Smart marketers are a remarkable asset. When they believe in the craft and the story that they represent, they can deliver your message, your meaning, to a far greater audience than you would think possible.
Knowing how to trigger a positive audience response isn’t a skill you learn overnight. It takes practice. It takes patience. It takes refinement. You learn what to do and you learn what not to do. The smart marketer knows when it’s time to take to the stage.
Practice will never make perfect
I loved being in a band. The comradery shared between 4 guys religiously spending their Wednesday and Sunday evenings locked away together in an ill-lit soundproofed box room. Stale smoke and sweat where the only air circulation came from our drummer’s emphatic smashing of his crash symbol at the end of each song.
We spent hours jamming away gently nudging our instruments towards creating a sound that may, one day, resemble a song. Each practice we knew we were getting better. Between us we just sensed that our style was beginning to form and we started to gain pride, real pride, in what we were creating. They were exciting times.
You don’t seek perfection…
Then… we ‘landed’ our first gig. We’d called in at every local venue dropping off our demo tapes and waiting for the phone to ring. Nothing happened. So, a week later we took turns (with the obvious exception of our drummer) to call every establishment. Then, it happened. We were given our chance. Not just any gig, but a local gig where we’d be performing in front of our friends and our classmates (and with a particular unnerving feel at the pit of our stomachs, the female of the species that had led us to learn our instruments in the first place).
How our work ethic changed. Suddenly we were in a race to refine our setlist, learn a few cover songs and play around with the dozens of controls on our amplifiers to help us to believe that our sound ‘was unique’. We wanted to give our audience something they would remember.
You fulfil purpose…
From the comforting surroundings of our secluded practice room, we were now thrown in front of our peers. Our craft was ready to be judged and maybe, just maybe, we’d look out and see a few heads bobbing along with our music.
Not only were we concerned about sounding the part, we had to look the part.
- Do you wear sunglasses? What happens if I can’t see my guitar tuner…
- Do you prop a bottle of beer on top of your amp? What happens if it’s knocked over and blows up my amp…
- Do you were a watch? What happens if it catches on my guitar’s strings…
Now, every aspect of our performance was under consideration. We now had an audience.
Playing live pushed us in every direction to deliver a well-rounded performance. Something to be proud of.
We were now performers as well as musicians. We were in the business of music. As in any business you can choose to stick to the rehearsal rooms or you can grow your audience.
Marketers can write great content, craft ideas and produce some amazing work. They can feel good about what they’re producing. If there’s no spotlight beaming down on you, there will always be the great ‘what if….’
What if you take your craft to a larger audience. What if you stepped outside your comfort zone?
Outside of your comfort zone, you naturally up your game. You polish your performance and once you’ve shared your work you crave that instant response from your listener. You judge feedback. You learn to recognise what makes a hit – what leaves your audience tapping their toes long after the show is over.
For every anthemic moment, there will be an accompanying bum-note. You very rarely make the same mistake twice. Why? Because you’ve practiced and you’ve prepared. You’ve tested and you’ve analysed.
When you believe in your offering and put the effort into your work, you’re already on the road to stardom. You can either wait for the call, or when you’re ready, you make the call. You make 100s of calls. Why? Because you believe you have something of value to your audience.
Your website, your articles, your video, your landing pages, they’re all your stage. Your website visitors are your audience…. you ready to rock?
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