The David Andrew Wiebe Show

We are all building on the work others have done in some capacity. The question is – do we notice when this is happening? Do we thank or acknowledge others when we’ve modeled or iterated on their work?

In this episode of Creativity Excitement Emotion, David prompts us to think about giving credit where it’s due.

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Highlights:

00:17 – There’s no growth in unicorns farting rainbows

00:44 – Giving without expecting anything in return

01:22 – Acknowledgement as a practice

02:53 – Co-opting the work of the trailblazers who’ve gone before you

Transcript:

Today I wanted to talk about something that may not be entirely comfortable. And if we want to grow, we can't always be talking about unicorns farting rainbows. It's great to envision a future that you want to create and then to be as enthusiastic as you possibly can about it. But that's not necessarily where the growth is.

The growth is usually in the breakdowns and the resulting breakthroughs. And you can find those breakthroughs rapidly if you get good at it.

The thing that I've noticed is this – there's a lot of things I do without ever expecting anything in return. I give to charitable organizations. I support certain creators that I like, as I'm sure you do. I give people in my life a lot of time and space to talk and work out their problems and share with me what's going on in their lives.

And I practice conversational generosity, something Dale Carnegie talks about in How to Win Friends and Influence People.

There are many things I do from a generous spirit, and I'm not looking for anything in return.

But then there are also situations where I am expecting something. Maybe not a lot, but I'm still expecting some kind of courtesy or favor to be returned. And the interesting part is… if you go into any of my books, in the back, you will inevitably see a long list of people that I thank.

I may not be personally connected to them. I may not have ever met them in real life and shaken their hand. And yet, I've learned a lot from these people.

Even in The New Music Industry, you can see me thanking people like Bob Baker, Tom Hess, Ariel Hyatt, and Derek Sivers. These are people that I looked up to, and still do, in many ways.

I learned so much from them, and I find they've added a lot of value to my life. And they've added a lot of value to me in my career pursuits, and my business pursuits. Everything that I've done to this point.

And yet, What I'm seeing out there is… I'm in touch with pretty much every podcast that I've ever been mentioned on, which is not many.

And I could even recall a circumstance where, it's not the guy's fault, but he was sitting there going like, “Yeah, dang, I can't remember his name.”

Look, we're all human. That happens to me, too. I've given as much credit as I possibly can to all the people that I could possibly remember or think of that contributed to me. And yet I probably have still forgotten. And, and I think that's where we got to let bygones be bygones, right?

But there are people who've literally built on the things that I've done, whether it's my books, my blog posts, or my podcast, and some have built on it without knowing it, right? If they don't know it there's nothing, we can do about it.

But others have very knowingly built on something that I created. And it's good. I want to see iterations on what else people come up with. Better music books for musicians, better coaching programs, better podcasts, or better business models. I'd love to see all that, right?

And yet this is where I give thanks to every single author, speaker, coach, mentor, blogger, podcaster, YouTuber that I can think of that's contributed to me.

And those people don't so much as thank anyone, let alone me, for building upon something that I worked my butt off to do.

It's not like I got started yesterday. Some people get that confused, like, “Oh, you started your podcast in 2016, that must feel like a while.” No, no, no. I started podcasting in 2009. And I started doing interviews in 2004. Even before that, I was already starting to serve musicians in a local community capacity. Okay? So, it's not like this just emerged out of nowhere.

This has been a passion and an interest, something that I've pursued over the long haul. I've really invested myself into this. So, I didn't just spring up yesterday.

And yet I think some people have built on what I've done without ever sending so much as a thank you note. That would be unimaginable to me. Just saying. For me, that would be unimaginable.

I would even suspect people are owing me royalties. I'm not asking for any money. Right? That's not why we're in this conversation. If you feel led in that direction, if then I would ask for a generous contribution. Absolutely.

But if that's something you're not moved to do, then forget it. Bye.

Do you owe me at least a “Thank you,” though, for the hard work I've put into laying the groundwork for you to exist? That's the question. Because I do it. I demonstrate it every single day in my work. I give thanks to the people who taught me what they taught me – the concepts, everything they gave me. The life I now have is because of what they did.

And for some people, the life they now have is because of what I did. And they don't see it. Do you see?

Who's helped you on your journey, and do you thank them? And if not, why not?

What does it take to pursue a music career? What does the financial outlay look like? How do you navigate the veritable minefield that is the music industry?

In this episode of Creativity Excitement Emotion, David passes the mic with singer, guitarist, band leader, and hair stylist Jody Lubin.

Sponsors:

Clean Slate: The most exciting and inspirational New Year live music and multi-media event you’ve ever been to. Get your tickets now, before they’re gone!

Highlights:

00:17 – Today’s guest, Jody Lubin

00:34 – “Creativity Excitement Emotion” is Jody’s idea

00:51 – The music distribution minefield and music industry frustrations

05:13 – Streaming royalties and making an income in music

06:54 – Thinking about monetization and audience differently

08:45 – Finding the right music producer

11:38 – Applying for funding

13:46 – What is music supposed to cost?

16:52 – Is the music industry funded by venture capitalists?

17:22 – Televised talent competitions

20:27 – The technological divide

23:10 – Taking on music in your 40s

27:00 – Jody’s story

32:09 – David’s search for the perfect electric guitar

33:27 – Jody’s red guitar

34:44 – Clean Slate

36:41 – Community building

37:41 – Costs of putting on a show

38:43 – Gaining your independence

39:21 – Wrapping up

Transcript:

Coming soon.

We live in a TikTok world. We assume everything will be short. We think everything will be quick and easy. We hope to get the maximum possible value out of something without having put our best foot forward. But is this realistic?

In this episode of Creativity Excitement Emotion, David explores the importance of context in an increasingly contextless world.

Sponsors:

Clean Slate: The most exciting and inspirational New Year live music and multi-media event you’ve ever been to. Get your tickets now, before they’re gone!

Highlights:

00:17 – Building a library of social media content

00:51 – The issue with clips and snippets

01:42 – Politics

03:21 – Do you live life in soundbites?

04:09 – What do you hope to achieve by responding to things you don’t like?

04:36 – Could you redirect your frustrated energy elsewhere?

06:01 – Does the statement fit with the person posting?

06:35 – Not everything lends itself to short-form content

07:04 – Being more intentional

Transcript:

When you've been doing social media for a while, after a while, you kind of get smart with it. And so, you start building a catalog or a library of content that you can pull from. The more you have, the better, especially if you know that you're

I have a tweet library. I have a couple of tweet libraries depending on which account I'm looking to grow, but a lot of this content was built over time, and it's been pulled from blog posts and podcast episodes and videos and other content that I've produced over the years.

And we kind of live in a world that encourages snippets and tidbits and soundbites and all that kind of stuff.

Which means people are liable to respond to the content in whatever way they choose to respond or feel like responding to. That can mean that there can also be a lot of knee jerk reactions.

