KISS Meets the Phantom - A Business Story

In 1978, the band KISS was hot. They were the biggest selling recording band in the world, and played to sold out audiences on every continent. And, because of their savvy marketing deals, they were also raking in cash from the sale of merchandise bearing the KISS logo - everything from lunchboxes to dolls to radios and pinball games. Every project they touched turned to gold, and it seemed they could do no wrong.

Then along came KISS Meets the Phantom.

Somehow, the band was talked into doing a made-for-TV-movie, which was supposed to be a combination of A Hard Day's Night and Star Wars. The results were disastrous, and really spelled the end of the KISS era in music.

Soon after the movie was released, the band essentially broke up. Album sales dropped, and it would be years before the KISS name again held any respect in the industry.

Is there a business lesson we can take from this?

Absolutely.

Recently I watched KISS Meets the Phantom, expecting to laugh my way through the entire movie. But strangely, at first it was pretty good. The opening 30 minutes of the film we actually okay. There were experienced actors working on a thin, but at least plausible, story, and the band was merely a backdrop for the plot of a failing amusement park.

And then it all went bad!

The band was required to act and say lines. Not a good thing. The special effects were supposed to be futuristic, but looked childish, and the plot, which at first was definable, slipped away into a series of unconnected scenes with abysmal dialog.

But We can let their pain be our lesson. Let's take a look at what we can learn.

Lesson #1 - Stay with your Strengths
KISS was a band, and the members were musicians, not actors. Few people do both well. Likewise, if you are a writer, don't suddenly think you can be a graphic artist. If you are an artist, no assume that you can magical become a great platform salesperson. Success in one area does not equal success in an unrelated field.

If you get away from your core strength, you are asking for trouble.

Lesson #2 - Stay Focused
KISS Meets the Phantom started well, then fell apart. Tension within the band, lack of unity and multiple writers all contributed to a loss of focus. Toward the end of filming, the once-okay script had been thrown out, replaced with seat-of-the-pants scenes shot with the hope that it would all come out in the end. It didn't.

No project without laser focus ever will ever succeed.

Lesson #3 - Ideas are Cheap, Execution is Everything
The fact is, if the original concept had been allowed to grow, the idea of a KISS movie is not a bad one. It could have been great, or at least good. The problem was not the idea - it was the execution.

In your own business, it is key to remember that the idea is NOT the end. Working that idea, and putting together a team to execute the idea - those are the keys. Spend the bulk of your time not searching for the next big idea, but rather spend the bulk of your time executing the plans you have.

There are many other ways to incorporate the secrets of best-selling authors into your own material. But maybe you don't know quite where to start. I've spent years as a fiction writer, learning to do exactly that. If you'd like to test drive some of my best tips, simply go to http://www.FictionSecrets.com and let me know where to send them.

Kevin Franz is a successful fiction author and online marketer. For more than twenty years he has made his living putting words to paper, and he has helped thousands create their first written works. He is currently showing internet marketers how to incorporate the techniques of great fiction into their online sales efforts. You can find the details on his blog - http://www.kevinfranzonline.com.