Just how cool are you?

Are you the coolest kid at school? Are you the most popular band in the land? Would you buy your product if you were at your merch booth looking at the CD’s and the gear? Would you be impressed with the set-up, the person working the table, the artwork, the packaging and the rest of the physical components? Would you stay and watch your set over talking to the cute girl at the bar? Would you skip your track if it came up on your Pandora track list?

Google employees think Google is cool. Google is the number 1 place to work, the world’s number 1 search engine and slowly taking over the world. I don’t know anyone who thinks Google isn’t cool. It helps that its employees believe in the product.

Apple workers think Apple is cool. Everyone who works at Apple has an iPhone, iPod and some kind of a Mac computer. What does this say to their customers? It makes them wait in line for new product launches. It makes them blog about the gadgets after they have bought and fallen in love with them.

What about Wal-Mart? Do you think (most) Wal-Mart employees think Wal-Mart is cool? Highly doubtful. If they are not excited about their business, how are you supposed to get excited. Sure we still shop there, but that’s because when you need a new desk and some ice cream at 3am, there’s nowhere else to turn.

What about your band or your music? Do you show the same passion for the music as you want your fans to show you? If you are going through the motions, so will everyone at the bar.

You’ve heard the expression, “Rock out no matter what the crowd looks like, you never know who could be in that sparse empty space of a venue.”

Take that to the next level. With the distribution levels and viral music marketing tactics of the internet, you never know who is going to get forwarded your Myspace page, a Last.FM link or come across a track on Pandora. This same person could be your big break, or it could be a new sale, or better yet, a fan for life.

Perceive yourself as cool (or as uncool) as you want anyone who comes across your music to view you.

How do you perceive yourself? Let me know how cool you think your band or company is and what you do to maintain that in your fans' eyes.