Tag Archive for: Gary Vaynerchuk

Relationships Feature MEME

 

Imagine that you’re going out on a first date. This person is someone that you’re excited to get to know better but for some reason, you’re feeling excruciatingly nervous. You meet up with the date Relationships Nervousand the night is a disaster.

 

Maybe you were the date and the other person was nervous, which made you nervous.

 

 

Have you been there?

 

Why does that happen?

 

Answer: Nonverbal communication.

 

Relationships Cave Man

 

As a species, we have been communicating nonverbally for thousands of years before we developed language.

 

 

 

 

Therefore, we are far better at receiving and understanding nonverbal communication than verbal communication.

 

Arguably, the percentages are different depending on what you read, but the consensus points to the fact that when any message is received, the majority of the information transmitted was nonverbal.

 

Relationships Cat MEME

 How you say it and what your body does while you say it is far more important than what you say.

 

There is an art to the nonverbal performance aspects of an artist. What are you doing when you’re singing? How does your body language communicate to the audience when it’s time to clap or if they should wait out a pregnant pause?

 

See how important it is?

 

It’s the difference between a green artist and a pro in every situation imaginable.

 

Relationships Upset Man MEME

 

 

As humans, we pre-frame people prior to meeting them all the time. Our brains are designed to conserve energy thus; we won’t spend too much time studying before we naturally fill in the blanks on someone filtering the data through our own emotional experiences.

 

 

 

 

We all have vastly different emotional experiences.

 

Plain English: You’re always being judged.

 

Here’s another good point to remember, I’m generalizing but our first impressions typically don’t happen when we decide to make them.

 

Relationships Introduction MEMEAnother way to think about it is that a first impression is DIFFERENT than an introduction. Rarely do these two separate events happen simultaneously.

 

Why should you care?

 

Answer:  Because your job as an artist is to communicate. Your job as a marketer of your art is also to communicate.

 

Understanding exactly how messages are received is an invaluable exercise for your artistic creativity, live performances, marketability, team building skills, networking, etc.

 

Relationships Introvert MEME

 

Right now, some of you are cringing because you’re thinking, “But, I’m an introvert and I suck at relationships.”

 

I’ve got news for you. You don’t suck at relationships.

 

By the way, an introvert’s reaction to this idea is completely understandable, isn’t it? They don’t view themselves as the gregarious, huge-personality-type sales person who is a killer networker.

 

In fact, many introverts may be a bit envious of the extroverts who seem to effortlessly create relationships.

 

Relationships Big Personality

 

 

Some introverts may even view this lack of outward personality as a detriment to their artist career.

 

 

 

The fact is that introverts and extroverts all have strengths and weaknesses when it comes to creating and maintaining relationships. One is not necessarily better than the other.

 

What makes one PERSON better at creating relationships than another person is self-awareness.

 

Identifying your strengths and weaknesses is quite empowering.

 

Relationships Schmoozing

 

 

 

While extroverts are good at creating many relationships, they’re often not necessarily good relationships or deep relationships.

 

 

 

 

Statistically, introverts are better at creating more meaningful relationships.

 

Maybe you feel shy and weird about schmoozing or “working the room” after a show, but when introverts are ready to create and maintain relationships they think deeply, they observe people well.

 

When faced with the thought of hustling or schmoozing, many introverts think, “I’m too shy, I could never do this.”

 

False! You CAN do this; you just haven’t learned how.

 

Relationships Social Media

This information is HUGE for industry events, after show hustling, AND SOCIAL MEDIA!

 

 

Often, before you “meet” someone on social media they’ve already scoured your Instagram account. They’ve already created an opinion on you as an artist.

 

If you’re aware of this dynamic, you can attempt to control the outcome as much as possible.

 

Themed accounts are pleasurable to viewers. Many of my client’s accounts are themed, albeit some more than others.

 

Relationships John Kern

 

 

@JohnKernMusic is themed black & white. He looks so cool in black and white (he’s extremely marketable in color but there’s a retro vibe that transmits via b&w with John).

 

 

 

@patience.reich has an account that is themed with the many amazing facets of her personality and work efforts. Patience is a black, female jazz singer (working on a pop record), MD (physician of Internal Medicine), true humanitarian (closing her practice every year for weeks or months at a time to travel and give medical care to children in impoverished countries), a marathon runner, a devout Christian, oh, and she loves cats.

 

Relationships Patience Reich

Do you see how a visual or contextual “thread” of sorts is extremely helpful to creating fans on your social media accounts?

 

 

Images are extremely important here, especially on Instagram. All serious artists need professional pictures taken.

 

Relationships Orleans Album Cover

These photos need to be shot by a professional ARTIST PHOTOGRAPHER as opposed to your girlfriend’s, dogwalker’s, first cousin’s boyfriend who has a cool camera and knows how to focus the lens.

 

 

 

 

 

Get it?

 

Relationships Bad Band Photo

It’s all about the photographer’s eye, not the camera.

 

 

 

 

You must also heavily weigh the common creative tasks this photographer’s eye must complete on a day to day basis.

 

All too often I see artists whose images were shot by amazing wedding photographers and they look like that: wedding photos. Just because they’re a wedding photographer doesn’t mean they can’t shoot artists well (Alysse Gafkjen in Nashville is an incredibly talented exception to this rule) but usually, they’re thinking wedding and not selling the artist.

 

Relationships Band Band Photo 2

Spend the money. It’s going to be your first impression.

 

 

Guess what else the masses are going to formulate their first impression with an artist on.

 

Answer:  Engagement.

 

You’d be AMAZED at how many people will line up behind you as an artist simply because you took a little time to respond them and were smart enough to ask a question about THEM.

 

Hardly any artists do it.

 

I’m constantly pushing my artists to engage more with the people who take the time to say something about a killer post we put up.

 

Relationships Value ArtistAs an artist, if you want to build a real, solid, loyal following, you’re going to have to love them first.

 

 

 

You must be vulnerable first.

 

Artists who have multitudes of real online relationships are far more valuable than artists who don’t.

 

More valuable to the record labels, managers, booking agents, lawyers, PR companies, brand partners, etc.

 

Relationships Leverage MEMERelationships are how an artist creates LEVERAGE in the music business.

 

 

Y’all tell me you want managers, better bookings, a record deal, better players in your band, and more opportunities but you don’t work at the task that will deliver all these gifts.

 

It’s not going to be about your music at first, it’s going to be about you.

 

Once you forge a remarkable first impression and engage deepening the relationships, you’ll begin to grow a following.

 

Relationships ScaleThey’ll love you and begin to identify with your music.

 

A moderately talented artist with a loyal following is far more valuable and therefore will be far more successful than a hugely talented artist with no audience to perform to.

 

When was the last time you heard a song on the radio and thought, “My music is way better than that piece of crap”?

 

That artist on the radio knows something you don’t.

 

Or didn’t up until now.

 

Relationships I Want You To Win

 

 

I want you to win.

 

 

 

 

Stay

 

In

 

Tune

 

 

 

If you found value in this content, please SHARE and COMMENT

Happiness is a Learned Skill Feature 2 MEME

 

Happiness is a byproduct, not a destination.

 

Happiness is a Learned Skill Not a Destination

 

 

Happiness is a learned skill. (And it’s never too late to learn)

 

 

 

 

How many times have you heard this before?

 

Do you believe it?

 

Happiness is a Learned Skill Do You Believe

 

 

 

Do you get it? Really?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happiness is a Learned Skill Galapogos MEME

You’re not going to “find” happiness like the Galapagos Islands.

 

 

 

It’s easy then to extrapolate that happiness in your artist career is also a byproduct of behavior and not a destination.

 

You’re not going to find happiness and success with that one amazing connection.

 

Yes, you hear the stories an artist’s “one big break” but that big break happened on several levels as a byproduct of a life spent working diligently on something.

 

They were noticed because of the work they were doing.

 

They were prepared to walk through the newly opened door for the same reason.

 

 

Happiness The Climb 600x315 copy

 

Brent and I were discussing a similar thought on one of the C.L.I.M.B. podcast episodes. We were talking about the stories of a super hit song that “wrote itself” in like 10 minutes. The reality is that it most certainly did NOT take the songwriter 10 minutes to write that song.

 

 

It took their whole life PLUS 10 minutes.

 

Get it?

 

Happiness is a Learned Skill Gary Vee Jewel

 

 

Y’all know that I devour Gary Vaynerchuk content. His interview with Jewel in episode 238 of the Gary Vee Show was incredible.

 

 

 

This woman has a story that I wanted to share with you all.

 

You’re going to love it because it’s incredibly inspiring.

 

Happiness is a Learned Skill Hate it Excuses

You’ll hate it because her story will leave you with zero excuses.

 

 

 

We’ve all been broken before and we’ve all had people or have people that try to break us.

 

Jewel has overcome all of that.

 

 

She didn’t let life’s horrible speed bumps make her a victim or a statistic, but it almost did.

 

 

She moved out when she was 15 years old because her dad was being abusive.

 

 

Happiness is a Learned Skill Pay 2 Play MEME

 

She moved to San Diego a couple years later but she was disenfranchised by the music scene because the coffee houses were “pay to play”. She didn’t get it. She didn’t see how the coffee shop could steal the artist’s energy and soul for a few hours and offer only tips in return.

 

 

 

Now, she was 18 and her boss wanted to sleep with her but when she refused, he withheld her paychecks.

 

 

She thought to herself, “I’ll just sleep in my car for a month or two until I find a new gig.” This move was good for her soul but left her homeless for 18 months.

