A while back I wrote about the difference between operating a transaction-driven business and a relationship-driven business, and how this is a vital distinction to take into account for music as well. Today I wanted to share a video with some thoughts by Peter Guber of the Mandalay Entertainment Group that relate to this same topic. Peter produced or executive produced movies like Rain Man, Gorilla’s In The Mist, The Color Purple and many more movies, so he knows about story telling. I’m happy to be back to blogging after a 6 week hiatus while our expansion at Family Records was taking up all my time! A summary of the thoughts expressed in the video below.
- On the important of story telling: “When you tell a story, any kind of story, and you aim for somebody’s wallet or you look at them as customers or clients or patrons, they protect their groin and their backside, their wallet. That’s what they do, naturally. You’re aiming for transactions. When you aim for relation and you aim for their heart, that’s where hits are born. When it does that it migrates to your head and to your wallet.”
- On involving emotions in your story telling: “Your aim for the perfect target is to emotionalize your offering so then the person actually metabolizes the information, the data and the facts in the form of a story. It does two things: acts on it, moves their feet or their wallet, creates a relationship, more than a transaction; and most importantly, they become advocates or apostles for the position and pass along the story as theirs. That’s the key. That’s theirs, it’s their joke, it’s their stories, it’s their narrative. And when they do that, it becomes viral.”
- On your audience: “Don’t think of them as customers or clients. Think of them as an audience. They expect experiences. And that’s what you’ve got to deliver. And that’s what narrative does, deliver experiences. But know what’s interesting. Don’t try to be interesting… be interested. Think about what’s in it for them. Make sure you spend a little time to cut through the cacophony of their noise, disrupt it so you will have a good landing platform for your tell.”
- On having goals: “Don’t walk in without a goal! Know what your goal is, you’re wasting your time and theirs, and don’t hide it. All they’ll see is you’re hiding something. Pride it; make sure that goal is generous. Show you have skin in the game. Show you have a real understanding of what laughing and crying together means. And then be interactive. Remember, you’re not telling a story in an empty vacuum or a vacuum or emptiness. You’re telling it with another human being or a group of human beings there. Be interactive, engage them. Don’t make them passengers, make them participants.”
- On content: “Find it anywhere, your life experience, somebody else’s life experience, history, movies, and just embed the information in it, and realize you’re in emotional transportation business. Move them. Make them laugh, cry, cheer, feel, and they’ll remember that information and that story forever and will buy your product, will join your club, will join your church, will participate in your company, will be a customer or client on a relationship basis. Not just a transactional one.”
Related Reading: Transactions vs. Relationships (Or What Kind Of Artist Are You) read)