Tag Archive for: Indie

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

 

 

 

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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

 

 

 

authentic-feature-meme

I hear so many artists pontificating about being “original” or “authentic” in their art. Most artists do authentic-authenticitynot bring their unique authentic selves to their art because that requires a lot of intelligence, work, and vulnerability.

 

All of this for little in return more than pride in the work.

 

It’s too much work for most people.

 

authentic-little-or-no-return

 

Especially for an artist who’s banking on some kind of financial return to afford the time to become more intelligent, work harder, and be vulnerable.

 

This commitment to excellence in spite of zero financial return is what really crafts our definition of a real artist, isn’t it?

 

They did it all anyway in spite of the money and then they found a way to make us aware of it.

 

Two separate efforts that have to happen to achieve greatness. By the way, I’m NOT talking about financial greatness although that can certainly be a byproduct.

 

My muse for this article was taken from a brilliant Todd Brison article, How To Be More Authentic.

authentic-only-12-notes

 

He hits the nail on the head here, guys.

 

It’s ALL BEEN DONE BEFORE.

 

There are only 12 notes.

 

There are only 26 letters in the English alphabet.

 

So initially we are all derivative and it isn’t until we put our unique perspective into the art that it becomes authentic.

authentic-unique-perspecteive

 

 

It isn’t until we craft something into our understanding and ask other people if they understand it that we become true artists.

 

 

YOU are the ONLY thing on this planet that is truly unique.

 

Read that again.

 

YOU are the ONLY thing on this planet that is truly unique.

authentic-you-are-the-only-thing-that-is-unique

 

 

 

 

 

 

Therefore, your vision, your perspective, your tone, your experiences, your past, your addiction, your trials and tribulations, your language, your feel, your heartbreak, your story, and your DNA is what makes you authentic.

 

 

Stop trying to sing like this artist or that artist and start finding your voice.

 

Appreciate it for what it is in an instrumental sense and a songwriting sense.

 

I hated the sound of my voice for so long. This fact affected my artistic self-esteem for quite some time until I learned that other people liked it, so maybe I should give myself a break, you know?

 

 

authentic-your-voice-2

 

 

Odds are If you can sing relatively well and you don’t like your voice it’s because it doesn’t sound like anything that is familiar to you when you hear it back.

 

 

 

Exactly.

 

That’s the ticket!

 

What you fear at that moment is actually your biggest asset.

 

 

authentic-anonymity-ticket

 

Most budding artists are busy putting their favorite artists or the most popular artist’s perspective into their music in the hopes of “sounding like them” and getting noticed or to make themselves feel like real artists.

 

 

 

Sadly, that is a first class ticket to anonymity.

 

You have, to be distinctive, you have to stand out, you have to have a fresh perspective to be authentic.

 

Equally troublesome is the fact that the current system doesn’t like unique. Radio doesn’t want you unless you sound like what is making them money right now.

authentic-derivative

 

Since the labels rely on radio to promote their product, they want you to be derivative too.

 

 

 

Weird right?

I see too many gifted artists who get into the game at that high level fall into the trap of appeasing the system.

 

Think most American Idol top 5 contestants. They get into the machine without really knowing who they are as an artist and then…

authentic-conform-record-label

 

They become homogenized and then…

 

They’re forgotten.

 

The artists who painstakingly craft their voice, their artistic lane, their authenticity and then stick to their guns during the process of making the world aware of what they’ve created become important.

 

 

They strike a chord.

 

authentic-nerves

They touch a nerve.

 

 

 

 

They truly speak to us in a way that we haven’t been spoken to before, therefore they communicate.

 

Communication is NOT your intent rather it’s what’s being received.

 

Get it?

authentic-communication

 

Sometimes these important artists reach us by sharing DEEPLY personal troubles that throngs of people can relate too. Think Tori Amos with “Me and a Gun”.

 

Whoa.

 

Most rape victims won’t share with anybody let alone write a song about it and put out into the world. I’ve seen Tori live a couple times and I swear half the audience has a secret rape wound they get to emotionally mend a bit at her show. They relate in a secretive, raw, almost shame-discarding way.

authentic-tori-amos

 

Tori’s connection with her audience is palpable.

 

That’s what you want, right?

 

You want your audience to connect to you, yes?

 

Again, most artists won’t go there because it’s too close to them, it’s too much work, or both.

 

What I LOVE about today’s music industry is that you don’t need anybody’s permission to be authentic.

 

authentic-hurdle-yourself

The only hurdle you have to overcome is yourself.

 

Write about what you want.

 

Sing well but sing like yourself, no matter how weird or uncomfortable you think it sounds. From my perspective I see a truly unique, weird, vocal tone as IDENTIFIABLE in the marketplace.

 

 

Makes it easier for fans to latch on and line up behind you.

 

authentic-your-voice

 

They learn to instantly recognize the voice!

 

 

 

Listen, what I’m writing about is definitely the road less traveled. It’s hard, man. Everybody thinks you’re crazy, but screw them.

 

This is about your art.

authentic-the-road-less-traveled

 

Once you get your creativity and performances to a point where it becomes compelling, your audience is waiting.

 

You have one.

 

You just don’t know it yet.

 

All you have to do is find them which has never been easier from your couch on social media.

 

Got a song about divorce? #Divorce

 

Got a song about sexual assault? #Rape #SexualAssault

authentic-find-your-audience

 

Got a song about Merle Haggard? #MerleHaggard

 

Get it?

 

It’s so damn easy to sniff these people out and find the beehives that will relate to whatever you’re about.

 

 

Then it’s just about getting yourself educated and practiced up in marketing to effectively execute the task of reaching them, connecting, and getting them to believe in you.

 

It’s not easy or everyone would be a rock star.

 

It’s not rocket science either. You just have to be willing to fail a bunch of times to get to whatever is going to work for your particular situation.

 

Once they line up behind you and begin believing in you you’ll start to sell music.

authentic-1000-audience

 

They’ll crave it.

 

Now you’re on your way.

 

If you can get one fan, you can get 10.

 

If you can get 10 you can get 100.