I know I'm not the only one that gets this. In fact, it’s the top marketers or entrepreneurs – some I look up to, some I don't but that's kind of beside the point – you get criticism too, right?

And this is not about responding to the specific comment I got. I wanted to ask a few questions to everyone listening. Look in your own life where maybe you're at effect where you really could be in power.

The tweet that got responded to is around politics. And of course, as they say, if there's one thing not to talk about at the dinner table, it's politics.

But in effect, it said “A lot of people are quick to blame politicians without even looking at themselves.”

For me, anyway, there's a deeper context to that, and I can easily see how you could respond to that in probably dozens, if not hundreds, of different ways.

But when I look at that, I'm thinking like I may not be responsible for wars that have happened across the world, or I may not be responsible for natural disasters, and I guess nobody really is responsible for those, but let's just say, you know, massive catastrophes couldn't necessarily be tied back to me, specifically.

And yet there are things about me… like if we were to trust these personal development books that we all engage in, that everything reflects who we are, and when we look out into the world, we find what we are. And we attract what we are. So, if all we're seeing is devastation then what part of us is that channeling?

That's what that quote would mean to me, but… again, the content of the response doesn't matter that much, but if I was summarizing one of the responses I got was, in effect, “Are you saying that I could cause a minor mishap in my own life that could lead to massive catastrophe across the world?”

In our fast-paced, tidbit-, snippet-oriented kind of world, there are a few questions that I think you need to begin asking yourself.

The first question is, do you live life in soundbites? I understand well the tendency to want to respond in a knee jerk kind of way to things that come up, right?

Do you live life in soundbites?Share on X

I really do, because sometimes I'll see comments that I completely don't agree with and may be inclined to type something in, even if just to be a troll, but I usually reserve my opinion and hold stuff back because I'm like, “Well, what's that going to do?” Right?

So, the question is are you willing and do you as a habit choose to go deeper into those subjects before deciding how you feel about them?

Are you willing to go deeper into subjects before deciding how you feel about them?Share on X

Because how you feel about them is not everything. It's not objective necessarily, or even subjective reality. The next thing would be what are you hoping to achieve by responding to things you don't like, don't agree with, can't see the full viewpoint of, or not willing to dig deeper into?

Are you just going to stay at a shallow level, or a at some point, are you going to dig deeper into the subject? And if so, then maybe reserving your judgment and coming back to it later is a better option.

Number three is – could you redirect this energy in some other direction? You might feel frustrated. You might feel angry. You might have a lot of different feelings attached to the statement, whatever it may be.

Could you redirect your knee-jerk reactions?Share on X

Would it be possible to take that in a more productive direction? Starting arguments with people, at least what I've found anyway, is these people just love arguments. And so, arguing with them, or proving them wrong, or entertaining their responses, usually just is more pleasurable to them. And now you're on the other end responding intelligently and calmly starting to feel frustrated. So, they win in that scenario every single time.

If people took all the time they spent complaining over the course of a lifetime and were able to accumulate it, they could probably write a book in that time. They could probably write multiple books.

To me, it comes down to how do you want to spend your time and are you intentional about it? And do you want to move things in a productive direction, or are you here to judge others, to stir things up?

Trolling is one thing, because I mean, sometimes it has a comedic effect. But if you're just here to poke holes in others, I think you should begin finding something better to do with your time. You're not going to be here for very long.

Another question that's well worth asking is does this statement fit in with the person that I know and the type of content that they produce?

Does the content fit with the person you know and the type of content that they produce?Share on X

And if the answer is, “I don't know this person,” you haven't done adequate research yet, right? And if the answer is “No, the content doesn't seem consistent with the character I know.” It could just be that their account was hacked or something like that. So, in either case, I don't know what being reactive is really going to do for you.

Unless it is the case that you enjoy criticizing others. In which case, whatever.

Again, I know it's so easy to live in “snippet world” because tweets are only allowed to be 280 characters, right? And TikTok videos used to be, what, 30, 50 seconds or whatever? And I think they're up to four minutes now, but regardless, short form content is sort of the thing.

And not everything lends itself well to short form content and not everything you see is necessarily something that you must react to. To me, it's not very intentional as far as browsing and scanning social media goes.

There's much better use of your time there, following your Dream 100, commenting on their stuff, modeling their posts. To me, that's where the value is.

Most of us go into fresh endeavors with the BEST of intentions. But that doesn’t mean we won’t eventually burn out on a project, no matter how enthusiastic we initially were. Staying in the project is usually doing a disservice to you, and the people who are involved.

In this episode of Creativity Excitement Emotion, David shares what to do when you lose your passion for a project.

Sponsors:

Clean Slate: The most exciting and inspirational New Year live music and multi-media event you’ve ever been to. Get your tickets now, before they’re gone!

Highlights:

00:17 – How artists choose what they want to work on

01:05 – David on starting Music Entrepreneur HQ

03:42 – The evolution of Music Entrepreneur HQ

05:44 – Burned out on an idea

06:20 – Giving too much of yourself

07:17 – Examining your options

08:00 – One of the secrets of life

09:00 – Don’t be afraid to switch

Transcript:

In life, we'll usually choose the things that we're most excited about working on, especially when it comes to our creativity. We might choose jobs for the sake of money, or we might choose certain activities for the sake of other desirable objects and things. But for the most part, we choose what we want to do because it's what we're most excited about.

The thing that we're not always tuned into, that we're not always as accountable as we should be for, is when we lose excitement for something… and this happens more often than you might think… You might be excited out of your mind today to work on a specific project. But you don't necessarily know how you're going to feel about it a few years down the line.

Case in point, I started Music Entrepreneur HQ around 2016, but it has its roots in something I created way back in 2009. And even before I moved it to Music Entrepreneur HQ, it was already called The Music Entrepreneur.

I was especially excited about this idea in 2011, and 2012 when I was discovering network marketing and realizing there was something was missing in my education, and no doubt in the education of other musicians looking to build a successful career, and that is entrepreneurship.

We are entrepreneurs as creatives, and the sooner we can embrace this fact, the sooner we can begin to take ownership and power over our careers. When you have power over your career, you start making decisions, and you take it upon yourself to find pathways that are going to work for you. But you must embrace it.

Find the pathways that are going to work for you.Share on X

And it doesn't have to be entrepreneurship specifically, but until you embrace the moment that you're responsible and you're capable and you can find a way, you tend not to look for it.

So, I was excited about introducing this to the world and sharing it with others because I knew it could add value.

And I found that within a really short amount of time, other skilled marketers were able to do it far better than I was. And I guess they were just poised for the opportunity.

I don't think I was doing it badly at all. I do need to give myself credit where it's due, but there were certainly other marketers who were like, “Oh, I know how to take this to the next level.”

