Did you catch the American Idol finals last year between Taylor Hicks and Catherine What's Her Name? Who won? The one with the best voice? Or the one with the most personality?
I'm gonna tell you a secret, something no one ever tells entrepreneurs. It's not about being the best! It never was. Yet so many entrepreneurs waste their time and money bragging about being the best. “We sell the best doohickeys...” “We provide the best customer service…” ‘
It's dopey to brag about being the best! Why? ‘Cause
1. Everyone says it.
2. It's probably not true.
3. We don't believe you anyway
But don't worry about it, ‘cause
4. We're not always looking for the best.
Look at singers. The most famous. The most loved. Are they the best? Rod Stewart's what, 92? And still churning out hit albums! “Do You Think I'm Sexy?” No Rod. I do not. Not 30 years ago when the song came out and certainly not now. But somehow a geriatric Rod got to wiggle his assets on American Idol along with Taylor Hicks! Meanwhile poor Catherine is doing a lame cameos on Ugly Betty.
The “It” Factor
In showbiz, there's an expression “You've got ‘it'.” What's “it”?
The reason they call it “it” is because it's hard to put it into words. It's got something to do with charisma, magnetism, the power to attract and hold an audience. Frankly, Rod Stewart never did it for me, but Elvis definitely had “it”.
Access Your Inner Elvis
I just saw a movie about Elvis' life. Why are people so fascinated by Elvis? Why are they still telling me “Tsufit, I just saw Elvis at a convenience store!” when he died before Britney Spears was born? Why? Because a personality that big never dies.
Why was the guy such a star? Was it his look, his personality, his voice, his music? It's probably all of those things—together with this magical thing called “it”, but even with Elvis, it took him a while to find his inner “it”.
In the movie, a docu-drama (or shlock-u-drama), Elvis walks into Sun Records, a small Memphis recording studio, to sing for Sam Phillips. Elvis sings like Bill Monroe; he sings like Bing Crosby; he sings like yesterday's news. Just another singer. A dime a dozen.
It wasn't a quickie, even for Elvis, to find his original voice. But he kept at it and Phillips kept pushing him. Eventually he did find it. And the rest is history!
What's this got to do with entrepreneurs? Everything!
You gotta find your original voice. You gotta dig beyond the ordinary. You gotta find your business' personality and then you have to show it. You gotta access your Inner Elvis!
