Using Twitter

1. FAME

That's what it's based on. Maybe only personal fame, your friends and family, but in a cacophonous world, we only want the tweets of those we know and care about.

Let me be clear here. I'm not speaking about Twitter power users. Power users use Twitter as an overall information platform, searching for breaking news utilizing hash signs and search functions. It is possible that the general public will embrace this way of acquiring up to date information, but your goal now is to further bond people to you, so start with the basics.


2. WHAT TO TWEET

Your personality. First and foremost. If your identity does not come through, you're not doing it right. Sure, stating an opinion might subject you to abuse, but welcome to the Web, where too many powerful people used to having their asses kissed are confronted with criticism for the first time and hate it.

And speaking of hate... There are pure haters out there. If you're getting no negative feedback, you're not doing it right. The key isn't to take the edges off your tweets, but to build up your armor to the point where the negativity doesn't penetrate.


2. a. THE TWEET MUST BE YOU

Maybe it references your location, your birth place, your career, but assume that people already know a lot about you. Hit the ground running. Twitter is for fans, not casual listeners. It's the opposite of terrestrial radio. If people don't feel like insiders reading your tweets, you're doing it wrong.


2. b. CONTENT

Both personal and informational. What you're doing is cool. But if you're tweeting the mundane, you'd better be truly famous, worthy of TMZ coverage. Otherwise, put a hook in it. You went to your fave diner and suddenly it sucks. You're at the beach and the visuals are mindblowing. You're eating Chunky Monkey at Ben & Jerry's (illustrating your favorite flavor.) It's the opposite of traditional corporate music marketing. Instead of "Hello Cleveland", it's the Motel 6 next to the venue SUCKS and where can I get a good western omelette!


2. c. QUESTIONS

If you really want to know something, nothing is better than Twitter. But don't ask if you don't want to know. Where can I get a great hamburger here, the lock switch on my iPod is stuck, how do I fix it, has anybody seen this movie and is it any good?

People want to be your friend. Treat them as friends. If you ask a friend a question and then ignore him, he's pissed.


2. d. INSIDE INFORMATION

If you're in the studio, tell a story about it. Or sent a twitpic. Especially if it concerns something funny or someone famous.


3. FREQUENCY

Every day is more important than ten tweets in a row and then none for a week. Don't see tweeting as an obligation, do it upon inspiration. Some people love to tweet, that's fine, tweet away. But don't feel guilty if you suddenly have nothing to say. But don't self-edit to the point where you say nothing.


4. ANSWER QUESTIONS

Who is this person in the credits? Let your followers know.


5. FIX PROBLEMS

This is the number one way to bond Twitter followers to you. Not only do you look good to other followers, the person whose problem you solved will tell anybody and everybody how great you are. If someone got screwed, say you'll get right on it. And then have your manager or another team member address it instantly. Yes, speed is of the essence. These are your fans, don't make them wait, the same way you'd never arrive late for a hot date.


6. SIGN UP

Stop hemming and hawing, stop debating the inevitable march of the future, stop lumping Twitter in with MySpace and Facebook, stop making excuses why you can't play.

You're afraid to play. Yup, that's the truth. You're afraid of looking like an idiot, like you're not hip, like you're boring. But if you start on Twitter, you'll get the hang of it very quickly. And you'll begin experimenting, finding what works for you.


7. ARC

At first you're thrilled, you live to tweet.

Then a lull occurs. Why am I doing this again? How come my follower number is not increasing exponentially?

Maybe you'll stop for a week.

But continue to play.

It's a new world. Don't see this as direct to dividend. See it as a living, breathing procedure. Kind of like making music. Twitter should not be calculated, but an adventure.

And it does pay dividends. Both career-wise and emotionally.


8. CONCLUSION

Not everybody wants to follow you, but your fans are dying to. Because fans want more. And the more you reveal, the more unique you are, the less corporate bland you are, the more people will follow you and feel good about you.

Start here: https://twitter.com/signup?follow=

Use your real name, or a reasonable facsimile there of. This is not AOL in 1995, where you adopt an obscure handle that only you know the derivation of, you want to be able to be found, and followed.

Rock Stars

Did the Beatles plan on dominating the world?

No, they just wanted to escape a life of drudgery in Liverpool.

