While these 10 tips are hardly a foolproof master plan, they’re a good reminder of things you can do to take the next step and reach your music career goals.
Musicians have no problem creating master plans to rule the world, but they often fall short of seeing their music career goals through effectively. What an unfortunate waste! As Ralph S. Larsen, CEO of Johnson & Johnson, said, “The best-thought-out plans in the world are worthless if you can’t pull them off.”
Here are 10 tips that just might help you accomplish your goals and get to that next level of your career. While these aren’t groundbreaking, sometimes we all just need a little reminder.
1. Stay proactive! Attract the attention of people who can help you by promoting yourself. Remember that no one (not a personal manager, agent, or A&R rep) is going to come save you and whisk you from garage to super stardom. You need to accomplish some things on your own, so light as many fires as you can and people will see the smoke.
2. Secure your campaign funds. Plan wisely so you don’t run out of money. You might use your own funds; get fans to invest in you via crowd funding services like KickStarter; get interested parties (such as family members and friends) to front the cash; or arrange “barter” deals where you pay for services with your special skills.
3. Schedule efficiently. Prioritize your tasks and schedule the most important things first, find ways to accomplish tasks simultaneously to maximize your resources, and allocate enough time to complete each task on time and on budget.
4. Delegate the workload. Assess your team’s special talents and capitalize on them. The drummer can be in charge of booking, the bass playing might do all the social media, and the guitarist can be the one to seek out music placements. If you’re a solo artist and don’t have other members to depend on, then you can enlist dedicated fans to help you.
5. Don’t spread yourself too thin online. It makes no sense to have ten social profiles (that you can’t keep up with) with only a few hundred followers when you can have one or two with a thousand or more. Work smart and keep things manageable.
6. Be social on your social media. When online, practice the same good manners and etiquette that exists offline. Address people by their first names, have an attractive profile picture, and don’t be overly pushy with trying to get people to “check you out” or “click on your link.”
7. Ask for the sale. When you’re selling merch at your live performances, make sure that people know about it! Ask them politely for their business, but always remember that if you ask for the sale, people are more likely to buy.
8. Promote the promotion. When you get that review of your music on a blog, be sure to promote the review by placing links to the blog everywhere you can (on your social networks, on your website, and in emails you send out). Make the most out of every success.
9. Be Consistent. Make sure to communicate a consistent identity in everything you do. Remember that your name, logo, slogan, attitude, and tone all affect the image that fans will form in their own minds. If there are inconsistencies, the fans might get confused.
10. Prepare your elevator pitch. Always be prepared to tell people about your music/band/promotion in the most concise and descriptive way possible. More importantly, always be prepared to tell the other party how he or she will benefit from doing business with you. Always remember that people are usually more interested in “what’s in it for them.”
The contents of this post are © 2014 by Bobby Borg BobbyBorg.com. All rights reserved. Not to be posted, printed, or used in any other way without proper attribution to Bobby Borg and Disc Makers.
Get your FREE download of Bobby’s new Disc Makers guide, The Complete Marketing Process: Creating and executing a complete marketing plan, excerpted from Bobby’s book, Music Marketing For The DIY Musician: Creating and Executing a Plan of Attack On A Limited Budget (September 2014, Hal Leonard). The book is available on the Hal Leonard website, Amazon.com, or at BobbyBorg.com.
Related Posts
How to align with local and national sponsors
5 secrets of the successful indie artist
Setting up a call to action on your Facebook artist page
The many ways to ask for the sale
Your elevator pitch should start a conversation
Hi! I don’t know if it’s possible or not, but I would like to know if you have some recommendations or tips, in case somebody, like me, wants to reach its goals as a songwriter or lyricist, selling your songs. In my personal case, I should say that my hobby it’s been writing songs since I was 20 and now, 13 years later I’ve realised I want that to be .more than a hobby, but I can’t compose and little I know about music theory. Is it so difficult finding someone who could help me? What do you think? I really need help, but I live in a small city in Spain and there aren’t lot of choices. I would even move if I have a good opportunity anywhere. Or even if I am good enough, could you please listen to my songs? http://www.SoundCloud.com/edwinaworld It’d be awesome! Thanks!
Thank you for the links. I will pass them around.
There are some really good services online that
Offer critiques of your music. You should check
Them out.
Best,
Bobby Borg
Karl, excellent advice. Thank you for your help in clarifying that for me.
I’m sure it will help very much.
Cheers….
I have tryed many studios, neither complete my work, or its half completed unsatisfactory. It’s a wast of $$$.What should be my next step to Illuminate this problem?
Hello Bobby, here are a few things to think about:
1. The studio: ask to hear a sample of their work
2. Check credibility with former clients
3. Get a contract before working that states price, start and finish date, quality measures, and deliver acceptance requirements.
Hope that helps.
Bobby Borg
Yes Karl, I think will help. Thanks. BB
HELLO ALL. THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING THE ARTICLE. Just wanted to let you know that the book is available for sale at http://www.bobbyborg.com. It has been voted the top AMAZON seller in music business for almost a year. I hope you’ll pick up a copy. You may be able to find it at your local book dealer as well. Cheers and all the best for a very successful career. Thanks.