He’s a joker, a smoker and a mid-night toker. The iconic singer-songwriter Steve Miller has no shortage of tokers in his audience. They were all sitting around me at a recent concert. I met people that have been fans since the late 60’s. That is a loyalty any business would covet, and Miller continues to increase the power of his personal brand.
Entertainers have a lot to teach us about personal branding. The entertainment industry has a way of capturing our hearts and minds, and it doesn’t usually include a 100-page PowerPoint presentation. The career-minded business person can use many of the same tactics to increase personal branding and win new jobs and promotions.
This summer at the Greek in LA, Miller hit the stage with his guitar wailing, playing some of his biggest hit songs from the ’70s. Starting with songs like “The Joker,” he proceeded to flash through an array of American music classics, stopping only to don a new guitar for almost every new song. Steve Miller has a passion for guitars, and it shows. The entire stage for this year’s concert was decorated with an artful explosion of guitars.
Miller’s passion for guitars appears again when he paused to talk about a topic dear to him, his non-profit charter school set up to teach children music, the Fenders Kids Rock Free program. To emphasize the importance of his charity, he introduced pint-sized, guitar-playing prodigy, Dillon Brown, to jam with him for the final songs.
What are you passionate about? Does it show in how you decorate your office? Is it apparent in your on-line profiles? Do you talk about it? Do you support networks or charities with the same focus? Do you talk about your passions on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn?
A classic story teller, Miller wove guitars into many tales, like the one about his favorite acoustic guitar. The guitar was stolen on a United Airlines flight by a baggage handler, then turned up three years later when a relative of the thief tried to pawn it.
He also paused to dedicate a song to his long-time band mate, Norton Buffalo, who died last year. As much as he worked to further his guitar based personal brand, he used a personal emotional story to further connect with his audience. Don’t be afraid to be real with your audience give your personal brand a kind, gentle, human face.
Steve Miller sings about flying like an eagle. You may not be a performer, but you can take a lesson from him and make your personal brand soar to new heights.
Keep up-to-date with Fast Track Tools by subscribing to our blog so you will be the first to know about special, free offers.
photo by Tim Patterson