So, my vantage point was “I'm jumping into a blue ocean,” or close to a blue ocean by getting into music entrepreneurship. Versus just talking about how to be a better independent musician, which is all that people were talking about back then, as far as I could find. I was jumping into an ocean that was relatively clear. Within a short amount of time, it started turning into a red ocean.

Now, is that a reason to get in or get out? Not necessarily, because you can always be the category leader. And if you can rise to be the category leader, you might as well stay in it because your name and the things that you create are going to become associated with what you've established. Your brand is practically going to become synonymous with the name of your company or possibly the name of your product.

But things were going well for me for several years. I remained excited about what I was up to in 2012, 2013.

2014 I felt like things were going backward a bit, but maybe that's because I didn't choose to leave another project that was no longer truly in alignment with who I was, which was network marketing. I still think it's an amazing industry with beautiful people and cool opportunities. It just wasn't going to work for me, at least not the 2014 version of me.

But I ended up redirecting a lot of those energies of “Ah man, I chose wrong and I can't believe I did that and I'm not a person of integrity and I'm never going to be a great leader.”

I redirected all that into my book and that created new life and new enthusiasm for the project because The New Music Industry book went on to become the best-selling of anything I'd produced.

I'd produced countless eBooks, some audio programs, and other products to that point as a digital marketer. But I hadn't produced a full-length book like that, that I sold on Amazon and pretty much everywhere, and that became an Amazon best-seller and Kobo best-seller. 2016 and 2017 remained good years, if somewhat inconsistent.

There were a lot of changes in my life. 2018 was a great year. I came out with the follow-up to The New Music Industry if you want to think of it that way. It was The Essential Guide to Music Entrepreneurship: 2018 Edition.

2019 was another year of a significant transition. So, I would not say it was a bad year, but my business certainly did not do in 2019 what it did in 2018.

And then we had, I would say, one more solid year in 2020 with The Music Entrepreneur Code. That became another Amazon best-seller, and we sold dozens of copies through the website as well.

But that was the last time Musical Entrepreneur HQ as a business has done anything for me, and I think… Again, that goes back to, I was not as excited about that as I once was.

I'm still excited about the music business. I'm still excited about music. And I'm still excited about sharing and teaching some of these principles. That part hasn't gone away. But what I originally saw as being the vision for music entrepreneurship and what I wanted to impart to others, that part is now lost.

And a lot of us are good people and I know that because you tend to attract what you are. And I'm not saying that I'm better than anybody else, but I do think I'm a good person. I tend to be loyal and deliver on my word.

Yes, I've messed up here and there, and I've even admitted those things, but by and large, I've done right by people, and if I hadn't, I'd usually go back and find a way to make it right.

So, a lot of us are good people, and we get into projects that we're excited about, and that we want to do. and we end up collaborating with others, or getting into a band, or writing songs together, or stuff like that.

And we go into it with the best intentions, not necessarily being aware that at some point, and it could be two weeks from now, more likely it'll be two years from now, we're not going to be excited about it at the level we used to be.

And sometimes you can reinvent, sometimes you can pivot. And that's fine.

But then there also comes a time when you sort of need to examine your options. I mean, options are always infinite, but usually, there are three to five things that you're most excited about trying.

There comes a time when you need to explore your options.Share on X

We need to be more mindful of when we arrive at these points in our lives because they come up more often than we might think.

We might choose something going, “Oh yeah, this is what I'm going to do the rest of my life.” And maybe in some capacity, you'll be doing that one thing the rest of your life, whether it's singing or playing guitar or writing songs, but it may not necessarily be in the capacity that you're doing it now. And there's a key reason to make sure that you're in tune with this.

And you do need to stop and evaluate sometimes because this is your path. This is one of those secrets to life that they don't tell you. It's not like life comes with an instruction manual or anything of the sort, though you can find something close.

But the secret to life is that you have a specific path for you to follow that would make you excited and in love with life. And everything will feel magical, and you'll know when you're in it because you'll feel amazing almost all the time.

The secret to life is that there is a path specifically for you. Share on X

Not that you ever want to give too much power to time, weeks, months, years, or decades can go by with you doing something that wasn't quite in the sweet spot for you. And oftentimes the pathway, or your specific pathway, isn't always the most comfortable, but it certainly is the most exciting.

Just like a roller coaster, it's got those ups and downs and jump scares and everything else.

The bottom line is don't be afraid to switch. I can't tell you how many stories I've heard in podcasts and other sources where people were in safe, secure jobs, and then they decided, “This just isn't it.” “I'm going to go pursue a music career” or “I'm going to go start a business” or something else like that.

You know, so don't write off those inspired feelings. Pay attention to them. And if you have to, stop and just give yourself some time to think about it. But don't think too hard and too long because that's just analysis paralysis, right?

Begin tuning into your unique pathway and you're going to do well.

For ambitious artists, waiting on the sidelines hoping for the right opportunity is NOT an option. Creating the life you love through your creativity will require that you stretch beyond what you think you’re comfortable with right now.

In this episode of Creativity Excitement Emotion, David shares why you need to make a mess now, and what you can do to clean it up after the fact (if you even need to!).

Sponsors:

Clean Slate: The most exciting and inspirational New Year live music and multi-media event you’ve ever been to. Get your tickets now, before they’re gone!

Highlights:

00:17 – Why you should make a mess in your career and life

01:26 – Freeing yourself from the domain of “good” or “bad”

02:41 – What it looks like to make a mess

05:51 – Declaring the incomplete, complete

06:17 – Turn to a mentor or coach for help

07:00 – Building your “mess muscle”

07:27 – Look at what needs to be cleaned up, and clean it up!

07:57 – Determine what you will continue to do, and what you won’t

Transcript:

Today we get to talk about making a mess. And I am an advocate for going and making a mess in your music career and frankly, even in your life, in your projects, in romance and practically every area of life where you want to begin to see results.

Here's the thing. We only live once. Sure. If we were to think in terms of abstraction or spirituality, we probably do live forever in some way, shape, or form. Maybe we're spirits, maybe we get reincarnated, maybe there's an afterlife.

But as far as this life is concerned, the one that you are living right now, this one, this opportunity… It won't come around again. And that being the case, if we sit on the sidelines and wait and watch and observe as though we are watching TV or YouTube or Netflix, which is pretty much what smartphones and social media and TV and movies are training us to do, we don't get to enjoy all the exploits and spoils that are available.

If we sit on the sidelines and wait and watch and observe as though we are watching YouTube, we won't get to enjoy the spoils that are available.Share on X

Now, I understand that making a mess can be scary, it can be uncomfortable, it can also be very confronting, so we are going to talk about some of the ways to deal with conflict, to deal with rejection, to deal with anything else that comes up along the way that doesn't strike you as being “good,” and understand first and foremost that whatever is good or bad is a label that we create. It's a meaning that we've been trained to assign.

Everything is supposed to be good and bad and divided into like, don't like, right, wrong, like it, don't like it. Everything tends to go into that category when we're not aware of it. So, we can easily end up creating stories around what is good or bad.