 

Happiness is a Learned Skill Statistic MEME

 

 

Jewel mentioned that during this time she was shoplifting quite often and on one occasion caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.

 

 

 

 

She was disgusted.

 

She had become the very thing she promised she wouldn’t become; a statistic.

 

This is the pivotal moment that I want you all to think about.

 

You’re suffering in some ways.

 

We all suffer in some ways.

 

Happiness is a Learned Skill Struggle Gift MEME

 

I agree with Jewel in that it’s a gift to be allowed to struggle because this is where the successful find the tools they need to cope.

 

 

 

Coping tools give us the instruments we need to continue productivity and work through the suffering as humans and as artists.

 

I lost everything in the 2008 financial meltdown.

 

I rebuilt and moved forward. It sounds easy but there were many times that my soul was violently careening on a current of negative energy.

 

It was my thought processes that got me off that river.

 

 

Happiness Is a Learned Skill Buddha MEME

Buddha says, “Happiness does not depend on who you are or what you have, it depends on what you think.”

 

 

 

 

I’m sure that WAY too many of you are hung up on who you are and what you have.

 

Some of you feel because you’re very talented you should be happy.

 

That’s called entitlement.

 

Some of you feel that new guitar (thing) will make you happier but it’s just a possession, just a “thing”.

 

Some of you feel that a person will make you happier.

 

That’s called co-dependency.

 

The reality is that Buddha is right. Duh. Happiness is all about what you think.

 

Happiness is a Learned Skill Wolf Fire

Personally, losing everything, which is MONUMENTALLY scary to think about but even more terrifying to endure, was the greatest gift I ever received.

 

 

 

I found out that my things and my relationships don’t define me.

 

I also am no longer scared of losing everything because I’ve lived through the worst financial and personal catastrophe.

 

 

Yes, it totally sucked but I know I can handle it. I can always innovate my way out of trouble.

 

 

Happiness Is A Learned Skill Coffee Shop Out of Biz

 

 

During Jewel’s homeless period, she found a coffee shop that was going out of business. She struck a deal with the owner (who had nothing to lose really) by offering to help build a steady following for the business with her performances.

 

 

 

 

Suddenly, Jewel found herself at another crossroads; she only knew cover songs.

 

Songwriting was going to have to happen and quickly.

 

Talk about profound, Jewel said that she was lonely and many people are lonely so she could connect with them that way lyrically.

 

 

Happiness Is A Learned Skill Notebook MEME

She also said that she deserved to be lonely because she only told the truth in one place which was a notebook that nobody read.

 

 

 

 

It was time to talk openly about her truth and take a risk to be vulnerable. This is a milestone that most indie artists seem to miss.

 

Easier to be derivative than it is to be vulnerable. Maybe you have a lot of talent but because you’re failing to be truly exposed you’re not getting the attention you think you deserve.

 

Maybe you don’t deserve any attention right now? Did you ever think about it that way?

 

 

Happiness Is A Learned Skill Your Truth MEME

I have news for you, It’s your TRUTH that will separate you from the crowd and make you special.

 

 

 

The songstress thought to herself fear is a thief. It takes the past and projects it into the future and robs you of the only opportunity you have to create real change; which is RIGHT NOW.

 

Y’all need to create change in your marketing.

 

Happiness Is A Learned Skill Thief MEME

 

Most artists aren’t thinking about or acting on any kind of marketing.

 

 

 

Which is why you hurt.

 

Here’s an illustration of how bad it is.

 

I was just at a new record label showcase last week. One of the artists that played this event was a Curb Records artist.  He was an amazing R&B act, I was familiar with his last song even though I don’t spend much time listening to that genre (that should tell you something) but his social media sucked.

 

Happiness Is A Learned Skill Instagram Collage

 

 

Literally half of my artists have MUCH larger and far more engaged communities in their respective social media communities than this major label artist. I find this to be true amongst all artists, signed or not. Unless their famous, their social media is usually seriously lacking.

 

 

 

 

He’s clearly relying on the record label to bring him to market which is sad. We’re down to a few major labels precisely because they’re not sure how to bring an artist to the market anymore.

 

With her head on straight, Jewel goes to work writing and starts to play the coffeehouse shows.

 

Her first show had 2 people.

 

Next had 7 people.

 

Happiness Is A Learned Skill 91X Logo

 

 

 

A few months later there were people standing in line around the corner just to hear her sing.

 

 

 

 

 

The packed coffee house was a byproduct of her thinking at first, and then her actions.

 

 

Someone bootlegged a live recording of her and the San Diego radio station started playing it.

 

Soon she was a highly requested artist and the labels came-a-calling.

 

This is another pitfall I see so many of you fall into. You’re waiting to be discovered.

 

Happiness Is A Learned Skill Limo MEME

Jewel went out and found her audience, and just like I always preach, the industry found her.

 

 

 

She was offered a record deal but she was going to be releasing a folk record in a grunge market.

 

How would she cut through?

 

The label offered her a 1-million-dollar advance but she turned it down. Instead, she used the advance to buy (renegotiate) a much better back-end deal on her contract.

 

Happiness Is A Learned Skill Million Dollars

 

 

Again, guts, knowledge, understanding. She read one book and found out the advance was recoupable.

 

 

 

 

She broke through before the social media age because of her brain. Yes, the abundant talent was there but her audience was only made aware of it because of the way she thought.

 

Does that make sense?

 

Gary Vee said, “Your fans got there and gave a crap because of you, and then they took over.”

 

Do you see where I’m headed with this?

 

Happiness Is A Learned Skill Love them firstMEME

 

The artist must start the fire. You carefully cultivate the first 1,000 Superfans and then they will take over.

 

 

 

Gary immediately followed that quote with, “What my fans do now is insane, the level of love, but it started with I LOVE THEM FIRST.”

 

 

You give to receive.

 

 

If you focus on making other people happy, on providing value to them first, you’ll learn how to be happy.

 

Stay

 

In

 

Tune.

 

 

If you found value in this article, please SHARE and COMMENT

ignorance-feature-meme

In the old days, you marketed the music which is why it made sense to wait until the music was done to begin the marketing process.

 

ignorance-radio-stations

Today, because radio can’t force people to listen to what is unfamiliar anymore (like your debut single), the artist is what is marketed first.

 

 

You don’t listen to new stuff on the radio, you go to Deezer, Slacker, Spotify, Pandora, I HeartRadio, HD Radio, XM/Sirius Satellite Radio, and your playlist to find your “jam”.

 

 

If people like the artist, they’ll give the music a chance. Just ask Justin Bieber.

 

 

If they are unaware of the artist, the music will never be heard and they won’t know you exist.

 

ignorance-facelesss-hoodie-guy

 

Am I pushing your buttons?

 

Radio is not going to break you like it used to, so one must get creative and begin to market themselves in different ways.

 

 

The most overlooked marketing tool is contact capture.

ignorance-contact-capture-little-girl

 

 

 

 

Seriously, y’all suck at it.

 

 

 

 

 

You can’t afford to wait.

 

Sounds like a soundbite, doesn’t it?

 

“You can’t afford to wait”.

 

ignorance-cant-afford-to-wait-meme

 

You probably mentally or physically rolled your eyes when you read that the first time.

 

 

Waiting to market yourself as an artist is pure ignorance.

 

Have you ever seen the movie Apollo 13?

 

 

There is a scene in there where a NASA executive hands the astronauts a vile of Potassium Cyanide (which causes instantaneous death aka the “suicide pill”).

 

In this controversial scene, the NASA administrator tells the astronauts that they thought of 1001 reasons they would need this pill. But it’s mostly for the reasons they can’t think of.

 

Seems like a harsh metaphor but follow me on this.

 

Since none of you can see a need for capturing contacts right now, you choose to ignore it.

 

ignorance-new-guitar-meme

 

Which is different from the “need” you see for that new guitar; it’s always on your mind. Get it?

 

 

 

One of the reasons you don’t see the requirement is because you’re uneducated (aka ignorant) on the value of a contact.

 

I’m sure most of you wouldn’t know what to do with a contact once you got it, again, this is preventable ignorance.

 

Since you don’t see the value, you ignore it.

 

If you were educated on the value, if you saw it work, or if you believed it would work, you’d all change your methods.

 

 

ignorance-noahs-arc

 

So, choosing not to market and/or not to educate yourself on contact capture is akin to taking a suicide pill, but for your career.

 

Kind of like all the people who chose to mock Noah while he built the arc. They scoffed because they couldn’t see the need. Y’all thought they were ignorant when you read that part in the bible.

 

 

 

Ignorance is defined as a lack of knowledge or information which makes it preventable.

 

See, in the old days, we used mass media and mass media worked because there were masses.

 

ignorance-definition

 

In 1979 there were 3 TV stations and 228 million people watching TV. A crappy, bottom-of-the-barrel sitcom during this time would have 30-50 million people watching it.

 

 

Today the Walking Dead is a smash HIT TV show and it has around 5 million people watching it.

 

ignorance-beatles_with_ed_sullivan

 

Think of it like this. 73 million people saw the Beatles play the Ed Sullivan Show on February 9th, 1964. Of course, that demographic was kids, parents, grandparents, etc.

 

If just 1% of the views LOVED the Beatles, that would be 730,000 new fans. It was way more, I promise.

 

 

 

You could start a forest fire with a national TV appearance and a lot of hard work going market to market on radio.

 

Now, if you were to play GMA or the Today Show there might be 3 million people watching it.  Maybe.

 

A 1% response rate is 30,000.  Which sounds like a lot to an indie artist but all those people aren’t buyers.

 

ignorance-1-percent

 

 

See the first conversion rate is how many people were blown away by what they saw.  These are low conversion rates. 1% is a good number.

