It takes Passion – all about how you balance
your time: time management. Do it because
you love it.
Need to see yourself as a business
- Left and right brain thinking
- The 3 Os. Optimism + Organized =
opportunity.
- Diversifying – spinning your plates
- Money – get a job
- Be creative with a business mind.
-
- Be persistent, conscientious and persevere
- It’s ALL about relationships. Find out what
you can do for them first.
- Know thyself and represent yourself appropriately
- Know thyself and represent yourself appropriately
Whether you want to be a rock star, or a
consummate artist, or both, you need to be
clear and focused with what path you take and
how you are going to promote yourself. But it
all begins with who you are. If you can’t
describe Who You Are well, you could be
sabotaging every future step.
If you only proclaim that you
"want" something, then all you will ever get is
"wanting" without any actualization. It's written in many
motivational self-help books. Use your words carefully. Introduce yourself to the world as
someone who already is. That way you are
empowering yourself to be the person you've
always dreamed of being.
There's nothing mentioned about desiring
something in the future as if it’s a far off
dream. Talk about your future as if it's your
present, and be convinced as to who you are.
Then we will be convinced of you.
You have
to endow success: which means to “be”
successful in your mind, inside. Permeate it in
every way in your beingness: the way you
walk, the way you talk, and what you do.
People will feel it.
Get started – just get out there
Take small tangible steps. Create a plan. I
never knew how to get where I wanted to go,
but I always had a dream. So write your
dreams down, and be as ambitious as you
want. But then, create a plan. The plan starts
with some goals that you want to achieve
within the next couple of years, and then start
writing some strategies on how you think you
can achieve them. Remember, you don’t have
to know exactly how to get there, but just
write what you know, for now. And then the
road will begin to reveal itself as you start
MOVING towards your goals. The key word
here is MOVE. You have to just get started
with some steps.
Age doesn't matter
It doesn't matter how old you are in
the world of artistry. Ignore what you hear
from hearsay: you can be any age you want to
be as an artist in the arts business. It all
depends on the market you are targeting. If
you want to go for the Britney Spears or
Jessica Simpson market, then, sure, being
nineteen surely means something, and the
major record companies spend most of their
budget on the 8-14 year olds.
If you want to
compete with that, give it a shot, but know
what you're up against. The whole pop radio,
video and retail machine is geared towards
that age bracket. But you have the opportunity
to find so many other markets, age brackets
and genres for your music. You can be 65
years old and find your audience.
Remember,
artistry is for life. This is a life long journey.
So take the time you need to learn, be and
share.
Learn but also be all knowing
Be the student of life, but know you have
what you need to be who you want to be. I
have also always said that we are students of
life. Our learning is life long and beyond
college we will always be learning something,
on a daily basis. Everything we do will
provide us insight into ourselves and we will
always be "in development". But I believe
that we all have the assets and the know-how
to achieve whatever we want to achieve and
be whoever we want to be now.
I use the term
"commence-aphobia" with artists at times,
when they procrastinate and wait a long time
to do something, like perform or record an
album. It's like they are waiting for a sign, or
someone to say "ok, you are ready now." But
what if we are always ready? What if all we
needed to do is to take one step. I see that by
taking that first step, the other foot will
follow, and the seemingly foggy path will
clear up and illuminate the way. We don't
necessarily need to wait for someone to tell us
how to do it, or have our art approved before
we put it out there. We don't need to read
every single book on the business or go to
every class in order to start a project. What
we need is confidence and a desire to do the
art, for the sake of doing.
If we just initiate
the step to start, it's amazing how much
information, resources, advisors, support and
opportunity comes our way, because we have
internally opened up to the art of doing.
Seek no one else's approval but your
own
I'm not suggesting that we don't seek advice,
or that we have to do things alone, but at the
end of the day, you must make the decision as
to what’s best for you.
It's a hard statement to digest at first,
but when you really consider it for some time,
it makes total sense.
We can wait for ages
to have some high and mighty record
executive, or media critique, to approve of our
process, but really, we don't need anyone to
tell us we are doing the right thing for us.
Once you agree with yourself that you have
everything you need to be who you are and
who you want to be, then you can enact
without waiting for someone else to tell you
it's okay. Everyone is unique, and so what you
bring to the world cannot really be judged by
anyone.