The point is you're going to get results and that's exciting, isn't it?

I mean, it's much better than life at a standstill. Your music career at a standstill, your romantic life at a standstill. Nothing's happening. So, you assume you're wrong, you assume you're bad, you assume you're not attractive. You assume you're being rejected by everyone, and that's your reality, and you're stuck there. And maybe, the truth is, if you took a few more chances, that would not be your reality at all.

So, what is going and making a mess look like? Well, in your music career, it could look like instead of just making a list of venues to call, calling those venues, making an unreasonable goal to call 20, 30, 40 venues a day, and figuring out which ones are going to say “yes” to you.

In dating, it could look like sending more messages. Joining Facebook dating, joining Match, joining Tinder.

People have so much going on about, “Well, I want it to be casual,” or “Well, I don't want it to be casual,” or “I'm really not sure what I want but I'm here because I think I want something.” Stop it.

You don't know what anything has the potential to turn into before you're in it. People get hurt in the things that they're in. They don't get hurt in the things that they're out of.

I mean, sure, rejection can hurt. But much of what we think is rejection is perceived rejection. We're alone and lonely, so we assume that we're being rejected when reality might dictate otherwise. It could just be that you're not taking a chance and no one around you is taking a chance to express their true feelings and to be authentic.

You don't have to make this complicated at all. You could just have one funny one-liner. Not a pickup line, a one liner. Something funny or something curiosity invoking.

You don't have to come up with a million lines. You only need one. You just need some kind of icebreaker or some kind of opener to get the conversation started and you can take it wherever you want from there.

In your projects, create a whole mess of conversations. Go talk to 50, 60, 70, 80 people a week.

See what you can create together. Who's willing to partner? Who's not? Who's willing to collaborate? Who's not? You might get a bunch of no's. The moment someone says “yes,” the project suddenly has life. And it can be a super exciting experience.

And here's the interesting part. Once someone says yes, and especially if they're notable or well-known in your community, suddenly you'll find a lot of other people saying “yes” too.

And honestly, dating is the same way. What the stats show is, unless you are unusually creepy or weird, if you approach the opposite sex, chances are whatever request you make will be accepted 50% of the time.

That means if you get one “no,” you're usually going to get one “yes.” If you get two no’s in a row, you should get super excited because the next one's probably going to be a “yes.”

And trust me, this message is for me as much as anyone else. I'm not perfect at going and making a mess, but I do make a lot of messes.

Look at all the projects I've started, right? I'm excited about all these things, or I was excited about all these things at one point or another. And one of the big things I realized, I should not make myself feel guilty or ashamed for not finishing some of them.

There are ones that I still put a priority on and plan to finish, but some of them I should just declare complete right now so that I can be free and clear of whatever guilt I'm holding onto about it not being done.

So that's the first key to dealing with whatever comes up as you go out there to make a mess, is to declare it complete.

If you're not going to deliver on a promise and it affects others, then let them know as soon as possible. Preferably before the deadline or the date approaches, right? Don't let someone know on the date of your show. “Oh, sorry, you know, we can't make it.” Like, let them know well in advance. Hopefully, as much as possible, a week in advance, a month in advance.

If you're not going to deliver on a promise and it affects others, then let them know as soon as possible.Share on X

Number two is, yes, you probably will make some people angry, or some people may reject you. Or, I think more likely, a better way of defining that is you'll have some unpleasant experiences while going out there and having lots of conversations and making a whole mess of projects.

The number one most helpful thing that I've found in that is to have somebody that you can personally count on to talk to, to process this stuff.

It could be a mentor. It could be a boss. It could be your best friend. It just depends on the relationship and the trust that you've developed with that person over time. But processing whatever unpleasant experiences that you're going through with them will help you get through the events quicker.

And the next solution is simple. The more you build your muscle to take chances and to take risks and to strike up conversations with strangers and do uncomfortable things, the more that you're going to feel comfortable doing them and it will seem less strange to you. And trust me, there are people out there that have 20 conversations a day and don't think anything of it. And you can get to that point, but you've got to put in the work.

But I would say the most important point in all of this is once you've gone and done the work, and you've made a big mess, consider what it is that you're going to do to clean up. Look at what needs to be cleaned up, right? Who did you promise some things to that you did not deliver on? Go make that right. What projects did you not finish? And is there a consequence for not finishing them?

And if there aren’t any consequence so far as other people go, there's still an impact on you. So, notice what that impact is, and declare it complete in your life.

And out of the mess you've created, what are you going to continue? And what are you not going to continue?

And then once you've got all of that squared away, it's time to go and make a mess again.

Growth can be a funny thing. People all grow at different rates. Some people spend more time studying and investing in their personal and career growth. Others do not prioritize it. Yet, it is very hard to predict who is going to grow the fastest. There is much to be learned from life experiences AND personal development materials.

In this episode of Creativity Excitement Emotion, David shares the story of how he came to see that he may have outgrown the leadership program he was in.

Sponsors:

Clean Slate: The most exciting and inspirational New Year live music and multi-media event you’ve ever been to. Get your tickets now, before they’re gone!

Highlights:

00:17 – A rare occurrence

01:42 – Business plan and social media presentations

05:09 – Praise for the presentations

06:42 – Outgrowing the program?

10:08 – Tapping into teamwork

11:21 – There’s always more to get

12:03 – When it’s time to move on

Transcript:

I think what we're talking about today is a relatively rare occurrence – when you've outgrown the program.

I've mentioned before how I've been taking a leadership program, a two-year intensive one. I'm in year two, quarter three, which means I've got about a quarter and a half, and I'll be completing this program.

It's been great. I've had the opportunity to coach in a variety of capacities. When you're in the second year of the program, you automatically get a certain number of participants to coach each week. And so, I've learned so much, I've gained so much, and I think the biggest discovery of all is just how much value I can provide for people.

Sometimes the stats are not validating. Sometimes your social media following doesn't look like you think it should. Sometimes your email list is not as big as you hoped it was. And still, as I've said so many times before, just because it looks like you're killing it doesn't mean you're making any money. And just because you look like you're small-time doesn't mean you're not killing it.

Just because it looks like you're killing it doesn't mean you're making any money. And just because you look like you're small-time doesn't mean you're not killing it.Share on X

That is a reality we all need to embrace when we're looking online because we can easily be fooled and convinced by numbers that, in fact, probably don't mean a whole lot.

So, today, in this leadership program, I gave a presentation on business plans and social media. Two areas in which I'm very conversant. As you know, I've certainly had my peaks and valleys with social media. I'm very much on top of it nowadays, knowing that I think that's really where the traffic is going more than ever. You have to have a website. You have to have something to capture people's contact information, to get them on your list so you can continue to market to them and sell to them. That has not changed one bit.