 

Then you have the conversion rates of buyers from the smaller pool of interested viewers.

 

If that’s 1% as well. The Ed Sullivan appearance might get you sales from 1% of 1% which would be 73,000 units. Today a TV appearance gets you sales of maybe 300 units.

 

You see?

 

Additionally, before 1980 there were hardly any competitive messages for consumers to process.

 

Today every consumer sees 3,500 messages per day. They’re numb, man.

 

ignorance-clutter-bar-code

 

 

Since they are so numb, it takes more to get through to them.

 

 

 

 

Think of night fishing for fish that are attracted to light. When you rely on “mass” media that’s a super powerful light that shines on you in the boat and all the fish gather to look up in wonder.

 

When the light goes off the fish scatter and forget you.

 

Before 1980 that light was akin to the power of the Sun.  So many fish would see the artist and you’d pick up truckloads of Superfans.

 

ignorance-night-fishing

 

More and more appearances with a real “mass” meant you could get some serious momentum relatively quickly.

 

 

 

Still, the light would go off and the fish scatter.

 

What fish were there?

 

ignorance-data

 

Who was watching?

 

What were their names?

 

 

 

Which of them spent money purchasing music last year?

 

 

In today’s TV markets that light is the equivalent of a gas lamp.  Therefore, it attracts far less fish, but just like the old days, when the light goes out, the fish scatter.

 

And today after they scatter they’ll be exposed to 3,499 more messages THAT DAY to ensure they probably won’t remember you at all.

 

So, they won’t talk about you.

 

If they do talk about you, they’ll be interrupted by a friend who saw some other message. The subject will change and the artist is lost in the din of all that clutter and noise.

 

Capturing contacts is like putting a net in the water and bringing that small group of valuable fish into the boat.

ignorance-kid-with-net-contact-capture

 

 

We can now stay in touch with the fish. We can find out what they like and don’t like and create relationships with them.

 

We MUST create relationships with them so we can cut through the clutter and stay on top of their minds.

 

 

 

 

 

Do you see how this is the only way?

 

 

ignorance-cut-through-the-clutter-meme

 

 

Now back to the NASA Apollo 13 analogy.

 

 

 

 

 

What about those amazing moments you can’t predict?

 

 

Maybe you get chosen for The Voice.

ignorance-the-voice-logo

 

Maybe you get an opportunity to play a festival in front of 5,000 people.

 

Maybe you get a killer opening slot at your local venue playing for a packed house.

 

Maybe you guest on a serious podcast.

 

 

 

 

I played in an LA band called Candygram For Mongo and the singer grew up with the guitar player from Hootie and the Blowfish.

 

We got to open one show for them at HOB in Anaheim, CA. It was sold out and just like you, I had my head up my butt and wasn’t marketing. We could’ve easily walked away with a few hundred email addresses or telephone numbers had I been paying attention.

 

ignorance-candygram-for-mongo

 

 

In all fairness to myself, the technology wasn’t as amazing as it is now, so who knows, but you get the point. (Dig the mohawk?)

 

 

 

 

Here’s another example. I met this artist name Brian Ripps through a dear friend.

 

Brian Ripps is the REAL DEAL.

 

Last September Brian filmed a question he submitted to be considered for the #AskGaryVee show. (Gary Vee is Gary Vaynerchuk and I’ve written several blog articles inspired by him.)

 

 

On this episode, GENIUS LEGENDARY Producer Wyclef Jean was the guest. When Brian filmed the question his guitar playing was in the background.

ignorance-ask-gary-vee-212

 

 

Wyclef FREAKED and told Gary he should set up a jam session between Wyclef and Brian; that happened.

 

 

They filmed it and edited a performance from Brian into the show.

 

 

Gary Vee has 400,000 subscribers to his show. 64,000 people watched the video so far and you must understand these are going to be higher quality viewers. This means the conversion rates are going to be better than mass media albeit smaller audiences.

 

 

ignorance-brian-ripps

 

All this attention and, just like me at the Hootie show, he captured nothing. They put his Spotify link up on the video but no contacts, no relationships, no information, no nothing.

 

 

 

All Brian could do was wave to the camera and comment on social media saying something like, “I hope to see you soon on tour”.

 

Situations will “pop” up out of nowhere and if you don’t have your marketing together, you’re going to miss out on a huge opportunity to connect with a new audience who saw you amaze them. (You’re already thinking a few that have happened to you right now.)

 

You’re going to blow a huge opportunity to grow your audience.

 

 

Hello, this is an instance where the marketing is “mostly for the reasons we can’t think of”.

 

 

I worked with a killer indie band called 7Horse about 3 years ago. They wrote “Meth Lab Zoso Sticker” which was the theme song for Martin Scorcese’s Wolf of Wall Street” with Leonardo DiCaprio.

 

 

Dumb luck, is there such a thing?

 

ignorance-7horse

 

 

7Horse wrote and recorded an AMAZING TRACK which Scorcese happened to stumble across on YouTube.

 

They played this song at the Oscars and at the Golden Globes when they announced the movie.

 

 

 

7Horse was invited for an interview on Adam Carolla’s podcast.

 

We set up a squeeze page.

 

They played the song and mentioned the squeeze page URL twice.

 

ignorance-adam-carolla-podcast-2

 

 

We got over 800 emails in 24 hours.

 

 

 

Man, y’all do such a good job blowing people’s minds with your gifts, and then forget to ask them who the hell they are so you can stay in touch.

 

How does this make sense?

 

Start getting your marketing together RIGHT NOW. You can’t afford to wait.

 

Who knows what will happen tomorrow?

 

 

Stay

 

In

 

Tune

 

 

 

If you liked this content please SHARE it and COMMENT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

happiness-feature-meme

“I’m not some great philosopher. This is simple shit. ONE AT BAT. THIS IS IT. YOU’RE GOING TO DIE. Like, I don’t understand…here’s what I don’t understand. I want to talk about complaining. I want to talk about complaining. If you are making your own bed you have to sleep in it and you need to shut your fucking mouth. You’re more than welcome…I’ve met hundreds of people who left their jobs, making good money when they had college debt 18% compounded interest because they need their mental health to be happy. They were willing to take a step back, and in a 7-year period, THEY WON! Because happiness drives everything. You collectively aren’t patient enough. Your lack of patience is killing you. Your need of things is killing you. I don’t need a fucking watch. I don’t need a fucking whip. I need to be happy. One fucking at bat.” – Gary  Vaynerchuk

happiness-gary-vee

 

You’re not taking enough responsibility for your happiness.

 

 

Which means you’re not taking enough responsibility for your artistry.

 

 

There’s nothing wrong with that unless you’re frustrated with your life.

 

If you’re reading this, you are blessed to be in a country where you are allowed to read this and fortunate to own a computer or a smartphone to read it with.

 

happiness-99

All you complaining 99 percenters, 50% of this planet, over 3.5 billion people live on less than $2 per day. If you’re at the bottom of the 99%, meaning you’re earning the least amount of all the 99%, you’re actually in the 1% (probably the people you love to hate) when compared to the rest of the world.

 

I say this because I want you to stop complaining right now and be grateful.

 

 

 

 

If your parents had sex 3 minutes later or 3 minutes prior, you wouldn’t be here.

happiness-sperm

 

So be grateful out of millions of sperm, YOU won the lottery and became a human.

 

That fact alone is simply ASTONISHING.

 

Be grateful that God gave you an artistic gift to share with the world.

 

happiness-responsibility-meme

 

Be grateful that your frustrated because you’re struggling to get paid for that gift rather than struggling to find food, or struggling to turn a pair of 2-liter soda bottles into a pair of shoes.

 

Wow, that’s a LOT of gratitude.

 

 

Now, you have all this time, what are you doing with it?

 

What exactly are you doing to take the next best step towards pursuing your happiness?

happiness-stop-complaining

 

What Gary Vee was saying about your own bed is absolutely true.

 

Stop complaining because I promise you that your status amongst the professional artist community and the consumer’s awareness or lack of awareness of your art is a direct result of the time and attention you’ve put towards it.

 

 

 

I promise if you put the time in, I mean REALLY put the time in, you’ll win.

 

happiness-time-meme

 

I promise that if you commit to being a student of the game, meaning that you stop complaining, passing blame, creating excuses, and start honestly asking questions and looking at ways to improve your situation, you’ll win.

 

 

 

Are you willing to take a step back? Really?

 

You’re afraid of losing your stuff, your lifestyle. I’m here to tell you everyone is and it isn’t so bad, in fact, it’s rather liberating.

happiness-liberating

 

If you aren’t willing, THAT’S OK because you’re a hobby artist or a hobby band, and there NOTHING wrong with that.

 

What IS WRONG is if you complain that you can’t “Get your deal”, or you can’t “get professional recordings”, or you can’t “find your audience”.  These are tasks that are tackled by professional artists, not hobby artists.

 

Many bands have done it.

 

We do it for artists every day here at Daredevil Production.

 

So when I hear complaints about how it’s because of this reason, or that reason an artist can’t find an audience, get paid, or make great recordings, it makes my hair stand up.

happiness-hair-stand-up

 

Excuses

 

I’ll ask them, what EXACTLY do you think are the issues that are preventing you from tackling these challenges?

 

 

You see, to me, this is akin to complaining that you can’t breathe. Yet, there are 7 billion + people on this planet that are breathing.

 

Why can’t you?

 

Because you’re complaining and looking for excuses rather than taking any action whatsoever to solve the problem.

happiness-one-at-bat-meme

 

ONE AT BAT.

