In the music business there are a two main ways to succeed. You can work like crazy and hope to be found, doing what you need to do until stardom breaks, or you can apply to an advert, audition for a band or singing group and be produced into a star.

Both are legitimate ways to succeed. 

The first way requires real talent, determination, and often something different. Something fresh, something new. It also requires passion and a willingness to never give up. To keep going for as long as needs be. 

The second less so. Yes you will need to be talented and be chosen, but the producers have studied the market, decided what they think the next big thing will be. They will have chosen you because you fit what they are looking for. They are well funded and backed to make it happen. They take what a lot of people love, and give them more of it. 

It’s a business model for music, taking art and making it profitable. And this is not a new thing by any stretch, it’s been around from well before it’s success with Motown, through the Spice Girls, One Direction and onto, well onto whatever or whomever comes next.

Of course there is more than one way to skin a cat, and no one way is right or wrong. Well, you may disagree. I certainly know which type of music I prefer…..

In business it is the same

We have two main choices: 

We can look for an existing need and provide a product or service that fills it, or seek to improve on someone else’s good product and take their market share.

This is a reasonable strategy and we see it all the time. In many industries, especially where services are similar, this is can be a very sensible way to go. Do what you do, better than everyone else. It is a safe strategy and it can work well. 

Or, we can do something new and lead. Something new, something different. Something that not everyone will get, but those who do will love. Love and tell others about it. Be original and take the risk that we might fail, but if we succeed then wow, the payoff can be phenomenal.

And what has this got to do with Jimi Hendrix?

Jimi Hendrix was my childhood musical hero, and still is. He was amazingly talented, arguably the greatest guitarist of our time. And he was also an amazing song writer. 

The only problem he had was that Jimi had a terrible singing voice. But, Jimi didn’t care. He wrote the songs, and as far as he was concerned he wasn’t going to let anyone else sing them. (In fact, he thought that if his hero, Bob Dylan, could do it, then so could he.) His music was his own, and his style was different to everyone else. And that was how he liked it. 

Jimi knew that if he did what he believed in, and did it with enough passion, then others might enjoy it too. He could have stayed in America and played back up in other groups, but that didn’t work for Jimi. Jimi wanted to do his own thing. He knew that if enough people liked what he did, then he would be a success. So he come to London, formed The Experience, and the rest is history….(no prizes for guessing why business name is what it is!)

To be a success in business, you must totally believe in what you do. You must go to market with a passion for yourself and your service. Without that, no one is going to buy you.

Jimi Hendrix knew that. He was ahead of his time. Jimi was amazing, and his success lives on today.

If you are currently trying to push a service that you don’t believe in, then you must stop now. Stop, and find something you do believe in. Then, do what Jimi did. Don’t play back up for someone else, do what feels right. Go to market and sell. Sell with passion and belief and people will buy.

Or do what everyone else is doing. But remember what Scott Ginsberg quite rightly said “there are no cover bands in the rock and roll hall of fame”.

Contact me

For more on developing yourself, your staff and improving the profitability of your business, please do get in touch. Follow me on Twitter at @jamesnathan, connect to me on LinkedIn, or follow me on Facebook.

I look forward to speaking soon.