But their music became a mania. Suddenly, not only were they rich and famous, they had innumerable groupies beckoning.

Like Tiger Woods.

When the Beatles hit, even into the heyday of Led Zeppelin in the seventies, if you wanted to get rich, you were a rock star. Baseball's reserve clause had not yet been broken. The NBA did not yet have Magic and Bird, never mind Michael Jordan, it was almost a sideshow. As for golf... Arnie Palmer was a swinger, but he was more about endorsements than lifestyle, and at the time, nobody wanted to be icy, pudgy Jack Nicklaus.

No, you wanted to be like the English cats. Or the players from San Francisco. Who'd practiced for years so they could now get up at noon, do drugs and get laid seemingly whenever they wanted.

It all came down to the music. Jimmy Page didn't pick up the guitar with a desire to be famous. No, music was a calling. And after seeing the Beatles on "Ed Sullivan", boomers picked up instruments, took lessons. They did not get plastic surgery to appear beautiful, take media training so they could expose themselves well. It was all about the tunes.

It hasn't been about the tunes in eons.

Sure, there were starmakers all the way back to the days of Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis. But what drew us to the stars of the classic rock era was the seeming lack of manipulation. Playing by no rules, creating opuses sometimes an album side long, these musicians put the music first. Unlike athletes shilling for Aqua Velva.

Things turned bad with corporate rock in the midseventies. Too calculated, it was supplanted by disco and then in late '79, the whole business imploded, only to be resurrected by MTV, which evidenced completely different values from the FM radio that preceded it. Suddenly it was all about image.

And now MTV might be dead, but conventional wisdom is image triumphs. That's what TV wants. That's what the magazines want. That's what TMZ and Perez want. Radio was something you listened to. All the foregoing media enter through your eyes.

So right now, Mariah Carey might be parading around Aspen, but she's not staying there based on her new album's sales, they stink, she's living off the past. Even Alicia Keys. All these heavily-hyped artists, the Cliveisms, they're built for stardom, but today stardom doesn't permeate every nook and cranny, and so many are turned off by the hype, and music sales suck. And seemingly the more popular you are on the hit parade, the fewer people want to see you live. Dave Matthews hasn't had a radio hit in eons, but he was the biggest tour grosser of the decade.

But, of course, Dave Matthews has been around for fifteen years, he was the beneficiary of the old game. What about new artists?

What about new artists?

If you want to be a "rock star", be an athlete. Or a tech entrepreneur. That's where the money is. And groupies like money.

If you want to be a musician, you must flush image down the toilet, be three-dimensional, write from the heart and make yourself accessible to fans.

Yes, today's musicians are the opposite of the titans of yore. As opposed to being crafted with no edges, sculpted to perfection like Janet Jackson, who also can't sell a record, they're lumpy, with warts, they're completely human. And they write about their humanity. And they make themselves available on Twitter and other social media.

I'm not talking marketing. This isn't so much about selling as a redefinition of what a musician is. Sure, first and foremost you play music. But how do you get an audience?

How do you get friends? Real friends?

It's very difficult staying alone in your room, not interacting online. If you want to be part of the community you must venture out, whether it be into the real world or cyberspace. You must make yourself available. You must be ingratiating. You must be open and willing to share.

Who does it right?

Taylor Swift. Her songs couldn't be more personal. They're not bland statements denuded to the point where they can be sung by and related to by everybody, rather they're distinctly her.

John Mayer tweets his personality. Go to http://twitter.com/jOhnCmAYer and read, you'll end up thinking you truly know him. Furthermore, on his blog he stood up for James Cameron, who called a fan an asshole (http://www.johnmayer.com/blog/permalink/5379). Mayer didn't believe it was a fan, but an e-Bay whore. But the point is, Mayer took a stand. That's how you grow your audience, by having a personality, just like them.

Will musicians ever become rock stars?

Not like the athletes. The athletes have got all the money and all the TV time. If you want to get rich and screw, start shooting hoops. And isn't that fascinating, no one thinks they can play in the NBA without a wealth of court time, but people think they can succeed in the music game without paying their dues whatsoever.

And athletes don't succeed by revealing their inner lives, they make it via their robotic skills. The opposite of musicians. And did you ever think that whoring yourself out to corporations works for athletes but not musicians for this very reason? Because it's not about who athletes are so much as how skilled they are at their sport?

