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Pete Best was not just their drummer… he was their friend, their “mate”. The band had played some of their first gigs in the coffee shop his mother ran. He had been there through the tough “eight days a week” bookings in Hamburg. He had played The Cavern in Liverpool. Pete Best was a key member of The Beatles.

But when it came time to take the leap from bar band to world stage, The Beatles decided that Pete Best wasn’t good enough, and Ringo Starr was. They made the tough decision to fire their friend.

What is holding you back?

What people, ideas, notions, and beliefs shackle you from success? Fire them.

And equally relevant, hire the people, ideas, notions, and beliefs that you need to excel.

Rock Stars find the right people to jam with, and then figure everything else out from there.

Rock Stars surround themselves with great players, often players far more talented then themselves.

Rock Star surround themselves with people who ignite their creativity and spark their energy.

Who is in your band?

Not just people. Your “band” is your world… the people, ideas, and concepts that form your boundaries.

Who needs to leave your band in order for you to succeed?

Like The Beatles, you must take decisive action.

Break ties with those who are holding you back. Surround yourself with people that make you better at what you do.

The marketing book Brand Like a Rock Star: Lessons From Rock n Roll To Make Your Business Rich & Famous can help you build a stronger business by taking the core strategies of bands like The Beatles (and many others) and showing you how to put them to work for you right away.  Order now with one click and have the digital download or paperback sent directly to you!

To this day, as the Rolling Stones rock into their 50th year and forty-three years after The Beatles broke up, the question remains.

The Beatles or The Stones?

You can like and appreciate both bands. But for most, either The Beatles were the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in history… or The Rolling Stones were the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in history.

You’re either a Beatles person, or you’re a Stones person.

That’s what makes the Rock Star business principles so cool.

Our favorite bands become a part of how we define ourselves.

Rock Star businesses use those some strategies to make their brands part of how we define ourselves.

Are you a Mac person or a PC person?

Are you an Xbox fan or a PS3 fan or a Wii fan?

Are you a Prius driver or a Jeep driver?

Fans of these brands define themselves, in part, by them. That’s immensely powerful.

Sadly, most businesses will never get there.

They are afraid of the consequences of choosing to rock. They are afraid some people won’t like them (which is true). They are afraid that they’ll piss some people off (which is accurate). They are afraid that they might fail and get laughed at (which is highly likely).

These days you don’t have an option. You need to be a Rock Star.

If you’re not, you are destined to become one of the bland, relatively invisible, always-struggling brands that overspends on advertising in order to achieve momentary awareness.

Good luck.

I’d rather rock. It is way more fun, and way more profitable.

Put the Rock Star business principles to work for your company and your personal brand. Click here to instantly order Brand Like A Rock Star and learn how legendary bands like U2, AC/DC, KISS, Lady Gaga, Jimmy Buffett, and the Grateful Dead put their stamp on the world, and start doing the same thing with your business. 

Being a rock star is hard work. But the rewards are huge.

James Brown was the hardest working man in show biz. You didn’t want front row seats at a James Brown show, unless you enjoyed being covered in the man’s sweat. He was relentless on stage, always striving to give his fans more than they paid for. When James Brown was done one of legendary marathon shows, the audience was as tired as the performer was.

That’s hard work.

Bruce Springsteen is famous for leaving every ounce of energy he has on stage for his fans, walking off the stage physically exhausted to an audience grateful for the chance to spend their money on a show like that.

That’s hard work.

The Beatles may have appeared as overnight sensations in America in 1964, but they had spent several years playing the seedy bars of Hamburg, Germany, perfecting their craft night after night.

That’s hard work.

We live in a world of instant gratification and perpetual short cuts… lottery tickets, miracle weight loss pills, and automated spam that can grab you a million Twitter followers overnight. They are false hopes.

Do not be fooled. Building your personal brand is hard work.

In his fantastic book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell speculated that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert at nearly anything. That’s 417 days.

Fortunately, our hyper-connected world offers you more opportunity than ever to learn, network, grow, and put in your 10,000 hours.