 

YOU’RE GOING TO DIE.

 

 

If you don’t seriously step up, which may mean stepping back momentarily, to follow your dreams, I promise THAT is the regret you’ll have on your death bed.

 

It won’t be a regret over something you did.

happiness-regrest-booze-bottle

 

It’ll ALWAYS be a regret over something you DIDN’T do for whatever reason.

 

 

 

I can testify that money, your house, watches, cars, trips, restaurants, extra musical instruments, the latest recording gear, softball league, basketball league, racquetball league, Golf, your credit score, etc., are completely worthless.

 

They mean nothing.

 

You find that out after you lose them.

happiness-definition-2-career

They don’t define you.

 

I’ll say that again so READ IT.

 

These are things that don’t define you.

 

Your happiness defines you.

 

 

That’s what other souls really see. They may be misguided enough at this point on their journey to respond to your money or what they feel security “looks” like, but your true happiness is really what they see.

happiness-is-what-the-soul-sees

 

 

Or don’t see.

 

 

 

 

People are going to remember you for the way you made them feel, not because you have a Rolex, a Ferrari, or a vintage ’59 Les Paul.

 

When you’re really happy because you’re doing what you were born to do, you can’t help but make other people happy.

 

You become the inspiration all artists aspire to be.

 

I made decent money in business. I have a talent for that.

 

I made a LOT of money in the financial industry.  Straight up, my monthly ad budget at one time (with my radio show on in 5 stations in 3 markets) was more than a lot of you, maybe most you, make in a year. 3 month’s ad budget would safely probably cover the lot of you.

 

Just the ad budget.

happiness-poof-it-was-gone-plane-fire

 

Poof, it all went away in 2008 and IT WAS A BLESSING.

 

A gift from God.

 

I lost my house, my wife, my savings, my business, my dignity (briefly), and for about a year, my direction.

 

The loss of direction was the scariest part. Never had that happen. Faith is all you have at that point, that’s what gets you through.

happiness-regrets-pray-cross

 

When I moved back to Nashville from Los Angeles, I had nothing. I literally went from requiring 2 trips in a 24-foot U-Haul truck to move into my new house in 2004 to 1 10-foot box truck to move out to Nashville.

 

 

 

I’m STILL getting rid of crap.

 

 

Lots of old energy.

 

I hocked all my prized guitars and amplifiers including a ’68 Gibson Country & Western acoustic guitar, and a 1st year Peavy EVH 5150 guitar head (ugh), a ’68 Marshall 4×12 cabinet with vintage 25 watt greenbacks, a killer 60’s re-issue Vox AC-30, and rare mid ‘80’s Sunburst Gibson ES-335 (these are just the sexiest items) to keep this company going in the beginning.

 

This is called taking a step back.

happiness-step-back

 

I believed in what I was doing.

 

 

 

 

 

I had months where I didn’t know how I was going to come up with the $80 I needed to renew my tag on my auto license.

 

 

I was thinking, “I’m too old for this shit.”

happiness-too-old

 

 

I worked Uber after hours for 18 months to pay the bills while the company grew. That would be Friday night from 6pm-3am. Saturday night from 6pm-3am. Then I’d crash for 2 hours and work the Sunday morning airport runs from 6am-12pm.

 

 

 

 

 

I was definitely growing Daredevil Production at a pretty nice trajectory percentage-wise but when you start at $0.00 it takes a while for those percentages to turn into an amount of money that can pay your bills.

happiness-sales-trajectory-meme

 

I took the step back.

 

 

 

 

 

I promised myself that I would go HARD TO THE PAINT for 5 years and after 5 years if I looked back and felt it was a waste of time or I misjudged the target somehow (which was my mistake in the financial business) then I’d go sell insurance and make a million dollars.

happiness-hard-to-the-paint

 

I could pretty easily do that. I have that skill set.

 

Music was my passion, though.

 

 

Cracking the code to connecting artists and fans and then MONETIZING those fans without using radio, was and still is the sexiest challenge in the world to me.

happiness-cracking-the-code

 

We’ve done it. We’re ramping up the traffic volumes now.

 

 

 

 

 

Gary Vee was right in that opening quote when he mentioned the 7-year time frame.

 

This November 5th will mark my 5-year anniversary of being back in Nashville. To be fair it’s probably been a solid 3 years since I really started focusing on the marketing side of Daredevil Production.

happiness-7-year-meme

 

The trajectory continues and if next year grows like this year, BOOM!

 

That 7-year mark no matter where you want to start the timeline will be a biggie.

 

I’m telling you this because there is no greater feeling than winning at what you LOVE to do and what you were BORN to do.

 

I want you to win.

 

I don’t want you to live the dichotomy.

 

Stop complaining, start working, and taking responsibility for your own happiness.

 

Stay

 

In

 

Tune

 

 

 

 

If you liked this article, please SHARE it and COMMENT below

 

 

 

Artist Success Approach Feature MEME

There is an over-promise of artist success amongst allArtist Success Hand MEME artists in all genres like country, rap, rock, pop, etc. This over-promise has become the key ingredient to your failure.

 

It’s causing you to lose.

 

I give credit where credit is due and this article was inspired by this 3 minute video from Gary Vaynerchuk called, “Reframing Entrepreneurial Success”.

Gary Vee Reframe RESIZED

 

The over-promise is so prevalent that when I write articles geared around “artist success” I’ll inevitably get a few emails chastising me for selling some idea of success and attaching it to millions-of-dollars kind of success; which I never do, by the way.

 

It’s the over-promise that has been drilled in their head so much they just assume that when I mention success it must mean selling out, fame and fortune, and of course that’s bad for the art.

 

Artist Success Ball Rolling STRUGGLE

To be clear, those of you that actually read my articles (and don’t comment solely based on your reaction to my title which is idiotic, but I digress) know that I define artist success as being able to make a living doing what you were born to do; the opposite of living the dichotomy.

 

What do I mean by that exactly?

 

Well, I remember moving a 17-year-old, phenomenal guitar player down from Detroit Michigan back in 2010 (ish?). His grandfather is my father’s best friend and someone I grew up with and respect immensely. I remember having a conversation with this man, someone I referred to throughout my life as an “uncle”, and someone who is extremely intelligent (a dentist), about whether his grandson had what it took to “make it”.

 

I asked him what his definition of “making it” was.

 

Naturally, it was attached to fame.

 

You have to remember he’s a dentist and completely unfamiliar with the entertainment industry and how it works.

Artist Success MTV

His only experience with the entertainment industry is with the entertainment. The entertainment is served up to his awareness by the famous entertainers. This is MOST people’s grasp of the industry who operate outside of it.

 

His response was something along the lines of “will he be a star” or “will he be on MTV” aka will he be famous like all the entertainers that have come into his awareness.

 

Now you may laugh at this, but some of you who BELIEVE YOU’RE IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY are just as naïve.

 

To be clear, my uncle is an extremely intelligent man who built and sold an amazing dental practice, he knows nothing about the inner workings of show business.

 

YOU, on the other hand, have zero excuse for being naïve in this regard because this is the business which you choose to want to dominate. You’d better know how the hell it works, but again, I digress.

 

Anyway, I asked my “uncle” if he’d heard of Danny Elfman. Of course, he said, “No.”Artist Success Danny Elfman

 

I said, “Well, you’ve definitely heard his music and he could buy and sell you and your impressive success 1,000 times over. Danny writes music for feature films. He makes about 4 million dollars per movie.

 

He does a LOT of movies.

 

My uncle’s jaw dropped.

 

That was the opener to my point.

 

The next point was that there were tons of really talented people here in Nashville for Artist Success Homeinstance who make a good living doing what they were born to do; making and playing music.

 

I described “A good living” as a job that allowed them to own a house, have a family, put their kids through college, and take a vacation once a year. These are people that he would only know if he was deep in the industry.

 

My uncle immediately understood my point.

 

I then told him that, yes, his grandson had all the talent he needed to “succeed” by our newly refined definition and it would be up to his work ethic and his brain to actually provide the execution necessary to turn an idea like that into a reality.Artist Success Labor Day

 

By the way, he did just that landing a gig with an indie artist tour that paid about $45k-60k per year…he was 19 at that time, I believe. Not too bad for a guitar player with no college education if you ask me.

 

Y’all are too worried about being famous and you’re making bad decisions because of it.

 

You need to reframe your idea of success.

 

This will change your approach.

 

Which will change everything.

 

Some of y’all are impeding your potential and you’re currently at a very coveted level, playing with the big boys, talking record contracts, and dealing with real industry professionals.

Artist Success YES MEME

What I mean by impeding your success is that without sales, without any resemblance of a profitable small business, God help you if you if they say “YES” and you get your deal.

 

Sounds crazy but money talks and bullshit walks (h/t to Bobbi Fleckman). A less talented artist with more hustle and business experience is going to get the entire label team more excited and command more label resources than someone with astounding talent and no cash flow.

 

 

Artist Success Money Talks MEME

 

 

 

This model means you’d have to be developed and the labels just really don’t do that anymore.

 

 

 

 

Artist Success Lotto

Oh, and they’re people so they’re naturally lazy like you. Getting behind the other guy is going to make them look better quicker.

 

 

I’m generalizing to be sure. However, basing your future on a plan requiring the label to do all the work is like basing your next rent check or mortgage payment on whether or not you win the lottery.

 

 

It could happen.

 

But it’s lazy and unrealistic.

 

Artist Success Stack The Deck

If making a living and getting a record deal is THIS important to you, why the hell wouldn’t you want to go in stacking the deck with every advantage you have to ensure your artist success?

