To survive in the entertainment trade you must display an interesting blend of talent, drive, beauty and entrepreneurship. Kim Kardashian is a so called star of Hollywood because she has apltly displayed those skills. Kim Kardashian grabbed a lot of attention after a sex recording featuring her came into circulation. Initial thoughts from many were that a B-grade celebrity had simply published a sex tape to acquire media attention. The actuality was, Kim Kardashian had found a useful way to promote herself from celeb to household brand name, and simply used an array of mechanisms to gain that recognition. One of those mechanisms was the Kim Kardashian sex tape.

Kim Kardashian also appears in a reality TV show which may not give many hints as to her real personality but is of use for seeing the personality Kardashian portrays to the general public. Kim uses this glamorous personality to collect fans and then proceeds to monetise that following by promoting products which the fans would enjoy. The extent to which her on-screen personality is the same as her off-screen personality is debatable, those close to Kardashian could give a precise estimate.

Kim Kardashians plan for success has been seen at least once before, in the form of a well known celeb known to us as Paris Hilton. Paris perfected the method of self promoting socialite before Kim Kardashian. Interestingly, the two were friends at one stage. Also, both Hilton and Kardashian had some fame in their family tree. For Paris, her legendary relatives created the Hilton hotel group and Paris managed to garner initial interest from the media for simply being an cute member of that prominent family. For Kardashian, her family were friends with celebrity OJ Simpson, and in fact Kim’s father represented OJ in his murder trial. The media already knew about the Kardashians, and when the media saw the incredibly gorgeous daughters in the family they were very interested in taking photos and publishing them in gossip magazines – gathering some initial notoreity for Kim Kardashian.

In the early days of her career Kim wasn’t in the limelight very repeatedly. She started a small dress shop in LA which had moderate success. In the end Kim was spotted by a talent scout and went on to host shows on MTV. After people got a good look at Kim Kardashian and realised how pretty she was, the paparazzi came in droves. Kim’s exotic Armenian look drove fans crazy and she soon had a modest following. The Kim Kardashian sex tape expanded on that following greatly – millions of new people saw the publicity surrounding the tape. They were introduced the Kim Kardashian brand in that context – via a sex tape, but many gained an interest in Kardashian’s TV show due to this initial publicity. In effect Kim used the sex tape to promote her other activities including her dress shop, and work on MTV. But that was just the start.

After the sex tape was released by Vivid Entertainment, interest in Kim Kardashian was huge. Kim went on to do a photoshoot for playboy magazine – something she was paid very well for. This increased her following yet again as she was exposed (literally) to mainstream readers of men’s magazines. At this stage her promotional machine was going into overdrive with appearances by Kim in other men’s magazines including FHM, AskMen and more. With the additional publicity the Kim Kardashian tape was selling incredibly quickly, providing another income stream.

Kim’s strategy wasn’t quite clear by this stage. Only when she began to support individual products, appear at product launches, and create her own lines of perfume, exercise products, diet pills and so on did many realise Kim Kardashian was so business savvy. The number of ways Kim Kardashian has built on her celebrity position is simply astounding. Some of the activities have including opening a muffin store! So how much has Kim’s enterprising use of celebrity earnt her? Estimates for her public appearances, commissions on endorsed products and sex tape sales range from 10 million to 20 million.

So what can we take away from this in terms of business skills. For starters we can see Kardashian successfully turned her celebrity image into a brand which she used to endorse products. In business, being able to use personal appearance and publicity to push a product is a skill. Steve Jobs from Apple computers is another example of someone who has used his perceived skill and intelligence to help his products sell. People respect Steve Jobs and his belief in the Apple product line so purchase the products. For Kim Kardashian, fans who identify with her and respect her sense of fashion buy her clothes and cosmetic lines. The Kim Kardashian brand on those products is like a stamp of approval from a celebrity they respect.

Also from Kardashian’s experience we can see there is no bad promotion. Previously a sex tape could have ended a career, but Kardashian used the notoriety to push her brand. Kim also used a lot of cross-promotion with her brand. Many corporations have done this before, with companies like Porsche using the respect they gathered for their brand to sell other seemlingly unrelated products. Microsoft use their brand to sell disparate items like X-boxes, advertising products and operating systems. Kardashian can slap her brand on anything from muffins to diet pills. Kardashian also has a ‘at all costs’ motto. She didn’t mind selling a sex tape because it would result in success. This tough business attitude is an admirable quality.

Kim Kardashian has successfully adapted the celebrity brand formula and made millions from it. We should all take some lessons from her experience.