I just got back from a fantastic weekend at Business School for Bloggers and other social media types in Chicago, Illinois. While the keynotes were dynamite, the panel discussions lively, and the mastermind groups extremely helpful, I’m not writing about any of those today. I’m writing instead of what happened Saturday night at the Blue Frog in downtown Chicago.
I’m writing about Karaoke!
For those unfamiliar with karaoke, it’s where someone gets up to sing the words to a song by a famous artist. It’s popular in lots of places, and I learned Saturday it is WAY popular in social media circles. Now I know why.
What follows are the lessons I learned Saturday, and the way I’ll be applying them to my business. If you use them, they’ll help you too!
Get your friends involved for more fun, and more importantly, more success. Watch the quick video below. It’s only 31 seconds, and it’s worth it.
If you look closely, you’ll see me with 4 other people. Could I have sung this awesome Backstreet Boys tune alone. Absolutely! Was it more fun and a WAY better experience doing it with 4 friends? No doubt about it.
Social media lesson: Align yourself with great people who can pick you up when you need help, or even when you don’t. It’s more fun to work together than alone, so find a friend or 4 who can be there when you need it.
Let the audience participate –
Lesson: Don’t act like a know it all. Leave room for others to comment, to retweet, to ask questions, and to give back. It’s a far richer experience.
No booing – This is a Blue Frog special. One of their rules in karaoke is nobody gets booed. Instead, as you can tell from the clip above, everyone is signing along, clapping, even though we are badly out of tune.
Lessons: No booing is a rule on my blog too. If folks are nasty and negative about me, or nasty and negative about others, in my comments, those comments will never see the light of day. Feel free to disagree with me in a civilized way, but name calling and booing never works!
You also will notice I don’t write about what’s wrong with customer service, with business, or with other people, or about books that don’t resonate with me. There are enough people writing that crap, I don’t need to point it out. No booing works for me!
Don’t take yourself too seriously – Watch the video below. It’s 54 seconds, and it’s me and 6 folks I met at the Blue Frog.
Lesson – If you do something embarassing, like sending out in public a tweet that was made for DM, or something accidentally annoying, like send a tweet 5 or 6 times because you think your Tweeter is broken, don’t take it too seriously. Apologize if you need to apologize, and laugh it off knowing everyone makes mistakes. It’s not fatal, and if it is fatal, it was meant to be.
Have fun! – I love karaoke with friends. I hate it alone. It’s fun to cheer on my friends when they sing their favorite songs. It’s fun to dance and be goofy and act like Beyonce, in the comfort of strangers. I found a way to have fun even though I could only sing along once. It was WAY worth it!
Lesson – This is obvious. If you’re writing about and doing stuff you love, then it’s going to flow a lot more freely than if you take yourself too seriously. Enjoy what you do, and don’t do it unless you can find some joy in it!
Your turn: Do you karaoke? What song do YOU like to sing? Or are you just cheering other people on? That’s ok too.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Absolutely awesome dancing Phil!
But bringing it back home – yes, Karaoke and social media “best practices” are very much well aligned. Both are about building relationships and having a great time while doing so.
What you write about and do for a living should have as much passion as hitting those notes at a Karaoke bar!
Thanks Shannon! You are 100% correct. Passion is the potatoes!
Phil,
Fantastic post! This is why I started TechKaraoke – It’s all about the people, building relationships (and, in some form, trust) and having fun! My panel at SXSW covered the above points, and I would love to chat more offline about your experience!
Favorite Karaoke Song: Bryan Adams “Summer of ’69″
Summer of ’69? Awesome!
Yep, all about trust. That’s what LIFE and Karaoke are all about!
I’ll be reaching out to you soon. Thanks for stopping by Brett!
I LOVE how you embraced karaoke. (and have now applied it to Social Media) I told you – you were a SOBCon highlight for me! Full disclosure – I have NEVER gotten up to do it….I am afraid. However, I am a fully-involved audience member – I will sing along and dance with the best of them – just not with the mic
You inspire…..
Danielle – EVERYONE needs a rabid fan and rabid audience members. Otherwise, we’re just singing in a closet.
Your words inspire me too! Thanks for the hugs and encouragement to keep going!
Having been there myself, I know with certainty you left out one major lesson:
- If you’re in, go all out!
No point in jumping in and only half way doing it. Either you are on the stage giving it 110% or you are in the crowd singing and cheering 110%. Anything less and you’ve left something on the table.
You, Chris, Scott, Jeremy, David and so many others were just as active in the crowd as they were on the stage. Thanks for a wonderful night Phil, keep going all out!
Dang it, you’re right Justin! All in or all out! Totally true! Great reminder friend!
Here’s to playing FULL OUT all the time!
If I didn’t love you enough, watching you at Karaoke made me love you more.
Thanks Chris! You know I love you too…and your wonderful wife too!
So glad I got to see these clips! I was an old sleep-needing fogey and didn’t go out with the karaoke crowd that night — plus, like Danielle, I’ve always been too self-conscious (or just plain old afraid) to try it. Now I can see the fun potential (and the bonus business lesson too), so thank you for that.
And it’s great to see you riding that post-SOBCon burst of energy — I am too!
Wendy! You’ll be dancing and singing with us next time. Just be, like Justin mentioned, an ALL OUT player! You CAN do it!
Can’t wait to dance with you in person Phil
it was AWESOME chatting w you #SOBcon and thanks for introducing me to 10 more folks above – dance on Phil 
hugs! Cate
http://www.twitvid.com/1PUV4
Thanks Cate! I can’t wait to sing and dance with you live too!
Long live #SOBCon!
Is it possible, Phil, that you have missed your real calling?.
Instead of motivational speaking, perhaps you should take your singing talent on the road.
Wish I could have been there.
We all have to stop being so deadly serious and have fun.
Hi Phil!
You know, you really practice what you preach too – which is great. And I love reading what you write because you never write stuff that freaks me out or brings me down. You are really good at dishing out confidence with a healthy dose of laughter. Thanks!
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS!!!!!!!!!!! You are spot on! Do you know that when you sing every cell in your body vibrates? I have a karaoke machine in my rec room, and after a tough day, I go down there and sing my brains out. It is way more fun with people, of course, but humans have been singing and dancing ever since cave men days, and we’re hard-wired to feel the joy.