Thought it would be appropriate that the first recommendation of 2010 be a book by/about the patron saint of the Mogul Mindset eBlasts. (Don’t know what those are? Click here.)

Richard Branson was a mogul-in-the-making from very early in his life, starting up a publication called Student when he was still in high school and having the nerve to approach central cultural figures of the day (60s London, in this case), such as The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger and The Beatles’ John Lennon, to be interviewed (they accepted!).

He went on from this magazine to the music business, starting with a mail order service and ultimately becoming a producer and growing a record label, Virgin Music. From there, he carefully lept into other areas (the seeming contradiction of carefully leaping is deliberate), such as starting Virgin Atlantic airline based on nothing more than a core philosophy of “How hard could it be?” 

Richard Branson’s story is instructive and inspiring and he tells it with panache. It is very detailed, sometimes, in my opinion, to a fault, but maybe that’s because I’m less interested in his hot air balloon adventures than other readers, who might enjoy being along for the ride every daring step of the way.

I was definitely along for the ride of growing several businesses, recovering from set-backs, making big mistakes but also achieving huge victories. I think anyone interested in succeeding in business on a large scale would be wise to pick up a copy of Losing My Virginity. (In fact, click on the book jacket above and you can order it right now!)

Note: If you click on the book cover at the top of the post (like most of the books and CDs pictured on this site), you will be taken to Amazon, where you can buy this book and/or anything else you want and the gremlins that put this blog together while I sleep will get four cents or something. Consider it well-earned.

We here at Your Industry Insider HQ took some time over the holidays to reflect on 2009- our first year in business, as it were. How well did we deliver on our core objective? What worked and what didn’t? What do we want to do differently in 2010?

2009: The Year in Review

Our tagline is “Your Guide to Breaking In, Moving Up, and Making It in Entertainment” and our core objective is to educate and inspire (and entertain!) people interested in (or just starting out) working in entertainment.

Toward that end, we provided profiles of successful professionals working in all areas of the industry and stories of people working toward success in their area. We highlighted resources (written and otherwise, online and off), pointed out opportunities for aspiring entertainment superstars to break in/impress, taught pop culture lessons and real-world lessons to help our readers avoid some rookie mistakes on their own path.

During 2009, we also realized the blog alone wasn’t enough. There were readers who wanted more. More contact, more direction. (And, in truth, we wanted more contact with our core readers, too!) Thus, the Mogul Mindset eBlasts were born. Two or three times a week, subscribers to the MM eBlasts get short emails designed to convey bite-sized entertainment industry lessons/food for thought (pun intended) and provide a related call to action. Also included is a feature called “Don’t Be That Person” about actual missteps made by people climbing the ladder (so the savvy MM reader can avoid making the same mistakes), and the opportunity for subscribers to ask and get answers to their entertainment career questions.

The MM eBlasts got a great response and more people are subscribing daily. (To be one of them, go to the top right corner of our homepage. Enter your name and email address and consider yourself IN! You also get a free Mogul Mindset e-course!)

What’s New In 2010?

One thing we started part of the way through 2009 that will not continue is theme months. We focused on the music business one month, actors and acting during another. Though people interested in those areas liked the concentration of information, those NOT interested in those areas were left out in the cold. So, we are on permanent shuffle from now on. You never know what you’re going to get from one post to the next. (The only possible exception is if we profile several people working in different positions on the same TV program or film- such as an actor, a writer, a script supervisor, and a production designer- we are working on some very exciting possibilities in that area.) 

This year, we are doing our first FREE “entertainment career strategy” teleseminar. Participants are getting their career questions answers. (It’s January 26th. There are still a few spots left. Get more info here.)

Later in the year, look for the launch of YII products, the first of which will be an ebook entitled, “Dream Jobs, Day Jobs, & Career Jobs: YII’s Roadmap to Working in Entertainment.” (Preorder is coming soon for subscribers to the Mogul Mindset eBlasts. Earlybirds will get free bonuses!)

In the meantime, we have recently added writing and career consulting services to our offerings. If this sounds like something you want more information about, visit the “Events & Programs” and “Writing Services” pages, which can be accessed along the top of the YII site. (Note: Jenny has been doing these through a separate company for several years now- this is just bringing them over and offering them to YII readers.)

Your time in valuable. If you are a student, you have classes to take, studying for tests, texting, Facebooking, Twittering… and dare I say it, a social life. If you are a recent or not-so-recent grad, you either have a job or are diligently looking for a job, and texting, Facebooking, Twittering… the aforementioned social life, perhaps.

But if you are interested in the entertainment industry, YII is where you can find out about the options available to you and get insider info to help you get where you want to go. Not just the aspiring directors, actors, writers, musicians, production or costume designers or other creative peole out there, though we have plenty for them.

The industry is vast and there are opportunities for people with all kinds of skills and passions. The CFO-in-the-making, the guy or gal who wants to get into the talent agency mailroom trainee program (and there are a shocking amount of people who want to work in the mailroom at a talent agency), those who dream of being a production executive at a film studio… There is information for everyone here.

And if you don’t see what you are looking for, just ask. After all, this is YOUR guide to breaking in, moving up, and making it in entertainment.