Social Media & Business Lessons From a Jewel Concert

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a Jewel concert with my wife. Here’s the three things I learned from Jewel last night after she made sure we knew her Twitter handle @jeweljk.

1. The power of your story. Last night it was just Jewel and her Guitar. Between songs she told the stories behind the songs. Her story. Your story is no more or less amazing than Jewel’s. The difference is she has found a fun and profitable way to tell it. She even commented about laughing all the way to the bank about her “Kermit voice.” Find a way to do what you love by telling your story.

2. Watch what your “Hands” are doing. She wrote the song “Hands” when she was at her lowest point and supplemented her diet by shoplifting. She told the story of how when her shoplifting almost moved from food to clothing that she realized she had to watch what her hands are doing. What her hands are doing will lead to what she is doing and becoming. She stopped shoplifting and starting writing music…all the time. My hands are typing…a lot. What are your hands doing?

3. Put your audience first to sell more. Somewhere in the middle of the show she sang “Beer built this city, Milwaukee.” I know, even if you are a Jewel fan you have not heard of this song. She wrote it thirty minutes before coming on stage. The audience came alive with the time and research she had put into the song. She admitted to “Googling” Milwaukee. As the song was playing a picture of her with our famous bronze “The Fonz” was displayed behind her. By caring enough to learn about us, she owned us.

Know when to go for the close. At the end of the song she reminded us that the evening’s show was being recorded and we could buy a copy after the show. We didn’t but my understanding was, you pony up the cash, give them your email address and they send you a link for the download. Catch that? You pay them to give them your email address. She also made sure to let us know that many of the songs she played last night were not recorded anywhere.

Your “Little Blond Juke Box” That’s how Jewel referred to herself early on in the show. The only thing I’d add is damn smart business woman to that description. Take your existing content, mix in a little new stuff and one unique piece and then sell it to a captive audience you have dazzled.

The show was great, Jewel was great, and I walked away with something I can model that is worth many times the price of our front row tickets. See anything in there you can model?