Five Ways To Accelerate Your Personal Brand

1. Never stop reading. Books, blogs, tweets, posts, articles, and even newspapers. Read. Be a life-long student of what you do.

2. Network. Always be connecting and talking, sharing and collaborating.

3. Listen. We love to talk, but the best talkers are the ones who spend even more time listening. When you’re listening to others, work hard to really hear what they are communicating.

4. Eliminate wasted time. I wrote a book over the course of a year simply by eliminating time wasted watching TV. I spent nearly every down moment I had working on the book. It was amazing how fast things came together.

5. Always Over-deliver. Forget about hype. Instead of building expecatations, focus on over-delivering and leaving people in awe. Under-promising and over-delivering is awlays smarter than creating false expectations. Make it your mission to over-deliver at every opportunity.

6. And one bonus… Think a lot. It sounds really simple, but it is extremely powerful. Always be thinking. Analyse what you see. Contemplate what you hear. Examine truths. Fill your brain with crazy thoughts and ideas, and then get a good night’s rest. You’ll be amazed how the mind sorts it all out while you’re snoring.

Order Brand Like A Rock Star today and begin your brand building journey using the marketing strategies of rock and roll legends like U2, AC/DC, Bob Dylan, Guns N Roses, Bob Marley, The Grateful Dead, and many others. The digital version can be instantly download for under $10, or the paperback can be home delivered.

Lennon had McCartney.

Jagger has Richards.

Kanye has Jay Z.

Who in your world makes you noticably better?

There are two kinds of people in the world. A good friend of mine calls them “keys” and “locks”. “Keys” are people who open doors for you and in you. They make what you do better. “Locks” attempt to shut you down. They don’t get it.

Rock stars find collaborators who are “keys”.

If you want your business to be successful, you need to do the same thing.

One thing rock stars are famous for, and hip hop stars even more famous for, is their entourage. Rock stars surround themselves with people who enrich their lives. They eliminate people who don’t. The result is an environment where great things happen. Legendary songs are written. Magic happens.

Certainly business success isn’t as simple as just surrounding yourself with good people, but I can guarantee that it will be a hell of a lot harder to build a winning brand if you surround yourself with nay-sayers, negativity, and pessimists.

“Locks” are out there. They are inevitable. You need to deal with them swiftly and decisively. Get rid of them. If you can’t get rid of them completely, illegitimi non carborundum. Don’t let the bastards grind you down.

The Grateful Dead invited fans to tape their concerts. It was unheard in the music industry at the time, and still today is considered a crime. But they did it anyway. In fact, they created special areas for “tapers” to get the best audio, often directly from the sound board.

They asked but one simple thing in return: don’t sell the recordings for money. Share them with your friends, distribute them for free, but don’t make any profit from it. How did that work out for them? Well, they went on to become one of rock’s most profitable touring acts. And they did it without the benefit of hit songs being played on the radio.

The Grateful Dead gave away their music, and in the process built one of the largest, most passionte, and most dedicated fan bases in music history.

What will you give away today?

You could give away your advice. Your expertise could change someone’s life today.

You could give away your honesty. Maybe your customer is better off buying the competitor’s product.

You could give away some product. After all, a free sample is an invitation to try some more.

You could give away your time. Your money. Your kindness. Your consideration. Your thoughts.

Go ahead and give something away. Ask nothing in return. Expect nothing in return. Be patient… and your returns will come, eventually.

Like The Beatles sang, “and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make“.

I’d like to give you Chapter One of my book Brand Like A Rock Star absolutely free. You can download it here.

I’d also like to give you a book called Brand Like A Rock Star: The Musical Companion. Yes, it’s also free. You can download it here. It is the #1 most downloaded product management book in the Amazon Kindle store.

If you’d like to take the leap and buy the book, go for it. You can have it paperback or digital download here. It isn’t free, but at $14.95 in paperback and $9.99 in digital download, it’s damn close.