In other words, if you're pursuing the rock stardom that's bandied about in public today, you're pursuing artistic and commercial death. A "rock star" today is someone who's winning in the commercial world, which is the opposite of art. A true rock star is beholden to nobody. Hell, these athletes play for a team, or their sponsors. Which is how the major labels killed music. Because you were playing for them instead of playing for yourself.

Sure, eventually new acts will grow and dominate. But the ascension will be very slow. The rocket to outer space paradigm of MTV is history. Shit, isn't that the point of reality TV? Anybody can be famous for fifteen minutes?

You want to be famous for much longer than that.

Old thinkers will use the old tools. Radio and TV.

You're not opposed to those, but you focus on a direct connection with your fan.

Do your friends abandon you willy-nilly?

Of course not.

Then again, you think twice before you screw a friend, before you cancel plans.

So put your fans first. Establish trust. And practice!

Because it begins and ends with the music.

Too Much Joy !!!

Image via CrunchBase

I was forwarded this link earlier today, and I believe you may find it interesting how Warners handles digital royalties on bands no longer on their roster.

http://www.toomuchjoy.com/?p=1397

_____________________________________

I didn't read this e-mail until 8 PM.

And I immediately tweeted about it.

There are two kinds of people. Those who use Twitter and those who don't.

Please don't fall into the second category.

This ain't no MySpace, this ain't no Facebook, this is information, plain and simple.

Forget the hype, that it's those without lives listening to the minutiae of others. Sure, there are those who update their whereabouts on a regular basis. And those who think Twitter is purely for hype. Hell, I've now learned that Ian Rogers is not a discerning listener. Makes me wonder about Topspin. He's constantly tweeting that the music of every act the company works with is good. That's utter hogwash. Especially when the tunes are outside his normal flavor field.

Yes, you can learn a lot reading between the lines.

But you can also gain a ton of information.

First and foremost, you must make Twitter comprehensible.

Use Tweetdeck: http://www.tweetdeck.com/beta/

When it asks to install Adobe Air, just say yes. Adobe Air powers all the hip new software, like the New York Times Reader: https://timesreader.nytimes.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/TimesReader?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001 (It's free if you're a print subscriber.) The Reader is much faster than your browser. And more comprehensible.

And that's what Tweetdeck is all about, comprehension. It makes Twitter understandable, listing the tweets of those you follow, those that reference to you... There are a lot of "hidden" tricks in the app. Like click on someone's name, and a column appears delineating all their details. Play around.

But only if you've got a lot of RAM and a fairly new computer.

As for competing products... Start with Tweetdeck. Power users have favorites, but I don't want to overwhelm you.

So, I got this e-mail about the Too Much Joy royalty statement and upon reading it immediately tweeted about it.

And then my Tweetdeck notifications went berserk. People were retweeting my tweet.

In other words, the word was spreading.

How fast and how far?

To the point wherein minutes, the Webpage referenced was inaccessible, a data error showed up if you got anything at all.

Sure, this illustrates that if you've got information to purvey, be sure to have enough horsepower to get it out there.

But more importantly, that interesting information spreads like wildfire. Instantly. And far.

How far?

I've only got a fraction of my regular e-mail list following me on Twitter. I don't want to overload your inbox, especially with just raw information. So I tweeted as opposed to e-mailed.

It wasn't until the middle of the next day that I got a single e-mail about this Too Much Joy post. In other words, those relying on nineties technology, which e-mail is, were a step behind.

Notice, "Hits" didn't write about it. It seems that they've buried the hatchet with Lyor/Warner and don't want to piss anybody off.

The aforementioned "New York Times" doesn't think this is a big enough story and has no infrastructure anyway. They've got Ben Sisario writing about the music business and..? Meanwhile, if something is written on one of their blogs...NO ONE READS THEIR BLOGS!

But if you're a musician, if you're a dedicated follower of music, this Too Much Joy post was pure gold. Proof that the major labels' business paradigm is theft. Plain and simple.

Tim Quirk just wants what is owed to him. A statement.

Warner can't even deliver that. And when the company does, it's inaccurate.

