Success Lessons From The Bee Gees

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For the record, that is NOT a typo.

Yup, I’m talking about the disco Bee Gees. Maurice, Barry and the other guy. (I can never remember his name.) Here are some interesting facts about success the Bee Gees:

  • They’ve sold over 220 million records worldwide.
  • Won 9 Grammys.
  • They have just as many hits they’ve written for other artist as they have written for themselves. (See “Islands in the stream”  and others.. for a full list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_Gees )
  • The Saturday Night Fever Record is second only to Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller” album.

This is just a small sample of their success track record.  It is frankly amazing in today’s day and age. To top it off, they were a band from 1967 to 2003. An eternity in the music industry.

While watching a documentary on the Bee Gees a few night ago, something really stood out.

After all their massive success with Saturday Night Fever, there was a huge back lash against the Bee Gees. They released one more album and then didn’t release an album for almost 10 years.

In the interim, want to know what they did?

They wrote a song everyday.

I’m paraphrasing a bit, but this is the gist of what they said: “Even with all the success, we never stopped doing what got us there in the first place. Everyday, every morning, we would write a song. Sometimes together, sometimes separately, but we always wrote a song everyday.”

If you add up the number of years they were a band. That’s 37 years. Let’s say they took off weekends and holidays. That’s 250 days a year of writing. Multiply that by 37 and you get…

… 9,250 songs.

Selling 220 million albums and winning 9 Grammys doesn’t seem like such a big deal after all.

I would imagine there were some days they felt awful, tired, hungover, jet lagged, sick with the flu.. you name it. Yet, they still wrote everyday.

And look at the success.

Most people would put all their efforts into the excuses why they can’t do the basics everyday. In fact, in the time it would take them to hone their craft in the morning, they use that time to create excuses.

I’ve personally mentored under some very successful marketers and copywriters. They all, first thing in the morning, practice their craft. They write copy, send out an email to the list, they do something to serve their market everyday.

Then 30 years later they’re an overnight success.

Whether you like the Bee Gees or not (I personally think the music is outstanding) the lesson is very clear.

Your success in whatever you do; business, raising kids, being a great spouse, lie the ability to do the fundamentals day in and day out that bring that success.

 

Want To Make A Million Dollars By Friday? Sell A Solution To Financial Chaos

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When we moved from the 20th century to the 21st century, there was a big hub bub on Y2K and the ensuing financial chaos. If you are over 25 you probably remember that the world was going to end.

ATM machines wouldn’t work, bank balances would disappear, the stock market would crash, gasoline prices would sky rocket and the world would be sent into financial chaos.

The cause? Y2K. What is Y2K. It was a computer programming bug whereby at the turn of the century, the computers wouldn’t roll forward to the year 2000, but roll back to the year 1900. All because of a programming error of using two digits on a date, not four.

The end result would be widespread financial chaos.

This created a tremendous financial windfall for a number of people. Computer companies sold billions of dollars of programming fixes to banks and other businesses worldwide.

Online marketers sold information products on how to survive in a Y2K world. What kinds of non perishables you would need, where to buy gold and silver, how to protect your family and how to shoot a gun. To this day, I know people who bought and installed Y2K survival kits in the house.

Then there was the church. To some extremists this was the rapture. Jesus was gonna come back, God was going to pour out his wrath on America because of abortion, gay marriage, our moving off the gold standard and countless other sins of our country.

In the end, Y2K never really happened. The fixes were made, the ATM’s worked and life went on as normal.

For centuries man has used real possibilities (albeit slight) to make millions selling solutions. Fallout shelters, global cooling, global warming, nuclear war, terrorism, you name it, man has used it to sell and make millions.

What is today’s ‘financial chaos’? The collapse of the US Dollar.

For the record, I think there is a chance our US dollar could collapse. There is always a chance. Trillions in debt, economic instability, a rising China, all could come together to cause the dollar to collapse.

The debate here is not the actual chance the dollar will collapse, but the marketing lesson to be learned.

Man can manipulate another man, simply by using ‘fear’ and the ‘end of the world as we know it’. Marketing fear of loss is one of the most powerful ways to get a prospect to part ways with their money. I know, because I used it for years selling from the front of the room and online.

This tactic is not just used by front of the room pitch men and online marketers. It’s also used by the church… any religious institution or political parties. Christian, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Muslim, Jewish, New Age, Cults, Jim Jones.. you name it.

The pitch goes something like this; “If you don’t do “X”, you life will look like “Y” (poor, broke, family at risk, children being sold into slavery, etc.) but if you do “A” your life will look like “B” (peaceful, harmony, neighbors envious because you took preventative action)

This pitch has been used to get people to vote for political candidates, join unions, tithe, contribute to building campaigns, buy get rich quick products, plastic surgery, buy vitamins… the list goes on and on.

Does this mean that all of those things are horrible? Not at all. Each one of these products and services has a value and done in a spirit of LOVE and RESPECT can benefit those who really need these items.

You can sell, logically and in a spirit of LOVE, without FEAR and manipulation the benefits and wisdom of owning Gold and Silver.

You can use LOVE to sell the benefits of balancing state and federal budgets, plus the sacrifices that will have to be made by all citizens to keep America, America.

You can use RESPECT to sell the benefits of plastic surgery. I know a number of people who now have better confidence because of the wonders of modern plastic surgery. (And I’m not just talking breast implants guys.)

Can you make a million dollars easier by using FEAR? Hell yes.

Is it worth it in the long run… Hell no.

Have a great day,

Matthew Gillogly