The David Andrew Wiebe Show

Building your brand and networking is the same online as it is offline. It’s just that a lot of people treat it differently, which I don’t recommend.

If you take the time to develop relationships, new opportunities will come your way. If you scream into the void and don’t take the time to add value to others, even your successes will be short-lived.

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, you’ll learn how to show up in more places online without expending a ton of effort.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – Opening questions

00:27 – A simple brand-building system you can follow

00:55 – #1: Commenting on blogs

02:10 – #2: Reviewing podcasts and products

03:35 – #3: Connecting with people on social media

04:45 – What will happen if you use these strategies

Transcription:

Tired of posting to social media only to hear crickets?

Can’t seem to get any traction with your online marketing efforts?

Getting distracted by 100 different things you could be doing right now to grow your career or business online?

What you need is a simple system to follow. And I’m about to share one with you.

If you just do the following three things diligently and consistently, you’ll be surprised at what you accomplish.

Not only are most people not doing these things, they keep going after the big wins instead of understanding how small, daily wins can get them to where they want to go.

So, let’s look at three strategies to help you build your brand and create new connections.

1. Comment on Blog Posts & Articles

Do you read blog posts? Sure, you do.

But how often do you leave a comment on a blog? Based on all the content I’ve published over the years, I’d say the people who take the time to engage are in the minority. Like maybe 1 to 2%. It might even be less.

The interesting part about those who leave comments? They get remembered.

Now, I’m not talking about messing up other people’s blogs with “good post”, “nice work”, and “thanks” type nonsense. That won’t get you anywhere.

What you want to do is contribute to the discussion. Add value to it. And if you see an opening to help a community member or blog owner, do it.

Help people to help people – not for any other reason. You’ll build new connections and relationships fast.

Help people to help people – not for any other reason.Share on X

You need not be self-promotional to make a connection with an influencer.

Do this on blogs you’re already reading. Depending on the commenting system they use, this could even help you build links to your site. But don’t worry about that. Just become a part of the community.

This will increase your visibility in a lot of places and help you leverage communities and audiences you didn’t even have to spend months and years building.

2. Review Digital & Physical Products on iTunes and Amazon

Do you read books or listen to podcasts?

Then you should be leaving reviews for every book you read and every podcast you listen to.

Commenting targets blogs and online publications across the web. Reviewing targets major online platforms like Amazon and iTunes.

Again, don’t be shallow or lazy. Give people honest feedback. Most people want a good rating. But if your three- or four-star review contains constructive criticism, content creators will appreciate that too. Be real, authentic, and selfless.

The identity of the author has been protected in this review. But you can see how the constructive criticism would help them improve their writing (the actual review is longer).

If you must rate something one or two stars, then think seriously before posting. Maybe it would be best not to talk about these things at all, because reviews increase the exposure of that product or podcast. If you don’t think other people should see it, maybe don’t review it.

I do a lot of reviews of my own. But these are detailed, content-rich reviews. When it comes to reviewing books and podcasts, it will only take a bit of your time. All you need to do is put together three or four thoughtful sentences.

Combining this strategy with others on this list is powerful, because the people you engage with will start to see you everywhere and know that you’re engaged.

If you’ve ever wanted to build a relationship with an industry influencer, expert, or gatekeeper, this is a good way to do it.

3. Tweet & Reach Out to Other People

Okay, so Twitter is kind of on shaky ground right now and we don’t know what’s going to happen with it.

Google has been buying up pieces of it, and will probably wind up with the whole thing at some point. Who knows what will happen once Google owns it?

But what I’m about to share could apply to any social network you use.

If you’ve been on Twitter for a while, you probably see a trickle of people following you on a daily or weekly basis.

And, most of these people aren’t true followers, which is okay, but building on autopilot is time-consuming and not very effective.

A few simple tweaks can make all the difference.

Retweets are always appreciated.

When people follow you, why not engage right away? Say “hi”, introduce yourself, and ask something about them.

At worst, you won’t hear anything back. But in most cases, you’ll probably have a few exchanges, and this will increase your chances of engaging this person over the long-haul.

Another thing you can do is “like” and retweet other people’s content. If you’re following them anyway, then take that extra step to let them know you want to engage.

Again, this will increase your visibility and help you build more connections.

Final Thoughts

The above strategies needn’t cost you a cent. You can do all these things daily, and they don’t even have to take up much of your time.

Imagine what you could do over the course of a year.

If you left five comments on blogs, five reviews in online stores, and engaged five new people on Twitter every single day, you would be seen in 5,475 places you weren’t before!

Even if you only did five of these things per day, you’d still be seen in 1,825 places. Try to stop the opportunities from coming your way!