But what has changed is where the eyeballs are. And more than ever, I would say, eyeballs are on social media. And more than ever, there are more platforms than ever.

So, I was happy to give presentations on the business plan side and the social media side because I don't always get the opportunity. It's not like I get invites every single day to speak. It happens, but it's not a daily occurrence.

And I think what I've realized about that side of things is I want to create my event. And that's coming. We'll talk about that in a future show, I'm sure, as things get going on that end.

But I was like, “I relish the opportunity to share some of what I’ve learned.

And this was kind of spreading through word of mouth. In the case of the business plan, I'd recently put together one for a client, and she was so happy with it, and I was so happy with it, that she ended up sharing it with a lot of people in the leadership program.

And suddenly, before you know it, it's like, “Well, David Andrew is very knowledgeable on business plans.”

And on the social media side, well, another person in the leadership program was keeping an eye on what I've been posting to social media, and she realized right away, like, “Holy cow, you know, what you just posted in the last couple of weeks has me convinced that you know social media better than most people,” which is the case.

So, I've put together these presentations and it was a funny situation because we were going to make it sort of an official, like it counts for points. Every week people are supposed to get some training in this leadership program and so at least a block of three hours every week they're supposed to go and take a training.

Originally, we were going to count this session where I was giving these presentations for a point, and then the people in the program management decided, “No, that's not going to work.”

And I said, “Look, it doesn't matter to me. I'll give the presentation, I'll not give the presentation, but I'm here to add value to people. I can see that there's a need here.”

We took a bit of a survey and had people raise their hands and say whether they were looking for more information on business plans and social media. And it felt, overwhelmingly, that people wanted this. Probably at least half, if not 60, 70% of participants in the program were raising their hands going, “Yeah, we’d like more on business plans and social media.”

So, it was not a sanctioned official training, and I'm fine with that. I was kind of hoping that's the direction it would go in, because I'd be able to speak a little bit more freely on these topics, versus being muzzled or being told what I had to say.

So, it became what we call “social” or “fun stuff” on the side event.

But people were there for themselves to get something. So I was determined to deliver value.

And at the end of it, I heard comments, I got lots of questions and comments throughout, but I heard comments like “This was paradigm-shifting,” and I'm like, “Yeah, I know because of the way I talk about social media is not the way most people do.”

Because most people are just saying, “Let's post. Let's post a lot and hope for the best.” And pray and hope and pray. And yeah, there is something to that. But you kind of need to have a structure around that or else you're probably not going to get anywhere with it.

I also heard one of the participants say – she's in the first year of the program and quarter two – and she was like, “This is the best training I've gotten so far in this program.” Even though it's not an officially sanctioned training, it was the best training she's received in that program.

And I think finally something clicked for me there. I spent so much time accumulating and acquiring knowledge and learning. And digging deep to find the valuable stuff.

Some of my so-called “friends” didn't trust me on this, but I'd done my homework, and I knew which people were providing valuable information. Either way, I was determined to stick with what I knew worked, what made a difference for me in my life, and how it helped shift my paradigm. And tweak the results that I was getting for me.

So, I stayed on that track. But I came to that point of realization at that moment that I had kind of outgrown this program.

Now, don't get me wrong. The leadership program is fantastic. It's not easy. They don't pretend like it is. It is very rigorous. And every week, it's kind of like, you might get a little bit of reprieve on the weekend, but you're like, “Oh my gosh, I must get started again on this on Monday? Like, really?”

That's how you start to feel when you've committed this far into the program. There's a lot to discover. Don't get me wrong, the program holds a mirror to you and the way that you do life. So, you get more out of it to the extent that you continue to do the looking. If you continue, if you're teachable, if you're willing to change, there's always something more you can get out of the program. So, technically there is no way to outgrow the program.

But every program has its shortfalls. I feel like some of the things that didn't work or don't work in the program are that it just doesn't stop. For a full year, you're just, "Go, go, go."

Every program has its shortfalls.Share on X

I get it. Some musicians play tours across the world sometimes for years and years on end because of one great album, and I could see how that would be kind of exhausting, but also ridiculously energizing because you're excited to go on stage to perform each night.

But that's sort of the difference. Sometimes on a rare occasion, you're excited to show up for this program, but most of the time you're not. And it's taking up 12 to 15 hours of your week, and as I said, if you're not willing to face what's in the mirror every single day, it's not a good program for you to be in at all. Because you'll find it exhausting. But I think either way at some point you're going to start to feel like it's tiring.

So, summarily, what doesn't work for me is I feel like there's no break and what I would love to see is… if it's going to be four-quarters of “Go, go, go,” it sure would be nice to have a week of nothing before every quarter starts.

That would make a big difference, but instead what we get is a weekend session where we're sitting on our butts pretty much all Friday night, all Saturday, and all Sunday. And then you get to start Monday and you didn't even get a weekend. Right? You got a couple hours to hang out with friends or whatever, Saturday, and Sunday night, but aside from that, you got nothing. No opportunity to rest up or reset.

And I get it. The program's kind of designed that way, in a manner of speaking to overwhelm you, to challenge you, to see how much you can take on and expand to take on. And to have you realize that you can't do everything yourself.

You can't do everything yourself.Share on X

It's a big part of the program too,...

Life may be a wild roller-coaster ride, but that doesn’t mean you want to stall out due to poor management of health, addictions, or lack of self-confidence.

In this episode of Creativity Excitement Emotion, David explains why your well-being is the personal foundation you need to build upon, especially if you have lofty ambitions.

Sponsors:

Clean Slate: The most exciting and inspirational New Year live music and multi-media event you’ve ever been to. Get your tickets now, before they’re gone!

Highlights:

00:17 – If you’re not okay, your music career is not okay

00:43 – Scarcity mindset

01:19 – Low self-image

02:05 – Mental health issues

02:51 – When you’re not well, it will impact your ability to make forward progress

03:42 – What can you do to ensure you’re in good health?

Transcript:

If you're not okay, your music career isn't okay either. It sounds obvious, right? Like, if you're sick, or if you're burnt out, you can't keep churning out the hits, and you can't show up to your next gig, naturally that is going to affect your music career.

But there are some further-reaching consequences that you might not be mindful of. Let's say, for example, that you're stuck in a scarcity mindset.

This is something that happens to everyone. You can't see the possibilities. So, you're stuck playing the same gigs. Or you're playing even fewer gigs because you are so constrained in how you're thinking about things. You're not seeing the opportunities outside your city. You're not seeing opportunities for alternative venues. You're not seeing opportunities to open for other bands.

And because you're in such a scarcity mindset, those opportunities may exist, but for you, they don't exist because you're not in abundance thinking.

Another area where it could impact your career. Let's say that your self-confidence or your self-image is low, again, this is something that happens to everybody.

Even the most talented, confident, good-looking, funny people out there sometimes don't feel that good about themselves. That unfortunately is going to be reflected in your music career as well. So, you're not going to go for bigger gigs. You're not going to go for bigger opportunities. You're going to cut yourself short.

