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Key Takeaways
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You’re never really selling a product or a service. You’re selling a feeling.
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When people consistently associate you with value, opportunities begin to compound.
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Communicate a vision that others want to join.
People often assume that success in one industry doesn’t translate to another. I’ve spent my career proving the opposite.
I’ve built businesses in music, entertainment, gaming, media and technology. I’ve worked as a DJ, producer, entrepreneur, executive, founder and investor. Along the way, I’ve helped build companies, raised tens of millions of dollars, worked with some of the world’s biggest brands and celebrities. In the process, <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/leadership/mistakes-people-make-when-theyre-pitching-a-product-or-idea/463975″ rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>I helped grow organizations that reached valuations in the hundreds of millions, including one that went public in a billion-plus IPO.
Yet every time I entered a new industry, I heard the same thing: “Wait… aren’t you a DJ?”
The assumption was that expertise only counts if it comes from a traditional business background. What I’ve learned is that industry knowledge matters far less than most people think. Every time I’ve entered a new space, there were people who knew more than I did about the product, the technology or the terminology.
What consistently created opportunities wasn’t knowing everything. It was mastering these three skills that work everywhere.
1. Understand people better than they understand themselves
I’ve never been focused on being the smartest person in the room. I’ve been more focused on understanding the people in it. If your goal is to lead, sell, recruit, negotiate or build relationships, understanding human behavior becomes a competitive advantage.
The truth is, you’re never really selling a product or a service. You’re selling a feeling.
When you understand what people feel, want to feel, and what they don’t want to feel, you’ll understand how to sell anything to anyone. Some of the biggest breakthroughs in my career didn’t come from having the best product. They came from understanding people.
As a DJ, I spent years learning how to read rooms, hold attention, influence emotion, tell stories, create anticipation and move audiences. Those same skills later became fundraising, recruiting, sales, partnership, leadership and marketing skills.
I learned this lesson firsthand while working as a host for E! News. One day, the chairman invited me into his office and asked what I thought about the network. I shared where I believed the company was leaving money on the table, markets it was overlooking, people it ignored, and opportunities for new partnerships.