 

If you can get 100 you can get 1,000.

 

The rest is just zeros and THAT’S what the record labels want to deal with; zeros.

authentic-refuse

 

Now you don’t have to answer to anyone.

 

You don’t have to compromise for them because you’re already making money AND you’ve already proven that your music has value out there.

 

 

If they don’t get it, they don’t get it. You move on.

 

Someone will get it, but the authenticity, the connection, the drive, and the work equals a buzz.

 

When you have a good enough buzz out there, everyone you need will find you, and nobody can take it away.

authentic-buzz

 

It’s all about being authentic these days.

 

Stay

 

In

 

Tune

 

 

 

PS: Make an artist date with yourself to sit down and listen to Little Earthquakes by Tori Amos. It’s a glorious melodic lesson in how to be vulnerable.

authentic-little-earthquakes

 

 

 

 

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Story Branding Feature MEME

If you aren’t aware of story branding yet then you’re Story Branding Fire Deer MEMEwelcome, in advance. This is your introduction.

 

It’s going to change your life and, YES, I’m going to give you a real world example in this article.

 

Do you know how those memory experts, who during a live performance, can remember 100 random things in order 1 hour after being exposed to them for the first time?

 

Story Branding Memory Expert

 

 

ANSWER:  Story branding.

 

They turn each item to be remembered into an image and then the sequential images create a little movie in their heads which makes it more memorable.

 

How powerful is that?

 

What if you could do that in your music marketing?

 

Story Branding Trojan HorseIt’s like the most awesomely effective Trojan horse that allows you to tap into the consumer brain and hijack it for a certain amount of time.

 

Every movie, book, sitcom, some songs, some commercials are built around story branding.

 

What is story branding exactly?

 

 

 

A story, in its most basic form is a three-act play.

 

Story Branding Act I

Act I: Set up

Act II: Conflict is introduced

Act III: Resolution

 

 

 

 

Here’s the deal, we are wired up to remember stories because we cannot help but place ourselves into the story and begin to compare how we would behave in the situation at hand. It doesn’t matter how unrealistic the story is (think summer blockbuster movies) we all, automatically, put ourselves into the story and begin to make comparisons within ourselves and our own lives.

 

Story Branding Wired Up

 

We think consciously and subconsciously, “Here’s what I would have done.”

 

 

 

Even the best scriptwriters who are EXTREMELY AWARE of the structure of the story at hand, cannot help but get emotionally involved; it’s like kryptonite.

 

Think about that I’m going to repeat it!

 

Even the best scriptwriters who are EXTREMELY AWARE of the structure of the story at hand, cannot help but get emotionally involved.

 

How freakin’ powerful is that? They know what’s going on but cannot exclude themselves from the result that is desired by the writer. They get pulled in when it’s executed correctly.

 

Wow.

Story Branding Boring Boardroom meeting

 

This is so powerful that huge corporations are beginning to require executives to serve up the boring quarterly status reports, typically rife with mind-numbing charts and power point slides, in the form of a story.

 

Everyone remembers, nobody falls asleep.

 

 

You may remember when I wrote How to Actually Get Paid Living As An Artist, I took a lot of heat from the community because I “didn’t offer an exact method to actually get paid, instead it was all this ‘mental mindset’ mumbo jumbo”.

Story Branding How To Get paid

 

A bunch of people didn’t get it and felt I duped them.

 

Story Brand Duped Me

 

 

I’m going to connect the dots in a real world way right now by explaining my line of thinking, so follow me on this, ok? Here is why this mental mumbo jumbo is ACTUALLY THE ANSWER.

 

 

 

I am extremely aware of story branding and content marketing from my reading. For weeks I was wondering and thinking about how to incorporate this power into the marketing for my artists.

 

Execution is certainly required, but with a company like Daredevil Production, LLC, we content market and story brand pretty well. We have a service and information that has the capability to change artist’s lives and careers.

 

When I share little golden nuggets of that information via my blog Story Brand Gold Nuggetarticles and my podcast, it is valuable to the artist community because it’s relevant and personal to them.

 

It helps them.

 

 

Therefore, my messages are mostly anticipated and not ignored like some commercial or ad they choose to ignore 3,500 times a day (real number).

 

Of course, when I have put that info into a story, which I often do, it sticks better, they receive this important information more efficiently.

 

Here’s the rub. With an artist, THEY are the product. So how does one dole out information that is valuable to that artist’s community without sounding obnoxious or narcissistic?

 

Story Brand Narcissistic

 

ANSWER: It can’t just be about the music, there has to be more to humanize the brand and make them relatable. After all, the relationship with the artist will come BEFORE the audience hears the music so this is our “in”.

 

 

 

 

If they like the artist, they’ll listen to the music.

 

This challenge was rattling around in my head for weeks.

 

I was asking the right questions!!!!

Story Brand Brain

Then my subconscious rewarded me.

 

The gift came in the form of a conversation with Kevin, who is Bailey James’ father.

 

Again, because I was asking the right questions and open to all forms of input (all that mental mindset crap if you haven’t figured it out yet), I was able to recognize this information as a game changer.

 

Instead of chalking that exchange up to a random conversation it became my muse because I was looking for it.

 

I was telling Kevin about my ex-girlfriend’s (we were dating at the time of this conversation) youngest daughter, Meryn, who is 9-years-old.

 

Story Branding Messy Room

 

Her room always looks like a bomb went off in it. Typical for that age right? Mom fusses at her to clean her room, Meryn has other plans so she pushes everything on the floor and all visible surfaced under the bed.

 

 

 

Well the day came when Meryn wanted a friend to come over and it was time to deep clean her room which meant under the bed. Mom and I understood that Meryn was overwhelmed and we offered to help her.

 

HOLY CRAP!

 

You can’t imagine the things that we pulled out from under the bed. Bones, dead bodies, sandwiches, brand new outfits/shoes that have never been worn, plates, forks, glasses, OMG (some of those items are false and sarcastic and some are real. I leave it to you to decide).

Story Branding Clean Room

 

Disgusting.

