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understand how I can help them, they tend to stick around.

“Give them everything.”

– Mark Schaefer, the author of the book you’re

reading right this minute

I’d like to conclude this chapter with a tale of two famous performers and how
one of them taught me how to build my Alpha Audience.

Recently I was fortunate enough to attend two concerts in one week. The first
was Art Garfunkel, the legendary singer of Simon and Garfunkel fame. He filled
a modest, 1,000-seat hall and performed with a lone guitarist to accompany his
iconic voice.

His show was very “me-centric.” He complained a lot. He publicly
embarrassed a person for opening a door in the back of the auditorium, claiming
that it broke his concentration. He told a story of how he humiliated an audience
member for texting during his show. We came to hear his famous songs but over
the course of 90 minutes, he didn’t sing many of them, instead filling time
reading his own poetry from note cards. He didn’t allow any video or
photography, and in an extreme measure, a security officer reprimanded an
audience member for taking a selfie before the show even started.

The next night, my wife and I went to see Keith Urban. When he took the
stage, 15,000 screaming fans took pictures and videos to celebrate this magical
moment, an explosion of sound and light and video images. Some held signs
showing the count of how many concerts they had attended or how far they had
traveled. At one point Urban walked through the crowd and climbed the arena
steps so even people in the highest seats could get a look at him. Along the way,
he grabbed phones and posed for selfies, never missing a beat. When he reached
the top of the arena, he unstrapped his guitar, signed it, and handed it to a young
fan. He played and danced and ran around the stage until he was clearly
exhausted ... and then he continued for another 30 minutes to make sure he
covered every hit from his songbook and more.

When the show was over and the lights went up, I was amazed to look back
and see this global superstar sitting on the end of the stage by himself, dripping
with sweat and signing autographs.

And here is what I thought: That man gives his fans EVERYTHING.
The contrast between the two performances was more than a lesson really. It
was an inspiration. I left thinking, “That is what I have to do to earn an Alpha
Audience. This is what is required in a noisy, competitive world. I have to give