 

 

Granger Smith did exactly this. He created an online 1.8-million-dollar-empire, completely independently. The labels wanted to sign him a couple years ago but they kept saying no until it was time to get the #1.

 

 

He was so undeniable as a business force that when he finally did sign he had the hearts and minds of everyone at the label. The entire team was committed to making him successful or die trying. That’s a buy in.

Artist Success Granger Smith

Consequently, his first single went to #1.

 

I doubt that would’ve happened if he was signed by the label and required them to develop him.

 

 

 

Most of you are not at this level yet. You’re just trying to get the ball rolling somehow.

 

Here’s the take away.

 

Focus on getting one new person to like you every day.

 

Artist Success Money 100k

 

Focus on creating a business built around your music and creative efforts that generates $100,000 per year.

 

 

 

That’s impressive to me.

 

One step at a time.

 

3D Twitter Book Cover image

VALUE BOMB:  Try the same approach with your social media. Master ONE PLATFORM first. Master Twitter because you have my free book (GiftFromJohnny.com) and then build from there.

 

Once you master creating $100,000 of revenue per year, which equates to 1000 fans that are willing to pay $100/year to an artist, the next $100,000 is a lot easier, I promise.

 

Why the hell is this article important to you?

 

Because when you framing your “success” as multi-platinum record sales, custom tour busses, and millionaire rock star friends, you’re not thinking about the little steps required to create a career like that.

 

Artist Success Tour Bus

You begin to get in your own way and allocate precious resources like money and your limited time to the wrong things. I actually know an artist who blew a privately funded $750,000 record promo budget on a freaking tour bus! A 1.5 million-dollar depreciating asset with a $6,000/month overhead burden for a business that has zero dollars in monthly cash flow.

 

 

 

I guess he wanted to feel famous or something.

 

Now he’s still not famous, has a record deal, and a bus, which he parks in his driveway and plays video games in.

 

Artist Success Compromise Dogs

To be multi-platinum, yes you’re probably going to need radio at some point. But if multi-platinum is your only definition of success it’s super easy to quit because you don’t have $500k to invest in a radio tour that will promise NOTHING but give you the opportunity to make a play.

 

If you reframe your idea of success, which for a lot of you should be as simple as replacing your crappy day job that makes you $20,000 – $60,000 per year with money from sales from your artist career, it becomes doable.

 

Try that first.

 

 

How much money do you need to make to afford to be a full time musician?

 

Some of you write me and tell me you’re currently making $80,000 – over $100,000 per year and would have to at least start there.

 

To me that means the money is more important than the music.

 

 

This is ok, man. I get it, believe me.

 

Just be real with yourself. With THAT kind of discretionary income, you could orchestrate a pretty sick little business but it would require you to be willing to step back on your revenue for a while to get the ball rolling.

 

Start with making your first $1,000.

Artist Success First 1,000

 

Then move on to replacing that money your making at your current job.

 

Then move on to the $100k mark.

 

 

Then move on to bigger things.

 

Don’t let hype shut you down or make you feel like It’s impossible to achieve the dream unless you’re famous.

 

Artists are creating small functioning businesses every day and you certainly don’t want to give up only to find out that everybody is doing it 10 years later and you hate your current job.

 

No matter how much money that current job is making you, that would be the opposite of success.

 

At least for me.

 

Stay

 

In

 

Tune.

 

If you like the content in this article please SHARE it and COMMENT below.

Why are we so afraid of a challenge? Why do we lose sleep over the thought of pending adversity?Adversity Trouble Ahead

 

If you’re familiar with me it’s easy to see my attraction and fascination with Gary Vaynerchuk. We think similarly and have similar tone (at least that’s what I choose to believe). Gary has a regular YouTube show called “#AskGaryVeeShow” where he shares his insights by responding to real questions from real people. In this particular episode, Gary interviews the amazing “people builder” Eric Thomas. Both Gary and Eric are the epitome of what can happen to a person after they learn to embrace adversity.

 

I want you to win, whatever that means for you.

 

Adversity Gary Vee and Eric Thomas RESIZED

 

Here are my takeaways from this incredibly insightful exchange.

 

EVERYBODY HAS TO WAKE UP AND GRIND.

Adversity 95%

 

This is what’s lost on most people. I’ll put it another way, most people talk shit.

 

There it is, plain and simple.

 

 

95% of you talk shit and you won’t ever do anything about it for a host of really good reasons/excuses.

 

It doesn’t matter how much talent you have, it doesn’t matter how good you are or how well intentioned your cause is, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING is going to happen until you execute.

 

Adversity Grind

 

Everybody has to wake up and grind to make it happen.

 

 

 

Later in the episode, Gary speaks about a controversial sign that he has hanging in office somewhere that reads, “Ideas Are Shit”.  The full statement should actually read, “Ideas Are Shit Until You Execute Them” but he purposefully omits the end part because he wants to get people thinking. He wants to piss them off.

 

I like that.

Adversity Ideas Are Shit

 

Every single one us was NOT born with all the mental tools, education, strategies, and methodologies we need to achieve our dreams. We have to become seekers and find the answers.

 

 

 

All too often we pride ourselves on “making it alone” and forsake real education that would speed our process up.

 

How do you grind?

 

Answer: You have to learn.

 

Adversity Frowny Face

Most of you won’t begin to learn. You’ll continue to talk shit and do what you’ve always done only to grow more and more frustrated having to endure the same results until the dream eventually dies within you.

 

That’s the definition of crazy.

 

 

Most of you, for whatever reason, thrive on the drama of it all rather than grinding or cracking the code to learn how to work more effectively, intelligently, and efficiently.

 

There’s places to learn. Go find them and pay for your education. It’ll change your life. So what if you get burned once or twice by paying a little money for knowledge that you feel wasn’t worth it in the end. You’ll learn to distinguish the good from the bad quickly. Don’t let the fear of losing a couple hundred bucks be the reason you learn nothing and stay stagnant.

 

That would be silly.

Adversity Hair

What price can you put on information that will inspire you to create momentum in your career? Sheesh.

 

HYPE AND BRAVADO

 

False bravado, hype, and an overblown, misleading image of success doesn’t make you successful. In fact, it’s a turn off on social media.

Adversity Rapper

 

This behavior is prevalent with all human beings in all walks of life including artists. I see it in country music artists, rock artists, and especially rap artists.

 

Why do we do this?

 

Answer: Because we want people to love us.

 

 

 

We want them to believe we’re bigger than we are because we feel that will trigger a mechanism in their brain that will make them like us.

 

This approach is naïve though. Gary gives some great advice and I’ll share it with you because it’s EXACTLY what we preach here at Daredevil Production.

 

If you want to seriously build a rabid fan base you have to grind and get one person to like you every day.

 

How do you do that?

Adversity LIKE

 

Answer: You like them first.

 

 

Go to Twitter.com/search and find the community that is inclined to love your music. For instance, if you’re a rapper and you think your style is similar to Future’s style, go find that community. In other words, you believe that Future’s fans will love your style too. Search for #Future and get in on the conversations and tweet exchanges.

 

Adveristy Twitter Search RESIZED

“Yes, I love that track!”

 

“Man, that hook is crazy, I love it too.”

 

You’ll start making friends.

 

I dare you to commit to doing this for 30 minutes a day for 7 days. Free advice that will create results but only if you execute.

 

C’mon, what do you have to lose?

 

We all want our respective communities to love us.

Adversity Love The Community First

If you want the community to love you, love the community first.

 

You’d be amazed at how deep you can make a relationship with just a 3-4 tweets. Find out about them and they’ll worship you for it.

 

That means asking questions.

 

One per day.

 

If you GRIND this strategy longer than a week, say one year later, you’ll look back and see some serious momentum. They’ll be DIFFERENT results. You’ll be happy, I promise.

 

This leads us swimmingly into the next takeaway.

 

PATIENCE AND QUITTING

 

Adversity Patience Truth Puzzle

 

This takes time, y’all.

 

 

Once you dig in and begin recording, and marketing your actual truth, you’re not going to see results in a week or two.

 

Not in 6 months.

 

Not in 1 year.

 

This reality will test your EQ.

Adversity Patience Truth Puzzle

 

 

Huh?

 

Yes, I.Q. is intelligence quotient.  E.Q. is emotional quotient.

 

E.Q. is essential to every success; I.Q. is not.

 

If the opposite was true, we wouldn’t have any famous crappy, untalented artists.

 

Ask Gary Vee Book

I loved this comment from Gary and I think about this all the time when I think about y’all.

 

I think about the people who quit and wonder if they gave up right before they were about to happen.

 

 

Gary asks, “What if when you die, you meet God and he says that he wants to show you something? Then he shows you that you quit on March 19th, 2016 and you were about to happen on April 7th.” [paraphrasing]

 

ADVERSITY

 

Adversity is how we make ourselves great.

Adversity

 

 

Adversity comes in many forms like racism, prejudice, sibling rivalry, bullying, personal tragedy, etc.

 

 

Gary’s family fled Eastern Europe because they were Jewish and the Jews were constantly persecuted. Both his grandfathers were jailed because they were Jewish.

 

Gary had zero relationship with his father.

 

Eric Thomas is a black man from the Detroit ghetto. He came from NOTHING. He started his now lucrative business on “zero cents” as he mentions at the beginning of the interview.

 

Eric had zero relationship with his father until he was 30 years old, (if my memory serves me correctly).

 

This is real adversity and you have your own to deal with don’t you?

 

Adversity Stick Up

We all do!

 

Don’t dread it. Embrace it.

 

 

 

Expect the adversity and eat it for breakfast because it never stops.

