Personal Branding: What You Can Learn From Barry W...

I was walking to the kitchen and heard my 15 year old daughter, Sarah singing. The song was "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Barry White.

Although she was singing a version of the song by a group called "Cake," she knew exactly who Barry White was, even though he died in 2003, when she was seven years old. If you are Sarah's age or older, it's almost a sure thing you've heard of Barry White. Who can forget those sexy ballads? That baritone? The way he made most of us women feel? He's an American classic.

His kind of music is a sure thing. The songs sexy and romantic. Whether they were up tempo or slow dance specials, you knew what you were getting in Big Barry.

There was also one other thing, and unless you're a musician (which my daughter is), you might not realize it consciously.

Nearly every hit Barry White produced was in the key of F. Go to iTunes if you like and take a listen. They're all in the same key.

Now I never had the pleasure of interviewing Barry White, but if I did, I would have asked him about the inspiration for his ballads. I would have ...