It makes me feel like dancin'

Bob Lefsetz talks about the Sasquatch guy who got everyone dancing, in this video.



Guy Starts Dance Party:

He’s dancing alone. For almost twenty seconds. And rather than being right down front, where everybody can see him, he’s in Siberia, on the side of the lawn, way in the back.

Those two geeks dance together for fully thirty seconds, not needing more people to continue. Then, a guy looking like Dan Schneider, the fat kid on "Head Of The Class", comes down and joins them. THIS is not a party you want to attend by mainstream parameters. These are geeks, they’re to be ignored!

But twenty five seconds later, new dancers join in. They were not recruited, were not sent text messages, were not victims of promotional e-mails they didn’t sign up to get, rather they joined purely on the desire to be a part of the fun!

Suddenly, a handful of seconds later, it’s a party. Then people are RUNNING to join in. By the two minute mark, it’s a CONFLAGRATION! It’s the highlight of the gig! People don’t want to be left out, they’re trampling others to join in!

This is the arc of an act’s career today.

You’re doing your own thing, seemingly in the wilderness, with the goal that a spark ignites others to join in. Your main sales point is the fact that you’re doing it. It’s not about marketing, new media just allows the word to spread faster if you catch fire.

Bob Lefsetz' unique insights into quality, apprenticeship and the way to spread the word about yourself in the modern world have taught me a lot. He's convinced that you have to put in 10,000 hours of whatever it is you do before you're an expert and can do that thing naturally, spontaneously and well. I'm sure it's not what most people want to hear these days...but on the other hand, many of the same people who want instant success seem to be able to manage thousands of hours of Guitar Hero or World of Warcraft without feeling the time was wasted.