 

Here’s what adversity does to motivate a person:

 

  • Creates confidence. You prove to yourself that you’re stronger than you think and you can handle anything.
  • Removes the fear of adversity. This sounds obvious and maybe silly but until you’ve kicked a little bootie you’re never really sure you can.

 

It’s no secret that all successful artists and people have overcome a truckload of adversity.

 

The ones who use it as an excuse are the “95 percenters” who live in drama and don’t make a living doing something they love to do.

 

They suffer.Adversity Fear

 

Listen, just by committing to WORK and GRIND you put yourself in a very small club of 5% of all the players. Those are much better odds; don’t you think?

 

MENTAL FIRST

 

Thoughts are things. For real.

 

One day two dudes sat on the bank of the Hudson River in New York City and thought, “Let’s build a bridge from Manhattan island to Brooklyn.” They thought it up, THEY EXECUTED THE PLAN, and it was the longest bridge ever built at the time. First bridge ever that was so long they had to mathematically account for the curvature of the Earth to get the ends to meet the ground.

Adversity Brooklyn Bridge

You have to mentally commit to something first before it can happen in reality.

 

 

Gary just started a sports agency to represent top tier athletes going into pro sports. I thought it was interesting that he asks every prospective client the same question. “When was the moment you realized you could be a pro?”

 

They would answer with responses articulating one specific game, one play, or a close friend who went pro and they used to school that friend in practices so they thought, “If he can do I can definitely do it.

 

The takeaway for me came when Gary shared the behavior change that accompanies the epiphany.

 

Gary says [again, paraphrasing], “The moment they mentally believe they can be pro, their behavior changes. They work out more, they eat better, they go from 6 girlfriends down to one, they become much more focused.”

Adversity Believe In Yourself

 

I see the same thing happen with artists.

 

I want to see this happen with you.

 

Adversity is your friend so stop bitching about it. These 2 dudes came from nothing. These 2 dudes have overcome prejudice, racism, inadequate familial relationships, zero money, crappy support systems, and the ghetto to make a living doing something that turns them on.

 

You can too.

 

It’s just a state of mind, man.

 

Stay

 

In

 

Tune.

 

 

 

If you found this content helpful, please SHARE it and COMMENT below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poverty Think Your Way Out Feature

This is going to piss a lot of artists off, but it really is the truth and I want to make you aware of it; otherwise you simply won’t grow. Poverty is a state of mind. It has very little to do with access to Poverty Old Womanresources or capital. This goes for artistic poverty as well as regular plain old poverty.

 

The following information on this poverty study came into my awareness as a result of paid coaching I received from Tai Lopez. I paid for this coaching because he had some answers and I was seeking knowledge. All this comes into play in this article. (To be clear, while I WHOLEHEARTEDLY believe in paid coaching, I am not advocating for Tai Lopez, I’m just giving credit where credit is due).

Joseph Stiglitz won a Nobel Prize as an economist and his scientific research confirmed that what actually keeps nations, communities, and individuals poor is not primarily a lack of capital or opportunities (what most people think)

Instead, Stiglitz found that the root is a lack of knowledge, and more specifically a lack of knowledge on how to gain more knowledge.

The inability to learn quickly and efficiently…Poverty Joseph Stiglitz

What his research found was, “What separates developed from less-developed countries is not just a gap in resources but a gap in knowledge.”

Like the Chinese saying goes, “Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.”

You must learn how to learn.

It’s an art and a skill.

Most people learn too slowly due to their fixed mindset that won’t adapt to feedback analysis because of their simple stubbornness and delusion (wishing the world was like their fantasies instead of having the courage to seek truth). 

Learn how to learn more quickly and you will live a very rich life (not just financially).

 

What will change your life is NOT one person, one record executive, one big time manager, or one opportunity; it will be your mindset.

You have to change your mind first because, I promise, you are the problem. Once you realize that and deal with it, you’ll start to ask the right questions.

Poverty Ask The Right QuestionsWhen you ask the right questions, you seek the right knowledge.

When you seek the right knowledge you get the right answers.

Then your life begins to transform.

 

It’s quite miraculous really.

The record business isn’t holding you down or keeping you out, you are.

Poverty isn’t holding you down or keeping you out, you are.

Poverty blind Darts

 

There are plenty of opportunities to accomplish what you want with your artist career, right there in your little town, but you aren’t taking advantage of them because either you don’t see them or you do see them and can’t recognize them.

 

In short, you don’t know because you lack knowledge and understanding (isn’t that exhausting and frustrating?).

 

If you had knowledge and understanding you would be seeing results, it’s as simple as that.

 

For instance, many of you have become aware of me through the free Twitter book I give away. I constantly get emails and tweets about how people begin to grow their Twitter accounts at a rapid rate immediately after reading that book.

Poverty Music Marketing Book Cover

 

Before they didn’t know. Then they knew. Now they see results! (And it was free!)

The reason you can’t see or recognize these opportunities is because you refuse to learn.

 

 

 

Many of you refuse to learn the truth because your fantasy will get blown to smithereens.

 

You realize that your precious dream of being artist, like every other dream, comes dressed up in overalls looking and smelling a lot like hard work.

Poverty Thomas Edison Quote

 

I constantly get emails from artists who tell me they are broke.

 

But y’all still have money for that next recording, new guitar, new microphone, studio equipment, car, weed, cocktails, rims, hydraulic switches, or long weekend at the beach.

Why not start to double down on yourself with the VERY inexpensive investment in books?

 

Tony Robbins read 700 books when he was starting out. He came from absolute poverty. His mother was so broke they couldn’t afford to purchase Thanksgiving dinner every year. This is why Tony feeds over 100,000 families every year at Thanksgiving.

Poverty Tony Robbins

 

Tony Robbins doesn’t have a college education by the way.

 

There is an EMBARRASSMENT of knowledge right on Amazon.com. You can find books about recording, marketing, music marketing, mindset changes, psychology (to apply to your communicative exchanges with fans), management, the record business, social media, etc.

 

If you’re looking for a book that has an EZ button, you won’t find it. If you’re looking for a book that will tell you exactly what YOU need to get ahead in YOUR career, you won’t find it.

 

That’s where your work ethic and your big brain come in.

Poverty Connect The Dots

 

After the reading is done and your creative juices are flowing, you will start to connect the dots and apply this newfound knowledge to your specific situation.

 

I have read and listened to hundreds of books and podcasts that interview or reveal facts about super influential people like Tony Robbins, Seth Godin, Tai Lopez, Steve Jobs, etc.

 

Do you know what every single one of these leading minds have in common?

They read.

 

They read a lot.

Poverty_Tai_Lopez

 

Tai Lopez is famous for reading 10,000 books.

 

 

Stop fidgeting and relax.

 

 

I’m not saying you have to read 10,000 books to succeed.

 

I will ask you this, what was the last book you read that had anything to do with marketing music?

  • How about Content Marketing in general?
  • How about human psychology and how we are wired up to shop?
  • When I ask artists what they are mostly frustrated with by far the most common response is their social media progress. What was the last book you read on that?

 

Get it?

 

Poverty Mark Twain Quote

You need very specific knowledge to get ahead in your chosen career and you’re blowing it by purposefully ignoring the facts and staying tethered to your happy little fantasy.

 

I promise you are lacking some serious data.

 

Which means you’re making important business decisions based on zero or inaccurate information; which is INSANELY expensive.

You can’t afford insanely expensive.

 

Nothing will change until you internalize that fact and rectify it.

 

Every interview or biography I have ever read about a powerful person has a similar quote and it looks something like this, “Books are the best deal out there.”

Poverty Abe Lincoln Book Quote

 

You can gain deep understanding, access and proximity to the greatest minds on this planet, past and present, for somewhere between $2.99 and $15.

 

What?!??!

 

It’s all out there for you.

 

Y’all it is SO EMPOWERING!

 

I LOVE to read because I have a dream to architect a new music business record label with Daredevil Production.

Poverty Gap Collage

 

Every time I read, I get a little closer to that reality. Every book I read gets me super excited about the new ideas I can apply to my dream.

 

 

Sometimes the information comes in the form of validation; like with Seth Godin’s Poverty Permission MarketingPermission Marketing. I read the foreword, introduction, and first 2 chapters of that book and I was literally vibrating. It was everything I have been preaching for the last 4 years at Daredevil (why the hell didn’t I read that before?).

 

 

Sometimes the knowledge manifests in the form of an epiphany or major lesson learned; like with Predictably Irrational. It was in this book that I connected some dots about how humans shop comparatively as opposed to trying to understanding real value.

 

For instance, none of you truly understand the difference in value between a 4-cylinder engine and a 6-cylinder engine. What you do understand is a 6-cylinder engine is bigger so must be worth more. We think we are researching our purchase choices but we are really looking for a comparison that is quick and makes sense to us.

 

Here’s a fun factual story. There was a company that created a $250 bread maker. They had tons of distribution in awesome stores like Williams-Sonoma, etc.Poverty Dan Ariely Quote

 

They weren’t selling any bread makers.

 

They hired a consulting firm that researched the issue and their solution was to make a $400 bread maker.

 

Wait, huh?

 

Yep.

 

They said don’t plan on selling any, just put them on the shelf next to the $250 model.

 

People didn’t understand the value of a bread maker because they had nothing to compare it to.

 

Once the $400 (decoy) bread maker was placed on the shelves of the distributors, the $250 models began to sell out.

 

Pretty cool huh?

I learned that in a book.

 

Poverty Predictably Irrational

A used book that cost me less than $5. Just that one piece of information was worth the money; but there was so much more.