The journey of art is a personal
journey, no matter what competitive,
commercial or public purpose you may
choose to endeavour in.
* Work with others, just don’t rely on others
to make it happen for you.
* Definitely have a core few around you,
which you trust, to gain feedback about your
work.
* But at the end of the day when all is said
and done, you alone are the one to decide if
it's right for you or not, if you are on the right
path or not.
Community and Relationships
I have learned how important community is
through Songsalive!, way before there was
MySpace, Facebook or Twitter or any social
network.
Bringing people together, and
networking within your community or
communities you participate in, is the key to
building relationships, which is the key to
success. Your music industry is inside your
current community, and it’s in this arena that
you can develop, nurture and expand.
When
the social networks came along, I had already
known about communities and their strength
in marketing: developing loyal fan bases,
customers for your music, interaction and
such. So now with the online communities so
prominent in everyone’s lives, it’s a fabulous
way for indie artists to interact in, and find
new fans.
Relationships are THE most
important aspect of developing your business.
Nurture the relationships you make because
you never know where they might take you.
Remember to ask “what can I do for you” first
before you expect something in return. It
needs to be a symbiotic relationship.
Enjoy it.
It is a game
How can one possibly proceed into the world
of the arts without seeing it as a bit of fun?
My gosh, we are so lucky as artists to pursue
a life with paint brushes, musical instruments
and anything creative. Just think that about
ten percent of the world's population has the
audacity to make their world revolve around
creativity and imagination whereas every
child on this planet lived and breathed it
before they were 7.
What happened to most of
us as we grew into adults? The world has
gotten so serious! Always business, business,
business... mortgages, living on credit, an ever
present need for financial security and
keeping up with the Jones's. I must admit
though, being in the music business, I have
had to be more business minded than I ever
would have thought. I have had to wear two
hats, and artists need to be aware that being in
the arts business is about business, not so
much about art. But let's use our artistic
insights to survive the biz in a cool, creative
way.
Think of it like a 'game' and know that
this game is made up of people playing the
game. This business is all about
relationships, strategies and dreams. Play it
like monopoly or a long thought out chess
game, with patience and a sense of humor.
Navigate with passion, and joy, and know that
at any time you want out, you can. You can
always go back to a 'desk' job in the suburbs,
right?
You have a choice, to play the game or
not. Besides, the music business in particular
is all an illusion. Everything you read about
fame and fortune, the celebrity lives versus
ordinary happiness, ... is all wrapped up in an
illusion dished out in glossy magazines. The
real business is business, and hard work. The
'game' of the music business can be played
with tenacity, joy and passion, if you put your
mind to it. Everyone is unique.
Know your uniqueness
We can find it all quite daunting when you
consider all the things we have to do to be
creative, promote our creativity and survive it
all. There’s a lot of competition too.
Many
artists all wanting those top 10 slots on the
Billboard charts right? Wrong. There is room
for everyone at the ‘top’. It all depends on
what you want, and what you bring to the
table. You may not be Britney Spears or
Eminem, but you probably have something
very unique about you that can tap into a
market all to itself.
Consider that there are
close to 300 million people in the U.S, heck
nearly 5 billion on the planet. You can find
your niche for your art, if you know what
makes you unique. I’ve always called this,
“finding your competitive advantage.”
Your
talent + your uniqueness = your competitive
advantage, or edge. It might be that you play
bare feet, or you have an interesting hair-do.
Maybe your name is different. Perhaps you
cross styles with your music, or have a
different stage presence or image/persona.
Whatever it is, harness it, focus on it, and
exploit it. This will certainly help you find
your own audience. In this day and age, for
the new artist entrepreneur, you don’t have to
conform to a structure as to what you should
look like, sound like, be like or the way you
share your music or promote.
We are in a new
era where not only are audiences in control
(they search for their own music based on
their own tastes online, etc), but they are
busting to get something NEW. Be creative
and use your imagination to find new ways to
present your music and yourself.
This is the
time to be very imaginative and to think
outside the box.
It’s a choice – you “choose” to do it
Yes, that’s right. You’re not a victim here.
You want it? Then do it. but don’t complain
about it. It’s one thing to be creative, but it’s
another to go into this profession. Remember,
you’re a business person, in the business of
music.
