Married to the Mob

When I was in my late teens, I learned an important lesson. It was for all the wrong reasons, but I had to sort that out in my head later.

As I was just about to become an adult, or at least the age one would be considered "grown up", my mom married a real scumbag. Like an ex-mafia in hiding, coke addicted, compulsive liar type of scumbag. I despised the guy, and everything he stood for. But my mom fell his b.s., so I felt powerless.

My "stepdad" would get so high, he'd regularly threaten our lives, and he had a tornado-like affect on every person who dared to set foot inside his orbit.

But one thing I quickly noticed is that he had this method of persuasion, which I assumed came from his mob roots. He was personable and fun enough to draw friends in, and as soon as they became cool, he would do unprovoked favors for them.

After a while that small favor became his calling card when he needed something in return. And it wasn't just a matter of feeling obligated to pay back the favor, but it was also compounded with a fear of what would happen if they refused.

Hurdle ahead years later, and I stumbled across Robert Cialdini's bestselling book, "Influence", which is a deep dive into the psychology of persuasion. In the book, Cialdini classifies reciprocation as one of the six weapons of influence.

Obviously, those with a conscience feel compelled to reciprocate a kind favor, but do they have the same responsibility to uninvited debts? And if so, how can an artist or manager use this unspoken contract to their advantage?

Of course, I don’t intend this in a slimy way. I mean, how can an artist get the most out of his or her relationship with fans?

I hope this concept has you all thinking about your own relationship with your fans or clients as well... What if you were to bless some of your random fans with rewards or gifts? This could mean some exclusive music, merchandise, FaceTime sessions, meet and greets, concert tickets, video shout outs, or special content.

And what if there were no action needed to trigger the reward, but it came as a random surprise?

Let's put ourselves in our fans' shoes. I know I'd personally be ecstatic to get a gift from my favorite artist out of the blue. And more importantly, I also know it would create an even deeper and less breakable bond, and a stronger dedication to the artist.

Just some food for thought for the week.

This week, Mike Epstein, the EVP of Digital Marketing at Cinematic Music Group asked myself and four other "artist development experts" about community engagement. Check out all of our answers below...

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Thanks for all of your support. Please keep spreading the work, so we can keep growing this community.

Til next week.