 

A bread maker is as ambiguous of a product as your music. It’s not like construction, medicine, gasoline, food, or some other product or service that society absolutely needs.

 

No, your music, as good as it is, is a product that nobody needs, wants, or is looking for.

Nobody is shopping for new music.

 

You aren’t either if you think about it.

 

You have your jams, you’re all set.Poverty Books

 

Want to think your way out of poverty?

 

What disruption and subsequent chain of events has to happen to open a consumer’s mind and heart about your music enough to influence them to buy?

 

Ahh, now you’re asking the right questions!

 

Stay

In

Tune

P.S. You must learn to learn. Start by reading. Here are a few recommendations to get you started.

 

Poverty Predictably Irrational

Predictably Irrational – Dan Ariely – This book is all about hidden forces that shape our decision making; like the decision to buy your CD. Get it? (Bread maker story was in this one)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poverty My Book

 

 

Advanced Music Marketing On Twitter – Johnny Dwinell – Yes, this is me. If you read my first Twitter book (which you can get for FREE if you don’t already have it) you know how to target and grow your followers. This advance book teaches you what to do with them. Essentially how to turn your followers into real fans.

 

 

 

Jab, Jab, Jab, RIGHT HOOK – Gary Vaynerchuk – This book breaks down content marketing on different social media platforms. It shows you the “native” Jab Jab Booklanguages of each platform along with do’s & don’ts. It’s really cool because Gary pulls actual posts from each platform and judges them. You’ll learn a lot.

 

 

 

 

 

Once you devour these, email me. I’ll create a master list of every book I’ve ever read.

 

If you found this article valuable please SHARE it and COMMENT. (Thanks!)

 

Mistake Do Over image

 

Your biggest mistake ever, ready?

 

Y’all are making it. Constantly.

It’s marketing.

Mistake Peanuts Budget

 

You’re either not even thinking of marketing your music (so there is no budget), you’re convinced marketing is too expensive (categorically UNTRUE), you’re waiting till your project is finished to market it (huh?), or you’re completely unaware of any effective strategies you can use to influence the buying decisions of a music consumer.

 

Most of you are using social media for the digital equivalent of panhandling or door-to-door sales.

 

 

Every day I get 10 Tweets or DM’s saying “Check out my new single” or “Discover us on iTunes”, etc.

 

TURNOFF!!Mistake door to door salesman

 

Why don’t you knock on my door and try selling me dictionaries or something?

 

 

 

Social media is really for making relationships and driving traffic.  MAYBE a little selling, like the “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook” strategy that Gary Vaynerchuk wrote about, but most of you naively have this all wrong.

Mistake Jab

 

 

 

 

 

Mistake Poop

 

 

Most of you are using non-existent or downright crappy marketing strategies.

 

Name one song in your music career that you PAID to discover.

Mistake Discover Music

 

Truth is you heard the song on the radio, in a movie, commercial, viral YouTube video, TV show, or you heard about it from a friend

All of these exposure avenues are free.

Why would you think that anyone would want to pay to discover your music when you certainly haven’t; not even for your favorite bands?

 

Yes, once again, digital distribution (iTunes, Pandora, Spotify, CD Baby, etc) is where a consumer goes to buy your music, marketing is WHY a consumer will buy it.

 

Marketing is the influencing of buying decisions.

 

How exactly and what exactly are you doing to influence people to buy your music?

These days it takes more than “good music” to influence a consumer buying decision.

Mistake Fireworks

 

 

 

They want to be excited, so you’ve got to make them get genuinely excited, you want them to feel the fireworks inside.

They’ve got to feel like they’re a part of something. A movement, a tribe, if you will.

 

 

Live shows are probably the most effective way to do this, assuming you have a good live show.

 

Put the band on tour opening for so-and-so and watch the fan base start building.Mistake Live Show Image2

 

In L.A. I used to put a bill together of 5 bands to ensure a killer draw for the club.  A packed house creates excitement.

 

Consumers will have to be “open” to receiving the information. In other words, they don’t want to feel like they’re being “sold”’.

 

 

If they feel like they’re being sold, they will shut down and ignore your requests and most of them will be polite about it.

 

Panhandling doesn’t work.Mistake Panhandling

 

Digital “door knocking” doesn’t work.

 

So what creates excitement?

 

 

Social Proof certainly helps. Pictures and videos of you playing to packed houses (even if an advantageous camera angle Mistake Social Proofcreates an illusion making the gig look like it’s sold out), recording in the studio, demonstrating your talent on YouTube, showing up in in an online magazine between 2 major label artists, etc., these things will never hurt your reputation.

 

 

 

I’ll give you an example. Most of you have downloaded my free Twitter book by now. Just posting 3 tweets a day with a 3D image of the bookMistake Twitter usually got me around 3 downloads per day. Then I took screen shot of a few people who were publically praising me on Twitter or FB for seriously expanding their Twitter following.

 

THAT was social proof!

 

Mistake Wade Sutton 10K TwitterNow we get about 8-15 downloads per day because I got consumers excited about it.

 

You’re concept of marketing and how to effectively execute it is most certainly skewed when it comes to your music.

 

Don’t feel bad, the industry is just as lost as you.

 

Mistake Lost2

It will take years for them to effectively address this mistake and statistically it won’t be corrected by a major label, rather a small company that makes a lot of noise focusing on this specific issue and gets purchased by a major label.

 

Here’s an assessment of the real damage though, you continue to experience marketing with techniques that are now archaic and ineffective.

 

As long as you keep seeing and experiencing the old ineffective marketing methodologies (especially with bands that you already know about) as a consumer, the more you are encouraged to apply these techniques to your own musical efforts.

 

It makes sense because it’s the only input you really receive, right?

 

It seems like it’s working too, right?

 

Wrong.

 

I’ve mentioned before, the bestselling country record 10 years ago sold 11 million copies. The bestselling country record for 2014 barely cracked 1 million. YIKES!

This change in the marketing paradigm has drastically affected the music industry’s brightest and best.

 

 

Mistake headacheThe more you apply these unsuccessful techniques, the more confused and frustrated you become.

 

Think of it like this, if the only language input you receive is Spanish, then you will speak Spanish until such a time that you change the input to include other languages. Conversely, if you only receive English input you cannot read the script in this picture.

 

Get it?Mistake Input Spanish

 

 

 

 

 

 

All the industry big wigs whose names you know will just continue to utilize the methods that have proven successful to them until the well runs dry, which will be awhile, but it’s definitely draining.

Mistake Industry Big Wigs

 

I have seen this many times during a paradigm shift in several industries.

The big players who are plugged in (and usually in the sunset of their careers) won’t change and don’t change tactics.

Why should they?

 

 

 

Big publicly traded corporations (like the biggest buggy whip company) can’t have visionaries that go back to the board members and tell them the business model they purchased all their shares of stock on has to change (so they should start building cars).  They live by the quarter not for the long run.

 

Therefore they won’t change, not that drastically, because that kind of change requires a lot of forward thinking with no quarterly accountability.

 

Are you picking up what I’m putting down?Mistake Sinking ship

It’s like the ship is sinking but they won’t go down with it, so they don’t care.

 

They don’t have to, they’re going to be fine.

But what about you?

 

Once you realize this you will embrace all that is required to LEARN how to market yourself.

Mistake Headache Remedy

 

 

Once you embrace marketing (like you embrace writing and recording your music) you will see significant changes.

 

 

 

 

The remedy to your biggest mistake ever lies within your ability to recognize that you suffer from a lack of modern data.

 

Time to make a serious change.

 

What will you do to change the input you are receiving and educate yourself on marketing your music?

Mistake Dream is Free Hustle

Stay

In

Tune.

 

If you like this post, please SHARE it and/or LEAVE A COMMENT thank you!

[ois skin=”Bottom Post”]

 

20 Biggest Marketing Mistakes

20-Marketing-Mistakes-Songwriting-logo

20-Marketing-Mistakes-songwriting-and-music-business

 

This past week Kelly and I were honored to be panelists on Grammy nominee Amanda Williams’SongwritingandMusicBusiness.com songwriting conference. Whoa, let me tell you Amanda and Todd put together an informative, well organized, event that had attendees rubbing elbows and getting their music heard in front of many music industry professionals including, managers, publishing company executives, record executives, live performance coaches, and social media experts. There were many panels, events, networking, and performance opportunities during the day at the lovely Preston Hotel in Nashville.

One of the highlights was definitely Amanda Williams performing “Asstastic”…just sayin’.

20 Marketing Mistakes Amanda WIlliams Big Stage image

I am quite sure there were more than a few new songs written as artists and songwriters took their long day and extended it to jump on impromptu collaborations at the pool every day after midnight.

What a sweet vibe, man.

Kelly and I had a blast! We also became aware of several amazing artists we invited to submit to the TV show that we are casting. One writer we saw happened to look like a perfect fit for an artist we are currently developing.

 

 

The introductions have already been made.

Additionally we began a relationship with the management from a Barbados duo that we may just do some business with. Both Kelly and I were blown away by the talent and relished the environment provided to meet these people and interact.

I’ve been telling y’all about this event for well over a month now. Many of you continually email me with stories of your networking challenges, frustrations with your progress, and questions on how to “get in the business” deeper so you can make a living at it. Well, here was the PERFECT opportunity.

Why weren’t you there?

One of the breakout sessions I was asked to head up was a social media/marketing session. During this tutorial I got to thinking about the most common mistakes EVERYONE from indie artists to major labels are making with marketing in the new music business.

