摇滚圈的商业智慧

    走进极富传奇色彩的纽约洋基队（Yankees）老板乔治·史坦布伦纳的办公室，说服他为你代理的球员支付超过100万美元，绝对需要相当的胆识，特别是如果你只有22岁时。当时作为一名年轻的体育经纪人，戴维·费雪弗就是这样为外场手罗·皮尼拉谈下了合同。作为一位音乐会推广人，他曾经请回已隐退的猴子乐队（Monkees）进行了一场超级成功的全球巡演，也曾说服林戈·斯塔尔与他的全明星乐队展开巡演。

    如今，让费雪弗最出名的是他创立的摇滚乐梦幻营（Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp）：有志向的摇滚乐迷甘愿支付数千美元进入梦幻营，与同好济济一堂，还可以得到罗杰·道雷、史蒂芬·泰勒和斯莱什等“营队辅导员”的指导。在与迈克尔·列文共同撰写的新书《生意场摇滚》（Rock Your Business）中，费雪弗将他在娱乐业的五十年经历娓娓道来，深信摇滚明星们在取得商业成功和过上幸福美满生活方面有很多心得，值得我们学习。

    遗憾的是，这本书没有讨论转瞬即逝的特丽珑（Trinitron）、限制级内幕或药品级茶点。在费雪弗的讲述中，摇滚明星是和你一样的商人，只会比你更出色。他写道：“摇滚行业为其他行业提供了一些宝贵的商业经验——比如，协同工作，推广，制造热点或激发热情，然后是销售。”

    费雪弗用14个章节阐述了自己的真知灼见，每章都围绕商业和个人发展的一个领域。他给出了很多合理建议，包括如何形成商业点子，克服恐惧，谈判，构思完美说辞，如何应对剽窃你创意的竞争对手(无需棒球棍或西西里岛帮手)，出售企业以及其他更多丰富的内容。

    费雪弗在书中谈到了这些年来他遇到过的很多胆大妄为者，但他依然是这本书毫无疑问的主角。这位天生的娱乐经理人充满热情地记述了他当初为一场从无到有的《辣身舞》(Dirty Dancing)现场演出造势的经历，从邀请记者们到纽约市观看一场假彩排，到最终招募了舞蹈演员和舞蹈设计，使劲浑身解数。这种方法奏效了：投资者纷至沓来，愿意提供制作资金，《辣身舞》演出很快升级为一场成功的全球巡演，先后到过20个国家。费雪弗写道：“从A点到B点我们需要做的就是造势——凭借一点小聪明，我们从无到有创造了这一点。”

    It took chutzpah to walk into the office of legendary New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and talk him into paying your client more than a million dollars, particularly if you were only 22 years old at the time. As a young sports agent, David Fishof did just that for outfielder Lou Piniella. As a concert promoter, he brought the Monkees out of retirement for a wildly successful world tour, and he convinced Ringo Starr to hit the road with his All-Starr Band.

    Nowadays Fishof is best known as the founder of Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp, a musical retreat where aspiring rockers pay thousands of dollars to jam with their peers under the kindly tutelage of "camp counselors" like Roger Daltrey, Steven Tyler, and Slash. In Rock Your Business, written with Michael Levin, the irrepressible Fishof spins yarns from his five decades in the entertainment industry, and argues that rock stars have much to teach us about succeeding in business and leading full, happy lives.

    Sadly, it's not about flying Trinitrons, X-rated fish tricks and pharmaceutical-grade refreshments. In Fishof's telling, rock stars are businesspeople just like you, only better. He writes: "The rock and roll industry offers some invaluable business lessons to those in other industries -- such as working collaboratively, promoting, creating a buzz or sense of excitement, and selling."

    Fishof develops this insight through 14 garrulous chapters, each one devoted to an aspect of business and personal development. He delivers sound advice about developing business ideas, overcoming fear, negotiating, crafting the perfect pitch, dealing with competitors who steal your ideas (no baseball bats or Sicilian associates required), selling your business and much more.

    Although Fishof dishes plenty about the boldface legions with whom he's worked over the years, he has no trouble holding center stage in this book. A born showman, he writes with gusto about building hype for a Dirty Dancinglive show that didn't yet exist by inviting reporters to a fake rehearsal in New York City, complete with hired dancers and choreographers. The trick works: Investors flock to fund the production, and the Dirty Dancing show rapidly morphs into a world tour that kills in 20 countries. "All we needed to get from point A to point B was the hype -- and we created that from scratch through a little ingenuity," Fishof writes.