Furthermore, Tim reveals the fallacy of recoupment. It's not dollar for dollar, but based on your royalty rate. So, you might still be underwater, but your company can be rolling in dough!

Believe me, you can automate these processes. You can deliver accurate royalty statements on time. But the major labels don't want to. Apple has a history of everything I've purchased. But somehow the label can't find this info. It's just data. Computing power and the Internet can put this at your fingertips.

What happens first? Do the labels enter the twenty first century or do musicians avoid them?

We already have our answer. It's the latter. Major labels sign few artists, and screw them in the process. If they can't account to you on digital sales, raw data, do you really trust them with other revenue streams in your 360 deal?

The labels are old school. And everybody knows it.

Except maybe the mainstream press. Which is just as ancient in its thinking as the labels.

I was frustrated, I thought this story had no legs. But then I read this "Billboard" article: http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3ib78b45167c2724124247727de2177597 (and why can't "Billboard" render properly in Safari, since Macs are the platform of choice for musicians) interviewing Mr. Quirk.

The story was picked up by the "Village Voice" blog, "Daily Swarm", "Hypebot", me and the "Onion AV" blog. And if you don't know the power of the "Onion AV", you probably run a major label.

The word got out. Not via the mainstream. Those who needed to know saw it. So, unlike straight news stories that have no traction because someone shortly thereafter gets kidnapped or killed, the target audience read and digested Tim Quirk's story.

How you gonna convince people not to steal when you're stealing yourself?

The record industry never pondered that question.

You could have been there first. You could have seen the story on Twitter. As opposed to being the last to know.

What do you not know?

That's what's killing the major labels, what they don't know.

And we live in an information society. And your so-called enemy, the public, now has access to all kinds of data. Great info finds its audience. Great music finds its audience also. Ever think that the reason few new acts break is because the music's not good enough?

I know, that's heresy. Stone me.

But if you hear something good you tell everybody you know.

Via social media. Via Twitter.

Jon Bon Jovi / John Mayer, What's The Difference

Image by sushla via Flickr

If older folk still buy music and younger people steal it, why did John Mayer sell almost twice as many albums the first week out as Bon Jovi?

Yes, according to hitsdailydouble.com, John Mayer sold 301,204 copies of his new album, "Battle Studies", this week. Whereas last week, Bon Jovi moved 165,871 copies of "The Circle".

Ready for some truly horrifying news? This week "The Circle" fell all the way to number 19, selling 50,153 copies, a whopping drop of 70%. Whew!

What's the difference between John and Jon?

One is living in 2009 and the other is living in the last century.

Jon Bon Jovi was positively old media, tying in with NBC.

John Mayer was new media, appearing in concert on Fuse and tweeting up a storm.

It doesn't matter the total reach, it matters who actually watches and what the perception is.

Fuse would be canceled, the entire channel, if its programming was on NBC. To say the ratings are anemic would be charitable. But Fuse airs music, unlike MTV. And most people watching the shows featuring Bon Jovi on NBC don't give a shit about the man's music. In other words, Jon's shoving it down the wrong people's throats.

Jon Bon Jovi has a fawning documentary on Showtime.

John Mayer is all over Twitter.

Did you watch any of the Bon Jovi doc? Shot like it was footage for "America's Next Top Model", everyone looked beautiful and spouted humble platitudes, like we were still living in the eighties and rock stars were established on MTV and made a freaking fortune. Whereas the truth is everybody's scrambling, giving concert tickets away in some instances. Bon Jovi reflecting is like Lloyd Blankfein saying Goldman Sachs is doing "God's work". Huh?

Laughable.

If you Google "Bon Jovi Twitter", the first result is: http://m.twitter.com/backstagejbj a page that doesn't exist. The second result is http://twitter.com/bonjovimerch

Wow, someone in JBJ's camp doesn't understand Twitter. It's not for selling, its for CONNECTING!

Meanwhile, the Bon Jovi merch page has 1,540 followers.

Google "John Mayer Twitter" and you get the following page: http://twitter.com/jOhnCmAYer

John Mayer has 2,657,425 Twitter followers. Furthermore, he's following 72 people, so you get an idea of what he's into.

Bon Jovi's old school, playing behind a wall, just like Doug Morris and Jimmy Iovine, rarely coming out to play and only in circumstances they can control.