 

Kevin and I were in stitches as I was telling this story and he retorted, “Oh that’s nothing, Bailey has that beat!”

 

He went on to explain that Bailey’s room was always spotless. When Bailey was required to clean her room BEFORE a friend could come over, she would take everything off the floor and all visible surfaces, put these items in a garbage bag or laundry hamper and put it in a closet down the hall that the family hardly uses.

 

The friend comes over NOW and the parents aren’t any wiser until a couple weeks later when mom starts to miss outfits.

 

I thought to myself, “This is GENIUS”.

 

Story Branding Epiphany

 

Ding! Then the light switch went off. If you remember, when we started this Bailey James project, I wanted Bailey’s fans to feel like she spoke for them; the 9-14 year olds.

 

 

 

Taylor grew up.

 

Her lyrics went from “You wear high heels, I wear sneakers, you’re Cheer Captain and I’m on the bleachers” to “I have a long list of ex-lovers, here’s a blank space, you can write your name.”

 

Who’s speaking for the kids now?

Story Branding Bailey TSG Logo

 

All these thoughts came together with story branding in this epiphany.

 

Bailey’s Teen Survival Tips.

 

What If we created a series of say, 30 videos, where Bailey shares her stories on how to deal with common pre-teen and teenage issues? Some issues could be serious, some could be fluffy, but they would all be relevant and personal to Bailey’s audience.

 

Bailey’s audience all have had similar experiences and it’s nice to hear from a peer that you’re going to be ok, right?

 

Story Brand Anticipated

 

 

Which would make these videos anticipated (instead of obnoxious and ignored).

 

 

 

 

Issues like:

  • How to clean your room and get that friend over, right now!
  • How to deal with catty girls.
  • How to deal with a mean teacher.
  • How to deal with peer pressure.
  • When your crush doesn’t like you back.
  • Boys fashion guide.
  • How to deal with mean boys.
  • The right way to eat a cupcake.
  • Some embarrassing moments for Bailey.

 

Are you picking up what I’m putting down?

 

These videos would be quick between 30 seconds and 3 minutes so they’re easy to consume.

Story Branding Relationships

This would be an AMAZING way to create a relationship between the audience and the artist.

 

 

She serves these little teenage value bombs up in the form of real stories. In most of these videos, there is a set-up (act I), conflict (act II), and a resolution (act III).

 

We are about to release this video series this week. I’m going to play with the intervals at which we release the videos but the meat is on the bone.

 

Story Branding Vulnerability

 

We have a story, we have relatable information, we have vulnerability with the artist (which makes her “one of them”), it’s served up in a video format which is far more engaging and sharable than any other format, it feels like the artist is talking directly to the consumer, and it can be multi purposed across all social media platforms to drive traffic to her YouTube Channel.

 

 

 

 

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, guess what’s playing in the background of every video during each story?

 

Yep. Her current single. (drops mic)

 

FYI, we spent about $30 on the logo via Fiverr.com and about $100 getting the bumpers created with our video house.

 

Here is an example of one of these videos.

 

FYI, you can story brand everywhere.

 

 

Here’s a “right” question to ask yourself. How can you create a story in a Tweet? Could the image be the set up? Could an image be the set up and the conflict leaving 140 characters to proffer a resolution?  I digress.

Story Branding Twitter MEME

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Story Branding The Business Of Story Logo

 

If you want to dig into story branding more, I recommend this free podcast The Business of Story.

 

 

 

Story Branding Donald Miller

 

 

 

…and this one, Building A Story Brand with Donald Miller

 

 

 

 

 

Stay

In

Tune

 

 

 

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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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waiting Traffic Lights Feature

I received a little heat for my last blog article entitled How to Actually Get Paid Living As An Artist. People reached out and commented (complained); they thought it was a misleading titleWaiting Misled Spelling

 

“When do I find out how to get paid?” was a common response.

 

So let’s dig a little deeper because it seems that MANY of you are completely missing the point.

 

“Your title said How to Get Paid and all I read was this mumbo jumbo mindset crap!”

 

I’d hear from the same people if I listed all the ways I have gotten paid as an artist, how I have gotten artists paid, and how I have monetized other businesses. They would complain about too many choices.

 

They would complain about what they always complain about; having to do work.

 

Waiting Renewing the Mind

 

Question: “What exactly do I have to do to get paid, Johnny, which one of these methods will work for me?”

 

Answer: Precisely.

 

 

What DO YOU have to do to get paid and stop waiting?

 

Nobody likes this answer because it means they still have to find the answers on their own and actually do the work.

Waiting Worker Lego

 

This answer means there is no easy button.

 

If you want an easy button, go find a day job.

 

That’s about as easy as it gets. Trade 40 hours of THEE most valuable resource on the planet, your time, for some kind of paycheck.

 

EZPZ.

 

You know the outcome. Everybody wins.

 

Zero faith required.

 

Waiting Extraordinary RESIZED

However, if you’re going to do something extraordinary with your life, then you’re going to have to work extraordinarily to make it happen!

 

God, this pisses me off.

 

So many of you are lazy, whining, and entitled.

 

Too many of you just want to be famous.

 

Stop it.

 

When I was an artist in the 80’s and 90’s the methods to get paid were different then when I had a band in Los Angeles in the 2000’s. The scene was different, the market was different, so the method was,  you guessed it, different!

 

Waiting Snowflake RESIZED

 

 

 

The artists I am blessed to work with now all require different marketing creativity, approaches, and methods to reaching an audience and getting paid.

 

WARNING: Spoiler Alert!

 

Waiting Spoiler Alert MEME

 

Here’s another fact that is going to burst your bubble and make the day job look real sexy: it takes time and patience.

 

 

 

Yes, just ask Guns & Roses how “easy” it was for them once they signed their deal. The money just started flowing into their bank accounts, right?

 

No.

 

They were dead broke.Waiting Guns and Roses

 

In fact, if it wasn’t for their manager who was paying for their housing and paying for them to live, they wouldn’t have survived the record deal at all. Let alone the time it took vet producers, to record the record, to release it after it was completed, the full year AFTER the record was released before it broke, the time it took AFTER the record broke before they actually saw a paycheck.

