TATTOOS, NOT BRANDS

A debut manual offers advice to entrepreneurs working on a smaller scale than the famous world-dominating brands.

Tattoos, writes White in his book, are personal and complex: “They tell stories. They make statements. They are real.” Brands are ingrained in human society, instantly recognizable pretty much anywhere in the world. But in the business world, the author conceives of tattoos as something different. They’re smaller, scrappier, more intimate companies—startups with limited finances but passionate missions. In this guide, White draws on his career as a marketer and entrepreneur in order to coach his readers on how to build tattoos that “people dream about, feel deeply about, and ultimately live for.” In the author’s view, tattoos are personal choices, and in these pages, he sets out some basic principles for entrepreneurs seeking to create their own. These principles start with the “4 Ps of Marketing”: product, place, price, and promotion. None of these four Ps can stand alone, and all of them must be scaled and tailored not to the dream of a world-dominating brand, but rather to the smaller dimensions and greater passions of the tattoo approach. White deals with these and other concepts, ending each chapter with a “Your Turn” section of prompt questions to get his readers thinking about how to apply these notions to their own business ideas. Throughout his book, the author is a personable writer, combining stories from his own entrepreneurial past with broader examples drawn from history and the business world. He breaks down his ideas with an appealingly direct simplicity and includes plenty of photographs from various sources, graphics, and mnemonic aids, such as indicating the different kinds of customers with “SNOW”—those who are Supposed to buy, Need to buy, Obligated to buy, or Want to buy. The cumulative result feels like being coached by a very experienced mentor.

An empathetic, insightful, and practical guide for all those businesses that aren’t household names.