John Mayer is new school. Putting it all out there unfiltered, getting into arguments with Perez Hilton, never backing down, not afraid to look like a tool.

It's the honesty that grabs you. That's why people are following John Mayer, that's why they care about him. Furthermore, in an era where album sales represent only a fraction of your fan base, you want to get attention where you can. Not by batting people over the head, telling them they must endure you, but being so provocative, so interesting that they want to tune in.

Nobody plays the new media game better than Mr. Mayer.

He makes a deal with BlackBerry and it looks cool. Kind of like a rapper, ripping off the man, because you know he uses a BlackBerry anyway! Whereas U2 makes a deal with BlackBerry and you see dollar signs, you see promotion, you see a deal. If you endorse a product you truly use is it a sell-out?

The classic rock acts would probably say yes, you don't want to tarnish your image.

But Mr. Mayer is at the bleeding edge of a new paradigm, where the rules are being made up as we go. He's so overexposed that he's establishing a new way of doing it, you almost feel like he's a guy at your high school, that you know him. Does anybody really know Jon Bon Jovi? Who never has a bad word to say about anyone?

Old school: You're afraid of pissing anybody off, you're Justin Timberlake at the Super Bowl, apologizing.

New school: Dixie Chicks. Screw with me and I'll give you the middle finger.

In other words, it's been a long strange trip, but we're suddenly back in the sixties. It's about artistry, it's about music, it's about honesty. You don't triangulate, construct a phony identity for public consumption. You're better off being your real self. Hell, the Internet will tease out your flaws anyway, why not admit them?

Jon Bon Jovi utters irrelevant platitudes and John Mayer sings "Who says I can't get stoned?"

Politicians have to lie about doing dope. But artists are supposed to speak the truth, and the public has to deal with it. Which is why we love our artists more than any political figure.

"Who says I can't get stoned
Call up a girl that I used to know
Fake love for an hour or so
Who says I can't get stoned?"

A weird variation on drunk-dialing. Maybe her number is still in your cell. Maybe you've got to IM her, maybe you've got to pull up her Facebook page. But you're sitting at home, thinking about what used to be. Can you act on it?

That's a question confronting everyone online. Do you make contact or let the sleeping dogs of the past lie?

Bon Jovi, Mimi, all the stars of the MTV era are still living in it, oblivious to the fact that the nineties were ten years ago, and that in Internet time, a decade is equivalent to a century. It's not a three year cycle, you're on a day to day regimen.

"Any tweet that takes more than 90 seconds to write is not a tweet worth sending."

John Mayer

Yes, we used to make records in an afternoon and get them on the radio in a week. Now, TV and movies are more topical than music. Let it out, go knee-jerk, don't massage, don't focus on the marketing plan, focus on the music.

And stay in touch with your audience CONSTANTLY!

"Who Says": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZwVjys2bQI

Empowerring Your Audience

Image by aulia.m via Flickr

Go to a gig and you'll see a plethora of attendees filming the event. Not only taking photos, but literally recording the gig.

Old acts want to employ a no-camera policy. They want to ban the users. Newbies tolerate it. Why not EMBRACE the audience's activity?

Why doesn't every band have a page for audience uploads? Pics AND clips? Allowing the fans themselves to vote on which ones are the best, which ones are worth viewing?

Of course, you host on YouTube and you embed on the artist's page. If Google can sway L.A. to host its e-mail in the cloud, why can't bands utilize the company's free services to their advantage? Flickr is a great resource too!

The point is we've got it all wrong. We're trying to tell the fans what to do, when they should be telling US what to do!

Did you read the story on Twitter in yesterday's "New York Times"? All its good ideas come from outside. Like search, hash tags and referencing people by using the @ symbol. The company decried some of these innovations, they didn't even want messages to be called "tweets". Then they realized they had it wrong, that they should be embracing third party innovation, not stifling it!

People want to share music. Rather than trying to stop this, copyright owners should make it easier. You want to e-mail someone the track? Let the band's site do it for you! And if the person you send the music to clicks a button on the e-mail, saying he actually likes the new cut, you get points, allowing you better seats at the gig or some other swag.

What, do we think we're going to prevent people from swapping music? If you believe this, you must not have any USB keys, which even come in credit card-sized promotional form these days. It's not about stopping trading, but INCREASING trading!

