Sell and Market Like The Jonas Brothers

Oct 29, 2016

Wes Schaeffer

Email Marketing Best Practices Marketing Automation Digital Marketing

Last Saturday (May 2009) I was fortunate enough to get VIP passes to take my five oldest kids—including 4 girls and their cousin—to meet The Jonas Brothers.

Not only did they get their picture taken with them but my little 4 year old got to actually sit on stage while they performed a 6-song set for a joint promotion with Wal-Mart and Degree Girl that will be released in June.

Seeing how I'm not a pre-pubescent little girl able to scream loud enough to drive off rodents, insects and ICBMs with a single screech, but I am the most competitive sales and marketing obsessive compulsive you'll ever meet, I was looking behind the scenes to better understand what it took to pull off an 11-minute meet and greet and 47 minute mini-concert to see if I could glean any pearls of wisdom to help us mere mortals grow our business.

How to Sell and Market Like The Jonas Brothers:

Lights - at least three dudes on spotlights in the balcony, a bunch of rainbow colored lights from the ceiling, dozens of lights on stage shooting out at the crowd, lights on the three hand-held/shoulder mounted cameras and a couple on the floor on stage that randomly blind the fans nearest the corner of the stage.
Music - you gotta have good music, which means a lead guitar, two brothers on guitar, a bass guitar, two violins, a keyboard player, a drummer and a 4-piece horn section. Oh, and a brother slapping around a tambourine from time to time.
Cameras - you need three boom cameras, one front and center, two in the balcony, and at least three hand held to get the action both back stage and in the audience.
Crew Dawgs - At least 17 but there were guys out back with the trucks that never came in so who knows how many were there.
Security - I lost count at 15.
Managers & Assistants - everywhere and nowhere.
Marketing - posters galore, branded badges, spotlights with their names, fan pages, Facebook, MySpace and probably sky-writing as well but I was inside so I can't confirm that.
Technology - they had a mixing board bigger than a king-sized bed along with wireless and wired Ethernet, two-way radio communications along with cell phones, text messaging and coordinated hand signals.
Rehearsal - everything went off without a hitch, which means the 13-piece band (counting the brothers) went through this way more times than we'll ever know. It was perfect.
Love and Adulation - when 300-400 people (little screaming girls with mouths full of braces and Bubblicious count as people) are screaming your name it's easy to get motivated and jump up and down and give it your best...for 47 minutes.
Consistency - The Jonas Brothers were as polite and professional in person as you see on TV. Too much so, in fact. How dare they say, "Nice to meet you, SIR!" Sir! SIR? I'm not my dad. I'm not THAT OLD! (I may lodge a complaint on their site later today after my nap and if my arthritis doesn't creep in).
Breadth - these young men and their handlers are producing something every day, be it TV or radio or newspaper interviews, social media updates, you name it. They are everywhere.
Money - the great score keeper. All of the above takes money.

Which brings me to how this applies to you and me.

Time, Money, Effort

All that glitters is not gold and/or it takes a lot of miners and prospectors and sweat to produce the gold that does finally glitter after production, post-production, makeup, camera, setup, musicians, managers and directors get a hold of it.

If you want to produce results like the Jonas Brothers you have to take MASSIVE ACTION to make it happen.

If you were arrested for being a sales and marketer would the DA have enough evidence to convict you?

Are you afraid of the phone?

Are your reading this and nodding your head just before you switch on the TV, IM with your friends on Facebook, knock back another beer, go gossip with your friends or co-workers or otherwise goof off rather than leveraging your moment of inspiration to PRODUCE something that will help you market and sell and grow your business while everyone else cries in their beer?

When was the last time you wrote a blog post?
A newsletter?
Commented on a business blog or website? (You can start now and leave one below.)
Sent out a press release?
Created an auto-responder or email marketing sequence? (Check out one of my most popular.)
Updated your small business CRM?
Read a book on sales or marketing or psychology or persuasion or influence? (You can order a signed copy of my book here.)
Ran an ad in the newspaper or Google Ad Words or Facebook?
Attended or ran your own conference call or webinar?

Invest Time or Money To Grow

Unless you have the means like the Jonas Brothers at your disposal to grow your business you better plan on waking up earlier, skipping Letterman and joining a mastermind group or round table or training program that will give you the support and adulation these bands receive when they are performing.

If you try to go it alone you may make it but it will be harder, lonelier, more frustrating and more exhausting than if you surround yourself with like-minded entrepreneurs that are looking to grow like you.

You have it within you to make every dream come true. To reach every goal. To overcome every obstacle.

Find your own Tenzing Norgay and conquer your own Mt. Everest. Contact me if you need a recommendation or a tireless guide.

If you need more help growing your sales, check out the following resources scattered around this site and a few others I operate, such as:

Good Selling