I know most of you will hear this and do nothing with it. That’s because discipline is hard, even if it will only take 20 to 30 minutes of your time daily.

But if you act on what you now know about brand-building and networking online, and you keep at it over the long haul, I think you’ll see people reciprocate and want to bless you with opportunities.

So, if you’re committed to yourself and your career, I would encourage you to give this a try.

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If you don’t feel like you’re making progress in your career, you have no one to blame but yourself. Perhaps you haven’t even thought about what you’re trying to accomplish, or what steps you need to take to get there. The best way to make steady progress? Make your own rules.

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I explain how you can set your own rules, and the benefits of doing so.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – Making your own rules and taking charge

01:05 – You are your harshest critic

02:27 – When you make your own rules, it’s easy to make the game winnable

03:59 – Control

04:52 – Achieving builds your confidence

05:04 – Have you made your own rules?

Transcription:

Thanks for joining me. Today I wanted to talk about making your own rules, because I think some people out there are discouraged by the progress they’re making or not making in their music careers.

And I think you would do well to remember that you’re in charge of that. Nobody else can tell you what you’re supposed to achieve or what your goals are supposed to be, or what you’re aiming for. Only you decide that.

For example, if you want to be signed to a record label, obviously, a win for you would mean getting a contract offer. But you could set your sights a lot lower if you wanted to. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s up to you.

You can have small goals, and you can have big goals if that’s what you choose to do. And you must be the one measuring against your own rules that you’ve made to play the game.

My first point is that you are your harshest critic. When you put out a new product into the world, whether it’s an eBook, or a new single, EP, or album, you know everything that’s wrong with it because you were involved in the production process.

As a musician, you are your own harshest critic.Share on X

Whether it was your guitar playing being a little bit out of time, your vocals being pitchy, or the drums not totally in sync with the rest of the band. But when your fans go and listen to it, they might not even notice some of those things.

So, there’s no reason to point out to say, “Hey, on this track my guitar playing’s off.” You don’t need to tell them that. If they enjoyed the song, they enjoyed the song.

More often than not, if you go back and listen to some of the recordings that came from the 60s and 70s, there was a lot of live recording off the floor. And there are some amazing recordings from back then, but there are also many flaws. Some of them were even covered up by instruments. Even The Beatles had songs like that, sections where they played the wrong chord and they covered it up with a bunch of horns and things like that.

So, it’s just good to be aware that no one will be as harsh as you are. You are your worst critic.

Second, setting your own rules makes it easier for you to win, and success breeds success. So, when you begin working on something, and you complete it. That’s your first win. And then you put it out into the world, and that’s another win. And, as you achieve more, your confidence will increase, and you’ll get more done.

Setting your own rules makes it easier for you to win.Share on X

I think setting your own rules enables you to increase your confidence continually over time, bit by bit, after every achievement and every win. That leads to momentum. Momentum leads to being more prolific and producing more, and creating more, and putting more out into the world. We want to encourage that success cycle to happen in our lives.

But if you set your goals too high and measure yourself against some of the most amazing people in the world, and you’re just getting started in your music career, or if you’re in year two or three right now, you can’t do what they did. It’s near impossible.

So, measuring yourself against some of the most accomplished musicians or music business people in the world is unfair to yourself. What we want to do is to get into that success cycle. Setting your own rules, making your own goals, and measuring yourself against those goals boosts your confidence and helps you achieve more.

Making your own rules also puts you in control. I’ve talked before about ownership. You should be in control of what you accomplish, especially as a musician or business owner. You should put those parameters in place as to what it means to be successful in what you do. No one else should be telling you what that is, should they? So, take some time to think about what success would mean to you.

And if you have huge goals, then put small goals in place that allow you to reach that next level. Put those stepping stones in place. And every time you hit one of those mile markers, you’ll realize you’ve progress in your career, and that will increase your confidence.

So, making your own rules, taking ownership of it, taking responsibility of your career, increases your confidence.

So, what are your thoughts on making your own rules? Have you already made your own rules for your music career or business? Let me know. Leave a comment below, and I’ll see you next time.

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If you don’t feel like you’re making progress in your career, you have no one to blame but yourself. Perhaps you haven’t even thought about what you’re trying to accomplish, or what steps you need to take to get there. The best way to make steady progress? Make your own rules. In this episode of […]

Do you practice gratitude in your daily life? How important do you think it is to be thankful for where you are and what you have right now?

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I look at the importance of saying “thank you” in our daily lives.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – My upcoming book, Flashes of Elation

00:47 – In this episode…

00:57 – Pre-orders

01:20 – Gratitude

01:37 – Living in the moment

02:03 – You get more of what you put your attention on

02:19 – My personal development journey

02:40 – What is success?