Eventful has got it right. An act should go where its fans want them to.

Fans want more access, not less. Where is fan access to music business executives? Ashton Kutcher and every musician known to man can tweet, but Edgar Bronfman, Jr., Doug Morris and Jimmy Iovine can't? No wonder the business gets such a bad rap. If it's all about relationships, how about doing a spot of work, helping the cause? Believe me, hiding behind Mitch Bainwol will pay no dividends.

Speaking of Twitter, people like to tweet about tracks. Why not create a service easier than Blip, that allows people to hear what others tweet about? I should be able to tweet about a track, and if you want to check it out, all you've got to do is click the link. And I get the URL for the track from one central, easy to use database. Plug the name into a Google-type search engine and you IMMEDIATELY get a bit.ly shortened url for someone to hear the entire thing. This is better than radio promotion. You're getting people truly interested in the music checking it out right away. They're pulling it, you're not pushing it. And pull is where all the money is. It's just like Google AdWords. The people who click WANT TO BUY!

The fans want to hook up at the gig. Can't you make this easier? A special meeting station, with free wi-fi for iPhones. Believe me, you can get a sponsor to cough up the free wi-fi.

We've got it all wrong. We've been FIGHTING the customer instead of EMBRACING HIM! So worried about losing money, being unable to sustain the nineties model, we're closing the door to the future. The more you can get people excited about music, the more you can increase their access, the more money you ultimately make.

Sure, Twitter itself may not yet be profitable, but the tweets are evanescent. Music is not. Get someone hooked on an act, and they'll go see them live, buy merch, buy the music, whether it be the track outright or listening on a paid streaming service.

For over a decade, the technology's been more interesting than the music. Because music has been putting up barriers, refusing to play in the new world. This makes no sense. Instead of telling people how to use the music, let them tell US!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/technology/internet/26twitter.html

What People Value by Pat Melfi

Cover of Feelings (Piccolo Books)

One of the world's largest record company's recently interviewed other firms to handle its payroll. After interviewing the three finalist firms, the three members of the selection committee were stumped. They decided on a perfect solution. They flew to each of the finalist's headquarters, took a short walk around and "got a feeling" for each place. When they walked into the third company's lobby, something immediately somehow "just felt right." They stayed but five minutes, and then headed home. From the airport back home, they called the third company with the multi-million dollar good news.

So often, that is the difference. Not superior competence. Not more years of experience. Just something tiny, like the feeling that you give people. People buy feelings--People value--and pay more for--the way you make them feel.

As promised, we are on a 5 day journey in which we said that at the beginning of each day we will begin with a thought, sort of a theme for the day. We will focus on that theme and throughout the day we will apply the theme in our day and from that day forward apply the principle daily.

Day 2: The Law of Compensation

Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment...your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them. Or to put it another way, your compensation is directly proportional to how many lives you touch.

Having been in the entertainment business for over thirty years, I always thought it seemed so unfair how movie stars, musical acts and top athletes pulled down those huge salaries. But people who were doing such great work, such noble work--like school teachers--never got paid what they're worth. It always seemed arbitrary. What I am saying now is, it's not a question of their value. It's a question of their impact. And there two amazing things about this. First, it means that you get to determine your level of compensation--it's under your control. If you want more success, find a way to serve more people. It's that simple. It also means there are no limitations on what you can earn, because you can always find more people to serve. The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., once said, "Everybody can be great because anybody can serve." Another way to say that might be, everybody can be successful because anybody can give.

Interestingly enough I have spent countless years in service to others. At the beginning of my career, there came upon me a strong feeling that others might take advantage of me for this. A quick study of The Law of Attraction caused me to adjust my feelings about this. In this law I learned that by feeling that way I could actually attract that kind of outcome. Remember we spoke about this last week when we said that when Mind creates a thought or desire, it will actually manifest it. Since I did not want to attract that kind of outcome, I began to think that all people want by nature to be good and deserve to be served.

Again, as we close we find some very key points that are directly tied to The Law of Compensation that are also tied to yesterday's topic The Law of Value. See if can see the common thread and email me back.

