16. Rick Astley, Gabrielle and Your Business

I went to see Rick Astley in Newcastle and came home buzzing. 

Sold-out crowd. Mostly people our age and older, all absolutely loving it. Gabrielle was on before him and was brilliant, and the whole night just had a really good feel to it. 

Anyway, it made me think of you because he and Gabrielle both did something that we should all do more, and it doesn't involve singing!

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SPEAKER_01 0:08

Welcome to the Girls Mean Business Podcast, where we share business and marketing tips, advice and trade secrets to help you raise your game and build your brilliant business. Get more clarity, more customers, and more sales. Here to show you how your host, Claire Mitchell.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Hello, it's Claire from the Girls Meme Business, and today we're going to talk about Rick Astley. I bet you didn't expect that, did you? So on Saturday night I went to see Rick Astley in concert at Newcastle Arena with my husband. And it was a sold-out concert, and we walked in there a little bit early, and everybody was our age. It was so funny. I said to Mitch, my husband, gosh, I really feel at home here. There was so much grey hair. I mean my mid-50s he's in his late 50s, and there were groups, there were couples, there were people there by themselves, men, women, one amazing group of women walking around with their shirts covered in faces of Rick Astley, which was funny. And we just felt at home. And it was just such a good atmosphere, which continued through the whole night. And that feeling of feeling like you're in the right place with the right people, there's a business lesson in that. And I want to tell you about it, but I'll get there. So, first of all, the concert. The support act was Gabrielle. Oh my goodness, she was amazing. What a voice! So she was singing for about 45 minutes, but in between the songs, she would just chat, and she's so funny. And at one point, she was talking about having a dippy afternoon, she'd forgotten to do something. And she said, Oh, this menopause is kicking me. And obviously, all the women in the room were all the same age, and we were going, Oh, we get that, we're all laughing. We really identified with it. And then Rick Astley is 60 now. I mean, who thought when he brought out Never Gonna Give You Up in 1987 when I was 17 that I'd be going to see him in concert when he's 60 and I'm 56? Goodness me. Anyway, he's 60, so he gets on stage afterwards and is doing his thing. And at some point, somebody wolf whistled from the side and he said, Was that a wolf whistle? Love, I'm 60. They had to squeeze me into this suit. And so we're all laughing because we all know what that feels like. And it was just like that the whole night. It was just really funny. And at one point, Rick Astley let his back-in singers sing Where the Hell is My Husband? and they were just fantastic. But he was on the drums having a whale of a time. And it just felt like everybody was having fun. Gabrielle, Rick Astley, all the back-in singers and musicians, everybody in the audience were just having fun. It just felt like we were it was for us. And this is where the business lesson comes in because I felt, and I'm sure I'm probably right, that everybody there was just genuinely being themselves and having a good time on stage. You know, they are pop stars, but they felt like us. And I felt like I had a connection to Gabrielle when she was talking about the menopause. Um, Mitch, my husband, was laughing at Rick Astley when he said he had to squeeze into this suit because I think he's been there as well. So we all just got it because we are his ideal customers, we are Gabrielle's ideal customers, we are the people that have grown up with them, and so this thing about ideal customers is really important. So Rick Astley and Gabrielle, neither of them were out there trying to reinvent themselves, they were just talking to people that they know have grown up with them. You know, we've been with them all the way through since 1987, and they were just talking to us like we were their friends, and this is something that I think makes us feel even more connected to them, it makes us feel even more loyal to them. It just felt like a really nice atmosphere, and this is where a lot of people go wrong in business. So that whole connection that they had with the audience, this is what is usually missing in businesses because I see a lot of business owners, especially women, who aren't themselves, they're not themselves in their marketing, especially with AI writing everything for us, you know. When you are yourself in your podcast, so this is me, this is how I talk, this is Claire. I speak too fast, I've got a very broad accent. This is just how I talk, it's how I talk to my sister, my mum, my friends. So you're getting me, and I felt like I was getting them. And I think that in business, when people know that they are getting you, like the real you, not the professional you, not the stilted, overly kind of posh or overly polished you, they feel like they have a connection with you, and that is really important in marketing. Marketing is all about relationships. People buy from you because they feel like they know you and they like you and they trust you, and that connection is everything because that makes you different from the big faceless brands like Marks and Spencer's or Apple. You know, you have something that they don't, you have yourself and your personality, and you are your business. So when you are yourself in your marketing and you know who your ideal customers are, and you speak to them in a natural way, as if you're talking to friends and people that you like, that connection is worth a lot. It's what the big brands wish they had. So when you're thinking about podcasting or just writing something for Facebook, and you're tempted to let AI write it, or you're tempted to think, you know, I can't write this blog in the way that I'd speak because it's not going to be professional enough, which I've heard lots of people say in the past. Just remember that in your business, you are the face and the voice of your brand, your business, and so you have to make that connection. And the easiest way to make the connection is to be yourself. Think about what I was telling you about Rick Astley and Gabrielle. They both had a bit of banter, they were both laughing along, they know how old we are, they know who their ideal customers are. When Gabrielle talks about the menopause, she knew that we would get it because we're all her age, and that connection is everything. So, whenever you show up online or in person, be yourself. Let people get to know you, build those connections and those relationships, and that will do more for your marketing than anything else. Right, I'm off for a cuppa. I will see you again soon. Lots of love, bye for now. That's it from the Girls Mean Business Podcast.

SPEAKER_01 6:26

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