03:31 – You can be happy today

03:54 – Thanking others

05:04 – Practicing gratitude

Transcription:

Hey, in recent episodes, we’ve been looking at my upcoming book, Flashes of Elation. This is a collection of essays on the topic of creativity, covering many different aspects of creating and the things creatives tend to struggle with.

It’s just as relevant to musicians and businesspeople as it is to photographers, painters, and anybody that does any kind of creative work, like writing.

In this episode, I want to look at a section called “Gratitude.” And this is the last section I’ll be looking at in this podcast episodes, but if you enjoyed these, consider pre-ordering the book. Pre-orders close on June 30, 2017, and you’ll only be able to claim the pre-order bonuses up until that point.

After that, you can still buy the book once it’s launched, because that’s not the launch day. You’ll still be able to pick up the book, you just won’t be able to get those bonuses, which I promise do come at a nominal feel.

So, let’s have a look at gratitude.

Gratitude

Gratitude is something I practice every single day. It doesn’t matter what kind of day I’ve had, I always identify things I’m thankful for and take the time to be grateful for them before I turn my lamp off to fall asleep.

As human beings, we have a tendency of thinking that we live in three distinct timelines – past, present, and future. This simply isn’t true. You are always living in the present. Yesterday is a memory, and tomorrow is just another “today”, much like today, in fact.

You might be thinking, “I’ll be grateful when I have something to be grateful for.” It doesn’t work that way, because that time will never come. Again, there’s only now. You can either be grateful now, or not at all.

You can either be grateful now, or not at all.Share on X

I’m not a proponent of the Law of Attraction, but the idea that you get more of what you put your attention on is true. What you focus on grows. When you think about what you’re grateful for, more things will come into your experience that will cause you to be even more grateful.

I’ve read a lot of personal development blog posts, articles, and books. I’ve listened to a lot of self-help audios. I’ve spent years and tens of thousands of dollars on my business training. I’ve tried a lot of so-called “success principles” that haven’t worked for me. But gratitude is something that’s consistently worked for me, especially in the last two years or so. So I made it a habit.

What is success? That depends on who you ask, because everyone has their own vision of success, and everyone’s model is correct. There is no wrong answer. You get to define what your goals are.

You get to define what success means to you.Share on X

But we forget that we can be happy now, not in some distant time when we’ve accomplished everything we’ve set out to do. As far as today is concerned, that time doesn’t even exist. You’re here now. So it seems silly to me that anyone would defer happiness because they think that tomorrow will somehow be different. Tomorrow is nothing more than an idea. Time is relative. We’ve convinced ourselves that it’s a resource, when in reality it’s just a fact of life.

I am certainly not discounting what can be accomplished in a month, a year, 5 years, or even 10 years when you apply yourself to a task or project. We all change over time. We all learn and grow.

But right now it’s all about today. It’s always about today. And whether you know it or not, even today you can experience some of that happiness you’re reserving for some future time. Even today you can be someone you like, do something you want, and have a piece of something you desire.

The question is not “why should we be happy today?” The question is “why shouldn’t we be happy today?” If you’re not going to be grateful now, then when will you be?

***

I’ve learned to say, “thank you for your generosity” whenever I have a guest on my podcast. This is not an accident.

I first heard Seth Godin say this on a podcast. And then I heard him say it again and again on other shows he appeared on. I liked it.

If you’ve never had a podcast before, let me tell you something – it’s easy to take your guests for granted. When they don’t even share the episode they were on with their followers, you wonder what you did wrong. Are they too busy? Do they not care? Did I say something to offend them?

To be fair, for some of those wonderful folks, there would be no value in sharing it, because they probably won’t get a lot of exposure from it. They probably won’t sell a lot of products. They probably won’t get a lot of followers or email subscribers. It certainly depends on the show, but they’ve already had to take time out of their schedule to make the appearance, and that in itself is an act of generosity.

I’ve learned not to concern myself with the results too much. I’ll send my guests a friendly email letting them know that their episode went live, and follow up with them on occasion after that. But there’s no value in trying to convince someone to do something they weren’t even inclined to do in the first place. Sharing would be an added layer of generosity.

But no matter what happens, my guests will always get a “thank you” from me. They’ll probably read it and hear it multiple times. That’s because I appreciate them, what they do, and what they were willing to share with me. It isn’t always easy to open up and talk about yourself.

***

When someone says they practice something abstract like “gratitude”, I’m sometimes left wondering what that means. So, let me share with you what that means to me.

I’ll practice gratitude by:

Writing down things I’m thankful for.

Holding a “gratitude rock” in my hand while thinking about the things I was most thankful for that day.