Even the most talented, confident, good-looking, funny people out there sometimes don't feel that good about themselves.Share on X

You're not going to give yourself the full credit that you deserve as a player, as a musician, or as a touring artist, whatever it is that you're up to. You're probably not going to see yourself taking chances you should be taking if you're suffering from low self-esteem.

Let's say you're working through some mental health issues. Again, this is something that can affect just about anyone, really without warning, or without really knowing what's going on. This is another one of those things that can certainly affect anyone at any time. Many people out there either present stable or are pretty stable most of the time.

But we are artists, and especially when events like the COVID pandemic happened, a lot of people were not feeling very well about that situation. Weirdly, some people kind of loved it, loved that alone time, loved that time of being able to think, of being able to work on projects they enjoyed. But that wasn't everyone, right? We know that because there were people who took their own lives during that time.

If you're not well, naturally it's going to impact your ability to do things that you would normally be able to do. I know this well. I've gone through adrenal fatigue. I've gotten through something resembling depression. We'll call it sadness because I don't think I have clinical depression, and my naturopath would not call it that. So, we'll call it sadness, but I've been through that. I've been through anxiety as well. It did impact my ability to be able to do things that I wanted to do to further my career or business.

With adrenal fatigue, you're almost like waking up in a haze every single day. Unless you know the right steps to take, of course. Then you're able to get out of it relatively quickly. But otherwise, you're waking up in a haze every day and not feeling motivated or energetic. You can still get things done, but it feels that much harder to be able to go and do them.

So, if you're not okay, your music career is not okay, it's just as simple as that. What could you be doing proactively to ensure that you're in good health? Not just physically, but mentally. What could you be doing to ensure that you're well-prepared for opportunities that count? That you're well rested for when you film a video, or you're energetic for when you need to hit the stage.

What could you be doing to ensure that you're well-prepared for opportunities that count?Share on X

If we don't plan these things, and we don't prepare for these things, then we're just hoping that by chance, somehow, we're going to be feeling great on the date of the show and it doesn't always happen like that.

So, think ahead. What do you need to do to make sure that you're at your best for the moments that count?

How would you live your life if you could live it any way you wanted to? How would you spend your time? What would you be doing with it?

In this episode of Creativity Excitement Emotion, David shares why he decided to script his ideal day, and how you can script your own.

Sponsors:

Clean Slate: The most exciting and inspirational New Year live music and multi-media event you’ve ever been to. Get your tickets now, before they’re gone!

Highlights:

00:17 – Why David created his ideal day

02:26 – David’s ideal day, fully scripted

08:38 – Why David would opt to work nine and half hours per day

09:20 – Other essential activities David would engage in

10:53 – How would you script your ideal day?

Transcript:

I just finished drawing up in my notebook what I'm calling my ideal day. Now, I'm not being patronizing. I'm sure you understand what we're talking about when I say setting up your ideal day.

So, Let's talk about why I put this together and I would encourage you to put together your own, even as you're listening, if you can do so, get your notebook out. White paper and blue pen. That's what I believe in.

Things have been going well for me with the music writing. They have for years. A lot of my work has come through that. People read my articles and sometimes check out my music, and people read my articles and sometimes request me to write lyrics. There are all sorts of opportunities that have opened up because of my music writing and they continue to open because of it.

And even though AI has changed the game or seemingly changing the game and people can now put together content faster than ever before, the reality is… Right now, anyway, maybe not in the future, it still requires human input to put together something true and good quality to share with an audience.

My community projects are still going well, and I do have some things going on with the graphic and web design as well. I am a webmaster, too, since I manage many websites.

But as I look to the future of what I want to create, I realize that there are some things that I would very much like to change in my life, and that's what got me thinking about, what would I do.

What would my day look like if I were to create it outside of all my current obligations and commitments, which are important? But some of them will one day come to an end, many of them, I mean all of them will come to an end at some point. But I'm just saying that some of my current commitments have expiration dates.

So, what would I be doing with my time daily, discipline-wise and work-wise, if I was free to choose and create however I wanted to create it?

Here's what I came up with:

I would spend 30 minutes writing songs, and songwriting. I think that would be more than enough time. I'm always looking at consistency, right?

So, I'm not thinking about, “Oh, you know, today I need to spend eight hours writing songs.” No, if I spent 30 minutes a day, either organizing, managing, building on the songs that I already have, or drawing up new ideas, I would have more than enough music.

I do have more than enough music right now to last me a good long while if I were to release it, whether in pieces or albums.

And I would spend 60 minutes recording. Inevitably, this is much more effort and time than expected. I think most days, it's almost like you must be well-rested if you want to record well. You want to show up confident. It's almost like the microphones, or the inputs know when you're not feeling your best. And when you show up that way to record, you just don't do your best takes.

But if I spent 60 minutes per day producing and making music, I would complete and release more projects.

I would spend another hour writing my next book. I've got multiple book projects, and as I've probably shared before, many of them are nearing completion.

And while I do have kind of my focus right now on the Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook, I don't think it would be completely out of line to create some pre-orders for the other books that I'm not necessarily planning on creating anything more out of in the immediate future. I’ve got to maintain my focus on one book at a time.

I'm honestly looking now, like maybe this could be a three-year plan. In the past, my product launches were maybe every 90 days. And, and while that 90-day system is a great thing to adopt. You'd almost want to be thinking more in terms of what project could I then complete in 90 days, what's the first marketing channel I could add in the next 90 days, and then what marketing channel could be added next?

Thinking more in terms of how to amplify, enhance, and grow the thing that you've created would be a better use of your time. This is something marketers do poorly, but musicians do well. We tour the crap out of our material.

Musicians get a huge runway out of the music they create. Think of KISS, AC/DC, or any of your favorite artists or bands. They get to tour and tour and tour and what do people still want to hear? Their hits. That's just the way it works.

Musicians get a huge runway out of the music they create.Share on X

So, when we take that same marketing approach, then we're thinking more in terms of how to do the world tour of the products we've created, rather than thinking in terms of how you can make a quick buck.

Two hours creating content. I think it's inevitable that content does need to be created in some way, shape, or form for you to have something to share, preferably daily, if not multiple times per day.

And again, even with all the efficiencies afforded nowadays, I'm a big believer in creating a pillar piece of content, like something that's preferably 20 minutes to an hour, and then breaking it down into smaller chunks, tweets, blog posts, podcast, video, images, and so on.

Then I would spend four hours marketing and distributing. The things you create don't get out there by accident. Certainly, sometimes we get lucky. But I still feel like luck is pretty much created. It's created by effort. It's created by consistency. It's created by showing up day in, and day out.

And you need to demand accountability from your marketing. Going like, "If this is working, keep it, do more of it, enhance it, amplify it, and if it's not working, cut it off." And knowing when to make those decisions is also key.