First things first: the book Brand Like A Rock Star is now available online. No more waiting. You can order it right here as a paperback or Kindle version. It starts appearing in stores on Saturday. Now on with the fun…

Jay emailed me this week asking “Is Pan Am an indestructible brand?”

After the debut of the new TV show Pan Am you might wonder if it isn’t indestructible!

Despite four financial collapses, bankruptcy, terrorist attacks, crashes, and perpetual abuse of the name since its glory days faded in the 1970s, it still carries tremendous allure.

Every young boy (and even some girls!) growing up in the 1960s wanted to be the Captain of a Pan Am jet.  For a 60s girl, it was a dream job to be a Pan Am stewardess. Flying was romantic and exciting, and Pan Am stood for all that was great about the era.

Pan Am didn’t just fly airplanes. They flew Clippers. They didn’t have a terminal building at JFK Airport in New York, they had a Worldport.

Today the functioning Pan Am brand clings to life as a railway in New England. Yet the brand’s cache makes owning the name profitable. Licensing of the logo on merchandise, in movies, on clothing, and in TV shows, makes owning the name worthwhile, even though it no longer functions as an airline. Pan Am exists primarily as a trademark today!

But to answer Jay’s question, I don’t think the brand is actually indestructible. Great brands have a purpose, and that is to make money for shareholders. Pan Am failed in that regard, and hasn’t flown since December 3, 1991 when Pan Am Flight 436 landed in Miami. If you fail at your primary business objective, you fail the brand test. You are destructible.

But what is really cool about Pan Am, as Jay pointed out, is the incredible power of what the brand stands for to this day:

Romance | Exploration | Adventure | Intrigue | Destiny | Luxury | Excellence | Freedom | Escape

When you stand for things like that, you can build a powerful magnet with your brand. Despite Pan Am’s disappearance as an airline, we still associate all of those wonderful images with the name. If you stand for emotionally powerful ideals like that, we will remember you forever.

On the other hand, if you stand for “low prices”, we will only remember you until a lower price comes along.

Rock stars use the power of emotion to draw us in. You never forget how Pete Townshend smashed his guitar on stage night after night in the name of rebellion. You never forget how John and Yoko’s stayed in bed for peace. You never forget the lyrics of the Bob Seger song that was playing on the car radio while you were in the back seat growing up too fast. Powerful emotional ideals indeed. 

The lesson of Pan Am is to stand for powerful emotional ideals, not empty advertising cliches. You may never build an indestructible brand, but you might just come close.

By the way, remember what was in the background when The Beatles landed at JFK in 1964?

They fill stadiums with screaming fans.
They make millions of dollars.
They are synonymous with excellence.

Rock stars.

The premise of the new book Brand Like A Rock Star is that business can learn a tremendous amount from the experiences of the legends of rock. The book deals with specific bands, specific brands, and provides specific advice to apply to your business in actionable ways.

But from a big picture perspective, what can the average business learn from the rock star? Why does the business/rock star relationship make sense?

Here are seven things you and your business can learn from rock stars.

1. Do what you love. If you do what you love to do, you’ll do it more passionately than anyone else. And if you do something with passion, the odds of doing it successfully go up infinitely. Rock stars love to rock. That’s why Mick Jagger is still singing. Do what you love.

2. Be larger than life. There’s no excitement in average. Nobody notices the business that looks and sounds like every other business. Foo Fighters is a stupid name, but unforgettable. Same with Red Hot Chili Peppers and Hootie & The Blowfish and Barenaked Ladies for that matter. Go the distance. Stand out from the crowd. Don’t be afraid to be larger than life.

3. Screw being better, just be different. Bands like the Grateful Dead and KISS weren’t at what they did, they were the only bands who did what they did. If you do something totally unique, there’s nobody to compare you to. There will always be someone better than you, but there is nobody exactly like you. Celebrate that. Be different.

4. Practice really hard. The Beatles played Hamburg for months at a time perfecting their craft. Metallica played every dive bar on the west coast before they made it big. You just don’t get to the top without a lot of practice. The same applies to business. Whatever you decide to do, perfect it. Practice really hard.