 

That was the quick way.

 

Today, you have to be patient and build your relationships.

 

This takes time, persistence, and a whole lot of heart that most of you probably don’t possess, because it’s too hard. It’s too hard because it requires an INSANE amount of faith in yourself. I’m NOT talking about you “saying” that you believe in yourself either. I’m talking about you working day in and day out building and building, spending time and money with little initial return on your investment.

That’s the faith and belief I speak of.

 

Waiting Time

Most of you don’t have that kind of faith in yourselves, sadly.

 

 

Why would I write about a mindset and sell it as a way to get paid?

 

Sheesh.

 

Yee of little faith.

 

THE MINDSET IS ACTUALLY HOW YOU GET PAID.

Waiting Brain Money

 

Until you sincerely figure this out, until you really internalize this, you won’t get paid.

 

HOW exactly does a mindset get you paid?

 

If you have the wrong mindset you’re looking for the wrong things. Therefore, you can’t or won’t recognize the right things because your focus is elsewhere.

 

When you are looking for the wrong things two results happen.

 

Waiting Flashligh

 

 

First, if you find the things you’re looking for, which are wrong, they don’t work for you and you waste time, energy, and resources. Second, you’re wasting your energy and gumption NOT looking for the right things.

 

 

 

You get frustrated.

 

You lose faith.

 

You settle for EZPZ.

 

Too vague?

 

Let’s get down & dirty with some details.

 

Waiting Cigar Big Wig

If you’re looking for the big wigs to sign you and make your career happen these are the wrong things for MANY reasons.

 

Number 1. Big wigs are completely turned off by artists who do no work on their own and expect a label or executive to make their career happen. It’s the biggest freakin’ turn off EVER and they don’t care how good you are, I assure you.  They are WELL aware that without the drive to make yourself into something early on, your talent doesn’t matter because you’re missing a mission critical component of success.

 

Essentially YOU believe that once someone else believes in you enough, then you’ll take your career seriously and we’re all supposed to trust that you’ll get down to business at that point.

 

It doesn’t work that way. The big wigs know this because all of them have tried that at some point and been burned; it never works.

 

Additionally, they can’t help you even if they LOVE you because that’s not the business model anymore. Their hands are tied. You HAVE to have a small campfire created at the very least before they can help you build the forest fire you desire.

 

So if your business model is to “meet the right people” and blow them away with your talent you’ve already lost. You’ll be IGNORED and judged as a “wannabe” because they recognize it. These big wigs can instantly ascertain the fact that you won’t work on your career or are presently naïve to the amount of work it will take and that means, talent aside, you’re NOT worth it.

 

Number 2. While you’re busy whining, complaining, and waiting to meet the “right record executive” you’re NOT looking for some little wins that will get your career going, like Social Media. Most of you seriously suck at this and you all have real great excuses as to why.

 

Waiting Bailey Image RESIZED

READ THIS COMMENT!

 

We have opened many doors that we weren’t normally supposed to be in yet with Bailey James simply because the engagement she gets on her social media is so impressive. Once inside these doors, we deepened many relationships because we moved the needle on their social media accounts by shouting out on ours, they fell in love.

 

We did something for them and they weren’t expecting it.

 

 

 

 

 

We were just being grateful but the net result to these future business relationships was a wonderful gesture on our part that had measurable results on their end with something they too, struggle with.

 

That was a result of DAILY work and attention to something y’all can do for free on your smart phone or laptop.

 

But you don’t do it.

 

You don’t do it because you HAVE THE WRONG MINDSET.

 

Get it?

 

Here is one more reason why MINDSET is mission critical to success.

 

This is an actual study.Waiting NewsPaper MEME

 

Back in the 40’s or 50’s a scientist ran an experiment trying to prove that “luck” was a state of mind. They believed that “luck” was the result of a certain interpretation of life events rather than some random circumstance that happened to individuals.

 

The scientist put an ad in the paper asking people to respond if they felt they were “generally lucky people” or “generally unlucky people”.

 

The scientist paid all the responders $250 (a lot of money at that time) to participate in this experiment.

 

Each of the subjects was given a newspaper and asked to count up exactly how many images appeared in the newspaper. Once they were done counting, they were to receive $250.

 

Waiting Lucky

The “generally unlucky” people averaged about 2-4 minutes to count up all the images and get paid.

 

The “generally lucky” people averaged 15 seconds.

 

Why?

 

Because on the second page of the newspaper there was a BOLD ½ page ad that was black & white text which read: “THERE ARE 42 IMAGES IN THIS NEWSPAPER, PLEASE RELAY THIS TO THE TEST ADMIN, COLLECT YOUR $250 AND GO HOME. THANK YOU.

 

The “generally unlucky” people were looking for just one thing, images, and passed right by the big break. Searching for images seemed like the right thing to do because it is what they were told to do, yes?

Waiting Blinders MEME

The “generally lucky” people were completely open to receiving all sorts of information and recognized an answer to get them paid quicker; it WASN’T AN IMAGE.

 

They had an open mindset.

 

Most of you are too busy looking for images and missing all the other opportunities to get paid.

 

Waiting Looking For The Right Things

 

Most of you are way too focused on what you don’t have and are ignoring the momentum you could be creating with what you do have.

 

 

 

Here’s a good question, what exactly are you looking for and HOW SURE ARE YOU THAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR THE RIGHT THINGS?

 

Stay

In

Tune

 

 

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Get Paid As An Artist feature MEME

How do you get paid to live an artist’s life?

Get Paid As An Artist Tim Ferris RESIZED

 

Artists ask me this question all the time. The answer is there are endless ways to get paid for your art.

 

Most artists don’t see the answers or fail to ask the right questions because they are imprisoned by the limiting beliefs that we ALL struggle with.

 

I was GREATLY inspired by THIS PODCAST where Seth Godin was answering questions during a Tim Ferris interview.

 

Every person on this planet suffers from their own limiting beliefs in some way.

 

Get Paid As An Artist Chain Suffer MEME

Artists are DEFINITELY included in this lot.

