How time flies! This summer blew by and somehow I seemed to miss out on some good summer fun times. It appears balance is something I can stand to upgrade and improve in my life.
The other day I finished reading Ariel Hyatt's awesome book "Music Success In Nine Weeks" and I also took the 9 Week Challenge, which finished up last week, I believe.
Before I begin, I give a big two thumbs up to Ariel for creating this amazing opportunity for all of us indie musicians, bands, artists, etc. to upgrade our careers. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and I learned a great deal about my areas for improvement, on all levels of my life.
The music industry has been a part of my life since I was 14 years old when I joined my first band. I am now 42, considered a has-been by the "movers & shakers" in the industry, however, one must first be a "has" before they can become a "has-been". At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it! I write, sing, play, and perform my music because that's who I am. Music is my raison d' etre.
That being said, I will now comment and summarize my experience over the past 9 weeks taking the 9 Week Challenge.
Honestly, I started off with all intentions of winning the prize of a free publicity campaign with Ariel's company. Like most musicians our joy comes from performing our music. The idea of sitting in front of a computer (unless recording) all day long blogging, facebooking, tweeting, Myspace, etc. is the opposite of anything fun. While addicting at times, it can quickly be something that wastes a lot of your valuable time if not properly utilized. We all desire someone else to do it for us, and for free preferably - lol!
As I delved in, committing to do my very best so I can win, I realized this actually was going to be a challenge for me. I was actually going to have to work and do something. I have always been one where academics and such always came easy for me so I never studied and just breezed by in life. My idea of studying for an exam in college was to sit outside the classroom about 10 minutes before it started and scan through the chapter summary, hoping to retain as much of the "useless information" as possible to at least pass the exam with a C. My college GPA was 2.94 (high "C"). Funny now that I think about it, "C" stands for "average".
Average isn't going to cut it in today's music business! Average is probably why I am a 42 year old artist with no real major successes to show for my nearly 30 years in the music business. This is a pretty humbling wake up call, and I have Ariel to thank for this serious kick in the ass. Ouch!
Some key take-a-ways for me during the challenge were the 5 daily successes and writing down the next day's tasks the night before. In the past it felt like I just floated through my day with no direction other than that of crisis management style tasks. I'd be juggling several tasks, none of which I desired to do, so I was doing them in a negative mindset, then bedtime would come and I'd be beyond fried and angry because I didn't feel I really accomplished anything, and I definitely didn't play any music that day. Then, not writing down my next day's tasks, my mind would run all night long with what I had to do the next day. My adrenals must be exhausted!
The 5 daily tasks and tasks before bed holds me accountable and it also let's me see and acknowledge that I am getting things done. It's actually helped me to clean up my tasks and be more efficient in what I do on a daily basis. And, I even make time for my music now.
The advice and exercises with your 30 second pitch, website upgrades, and enewsletters was stuff I already knew, had done sort of half-ass, and had been meaning to get "cleaned" up, so, with winning in mind, I set about to upgrade per Ariel's instructions as so clearly outlined in her book.
Ariel also provides links to a few very cool websites, several of which I have now utilized. I totally love the web 2.0 info because I was sort of in the dark on some of that stuff, like what the heck an RSS feed is and what exactly does web 2.0 mean. She provided a link to this awesome company that makes little info-movies on all this stuff, and they are quite informative and humorous too.
I've also used the entertainment job posting link several times and through it I now have 2 interns on board. It's so nice to have help and to also be able to help a newcomer to the industry get some real hardcore life experience.
The items that are going to be my biggest areas for growth are in acquiring new quality fans. Collecting names for my mailing list is fairly simple, it's getting people who are going to actively participate with me that is the opportunity for growth. Through consistency with utilizing Ariel's teachings, I know they will come.
I also enjoyed the idea to create ongoing revenue streams through fan clubs, mobile clubs, a secret fan's only website page, song of the month club, etc. With so many people stealing music these days, and artist really has to come up with creative ways to receive an income. Through this challenge, I'm come up with a few ideas that are steal-proof.
The biggest bonus for me was the explanation of how PR really works and what it's goals are. Before I began this challenge I hired a traditional publicist to run a campaign for my new CD release. I was very skeptical at first because I had hired radio promoters in the past only to wind up more in debt and with nothing to show for it.
Through reading this chapter on traditional PR and how to choose a publicist, I was reassured I made a good decision, plus I have received a few really nice album reviews 1 radio interview, and 2 print interviews out of it, and more to come as my campaign runs through November.
I will say, it was a little disheartening to learn that a PR campaign doesn't always result in increased album sales, the main goal is public awareness. My heart sank a bit when I read that. As with most major expenses in this industry, it is a necessary step since it is impossible for an artist to wear all the hats at once and be truly successful, burn out is inevitable on that path.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and I learned a lot about myself actually. A truly successful person is always taking a personal inventory of their weaknesses and strengths so they know where they require upgrading. I am so grateful to Ariel and I appreciate the opportunity she provided me for both personal and professional growth.
Whether I win a publicity campaign with Ariel or not, this experience was time very well spent. I encourage all musicians, bands, artists, songwriters, etc. to read Ariel's book, follow her blog, sign up for her enewsletter, and take the next 9 week challenge when it comes around.
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