Everything you need to know to build a stronger business you can learn from the legends of rock n' roll. Music industry veteran Steve Jones takes you backstage to show you how the core strategies of AC/DC, Bob Marley, U2, Fleetwood Mac, and Run DMC can help you create a stronger, leaner, and more successful business. In a presentation loaded with great music and entertaining stories, Steve brings a concert-like energy to every event.
Steve is the author of two popular business books, Brand Like a Rock Star and Start You Up. He is based in Toronto, Canada, where he oversees brands and content for Stingray Radio, a global music, media, and technology company.
Speaking Topics -
CULTURE THAT ROCKS
Turn up the volume on diversity, equity, and inclusion! Steve will spend an interactive music-filled hour with your team, showcasing how amazing things can happen when organizations embrace DEI. Steve will take your group on a musical journey to discover:
- How a washed-up 70s hard rock band collaborated with an upstart hip hop act to revitalize their career and send hip hop into the mainstream.
- Why an obvious mistake was left in one of classic rock’s greatest hits, and why it is so important to give yourself permission to experiment… and even fail.
- Where countless legendary bands went to soak in a special culture and create amazing music.
- How Paul Simon went all-in on diversity and inclusion, even risking lives to do so.
- The magical place in the deep south where Black and White worked as one at the height of America’s mid-60s racial unrest.
DEI is normally a dry topic that people find uncomfortable to discuss. But using inspiring stories and an incredible soundtrack, Steve makes diversity, equity, inclusion, and all aspects of great culture, rock!
THE ROCK STAR COMEBACK
This is a unique presentation designed to help you emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic with a company that is stronger, leaner, and meaner, ready to reach new heights. We’ll explore rock history for amazing stories about how legendary bands hit rock bottom before recovering and enjoying even greater success. We are facing challenges like we’ve never seen before. But when this storm passes (and it will), are you poised for maximum growth on the other side? Is your team armed with the inspiration to ride out this storm?
Key takeaways from this session include:
- How Fleetwood Mac used the forces against them as a creative inspiration to do the best work of their career
- The way that Aerosmith leaned on another band to help revive their sagging career
- Why U2 felt they needed to publicly announce they were rebuilding their career
- How Meat Loaf went from #1 to bankruptcy and back to #1, sixteen years later
- How Taylor Swift was able to pivot and transition her career in an entirely new direction
This engaging 45-minute session includes an interactive Q&A period. It is the perfect professional development experience for your team as they work remotely. It will leave them charged up about turning this challenge into the fuel for future success.
UNLEASH YOUR INNER ROCK STAR: Rock Star Inspiration to Be Your Very Best
Rock stars are synonymous with greatness. When your team spends an hour with music biz insider Steve Jones, they’ll come away prepared to rock in every way! Steve will dive into his 35 years in the music industry to share backstage stories that will engage and inspire your organization.
They are rags-to-riches stories. There is rarely a rock star who didn’t crash on a friend’s couch, play for pennies, and scrape together an existence based on the belief that someday it will all pay off. Jim Morrison was homeless before he founded The Doors, and after that lived in a cheap motel until the band made it big.
They are stories of incredible obstacles. From overcoming addictions, loss, heartbreak, rejection, and failure, rock stars have battled the odds and come out on top. Def Leppard was seemingly at the top of their game when drummer Rick Allen lost his arm in a car accident. A year later, with incredible determination, Rick was with his band again… and they went on to the most successful phase of their career.
They are stories of intensely hard work. When you hear a hit song, the artist who made it is already working on their next hit song. And they are probably also on a world tour. And maybe starring in a movie. Drake has released over 100 singles in his ten-year career, and continues to tour, write, record, collaborate, and create at an unreal prolific pace.
They are stories of unstoppable creativity. A rock star’s career doesn’t stop at one song or even one album. A rock star is constantly creating, always coming up with the next song to make the world sing along. Bob Dylan was the folk-music voice of the generation when he decided to plug in the electric guitar and create “Like a Rolling Stone”. Despite initial pushback, it became the biggest song of his career.
They are stories of resilience. So many legendary rock stars have ascended to the top, only to fall, hit rock bottom, recover, and ascend again. Rock stars don’t have “quit” in their vocabulary. Justin Bieber was on the verge of jail time and musical irrelevance before he engineered a brilliant resurgence and took his career to new heights. Meatloaf was broke and suicidal in the 16-year gap between #1 hits before he rose again to the top. Aerosmith was nearly dead and gone before rediscovering their magic.
BRAND LIKE A ROCK STAR
Based on Steve's best-selling marketing book Brand Like a Rock Star, this keynote energizes, entertains, and educates. Through stories, songs, and videos, Steve leaves your team with some key takeaways such as:
- The one thing even more important than quality to your business
- The secret to staying consistent in changing times
- How your company's goals could be putting your success in jeopardy
- How to use your competitor's strengths against them to fuel your success
This high-energy presentation will leave your group charged up, and it can be highly customized to suit any industry, including financial services, entertainment, health care, and tech.
SELL LIKE A ROCK STAR
Every decision is a sales decision. We are all selling. Just like in the music business, there are regular everyday average salespeople, and there are rock stars. What makes a rock star? How does someone grow from average to extraordinary? In this keynote, Steve will share:
- The skills rock stars use to turn rejection into fuel for success
- How resiliency and attitude can change music (and business) history
- The step-by-step playbook to revive a rock star's career
This presentation celebrates the reality that we're all salespeople. Everyone is selling something, be it a product, an idea, themselves... or even a hit song.
ROCK STAR CUSTOMER SERVICE
Rock stars don't have customers. They have crazed, raving fans. In this engaging presentation, Steve will demonstrate how rock stars attract and retain their fans, and show you how to put those practices into play for your business success. Some key takeaways include:
- The key difference between fans and customers, and why fans are so much more valuable to you
- The secret to getting noticed in an incredibly crowded and noisy space
- How stars like Taylor Swift build their fan base one at a time, even when they have millions of fans
- Core strategies to keep your fans coming back for more
This presentation will leave your team prepared to turn casual customers into the kind of fans that rock stars depend on to buy their songs and concert tickets in even the most challenging economy.
