Website Marketing: Business tips from Guns N Roses

This weekend, I was lucky enough to attend a three-day seminar called “Rock Star System for Success“. The seminar was run by Craig Duswalt, the former personal assistant to Axl Rose of Guns ‘N Roses. Craig parlayed his experience in touring with GNR into this great seminar on how small business owners can use some of same marketing techniques that rock stars use for their own businesses.

One of the guest speakers at the seminar was former bass player of Guns ‘N Roses, Duff McKagan. Duff talked quite a bit about how he got to Hollywood, what it was like to play and tour with the band, and his life after GNR. In addition to some really interesting behind the scenes stories about the band, rock star life, and travel, Duff also had some very good business tips to offer us, because at the end of the day, rock stars are also business people. And if you want to make it in the entertainment business, you’ve got to have some business savvy.

Here’s some of the tidbits he shared:

Successful rock stars work a lot harder than you think- A lot of people have the impression that rock stars and singers don’t work very hard. The impression is that when they aren’t on stage, they’re simply drinking and partying. Duff explained that the ones that are at the top of their game work very, very hard. There were times where the band would work on a single line for a song for five days just to get the line just right. Axl Rose, despite his alcohol and drug use had his exercise equipment shipped along with the rest of the band equipment and he got in several hours of exercise a day, along with several hours of rehearsal and vocal exercises. There’s no way you can give the energetic rock performances like he did for two or three hours every night and not be in shape.

The Takeaway: A lot of people think that being an artist means that you sit in your studio all day and make stuff. If you’ve been an artist for a while, you already know that sitting in your studio is probably 40 to 50 percent of what you do. The other 50 to 60 percent is spent marketing, traveling to galleries and shows, going to the post office, planning, doing financials, working on your website, and blogging. If you’re new to being an artist, just know that you’re going to be putting in the time not only just working on your art, but also the business stuff. Unless you want to take on a partner or pay an assistant to do the business stuff for you, there’s really no way to avoid working just as hard on the “business stuff” as well as the “art stuff”.

Successful rock stars are persistent- Success only seems like it’s overnight. Unless you’ve followed a band from the very beginning, most people become aware of rock stars only after they become famous. But most rock stars had to struggle and scramble to get where they are. They’ve been rejected. They’ve been taken advantage of. They’ve suffered setbacks and bad luck. There was one incident in the band’s early history where their transportation broke down just before a gig with all of their band equipment in the trailer. In addition, they were practically broke and they needed to travel 1,000 miles to get to their next performance. All five of them hitchhiked 1,000 miles and borrowed equipment just so they could make the gig. Imagine how difficult it was for a group of five “men” to hitch a ride across town, much less 1,000 miles. They even had to resort to eating onions out of a field because they couldn’t afford to buy food.

The Takeaway: You can’t be a successful artist and not be persistent. There will always be a show or a gallery that rejects you. There will always be that open studio where only three people or no people show up. You’ll always have at least one show where you make zero sales. Your first website may look ugly and produce no sales. You may write in your blog a couple times a week for months and no one will read it. Does that mean that you should throw up your hands and say “Marketing online/writing a blog/showing at galleries/selling at shows just doesn’t work!”? Not if you want to succeed. If you want to make it, you pick yourself up and try again. You look back to see what you might have done wrong. You improve where you can. You find a better way to do something. Don’t expect to be an overnight success. Expect that you’ll stink the first time you try something. And when you try something and fail…don’t give up.

Keep your personal and business life separate- Yes, there was plenty of drug and alcohol use among GNR band members. Duff himself almost died of alcohol induced pancreatitis and he and other band members were clearly drunk during the infamous 1990 American Music Awards. But the band’s philosophy was that what you did your personal life was your business…as long as it didn’t interfere with the band’s business. Drugs and alcohol use interfering with band performances was what led to the firing of former drummer, Steven Adler.