Demand accountability from your marketing.Share on X

I would spend about 30 minutes in research. Research is necessary in a lot of different ways. Whether it's thinking about my Dream 100. So maybe there's someone I would want to add to my list of Dream 100. And then that would look like subscribing to their email list, and following them on social media, and stuff like that. Researching music venues in case there's something that I want to book, or researching presentation and speaking engagement opportunities if I want to go and present publicly.

I think in 30 minutes a day I could accomplish a lot and that goes for any other activity that I'm weighting at about 30 minutes.

And that goes hand in hand with the final 30 minutes of work that I dreamed up for myself, which was Dream 100 and/or Outreach, which is kind of the same thing.

You’ve got to spend some time every day with your Dream 100, or else you're not going to get anywhere with that strategy. But you don't want to spend too much time because you could easily get carried away doing this and that for four hours a day.

The way I think about it is first you want to get on the radar in some way, shape, or form. Do everything you can, leaving comments on social media posts, subscribing to their lists, joining their Facebook groups, buying a product…

Buying one of their products, maybe not a book because we don't know the customers that are buying our books. It's not like Amazon gives us that information, but by buying one of their courses, your name is certainly going to get on their radar if you do all those things.

And then calling upon them very intentionally when you need help. Like, when you've got an album release, or when you've got a tour. And then creating some kind of win-win proposition that isn't just all about you.

So, that amounts to about nine and a half hours of work. And some of you are going like, if I was to set up my ideal day, I probably wouldn't spend that much time.

But you would be surprised. Like I have, I would say 10-to-14-hour days are sort of the norm between the leadership program that I'm currently taking, as well as my business and my freelance clients and workload.

So, nine and a half hours per day compared to what I'm doing right now would be like a dream. And I think that living my ideal day would allow me to delegate and find people to create this with me in a relatively short amount of time.

I did write down a couple of other essential activities. I had not considered them work, but they are important to my daily life.

I would spend 30 minutes and work out. I've been consistent with this since February.

I was just starting to get back into it starting about June of last year, I started walking about 6,000 steps every day. And that was good for kind of just general exercise and health and maintenance. But it wasn't getting me to where I wanted to go fitness-wise.

Starting in February, I was like, “Well, I want to start to get a little more buff.” Got my 30-pound weights out and I was like, “This is so painful getting back into it after a bit of a break from workouts.”

But once I got back into it, it was not so bad. And you just get better and better every week. So, before I knew it, I was doing this a day per week, and then twice a week, and three times a week, and now I work out very consistently four times a week.

I'd pretty much just keep that in my schedule. I think that's something that's working and well worth it too.

...

David was once convinced that the only way to make it to the top of your respective niche of the music industry was to be or to become a driven leader type. But he’s recently seen things from a new perspective. So, can you make your music career dreams a reality without being a natural leader?

In this episode of Creativity Excitement Emotion, David shares his latest insights into growing your music career.

Sponsors:

Clean Slate: The most exciting and inspirational New Year live music and multi-media event you’ve ever been to. Get your tickets now, before they’re gone!

Highlights:

00:00 – Two ways to make it to the top

00:54 – Qualities of a driven leader

01:10 – #1: They’re quick to turn vision into reality

01:59 – #2: They’re always looking ahead

03:22 – #3: They’re always readers

04:45 – What if you don’t possess these qualities?

Transcript:

So, you've heard me talk about the importance of developing your leadership in building a music career. There's no harm in anyone learning leadership principles, even if they don't one day become a leader.

But what I'm recognizing is that there are two ways to make it to the top. There isn't just one, and not everyone is a driven leader type. They just aren't.

So, more and more I'm recognizing there isn't just one way. One way is to be a driven leader. But another way… Well, we're going to cover that in this episode.

So, let's talk about the qualities of a driven leader. What does that look like? You know, a driven leader has many qualities, so I can't cover them all here, but I'll touch on three things that would characterize someone who's very driven.

First, they're quick to go from vision to reality. They're able to take a vision and move it to reality rapidly. It's almost like they have an idea and snap, six months later, there it is.

Leaders are able to take a vision and move it to reality rapidly.Share on X

Maybe it's an idea for an EP or a song. Maybe it's an entire album. Probably in six months, I'd say they'd be able to complete an album because they're just that driven, and chances are they've got experiences and skills to back up that as well.

And one of the reasons they're able to go from vision to reality so quickly is because they're able to harness their energy and focus. Focus and concentrate on the thing that they want to accomplish. Not just starting it but completing it. Finishing it.

Next, they're always looking ahead. A leader is tuned in to the needs of others, the needs of themselves, the needs of their company or business, and the needs of their career.

So, they aren't just thinking about the things that they need to do now or complete now. Most of us end up focusing there. Leaders are creating charts and graphs, and they have the statistics, and they're aware of the next steps to take.

If something’s not working, their mind is already into next week or next month or next year going, “This thing isn't working, we need to stop this now.” And if something is working, they're already going, “Oh, here's how we can boost our performance next week.”

And because they take responsibility for others, they’re anticipating the needs of others. They aren't just thinking about themselves. They're going, “Okay, this person is in this state of mind right now. Because of that, they might need this resource to be able to be at optimal performance. Or “This team member may need to go on vacation in a couple of weeks because it's starting to look like they're a little burnt out and I've given them a little too much work.”

Leaders anticipate the needs of others.Share on X

So, leaders are always, always, always looking ahead. They're not just present in what's going on now, they're present in factors that are going to be affecting things in the weeks, and months to come.

Next, leaders are always readers. And I know some of you don't take this seriously, but I do. I don't just listen to audio, although I think that’s great if you're listening to audiobooks, podcasts, and audio programs. I also like to turn all the courses that I've purchased into audio that I can go and listen to on my phone in my car.

But you know, leaders self-educate themselves in a variety of ways. They don't just listen to audio because they know there's intense and immense value in reading as well.

So, I always read. I like to read. Sometimes I don't get to read as much as I would like to read, but I still read all the time.

And you could be the worst at reading in the world. And that's okay. All you must do is read two pages per day. Make sure whatever bookmark you're using moves to the next page every single day.

That's all you’ve got to do. If you're not sure what to read, we've suggested many books through the years, including my own. You might want to check out our recommended resources and tools.

So, those are some of the qualities, that a leader would possess. There are others, but those are some of the ones that I would look for.

Okay, so what if you're someone who doesn't possess these qualities, and in fact no matter how hard you try to develop yourself, you're just not getting there?

Well, some of us are average and ordinary, and you know what? that's not a bad thing to admit. It's better to have clarity on who you are than to delude yourself

A lot of people love to delude themselves. They think they're better in pretty much every area of life. This is what the statistics show. People think they are better drivers than others. People think they have above-average looks. People think they are above average in pretty much every possible way they can think of. And that's not possible because the average is the average.

