The Real Reason Prince was the Best Halftime Show in 10 Years

Anyone who saw Prince performing at the halftime of the Super Bowl experienced something very special.

Hang on - and I'll tell you what this means for your business (and your life).

I played music professionally for 11 years - and spent another 11 as a professional speaker.

So my perspective comes from being on the stage as well as in the audience.

It was not the outfit.

It was not the dancers.

It was not the lasers, or the fireworks, or the lighting.

It wasn't the band.

It wasn't the cheerleaders.

It wasn't that it was raining during "Purple Rain" (although that was cool as heck!)

It wasn't that his wardrobe functioned correctly.

It was the songs - and the performer.

Here's the core fact of it all.

The songs Prince performed were really, really good.

He had a quality product.

He didn't produce weak material.

A documentarian filmed Prince in his hometown Minneapolis for more than a week - it was never released.

During his time there he discovered that Prince had hundreds of songs in his "vault" completely done - some of them with videos!

But, he chose not to release them, for reasons only he knows.

Some people accuse Prince of being a perfectionist.

(On his breakout album that had "1999" and "Little Red Corvette" he played nearly all the instruments and did all the vocals - now THAT'S a control freak!

The Super Bowl show blew away recent performances because at it's core were incredibly good songs - and he knocked them out of the stadium.

As a speaker, as a musician, as a writer, as a human being - I can tell you for sure that the quality of your "product" is the key to success.

A good speech is the best tool you have if you are a speaker.

All the marketing in the world can't cover up a bad product - not for long anyway.

Here's the message if you've not gleaned it out yet.

Strive to create a quality product - go the extra mile - think harder and work harder on your craft.

Writers - write good.

Artists - make good art.

Lovers - be good people in your relationships.

Parents… you get the idea?

Work on YOU and work on PRODUCT (which sometimes IS YOU.)

In today's disposable world - it's very easy for a talented person like you to throw something together.

You may make a profit from it for a while.

But, in the pouring rain, with millions of people watching, and your future on the line, your very reputation at stake…

You can walk confidently to the center of the arena and let it rip - KNOWING that regardless of the reaction - you've done something uniquely you, uniquely special - and ultimately great!

And you won't need to whip your boob out ever again.

Rick Butts TAGS: marketing ideas, prince, super bowl, jimi hendrix, personal development, product creation