I have become a servant to many of you who email me daily, thanking me for the inspiration I am given through the grace of God to motivate you into a better place, a better spirit, a better life...I am truly grateful for that. Without you, I am nothing. Your emails daily, are a service that I cherish. At the end of the day...people buy feelings!!!

Are You Nine Tenths Under Water by Pat Melfi

Image via Wikipedia

Interestingly enough today comes with a topic we call "action." When Donald Trump was asked what the first part of oratory was, he answered : "Action"; and what the second was, he answered "Action" and the third, he still answered, "Action".

More men and women have been cheated of their destiny by inaction than by any other cause. And even men and women of mediocre talents have achieved success beyond their dreams by the simple process of harnessing great energies to modest abilities.

For action itself is a form of ability, and the greatest talents are useless without the decision and the drive to launch them and put them over among those we are anxious to reach and impress. You will hear the word "action" frequently repeated in my vocabulary, since action is one of the most important phrases of a successful life and an imperative command for men and women who want to convert their abilities into cash. The time for ACTION is NOW !!! Take a look around us...action wins wars, sells goods, pays divedends, solves labor troubles, stabalizes industry and government, and commands the grudging respect of men and women everywhere who are incapacitated and defeated by the inability to act.

By a show of hands and be honest...how often, in envy of another man or women's success, have you said to yourself, "He or She's got nothing I haven't got"; or even "He or she hasn't got even as much as I do"? Yet, far from being immodest, your conclusions may be demonstrably true; but only demonstration can prove it; and that's something the other man or woman has that you haven't got! They demonstrate while others only dream. The truth is, action must be an integral part of your equipment, or your other qualifications, however exceptional, will receive scant consideration in the market place. If you possess the gift of action, you need not fret too much about your limited endowments.

Man is not the largest physical creature in the world, yet he has dominion over the earth, and all things in it. God gave this dominion to man through Mind and the conscious ability to form ideas. Man, through his imagination and applied acquired knowledge, discovers and explores the physical laws, and harnesses these laws and puts them in service for his comfort and convenience. Everything that men and women create has its origin in Mind.

What is Ability? Ability is the capacity to act, the quality or state of being able. It is the power to perform, whether physical, moral, intellectual or legal. The ability of the average man or woman may be compared to an ice-berg: about nine-tenths of it is under water. Professor William James, the eminent and renowned psychologist, estimated that the average man and woman uses only 10 percent of their real ability, while the other 90 percent is latent. Latent ability is potential power, and can be released by the proper encouragement and the proper treatment. The might and power of ability feeds on its own achievement, and when inspired it permeates the whole consciousness with a synchronized responsiveness and any art, craft, or business is performed efficiently, and enjoyed freely. A superior service is rendered and a larger income is earned.

Let's talk about a way to develop ability! It cannot be developed all at once. It is like building a house. One brick must be laid at a time. Most people want to begin with the house instead of the bricks. Things are not built as a whole, but in parts, and each part must be built. The same principle applies to ability. You must build a little each day.

Here is a challenge I would like to make to you. Develop 3 sentences each day on the improvement of yourself, a profession, craft or business. At the end of 1 year you will have a total of 1100 sentences, and at the end of 4 years enough material to write a book. This can be accomplished in 15 minutes each day...a little built each day is amazing in its results. We are taught in our families, in our civic organizations, in our schools, in our churches to be satisfied with what we have, to want more is wrong. I challenge you to never be satisfied, instead always be grateful for everything around you. I cannot recall anywhere in my research hearing God say you cannot have everything and more of what you desire...as long as you check with me. Did you get that? Check with me...If it is the will of God, and it is, and you have the desire, it will manifest before your very eyes if you apply the knowledge you gain. Oh that word again..."application"....hmmmm!!!

Let's consider that word "application" for a minute. The application of what you know reveals how many things you do not know. Stop here and re-read this...the application of what you know reveals how many things you DO NOT know. But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the hearts of men and women, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. Application puts this principle of the the Bible into operation. Application of ability is like steam to a locomotive. It draws into action all the mechanisms and channels it into power.

Another way to develop your ability is to lay down a challenge. In analyzing those individuals who have made a phenomenal success, we find that it was not the result of an elaborate education, or a specialized training. Instead we see most of them had little formal education and none of them were trained for leadership. What then is this big secret behind their success? These individuals had one quality in common--the daring ability to start something. They challenged their own ability. They dared to think for themselves. They determined to do something and rely on their own. Did you get that...rely on their own...it is NOT someone elses reponsibility to apply for your life, it is yours.