A SUCCESSFUL ARTIST ENTREPRENEUR:
* Knows who they are, and what they want,
even if they don’t know exactly how to get
there.
* Understands the importance of being a
business person as well as an artist.
* Defines success on their own terms. Not by
fame or fortune, but solid, daily rewards that
only you can define, and not by commercial
standards. They seek no one else’s approval
but their own, but they have a team they work
with (DIT – Do It Together)
* Writes careful, meaningful, tangible, and
ambitious goals to work towards
* Has a solid plan to reach their goals, which
includes who they are, what they want, and a
carefully laid out strategy to reach the goals.
* Has a life mission statement about
themselves, that is bigger than just
themselves, but contributes to something
greater.
* Understands the Importance of mentors /
education and lifelong learning
* Sees themselves as a marketing jewel,
whereby to develop a unique story, image and
marketing strategy.
* Is not afraid to promote themselves.
* Is persistent, conscientious and passionate
about their art and their business career.
* Knows that artistry is a lifelong journey,
and there is no quick overnight shortcut to
success.
* Is confident, and will try anything, with
care: leap and the answer will come.
MYTHS ABOUT ARTIST ENTREPRENEURS (not true):
* You need a lot of money, or have large
investments
* You need to know where you are going and
know exactly how to get there
* You need to know about marketing before
you start
* You need to do everything yourself
And so, I ask you,… “Who are you?”
That's right... how would you describe who
you are and what you do to someone in the
street, at a party, at a meeting or if I asked you
at one of my workshops?
The WORDS you
use are very important. Here are some
examples of what I usually get from artists on
first meeting:
"Hi, I'm Bill. I'm trying to be a better songwriter and working hard at practicing my music. One day I'd like to be a professional musician with my own band, but already I feel I'm too old and I just don't know if I'll get there what with all the learning I have to do."
"Hi, I'm Elaine. I want to be a professional songwriter one day and tour if I can. I just don't know how to get there yet. I just need to find the right people, maybe a manager or an agent. I don't know."
"Hi, my name is Tom and I am a guitarist, songwriter and producer. I run my own production house and am creating new projects on a weekly basis, building my credits and writing songs with a strong global mission of unity and human consciousness. I'm very excited by my journey and am discovering new opportunities on a daily basis."
What is different about the first two
introductions compared to the third?
How we perceive ourselves,
including self-worth and self-discovery, and
how we express it to others, indicates why we
create success in our lives or not. Clearly Bill
and Elaine are not quite in touch with the law
of attraction yet, compared to Tom. Bill is
"trying" to be a songwriting and looks into the
future as to when he will truly come into his
own. He also has issues about his age and feels he doesn't know enough to consciously
acknowledge his talent nor his status as an
artist. Same for Elaine... desiring to be
professional, but feels she doesn't know the
way to get there, and feels she needs other
people to make it happen for her.
These are introductions from artists I
get ALL THE TIME. Ninety percent of the
artists I come across introduce themselves
with language like this, not realizing that it
sabotages their goals and dreams in coming
true.
Here’s the crux of it: if you put it out
there, even just visualizing it, you will get it.
If you are not clear with what you want, then
what you want may take a long time.
So let’s
take a look at some of these self-thoughts, and
how to overcome some negative patterns, in
order to create positive results.
And then, I ask you,… “What do you
want?”
Write down 5 or 6 of your lifetime dreams on
a piece of paper – be bold, ambitious and
confident, yet write ones that you know you
can achieve, even if you have to do it on your
own.
For example, if you wanted to perform
on the moon, you’d be reliant on someone to
provide a space shuttle do get there, and the
ability for an audience to be there with you….
So that might be a little unrealistic (though,
who knows, right?)
Once you’ve written down who
YOU are and WHAT you want, put it on a big
piece of paper and tape it to a wall in your
home where you can see it every day.
Discovering you are already the
creative, magical, prolific, talented and
successful artist that you are, opens up the
largest of doors.
This is very much an inward
empowerment. “Know” it, “feel” it, “be” it,
and it will be realized on your outside.
This is your time to be, do, create,
think, visualize, and build your empire. Be the
entrepreneur, and be yourself.
And so, I ask you,… Are you an Artist
Entrepreneur?
This article is an excerpt from Gilli Moon’s
new book JUST GET OUT THERE.