 

 

 

Most are not self-aware of their limiting beliefs and suffer greatly throughout their crappy life.

 

Some are marginally self-aware and work a little to overcome these limiting beliefs and suffer less.

 

The people we admire most in society, you know, the ones who don’t seem to be hindered by any mental blocks or speed bumps, yeah, they suffer too but they interpret it differently.

 

That’s the secret.

Get Paid As An Artist Fear

People like Seth Godin, your favorite artists, world leaders, astounding family members, etc. STILL HAVE LIMITING BELIEFS and they battle with them every day.

 

The difference is the successful run toward the fear and engage it.

 

Most people avoid the fear.

 

It’s easier isn’t it?

 

It’s easier to make the fear become an excuse or deterrent to taking a risk and putting yourself out there.

 

Here’s the deal, I promise, on some level, we all tend to focus on the winner’s amazing success and forget (or never think about) the fact that they struggle too.

 

Just like you, they struggle every day.

 

Get Paid As An Artist Suffer SillhouetteHere’s what happens.

 

We all LIKE being competent.

 

We all LIKE being successful.

 

We all LIKE feeling important and most of us want to feel like we can help others.

 

 

However, when something threatens to undo all of these things, it’s easier to avoid it.

 

When we run away from the fear, a sour mindset enters.

 

           

            “We are not getting what we deserve.”

            “The world is not fair”

            “Why should I even bother? It’s probably not going to work”

            “That artist had all this money and knew all those people and I don’t; so I can’t do that.”

 

Sound familiar?Get Paid As An Artist Sour Mindset

 

When this sour mindset takes over our psyche, we find ourselves keeping track of the wrong things like:

 

  • How many times we’ve been rejected
  • How many times it didn’t work
  • All the times someone has broken our heart
  • All the times someone has double-crossed us or let us down

 

Why keep track of them?

 

Get Paid As An Artist Why It Won't Work

 

Are they making us better?

 

 

 

 

Wouldn’t it make more sense to keep track of all the other stuff?

  • All the times it WORKED
  • All the times we TOOK A RISK
  • All the times we were able write a song that moved somebody
  • All the times our performance had an impact on an audience
  • All the times we reached somebody through our marketing

 

We can actually redefine ourselves as someone who can make a difference, someone who can IMPACT other people’s lives.

 

THIS is what artists are supposed to be!Get Paid As An Artist All The Things That Worked

 

THIS is what artists are supposed to do!

 

This is truly an energy and skill that most artists possess in some way.

 

Here is the trick.

 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s easier said than done but so was the 4-minute mile for thousands of years before someone broke it and then it was absolutely doable for many within months of the record being broken.

 

You want to be an artist, right?

 

You want to be original, right?

 

You want to be a pioneer, right?

 

Get Paid As An Artist Narrative Choice

 

It’s all about the narrative.

 

The narrative is up to you.

 

 

 

 

 

If it’s not working (and you KNOW if it’s not working so cut the crap and face the facts!) then why use it?

 

The narrative isn’t done to you.

 

The narrative is something you CHOOSE.

 

Get Paid As An Artist NightmareI have a very dear, very close friend of mine who is now having to deal with the reality of Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder brought on by a nasty 2-year relationship that was emotionally and physically abusive to her.

 

Nobody should have to go through with this.

 

It’s not fair.

 

It’s like some asshole met her, charmed her, and then backed up a massive dump truck full of demons and dropped them on her head without her knowing it ever happened.

Get Paid As An Artist Virus

Maybe it wasn’t a dump truck, that’s too obvious, it was more like an evil Trojan horse with a brain and spirit virus that totally short-circuited her personality, her life experience, the narrative of her life.

 

 

 

Her narrative changed dramatically.

 

When her narrative changed, so did her life. So did her whole “game”.

 

She used to roll through life, taking ‘em as they come, now all of a sudden, the subtlest of situations has a bone chilling impact on her.

 

She reacts in a super negative way.

 

It’s not fair, but now she has to do a boatload of work on herself to change her narrative.

 

If we dig deeper, into a different narrative, we change the game.

Get Paid As An Artist Hacked

 

We can change our game.

 

We can for the first time, or once again (as in the case of my friend) create abundance, momentum, and happiness in our lives and careers.

 

It’s all about your perspective and how you interpret what happens.

 

Those real successful artists that you loved have applied different interpretations to their lives.

 

Some people are afraid.

 

Get Paid As An Artist Beautiful or Scary?

 

Afraid to try, afraid to be vulnerable, afraid to fail, afraid of looking bad, afraid of getting hurt, afraid to really be an artist which is to say they’re afraid to live.

 

 

 

The successful people realize that you must engage fear. You must meet it head on despite the horrific events of your past.

 

In fact, the more horrific your past, THE MORE YOU MUST ENGAGE THE FEAR!

 

You know who acted this statement out in living color? Even if you hate sports, you have to admire Brett Favre, former Super Bowl winning QB of the Green Bay Packers.

 

He was just inducted into the Hall Of Fame this past Saturday.

 

Defenses in football LOVE to get to the quarterback and HIT HIM as hard as they can but they were largely scared to hit Brett Favre.

Get Paid As An Artist Brett Favre

 

Huh?

 

It was dangerous because he would always control the narrative.

 

What?

 

If you hit him, if you planted him in the ground so hard that time stood still, you made the stadium gasp, the coaches cringe, and his teammates scared, it was all over.

 

For YOU.

 

He would change the narrative IMMEDIATELY, which changed the momentum, which changed the game. It’s almost like it wasn’t fair.

 

No matter how much he was really hurting, he would get back up, no, he would POP back up in the face of fear and grab the face-mask of the guy who hit him and start jack-jawing him.

 

Get Paid As An Artist Angry Cat Failure MEME

“That’s all you got boy?” “That’s ALL you can do? That didn’t even hurt!”

 

I swear he still couldn’t even see straight half the time but he did it. Mostly for himself.

 

He would EXPLODE back up in the face of fear and confront it head on.

 

The result of this action was MOMENTUM.