5. Find a producer. Great bands had great producers, engineers, managers, and record labels. You need people like that to see your work from the outside. Business owners are like bands, they see themselves from the inside. That’s the worst view in the world. You need a George Martin, just like The Beatles did. Get outside advice. Find a producer who isn’t afraid to tell you when you suck.

6. Take it easy. Being an up-and-comer isn’t a picnic, but real rock stars get first-class flights, penthouse hotel suites, and backstage buffets. There’s plenty of down time for true rock stars. Lenny Kravitz has a place in Bahamas. Eric Clapton kicks back in Antigua. Great business leaders know when to relax and rejuvenate their spirits. Minds that relax are minds that are open to learning and growth. Find the time to take it easy now and then.

7. Work with your friends. Eric Clapton played guitar on a Phil Collins song. Mick Jagger contributed background vocals on a Carly Simon song. Johnny Cash did the lead vocals for a U2 song. When you work with friends, you not only benefit from their contribution but you also learn from them and develop new skills. Hire great people that you love to work with and let them help you shine. Avoid unhappy people who bring you down, and work with your friends instead.

Take these seven lessons from the legends of rock to heart, and watch your business rise to the top of the charts.

Brand Like A Rock Star is now available via Amazon. You can have your copy within 24 hours! I can’t wait to hear what you think of it! It arrives at retail on October 1.

I’d love to speak directly to your company or conference about building a powerful brand using the lessons learned by rock’s legends. Contact me directly for details.

Upcoming Brand Like A Rock Star events:
Tuesday, September 27 – Calgary, AB
Wednesday, September 28 – Red Deer, AB (morning)
Wednesday, September 28 – Drumheller, AB (afternoon)
Thursday, September 29 – Edmonton, AB
Friday, October 7 – Las Vegas, NV at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino – BOOK LAUNCH EVENT!

Monday, October 17 – Moncton, NB
Thursday, October 20 – Charlottetown, PEI (Chamber of Commerce Biz2Biz Expo)
Friday, November 4 – Anchorage, AK (Alaska Broadcasters Association Convention)
Wednesday, November 23 – Winnipeg, MB
Thursday, December 15 – Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

 
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I am fortunate to speak with plenty of business owners, many of them running small and emerging businesses. Yet some of them still believe that the concept of branding doesn’t really apply to small business. Nothing could be further from the truth. Here are five common myths surrounding small business and branding.

Myth #1 – Branding is something that big companies do, not small businesses.

Reality – Building a strong brand is about creating an expectation within your customer’s mind. It has nothing to do with the size of the business. In fact, since great brands are all about satisfying emotional needs, it could be argued that branding is best done by smaller businesses who exist close to their customers. Strong small local brands can compete against, and even take down, the big boys.

Myth #2 – Branding is expensive and requires a lot of costly TV advertising that I can’t afford.

Reality – Building a strong brand isn’t about advertising or money. Branding is essentially storytelling. Stories are told through a variety of means, not just through advertising. Telling your brand’s special story doesn’t have to be expensive. What is expensive is not building a strong brand. Weak brands fail to grow, collapse in the face of competition, and quickly fall victim to recessions. Failure is expensive.

Myth #3 – I don’t need to worry about branding because my business is already different from everyone else out there.

Reality – You might think so, but your customers (and potential customers) probably don’t see it that way. Because business owners and operators are so close to their products, they are unqualified to see their business the way real people do. Real people don’t see that big a difference between most businesses. Only businesses with well-developed brands are able to demonstrate to customers what makes them so different.

Myth #4 – Branding is just a passing fad.

Reality – You’re probably right. So is the internet. While you wait for it to fade away, be sure to watch as small businesses around you build strong brands, develop powerful identities, and grow beyond their founder’s wildest dreams.

Myth #5 – If my brand is strong, I will become too pigeonholed to grow my business.

