Being a public speaker is as close as you can get to being a RockStar during the daytime. And, it involves pretty much the same steps too: develop material over weeks and months, make a ton of phone calls trying to get booked, spend a solid amount of time getting to the venue hours early so you can do a 5-minute sound check, wait until it's your turn, worry about how many people are in the audience, deliver what you hope is a great presentation, try to minimize your mistakes, collect your applause and only sometimes a check, go back home and try to get another gig. Now, I love speaking just like I loved playing in a band (although it is … [Read more...]
The Sales Truth I Learned Managing a Band
When I was a younger (and hopefully cooler) man, I played in a band called The Jesters. I started the band with my friend Jim, and we split the duties - he would work on the music and I would get us gigs. Here's what I learned that would help me sell in every other part of my career: Bar and club owners didn't care about our music - they cared about getting people in the door who would drink beer and eat food. Focus On Their Needs Being a great band was important to us. We spent a lot of time practicing and writing songs. We worked on our stage show to make sure that our fan base would grow and people would come out and see us. But for … [Read more...]