Get Paid As An Artist No Fear

 

His teammates, who were for a second scared, were now shaking with adrenalin, reignited, and ready to DOMINATE!

 

The opposing team, who for a second were triumphant, now had to deal with the reality of awakening a giant.

 

Get it?

 

How do you interpret your failures?

 

If you’re interpreting them incorrectly, I promise you it’s the difference between a success and failure.

 

Get Paid As An Artist Master Has Failed Quote

 

 

It’s the difference between a happy life and a dark life spent regretting.

 

Simply put, the master has FAILED more times than the beginner has even TRIED.

 

 

 

 

The only thing you should truly fear is living a crappy life.

 

Stay

In

Tune

 

 

If you found this article helpful in any way, please SHARE it and COMMENT below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Obnoxious Marketing Feature

Many artists cramp up at that the thought of marketing. It’s understandable because the experiences that stick in their psyche the most are of obnoxious marketing.Obnoxious Marketing Anime

 

In fact, I want you to consider something.

 

Most of the marketing messages or experiences that stick in your mind are the bad ones.

 

The good ones we probably don’t remember. We are so happy with our product or service which is what becomes our experience.

 

When the marketing is good you focus on the product, service, or experience.

 

When the marketing is bad we focus only on the marketing because we probably don’t give the product, service, or experience a chance, do we?

 

Here’s another example: They say a good food server should be invisible. If the experience is good, we leave the restaurant with our good company and good feelings.  these good feelings typically fade away because the experience, while great or amazing, was not as emotionally charged as a horrible experience.

 

Obnoxious Marketing Horrible

We never forget horrible experiences.

 

 

 

 

 

I thought I’d share a real email (and my response) from a real person in the Daredevil Production community today.

 

I’m sharing this because I believe that Martin’s concerns are indicative of many artists. We are all annoyed by obnoxious marketing and therefore do not aspire to promote our music in any way. Please understand that Martin is coming from a very honest place. Martin also lives in the Czech Republic (I learned a bit about how some Americans are viewed overseas in this as well) which is obviously a different society.

 

Read his viewpoint carefully and don’t pass judgement, he’s laying it all out here.

 

For the record, I believe Martin seeks the truth and is diligently assessing the data and figuring out his position on all this obnoxious marketing mumbo jumbo.

 

Have a read and then I’ll wrap it up after my answer.

 

Hello Johnny,

You have actually already helped my marketing strategy. I have read the 20 common mistakes article, and while, fortunately, I have been intuitively doing most of the things correctly, there were one or two points where it made me reconsider something, like Vlogging on YouTube. Also, the value bomb idea is nice, I have not specifically figured out to do that one yet.

I know chances are that you don’t really caObnoxious Marketing Cardsre and this is just marketing talk, but hey, might as well honestly vocalize what I’m thinking. Generally, I know my biggest “problems”, but cannot (or won’t) really do anything about them because they are mainly issues of my circumstances, identity, or ethics.

I don’t see people with credit cards for heads, for starters, and as I am not an American, I don’t consider success to be a moral good and a failure as a moral evil, or a sign that I need to change what I’m doing, not necessarily at least. I’d just like to not get killed by the society for being broke, but if I suck, I deserve to fail, and I’m not going to start sucking in order to succeed. If anything, I see all this (extremely American) marketing stuff as a necessary evil, and I won’t cross certain lines of dishonesty, manipulation, or annoyance. I’m kinda big on artistic, and personal, integrity.

 

Obnoxious Marketing Poet

Secondly, I am mainly a poet/classical composer. There is very little inherent marketability to either of those, meaning that to even have a chance of reaching an audience, I have to aim for compromise. Things like rap lyrics instead of poetry, comedy instead of seriousness, composing “commercially viable” soundtrack scores instead of actual original musical pieces, etc. I’m trying to find the minimum extent of that which is indeed marketable, whatever that means. I also blog (while actually wanting to have time to continue writing books/develop games instead, while having multiple jobs, but also debts, so literally no money to spare), trying to find a workable intersection between writing and music, and an in-between audience.

 

The point is, I do welcome and accept help, but I’m not really a prospective customer (not at the moment at least), and certain things I may understand, and refuse to apply precisely because of that.

 

Sincerely,

 

Martin

 

Here is my response to Martin.

 

Hey Martin,

 

You’re right in that this is marketing but I do care and I try to respond to every email personally. That said, this is one of the more interesting emails I’ll probably ever receive.Obnoxious Marketing Typing email

 

I’m glad I have helped you in some way with your career. I think if you’re “thinking” about YouTube strategies, your subconscious will reward you because you’re asking the right questions.

 

I would like to clarify a few things so you can better understand where I’m coming from. First off the credit card heads was tongue-in-cheek, in order for anybody to become a buyer in today’s market a relationship has to exist. A subtler way to put that statement would have been to refer to them as “potential fans” but my tone is my tone so there you have it.  😉  

 

Obnoxious Marketing RIch Flag MEME

Secondly, while us Americans have certainly earned our reputation as money-grubbing, work obsessed, heartless douchebags that only focus on financial success, we’re not ALL like that. I want you to know that MY definition of success has nothing to do with amazing financial success. Rather, my definition of success has to with being able to make a living doing what you love to do (as opposed to living Picasso’s “dichotomy” of suffering through a job you hate to spend the weekends doing something you love).

 

That said, “making a living” DOES require commerce which requires marketing. 

 

My goal is to help every artist I can, figure out a way to make a living or at least get them thinking about it intelligently so they’re moving closer to that reality. 

  Obnoxious Marketing Evil Commerce

I would also like to point out that marketing, while necessary, doesn’t have to be or feel “evil”. I’m kinda big on artistic and personal integrity too. In today’s market I think artists as a whole are moving closer to integrity and farther from having to compromise to be heard or have a chance to be heard (does that make sense?). 

 

Marketing doesn’t have to be dishonest or annoying whatsoever. In fact, while that was certainly prevalent in mass media marketing over the past 6 decades it absolutely doesn’t work in Permission Marketing. If for no other reason than presenting annoying or dishonest messages will never allow the “Permission” necessary to connect, deepen the relationship, and ultimately monetize.  