Reality – The ill-fated concept of being “everything to everyone” permeates small business. Long term, it doesn’t work.  Businesses that establish a specific area of expertise are the ones that win. Successful businesses specialize and become famous for something! Yes, that means some people won’t like you. And that’s okay, even for a small business. Once you reach the point where you can accept that you need to lose some customers to gain hundreds of others, you’ll be ready to grow.

Small businesses with solid brands absolutely rock. They are fun to work with because they exist very close to their customers and can react quickly to changing conditions. They can make great things happen nearly overnight. Some of the coolest branding success stories out there are small businesses.

Remember, almost all rock stars start out small too.

Bob Marley started his career playing a style of island music that didn’t even have a name.  Someone called it “reggae”, and within a decade Bob Marley was a worldwide star. 

U2 began as a bunch of high school students who could barely play their instruments. This week they wrapped up the most profitable tour in music history.

When John met Paul at a church picnic, The Beatles were formed. They went on to change the face of music in a short decade.

Where will your small business take you? Learn more about branding your small business in the new book Brand Like a Rock Star, now available here. If you’re hesitant to order, read Chapter One for free before you buy. You can download it here absolutely free.

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Book reviews aren’t really my thing. You visit here for inspiration on branding and marketing, not reviews of business books. But every now and then a cool book comes along that is rooted in our shared love of business and rock ‘n roll.

I think the last book I reviewed was the very strong Marketing Lessons From The Grateful Dead by David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan.

The latest is Come Together: The Business Wisdom of The Beatles by Richard Courtney and George Cassidy (Turner Publishing). This new book explores the business acumen of The Beatles and shares it in bite-sized chunks. Each of the short 100 chapters delves into a different aspect of the band and their music, and how it can relate to business today.

The read is a fun chronological ride through The Beatles extraordinary career and does a nice job of both telling the story of the band, and sharing the business lessons derived from it.

For deep fans not much of the information is new, but the perspective of how it relates to modern day business is entirely fresh.

I enjoy the casual tone and obvious passion of the writers. These guys love The Beatles. Business wisdom is found in the actions, and sometimes inactions, of the band, as well as in songs and lyrics and anecdotes. Sometimes the business wisdom is sometimes very theoretical and other times very much immediately applicable.

As noted earlier, I definitely like how the book is chronological, allowing me to absorb the band’s story as well as the business wisdom. It made the book part history lesson and part business lesson. My only minor complaint is that the book would have benefited from more real-life examples from business in which these Beatles lessons were applied successfully. While the lessons themselves are great, often evidence that they can be successfully deployed is missing. It feels like the dots could have been connected in this regard.

No question that this book is a definite must-read for any Beatles fan, or for that matter any music fan in general. It is a fun book that gives you a new appreciation for the business side of The Beatles.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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Welcome to part four of our Brand Like a Rock Star five part series about “Why Your Marketing Doesn’t Work”. If you missed any earlier entries, you can find them here (Part One), here (Part Two), and here (Part Three).

Here’s the cold, hard truth: you are too close to your product or brand, and it is hurting your marketing efforts.

Could The Beatles have done this on their own?  Not a chance. They were too close to their own sound to see the bigger picture. Every artist needs an objective producer because every artist is too close to their own product. The same holds true in business, branding, and marketing. That’s why outside branding advice is so vital.

In business, having so much knowledge of your own product makes you, the business owner, entirely unqualified to see your brand objectively! It is impossible for you to see your brand the way your customers see it.

Rock star brands work with objective experts to help them see their product from the consumer’s point-of-view. They realize that they cannot possibly read the label when they are inside the bottle. Objective outsiders can help them understand how real people see, use, interact with, and experience their brand. That view point makes for extremely effective advertising.

Every great athlete has a coach who looks at his game from a different perspective. The coach is never nearly as good the athlete, but they have a point of view that it is impossible for the athlete himself to have.

PS – part of the inspiration for this series comes from Roy H. Williams piece “12 Causes of Advertising Failure”, which is included in his book “The Wizard of Ads: Turning Words Into Magic and Dreamers Into Millionaires”. Smart people read Roy’s stuff.

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