We're All Franchises
In this day and age of personal brands, we're all franchises.
I tweeted that about 5 minutes ago. All this talk of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and every other franchise being extended, rebooted, re-imagined, expounded upon, one sits back and wonders are there really any new, original stories?
No. There's not. All stories have been told. What's original is how you tell the story. And even then, some people are unoriginal and they'll retell other people's stories and try to pass it as their own.
Novelists create series of books with one character. Comics, by their nature, are franchise makers. And now, we are in the franchise business.
Star Wars: A New Hope was a brand. The rest is the franchise.
Toy Story was a brand. Pixar is the franchise.
Michael Field is the brand. What's his franchise?
This world is all about the outer-self. What you put out or don't put out on social media speaks about your brand. Your franchise potential. It doesn't mean whether your sincere or not. Most people post updates and comments for their own mental and emotional health. We are the greatest at lying when it's to ourselves.
Everything you post. Everything you don't post. Comments, non-comments, interactions on social sites, indifference on social sites - It all goes to your brand. And as you build that brand, the next logical step is a franchise.
Your brand is your image; your legacy a franchise. I'd rather take control of it then allow it to shape itself.