Obnoxious Marketing Permission 

As for your thoughts on manipulative…that’s exactly what marketing is so let us not mince words.

My question to all artists when this subject comes up is, why do you think of manipulation as evil or bad?  

 

For instance, if you are out with your friends going to see a movie and the group is split on which movie to see…everyone starts marketing. They all start attempting to manipulate or influence the decisions of the group into purchasing the movie that they want to see. This is not evil manipulation or influence, is it? If I were to “manipulate” your thoughts to point you in a direction or gain your attention enough to teach you something that would change your life forever that would be great and welcomed right? Albeit, still manipulative. 

 

We see manipulative as evil or bad because all too often these powers are used for evil or bad reasons. Please don’t confuse them. When you see influence and/or marketing as something that can be good, positive, productive, for-the-greater-good, clever, and even beautiful at times, you won’t feel like such a slimy salesman AND you will be motivated to improve your messages to reflect such a position.Obnoxious Marketing Commerce

 

I would also like to address your thoughts and perspective, if I may, about the small universe of the poet’s and classical composer’s audience.

I often tell my artists (again tongue-in-cheek) “If your music only resonates with pale, young, Asian boys, with acne, and only 1 leg, who have been sexually abused, I can find that audience for you. It will be small, but you can find them. Those people are out there, they are easy to find, and that group is [probably] bigger than you think.”  

 

I truly the believe that the term “commercially viable” has changed and we are already seeing the effects. What Obnoxious Marketing Velvet Rope MEMEcommercially viable used to mean was appealing to the senses of a small group of people who decide what the public will hear. In other words, if your music will get a chance or not. Now I believe that “commercially viable” will mean what the consumers like as opposed to what some person thinks the consumers will like. There are many artists whose music was deemed “NOT commercially viable” who found an audience online and now make a living doing their thing. Some of those artists had the very same bigwigs who deemed them “NOT commercially viable” eating crow as they flip flopped on their initial observations and offered these artists a deal. 

 

Long story short, you can reach the market and the market will decide if you suck. We no longer need anyone’s permission to get our shot. I feel like that’s a good thing.

 

Hey, reading back on this exchange, I’m thinking this might make an interesting blog article. Would you have any reservations about me printing your email and my responses? I really feel your mindset is shared by many in my community, Martin.

 

I’ll leave it solely up to you. No worries either way.

 

Thanks for reaching out man. You got me thinking on this one.

 

Good luck.

 

-Johnny D.

 

I thought this exchange might provide some valuable insight into the realities and the concerns that artists have about marketing.

 

Y’all have to think about it now whereas before you didn’t. The tradeoff is you’d sign away 98% of your future for the Obnoxious Marketing Contract MEMEluxury of having someone else do your marketing for you. Now you have the unwanted task of having to learn it yourself but at least you keep all the revenue making it possible to actually make a living without having to sell 1 million copies.

 

And you can create the momentum needed to build a team all by yourself.

 

Martin’s concerns are well-founded here.

 

Just like you, the sales messages and salesmen that he recognizes the most (or at least stick in his memory the most) remain in his awareness because they were obnoxious.

 

They made him feel bad.

 

They made him uncomfortable.

 

Sales and marketing does not have to be obnoxious.

 

Obnoxious Marketing Statue

 

Sales and marketing does not have to make you feel dirty, manipulative, slimy, unethical, or gross; that is if it is done correctly.

 

 

 

What sales and marketing means in Permission Marketing is that YOU, the artist, are providing some kind of content that is relevant, personal, and valuable to the community.

 

Once you’ve accomplished that, you will have permission from the community to continue marketing because your messages and content become anticipated.Obnoxious Marketing happy

 

If I am late on a blog article or late posting a podcast episode due to technical glitches, it is not uncommon for me to receive a handful of emails asking where they are.

 

That’s Permission.

 

A telemarketer or email spammer has your contact but not your permission. This is obnoxious.

 

In order to maintain permission, you can’t be obnoxious.

 

Get it?

Obnoxious Marketing Future

 

 

 

It’s a different way of thinking about connecting with fans, y’all.

 

It’s an effective way to think about connecting with fans.

 

It’s really the only way, moving forward, for anyone (including major labels) to think about connecting with fans enough to sell records.

 

Stay

 

In

 

Tune.

 

-Johnny

 

 

 

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Failures and Mistakes Feature MEME

There are no failures and mistakes.

Failures and Mistakes

 

You’ve heard that before, rah, rah, rah.  It’s designed to make you feel better, right? It’s so prominent on social media with every other vapid affirmation that we hardly even read it, we almost never stop and soak that in.

 

I get it, believe me!

 

What if there was a REAL GOOD explanation or connection that could be made to spiritually break down exactly what “no mistakes” and “no failure” means?

 

Failures and Mistakes North Star

What if this enlightenment clarified that mistakes and failures were by design; a working part of a grand plan?

 

What if failures and mistakes were necessary?

 

What if this rationalization cleverly explained to your soul’s satisfaction that every failure and mistake was your spiritual “North Star” pulling you back onto your path by causing the failure to happen?

 

As if your supreme destiny said, “Nope, you’re close but no cigar my friend; TRY AGAIN because you’re supposed to be over here.”

 

Maybe that was with a relationship.

 

Maybe a business decision.Failures and Mistakes Connection

 

Maybe a job that you’re not supposed to be at.

 

Maybe a supposed “lost” opportunity that shook your emotional foundation to the point of complete collapse HAPPENED FOR A REASON.

 

Watch this 3-minute video by Oprah. h/t to the 2 Steel Girls (@2SteelGirls) for turning me on to this

OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS 3 MINUTE VIDEO

Your “little mind” is where you are not centered, where you don’t know who you really are.

 

Failures and Mistakes Little Mind MEMEWhen you’re in your “little mind” speed bumps, pot holes, challenges, setbacks, failures and mistakes seem catastrophic.

 

Your “big mind” is where you are centered. You have clarity that you are part of something greater than yourself. I’ve spoken about this before in prior articles but I just love the language Oprah uses here.