The Takeaway: The mixing of business and personal is especially easy to do if your office or studio is at home. Instead of sitting down and writing today’s blog post or updating your website or starting your new piece you may find yourself doing that “last” load of laundry, or watching just a “few more” minutes of your favorite TV show. Sometimes it’s the people in your life that intrudes in on your office/studio time. Friends will call you up to chat just because you’re “always at home”. Kids will come in your studio asking for a snack or because they’re bored and they want something to do. If you have a partner or spouse that works outside the home, they may assume that you’ll do all the housework because you’re the one at home.

On the flip side perhaps you find that your work intruding in on your personal life. You’re missing family gatherings and outings with friends because you’re always working. You catch yourself answering email or networking on Facebook in bed, taking business calls while you’re with family, or skipping vacations because you’re too busy.

There’s no such thing as a perfect “work/life” balance. There will be some times where you’re working a lot in order to complete a project or to meet some deadline. And there will be times when business is slow or you’ll have to tend to some family stuff and you’re not working as much. The trick is to keep things balanced over time and to set some concrete routines and rules for yourself to keep on track. Create a daily or weekly routine that includes time for your business and time for your personal life. Establish “office hours” and explain to people that this time is your “work time” and that time should be treated accordingly. Create a rule for yourself that you’re not allowed to do personal “stuff” (cleaning, talking on the phone with friends, washing dishes, etc) during your office hours.

If you have the habit of working during family time or while in bed, use your office hours to help you break your habit of working all the time. When your office or studio time is over, turn off the lights, turn off the computer, turn off the phone, and shut the studio door. Don’t worry, your work will be there tomorrow!

Be lean and mean- When GNR first started, the entire entourage was less than a dozen people. During the “Appetite for Destruction Tour” the entourage expanded to 150 employees including a masseuse and a tattoo artist. In addition, the tour sites weren’t maximized, the band may have a show in Washington D.C. and then their show the next day was in Seattle, Washington. Because of this, they had 2 separate sets. Each set took two to three days to build, so they had to have one set shipped to the next location while they performed their show using the other set. Needless to say this arrangement was very expensive and ineffiecient. The band also required the use of up to 26 semi trucks to get the crew and equipment moved around. In addition, the band was notorious for late starts, often not starting a 10 o’clock performance until 12 or 1 in the morning. This resulted in a lot of extra expenses due overtime and fines.

After Duff left GNR, he and former band members, Slash and Matt Sorum formed the band “Velvet Revolver”. Compared to GNR during the “Appetite for Destruction” Tour, Velvet Revolver runs lean and mean. They keep their crew numbers tight and they schedule their tour dates and locations more strategically so that they don’t have the expense of shipping and maintaining two sets. They also keep an eye on expenses and will charge band members fines for showing up late to practices and performances.

The Takeaway- In this economy, I probably don’t have to tell you to keep a close eye on your finances. Successful bands and business run lean and mean, by being smart and frugal with their money. Don’t mistake “frugality” with “cheap”. Don’t eliminate your marketing budget or resort to using inferior materials in your work in the name of being “frugal”. Frugality means being smart and strategic with your money.

Take a look at your finances and try to eliminate or pare down the things that don’t appear to make you more profitable. Instead of taking out a big print ad, buy a small ad use some of the leftover money to advertise on blogs. Or pool your money with some other artists and try co-op advertising instead. Try inexpensive or free ways to market yourself like blogging and social networking.

Shop around for different suppliers to get the best price on supplies. Plan your projects, materials inventory, and shipments out ahead of time to avoid having to pay rush or multiple shipping fees. Avoid paying for dumb, unnecessary expenses like late charges and fines. Make sure your bills are paid on time, that all your licensing and legal documentation is current and filed, and keep up with your taxes, both sales tax and quarterly tax payments if your required to.

All in all, this turned out to be a really fun and informative seminar. If you want more information about Craig’s “Rock Star System for Success“, you can visit his website here.