Today we have the phenomenal band we call The Eagles. On their last album they laid down some tracks to a very powerful and subliminal message in one of their love songs...........Do Something. With confidence engendered by action, they drew on their own ability to do things others thought impossible, using a love song. They did not know that they could not do it, so they went ahead and did it. A simple love song is entwined with, in my opinion, one of the most powerful phrases one can ever take into their mind....DO SOMETHING! I want to share some of these quality lyrics for your consideration; Everything I believe in has been turned upside down...and now it seems the whole wide world's gone crazy...and when I feel like giving up...and I'm ready to walk away...In the stillness I can hear a voice inside me say DO SOMETHING, DO SOMETHING...it's not too late for saving grace...don't just stand there taking up space....DO SOMETHING, DO SOMETHING...It's not over, no, its never too late to DO SOMETHING.

If you are here today, you know what I am talking about, you have had this stillness being referred to in this song, you have heard the words in your own heads, you have heard the message to DO SOMETHING. Many of my experiences in my life are surrounded by music. My associates one day challenged me to share my attitude with others that need this information. I have always chosen not to do that but then one day, from the most unsuspecting place came a re-acquaintance with an old freind. That freind, Geoff Watson. Many of you here know Geoff. Geoff and I go back 9-10 years now and while our paths were distintively diffent in travel, they had an interesting common denominator. They had ability, they had conviction, they had confidence, they had turmoil, they had failure, they are fascinating, (notice I said fascinating although one may intepret them as depressing...LOL),they had common losses in real estate, in music, in business and even poossibly put threats on our marriages. They had women that truly believed in us even under this level of stress. They saw our characters and held us up, gave us the strength to re-group and apply. Interestingly enough, for the both of us, it included a complete exit from our comfort zones, our careers, our knowingness of what we believed could support our families, raise our children, even give us financial freedom and position us to help our fellow man to do the same. It involved taking a risk at a very "broke" time...Scary huh ??? Geoff and I are truly grateful for what these women had the ability to do and moreso their ability to "take action" when we needed it.

Speaking of getting out of our comfort zone, he the master of the restoration of the renowned Corvette and I the master of Artist promotion and management, the personal development of the creative skill of others...it took something way outside of our comfort zone to achieve financial success and happiness. More than anything, it took courage, the support of others, and more than anything, it took "ACTION". On that note I want to leave you with this thought. The fact that you are here today tells me you may need to hear these last words.

Pasteur, who gave more knowledge for the preservation of health than any other man, was not a physician. Whitney, the man who invented the cotton gin, was a school teacher in Connecticut, far away from the fields of cotton. John D. Rockefeller was a clerk in a produce house. Andrew Carnegie was a bobbin boy. Thomas Edison was a newsboy. Henry Ford was an electrical mechanic. Benjamin Franklin was a printer's apprentice. Morse of telegraphic fame was a portrait painter. Bell, the inventor of the telephone, was a teacher of sound. Eastman, the Kodak king, was a bank clerk. Men and women who blaze new trails, character new routes, pioneer new methods, make new discoveries and invent new things are men and women who dare to do things that can't be done. While others faulter, these men and women go forward. I challenge you to seek and search and things will be revealed, even the innermost things of perfection. Men and women to do not need pull. They need to think. A challenge to dare, an incentive to undertake, and the urge to begin turns most things into a blessing. Those who dare to think stand out in the majesty of their own might.

If you are truly seeking change in your life, take a very close look at what we do. It WILL change your life. In my 35 years of promoting some of the world's biggest bands, I have always acted as my first customer. My conviction has been if it is good enough for me to buy, it is good enough for to sell or promote it. On the other hand, if it is not good enough for me to buy, it is not good enough for me to sell or promote it. Conviction based upon the principle of good is invincible and never fails to convince. It acts with determination and confidence. Convince yourself, and you will convince others and ALWAYS remember God is NOT partial to a fortunate few. His unlimited gifts and riches are free to all. However, there are certain laws that govern them starting with "Action." Take you action now, get with the person who brought you to this space and layout your plan of action.