with value and application for all organizational levels from top to bottom. In today's world, where brand building and brand awareness cross over multiple generations and cultures, this book captures their true essence!"
—Michael Brown, Vice President, American Greetings Corporation

"May I Have Your Attention, Please? is a profoundly simple self-improvement book for everybody espousing the most basic of human values for tremendous success: tell the truth and don't be afraid to be who you really are. I have never known anyone who understands branding so intuitively and who has the capacity to explain it and accomplish it so fundamentally than Chris Hilicki does with this essential branding bible."
—Nancy Steingard, cofounder of 2 Friends Entertainment, former senior vice president, Sesame Workshop of Sesame Street

"May I Have Your Attention, Please? is the kind of book the world needs. The greatness of the human mind is that any time you learn something new dots are connected and the brain is rewired. I think this book will rewire minds and change a lot of lives for the best."
—B.J. Bueno, coauthor of The Power of Cult Branding

"A truly thought-provoking book for those looking for greater success in their personal or professional lives."
—Mary Kay Lee, former director of brand & retail marketing, The Walt Disney Company

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (January 24, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471678899
• ISBN-13: 978-0471678892
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,684,533 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The real you, a most amazing brand!, February 25, 2005

By 

K. Z. Atha (Weston, FL, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: May I Have Your Attention, Please: Build a Better Business by Telling Your True Story (Hardcover)

I highly recommend May I Have Your Attention, Please! for anyone willing to explore themselves for their most successful marketing plan ever.

Whether you are interested in sprucing up your personal image or that of an organization, Chris Hilicki has a refreshing approach to brand identification and enhancement. Chris challenges you to examine yourself and identify who you are and to then capitalize on that uniqueness. She encourages you to bring your life guiding experiences, principles and values to light, for them to compliment and color your brand. She champions the concept of being yourself, first and foremost. You don't need to emulate or become like anyone else, because the genuine, unique you is the real brand that cannot fail. Chris brings a sense of dignity back to brand building by honoring authenticity, integrity, honesty and truth. You can build a unique and memorable brand by first just being yourself, not a copy.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Much more than a business book!, June 21, 2005

By 

Terrie Lynn Bittner "Author of Homeschooling:... (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: May I Have Your Attention, Please: Build a Better Business by Telling Your True Story (Hardcover)

I picked up the book looking for ideas on how to promote our business and my book. I came away with ideas for improving my life. Who ever guessed a business book could be so fascinating and gripping? I learned how to utilize my personal experiences to become proud of who I am, and to learn to use this to help others. Very valuable information for an author! After all that, I remembered why I bought the book in the first place and realized it really did show me how to brand my book and our business. A perfect book for those of us who must learn business and don't really enjoy the process--this book is educational, entertaining, and motivational all at the same time.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow. Where are my socks?, April 25, 2005

By 

D. Luria (Charlottesville, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: May I Have Your Attention, Please: Build a Better Business by Telling Your True Story (Hardcover)

This book knocked my socks off. Chris nails one branding issue after another. Great for business person or any individual looking to improve their personal effectiveness. If you read this book and Covey's Eighth Habit at the same time, though, weird (but cool) things may happen in your life...just to warn you!