 

Your big mind is where you relax and listen.

 

When you have the epiphany that the Universe is always as it should be, you don’t freak out about failures and mistakes.

 

Instead you listen.

 

You become STILL.

 

Failures and Mistakes Listen MEME

You breathe and try to receive the message that your supreme destiny is trying to communicate.

 

Failures and mistakes are quite necessary and happen quite often because they are there to WAKE YOU UP.

 

 

You’re in the wrong job.

 

You’re in the wrong relationship whether it be romantic or artistic.

 

Failures and Mistakes Wake Up Alarm Clock MEMEYou’re wasting time doing this because you’re supposed to be doing that.

 

 

For many of you, the terrifying reality is that your supreme calling is not the way you’ve conceived it exactly, at least not as you see it in your head, in your dreams. That’s scary.

 

 

 

I remember when I came to that crossroads.

 

Failures and Mistakes Crossroads MEME

 

 

The reality for me was that I actually was an artist, but not a musical artist as I had been trying to do.  At least not in the way that I pictured it for so many years.

 

I was there for a reason and as such, there was a tremendous amount of serendipity in my life. That is to say things fell into place often.

 

 

 

That’s the sign of a correct path; serendipity.

 

We had some fateful coincidences in my first band Idols of American Youth, but it was filled with tons of failures and mistakes as well.

 

We had far more seemingly accidental fortune in Kidd Gypsy because that was also supposed to happen.

 

Which is funny if you seriously consider the fact that the singer in Idols was AMAZING and I was the singer/front-man in Kidd Gypsy and, as I like to say, “I had to claw my way to middle management” in the vocal department.

 

 

Failures and Mistakes Claw My WayI was supposed to front the band all along. Talent was there but it just didn’t manifest itself in the same way for me as it did for the Idol’s singer.

 

Then another life changing moment when it was time for me to move on to greater things.

 

I sincerely remember thinking as I packed my bags to take advantage of a non-music business opportunity in Los Angeles that this was a step towards something great, the next right thing to do, and that it was all a part of me getting back to the music business somehow.

 

I knew I was supposed to return.

 

Failures and Mistakes Packed My Bags

I didn’t know how.

 

I didn’t know when.

 

I didn’t know why.

 

I did have faith.

 

I WAS listening to my spirit guide, my North Star, the voice of my supreme destiny.

 

While I was in the electronics business working with a company that had a zero damage prototyping soldering solution (which is God-like when you consider how much the first 5 prototype boards cost for whatever widget your reading this on) the music business was changing.

 

Failures and Mistakes iPhoneOnce the smartphone was invented and became super popular, consumers suddenly had choices in their cars with regards to music selection. The radio no longer dictated what we would listen to; instead we became our own DJ’s.

 

Then I moved on to the financial world and learned to build a team, learned to think bigger from friends like Eric Mitchell, and executed these kinds of plays in real life.

 

Then I lost everything.

 

My business because Wall St. closed its doors.

 

My savings because I had $15k per month of advertising expenses alone and ZERO dollars of income for well over a year.

Failures and Mistakes Cash Flow

 

My house because the market crashed and I was suddenly $250k upside down on an intelligent loan that had me with 40% equity when I signed it.

 

All these failures were my North Star, my supreme destiny pointing me back to the music business.

 

Yes, I was an artist.

 

A vastly different kind of artist that what I had originally imagined.

 

Now the serendipity is happening again BIG TIME.

 

My company doubled the first quarter of this year.

 

In the last month I have had more serious conversations with serious artists about marketing (aka opportunities) than I have had the whole previous year combined.

 

Failures and Mistakes Devastation MEMEI’m supposed to be here.

 

The failures were horrible, devastating, and soul sucking to be sure but THEY WERE NECESSARY.

 

When your big mind understands how necessary failures and mistakes are to your journey, you don’t allow yourself to be thrown by a grade or by a circumstance because your life Is greater than any one experience.

 

Your journey is so much bigger than you.

Failures and Mistakes Bigger Than You

 

The end of this Oprah video is the best.

 

It’s where she always asks people what they would say to their younger self and the answer is almost always, in one form or another, “RELAX”.

 

Everything is going to be ok. It’s really going to be ok.

 

 

Let the failures wake you up.

 

Failures and Mistakes Relax Frog MEME

 

 

Let the mistakes give you pause to be still and LISTEN, and LEARN, and IMPROVE.

 

 

 

 

To be a student of the game requires guts, courage, work ethic, and fortitude.

Failures and Mistakes Wall MEME

 

Guts to risk failures and mistakes in the first place. Yes, you actually have to be willing to fail.

 

Oh, by the way, most people think failing on the dream or mission when they read the statement “You have to be willing to fail”. The Daredevils understand it’s not overall failure that this statement is pertaining to, rather, it’s all the little and big failures that will have to be endured to make the dream happen.

 

Courage to rise up from the ashes of one seemingly cataclysmic failure and move forward in the face of fear to your next mistake.

 

Failures and Mistakes PhoenixWork ethic to provide momentum which gives the brain reassurance that the last failure was but a small speed bump because hard work will easily roll over it.

 

Fortitude to internalize the realization that all the small dents and massive calamities are required to win.

 

I want you to win.

 

Eat these petty setbacks for breakfast, down your coffee, get up off your ass and work harder than you’ve ever worked before.

 

Failures and Mistakes Setbacks Breakfast MEME

This is your dream.

 

Don’t blow it by willfully living in your little mind.

 

Be self-aware of your little mind and your big mind.

 

Don’t be overwhelmed by the difficulty because your life and your career is bigger than any one moment or experience.

 

 

 

Failures and Mistakes Definition of Failure meme

 

Your life is not defined by any one person’s definition of failure for you.

 

 

 

If you’re not at ease with yourself right now, THAT’S THE CUE that you’re on a detour and it’s time to think about a change and LOOK for the next opportunity which is probably staring you right in the face as we speak.

 

Failures and Mistakes I Believe in Me Silhouette

 

Failure is just there to point you in a different direction.

 

 

Stay

 

In

 

Tune

 

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