 

So here’s a list of my top biggest marketing mistakes

  1. Social media is about THEM not you – There are many clever ways to get what you want by thinking about them first. Start 20 Marketing Mistakes NOT YOUproviding something for them, cool quotes, inspiration, humor, knowledge, etc. Start talking about them, asking about them etc. I told a story of the Twitter campaign we did a year ago for an artist. This fan tweets that he’s CRANKING the song in his garage, drinking beer, and LOVING IT! Instead of basking in the glory (I was tweeting as the artist at the time) I asked a question. Which lead to an answer. Which lead to another question. This happened just 4 times and that guy invited the whole band to STAY AT HIS HOUSE in Texas when they came through on tour. 4 questions = Superfan
  2. Hype doesn’t work – Have you ever heard the phrase “A person is smart, people are stupid”? Have you ever heard PT Barnum’s famous quote “Nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd”? There is an energy in a crowd that speaks to our core need to be a part of something; we are wired up to want to belong. When we see someone on file0002005996090a stump with 30 people around him there is an implied power given to the speaker. How else did he get all these people to stop and listen? Mass media like TV and radio put the speaker in a similar but largely amplified position of power. A Donald Trump-esque hype speech actually works in mass media scenario or on a stump in front of a crowd, however, social media and email interaction is always consumed 1 on 1; privately. Now, imagine someone totally hyping a product during private conversation with you. Total turnoff right? If you must hype yourself the time to do it is at a live show where you pack a crowd in; they’ll believe whatever you tell them. If you propagandize through social media and email they will think you’re an idiot. Stop it.
  3. No list building and lead capture strategy– OMG I talk to artists every day who play for huge audiences during the summer. When it’s over they have nothing. This is a perfect time to capture phone numbers or email addresses…nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd,20 Marketing Mistakes List Building right? There are many companies like CallLoop.com who provide text capture technology that connects with your CRM (aWeber, Mail Chimp, Constant Contact, etc.). Give away a song in exchange for their phone number. Text messages have a 99% open rate. Squeeze pages are a super effective way to capture email addresses in exchange for a free track(s) which will expose the consumer to your music; win, win, win. Work out a deal with the bar owner to pony up a $25 bar tab (costs him about $4) that you would award at the end of the night to a lucky person you choose from the list they just opted into (works like a champ)
  4. Y’all record before you have an audience – To quote my friend Rick Barker, “would you open a hamburger stand in a vegan community?” Social media, YouTube, Blogging, and LIVE SHOWs are killer ways to build up a following before you release a product. Otherwise it’s a vanity project, which is cool, but you can’t really be pissed it isn’t selling, ya know?
  5. You’re trying to get “laid” on the 1st or 2nd date – Social media initiates the relationship and allows you to deepen it. Clever email campaigns can further deepen a relationship. There HAS TO BE A RELATIONSHIP before you ask for the sale. Period. You can’t just 20 Marketing Mistakes Getting Laidput a compelling PPC ad or tweet up that instantly drives people to iTunes to “get to know you”. Consumers will say “screw you”. However, we all know someone who purchased a CD to support an artist they “know”. See the difference?
  6. Crappy unproduced product – Remember how you felt when you bought the last product that totally disappointed you? Odds are you need help SOMEWHERE. Maybe you’re a great writer but not a producer. Maybe you’re a great singer but not a great writer. Maybe your lyrics aren’t as strong as your melodies. Identify the weak suit(s) and find help to make your music better. Just because you, your mate, and your mom like it doesn’t mean anybody else will; they are always going to encourage you. Find out what people think about the track on social media and get your answer. We had an artist that we did one single on and promoted it on Twitter. We got 2,000 downloads (giving it away free) in a couple months. This was a great litmus test because people responded and LOVED the track. Yes, art is subjective. But successful artists reach beyond their friends and family so if everyone else doesn’t get it you’ve got a hobby not a career.
  7. You don’t have a website and therefore no web store – Since you’re an indie artist and you will doing all the work to drive traffic, why not drive fans to your OWN STORE where you get 100% of the money? Yes, you will need a presence on sites like iTunes, Spotify, and CD baby because healthy percentages of fans prefer to buy there, but many will buy directly from you if you tell them to; especially after you have created a relationship. This is just common sense, isn’t it?
  8. You’re not bundling – Have you ever gone to a bar to order a cocktail and the server gives you 2 choices of top-shelf liquor to choose from? You either choose one of them or have the balls to say, “Give me the cheap stuff”; this is called “upselling”. 30% of your buyers will be willing to be upsold if you have something for them to spend more money on. Old CD’s, demo tapes, posters, set lists, autographed 8×10’s, t-shirts, hats, and key chains, make for great bundles. Check out this company for amazing bundling products that are simply unbelievable
  9. You’re only on 1 social media platform – While it is definitely counterproductive to try and be on all of them, at least 2, preferably 3 are a solid choice. Remember MySpace?
  10. You’re overexposing your act – get outta town, man. If you play every week or twice a month or even once a month (depending on how big your town is) in the same market, it’s too much. If any iconic superstar played every week down the street people would get sick of seeing them, I mean there’s always next week, right?
  11. You aren’t making your shows an event – When we got our start we opened for a band in Minneapolis called Hericane Alice. They were the biggest band in the Twin Cities at the time. They played about once a quarter and brought in FULL national act production and lights. They always sold out. When I lived in L.A. I would book a show and buy a keg. I’d tell people to pay the $10 at the show then beers were on me at my house afterward till the keg crapped out. It was an EVENT, an anticipated social gathering. What can you do to step up your game here?
  12. You haven’t studied content marketing – Social media is about content marketing so you better learn this fast. Gary Vaynerchuk is a pioneer in content marketing, learn from him. He says content marketing is like boxing, jab, jab, jab, RIGHT HOOK (which is your 20 Marketing Mistakes Gary V“call to action”) So content, content, content, then a call to action to a squeeze page of some sort or text based opt-in technology. Get it?
  13. Your live show sucks! – C’mon man! This is totally a pet peeve of mine. When we toured we worked our ASSES off on creating a compelling live show. 99.9% of the time I see a band they are totally boring even if they can play well. Have you ever seen Bruno Mars live? His show is one of the best. WORK. PERFORM. GIVE EVERYTHING YOU HAVE. That’s is what people want to see.
  14. You’re panhandling or worse, begging – Wade Sutton shared a great quote with me last weekend. He said “Take the napkin off your chest and put it on your IMG_2815arm”. In other words, stop asking “What can you do for me” and start asking “what can I do for you” to the people that can help advance your career. “Making millions off you in the future is a weak and markedly naïve pitch. Intern, clean, run, do whatever it takes to create a relationship. Jon Bon Jovi used to clean the Power Plant in NYC to gain access to studio time where he recorded over 50 versions of “Runaway”. One of them was picked for a WAPP compilation record, which in turn made the song a hit single, which ended in a record deal for Jon. Trent Reznor did the same to gain the access he needed to record “Pretty Little Hate Machine” from Nine Inch Nails. Both of these men accomplished this in an environment where records cost the 2014 equivalent of $550,000 to make. Now you can do it with a killer producer for less than 10% of that…what’s your excuse?
  15. You’re not adding images to every Tweet – images significantly improve open rates. Add images. Learn to Meme because it’s a great way to add your unique perspective to any image. Addtext.com is a killer resource for memes and not-for-nothing it’s a fun creative release. You might surprise yourself.
  16. You don’t fully understand the Sales Funnel – You need a sales funnel. A relationship building process that uses effective language to convert email addresses into cash. Once you have figured out the sales funnel portion you only need to focus on 2 marketing areas; traffic and average revenue per email address; the rest is mathematically predictable.
  17. You don’t understand the definition of marketing – Remember marketing is defined as influencing buying decisions. Distribution is where they go to purchase your music once the buying decision has been made.
  18. You won’t pay for coaching – This past weekend was an amazing chance for songwriters and artists to meet and create relationships, learn, evaluate, regroup, plan, and strategize using accurate information from many industry pros. With all the Woe-is-me emails I get about how hard it is to get ahead and meet the right people here was a great opportunity. No money is not an excuse; sorry. Jon Bon Jovi20 Marketing Mistakes Earl Dibbles Jr. found a way around a $550,000 hurdle. So did Trent Reznor, so did many artists. FIND A WAY TO WIN and stop getting in your own way. Sell a guitar, get an extra job, do whatever it takes to learn what you need to learn to succeed at what you love to do. IT’s worth it, right? Some great resources to consider are Rick Barker for virtual management, Wade Sutton for live show coaching and PR development, Amanda Williams for publishing, placement and copyright knowledge, James R. Meny for vocal instruction (we spent TONS of money on vocal lessons when we toured, everyone needs vocal lessons).
  19. You won’t focus on one genre – I get it, you love many genres and you’re talented enough to do more than one genre justice. If you can’t figure out a way to combine them into a stylistic thing, then choose the one you really excel at and go there. Consumers can’t digest a record with many different genres on it. It doesn’t mean you are abandoning the other genres you love so much. It means you are focusing on one first because it’s smarter for your career.
  20. You don’t believe it can really happen by marketing online – Want proof? Earl Dibbles Jr.is the alter ego of indie country artist Granger Smith. Check out both sites. Earl has over 1 million FB likes and Granger is over 276,000. I know for a fact there are 4 people working this marketing juggernaut. They are geniuses, they cracked the code because they wanted to figure it out. They move 7 figures worth of product every year and, of course, all the major labels want him…well both of them I suppose. LOL. They aren’t biting. Why would they? This could be you if you developed a passion for cracking the code.

 

 

If you like this post, please SHARE it and/or LEAVE A COMMENT thank you!

[ois skin=”Bottom Post”]