People think they are above average in pretty much every possible way. And that's not possible.Share on X

So, what's available to someone who wants to make it to the top, but is not a driven leader?

What you can do is hitch your wagon to a star. And that means to go and find the driven leaders and hitch your wagon to them.

Go and find the driven leaders and hitch your wagon to them.Share on X

Honestly, I'm surprised that a lot of people don't do this because they're convinced that they are an e-commerce guru, a content marketing ninja, or a Facebook wizard of some kind. Many times, they're mistaken in their assumptions.

Everyone's just trying to do their own thing. They want to be known for their blog, or their podcast, or their music, or their book, or their course. But they don't take things from vision to reality very quickly, or they don't finish many things.

Now, I have many unfinished projects, but I've finished plenty, including seven books, 44 songs that I've published, and much, much more.

So, if you're not in that habit, and you don't find that you're someone who can take a vision and turn it into reality very quickly, you need to go and find yourself a driven leader, because they're going somewhere, right? And you can go with them.

All you must do is be loyal to them and serve them. Do you think every bass player was a driven leader? Okay, I'm poking at bass players a little bit. I jest. But some of us are average. Some of us are ordinary. And that's okay. We just need to find a leader that we can hitch our wagon to.

So, those are the two ways to make it to the top, even if you're not a driven leader. Thanks for listening.

Many activities can help you GROW your music career in 2024 and beyond. But you need to identify what those things are. Otherwise, you’re bound to get lost in a goulash of tactics, techniques, and trends that will waste your time and cause you to miss out on real OPPORTUNITIES.

In this first episode of Creativity Excitement Emotion, David addresses three things that aren’t going to grow your music career in 2023, 2024, 2025, and beyond.

Sponsors:

Clean Slate: The most exciting and inspirational New Year live music and multi-media event you’ve ever been to. Get your tickets now, before they’re gone!

Highlights:

00:17 – Avoid these distractions in 2023

01:20 – #1: Building sales funnels

02:45 – #2: Getting better at music production

04:43 – #3: Chasing social media trends

Transcript:

What's up, Elite Players? Today I'm going to cover something that I think really does need to be addressed, and I want to say upfront that while I do believe in casting stones at my competition here and there, I'm not necessarily outing anyone in this episode. I'm not trying to tear anyone down. That's not the intention.

I just want to be clear that some things are going to help you get towards the goals that you're trying to create and have the life that you want to live through your creativity and music… And other things are going to prove pretty massive distractions.

So, here are three things that are not going to grow your music career in 2023, 2024, 2025, and probably even 2026, and this is not to say don't do any of these things. But an inordinate focus on them, like focusing too much on them or only doing them probably is not going to elevate your music career. And I'll explain how and why that is the case.

So, number one, building sales funnels. You can build sales funnels. I do think it's a good idea to build sales funnels. The only problem with it is, that they take a lot of time. They take a lot of work. They take a lot of effort.

I've built probably six, seven, or eight of these suckers already. And what I've noticed is, you get better every time. The problem is people don't stick with it. So, the first funnel they build sucks, and the second funnel is not that much better. And the third one gets them a couple of sales but doesn't go beyond that. And so, it's not something that you're going to be good at overnight.

I've dedicated myself to studying and learning digital marketing and social media and advertising and YouTube and all this stuff, email marketing, and much, much more. So, what chance do you have? And I'm not saying that to say you have no skill and you're no good at what you do, but even with help from AI, I'm highly skeptical that building a sales funnel is going to save your career.

Even with help from AI, I'm highly skeptical that building a sales funnel is going to save your career.Share on X

It can support your career. And I believe in using it as a tool and everything is a tool when it comes right down to it. But is it going to save your music career? I don't think so.

So, if all of your time and energy are going towards building a sales funnel right now, consider that there probably are higher priorities to tackle. That could be one of your priorities. Absolutely. Probably shouldn't be your only priority.

Number two, getting better at music production. This is a funny one. We see YouTube ads all the time and it’s, you know, “MIDI chord packs, and here's the latest guitar plugin, and here's the plugin that makes all the synthesizers sound like juice” or whatever it might be.

And this stuff's good. Like I said, everything's a tool and it's in how you use it, but music production in and of itself, like just becoming better at that may not have quite the effect that you think it will on your music career.

What I want you to do, just as a test, is ask your audience, right?

You're making your music for them. Think about that. You're making your music for them. So, ask them, “Do you like listening to our music? Do you think our production could be better? Does it grate on your ears?” And if the answer is predominantly no, then there's a very good chance there's nothing wrong with your current level of music production.

Now, I do recommend that just about every musician learn how to record themselves at a minimum and hopefully learn how to edit and mix themselves. That's a much longer-term prospect to be fair, but you are going to save a lot of time and a lot of money if you learn how to do that stuff for yourself. And I think there's tremendous value in that and all this other stuff could improve your efficiency, could improve your workflow.

You are going to save a lot of time and a lot of money if you learn how to produce music yourself.Share on X

But it may not necessarily propel your music career to the next level. It probably won't. Unless your audience has major complaints…

Getting an honest answer out of people nowadays is hard too. You don't want to just get like surface level, “Yeah, it sounded good to me.” You want to dig a little deeper and say like, “Yeah, but tell me honestly, how does this sound?” And if the answer is still, “Yeah, it sounds great to me, no worries, man.” Then you're probably not doing anything wrong.

Number three, and I see this one a lot too, and I get the sentiment, but chasing social media trends is probably not going to build your music career. We all got to use social media and there's a greater emphasis on it than there ever was in the past.

But just because we need to utilize it. To promote ourselves, to share our work, to build our following, doesn't necessarily mean trying to keep up with everything… Here's the reality. There are more platforms than ever. There are more algorithm updates. And if you're still trying to chase the latest algorithm tweak or algorithm hack, or if you're constantly trying to keep up with what is trending on TikTok and what's going to work on YouTube and what's going to work on Instagram…

I get it, you can create reels and shorts as opposed to long-form videos. Yeah, that seems to be working for some people. But this whole notion that you're somehow going to get a million views and suddenly your career takes off, this usually doesn't happen until you've been super consistent in creating every single day, publishing every single day, a hundred of something, at least.

And then occasionally you find a winner in that. And if you don't, you want to switch your approach, iterate, try something else, and then publish a hundred of something else, right?

But people aren't going into it with that mindset, to begin with. They're just like, “Here's the latest trend, I should try it out,” and they post three times, get discouraged, give up, and never try again.

This is why chasing the latest social media trends, again, I get it, but you have to build something that you own and something that you control or else you don't have a stake in the market whatsoever. You need a website; you need an email list. Nowadays, it's even better if you can start collecting people's physical addresses to be able to send them stuff as well.

You must build something that you own and control or you don't have a stake in the market.Share on X

So, I wish you all the luck building your music career this year and beyond, but if you need my help, I'm always here for you.