Say “thank you” out loud and in my mind, multiple times per day.

If you do this today, will it make a difference? Maybe, but it will be miniscule at best. And so it is with anything in life, including creativity. Will drawing a doodle on the corner of your to-do list instantly transform you into a star today? No. But you will have done something to practice your creativity.

Don’t overestimate what you can do in a day. Instead, make valuable practices – like gratitude – a habit. Over time, it will become second nature, and it will affect your subconscious. But without repetition, you will soon forget what you think you “know.”

People sometimes say things need to go from your head to your heart before you truly understand them. I think there’s something to that. Facts are just facts. What difference will it make if I read an informative blog post today? Maybe not much, but given enough repetition, it will start to snowball into a wealth of knowledge.

Gratitude can also snowball.

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Do you practice gratitude in your daily life? How important do you think it is to be thankful for where you are and what you have right now? In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I look at the importance of saying “thank you” in our daily lives. Podcast Highlights: 00:14 – My […]

Ownership is one of the most important concepts I could teach anyone in the music industry.

Many people do not take responsibility for their lives, let alone their careers. They blame outside circumstances and other people for their lack of results and success.

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I explain the advantages and disadvantages of ownership.

Download the PDF Transcription

Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – Introduction

00:30 – Taking ownership and the blame game

00:53 – Taking responsibility for yourself and your actions

01:33 – The victim mentality

01:58 – Taking responsibility for your music career or business

02:17 – Getting the results you want can take more work than you even realize

02:53 – Learning to take initiative

03:50 – Benefits of ownership

04:22 – Upsides and downsides of partnerships

04:65 – Downsides of ownership

07:46 – Thanks for listening and leave a comment

Transcription:

As I thought back on my personal development journey, my life experience, and my business training, there’s one concept that struck me as being most critical to your success in music entrepreneurship – ownership.

Unfortunately, what so often happens is that people blame others for their present circumstances. They adopt a victim mentality. Nothing is their fault. And their life is not the result of anything they’ve done or the actions they’ve taken.

But it’s really the opposite.

Taking Responsibility is Empowering

First and foremost, we must take full responsibility for our lives. Many don’t realize that this is ultimately empowering. We’ve been conditioned to believe that we should blame other people, events, and circumstances for where we are and who we are in life.

For me, taking ownership was empowering, and I think you’ll find the same thing.

If you adopt the victim mentality, change is up to something external that you have no control over.

But when you say, “I’m responsible,” you can identify how you can change in a positive way. And that means change is up to you. So, you’re not waiting around for anything to begin creating the change you want to see in your life.

So, we must take responsibility for our careers, whether that’s a job, freelancing career, music career, or business. Because that means you’re in control. You can create the change you want.

You might not have the results you want right now. And the truth is, getting those results often takes longer than you think it will. It takes more effort.

But when you say, “if it’s to be, it’s up to me,” and accept personal responsibility for working towards your goals, it puts the power back in your own hands. And so long as you don’t give up, you can make your dreams a reality.

And even if you don’t hit all your targets, if you come close in the process, you can learn from that experience and adjust course as necessary.

Creating Yourself as a Leader

Oftentimes, we say things like, “my boss didn’t give me all the information,” or “so-and-so didn’t get in touch with me.” But we should take it upon ourselves to reach out when projects aren’t moving. Send an email or give them a phone call. Stay in communication until the project is completed, or until they say they can’t do it. At least then you’ll be able to find someone else to help you.

If you find yourself in a situation where you don’t have the resources you need, or you’re not sure where to start, ask follow-up questions of your boss, collaborator, or investor.

Say, “I don’t think I have everything I need to get started on this project. I’m not sure how to move forward with this.” Take the initiative and take it upon yourself to move the project forward.

The Advantages of Ownership

I own the domain name davidandrewwiebe.com. No one else owns that. So long as I continue to make payments, I will own the domain and the website associated with it. It’s my intellectual property, and it’s worth something. It may not be worth a lot right now, but the value will continue to increase over time.

In business, there often comes a time to consider whether to take on partners. If you have a partner, they own a portion of the business. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially if they bring something to the table that you can’t offer. But you need to consider whether it’s the best decision based on your trajectory. Does it make sense, for example, to give up 40% of your business at this moment in time?

Whether it’s an investment, business, or guitar, when you purchase something in full, you own it and control it. And generally, that’s an empowering thing.

The Downsides of Ownership

When you own something, you are responsible for it. For instance, if you and your spouse decide to have a child, you would be responsible for that child.

The downside is that there are maintenance costs to ownership. If you have a child, you will need to pay for their education and save up for that.

If you own a business, there are monthly expenses you can’t get around.

If you own a guitar, you will replace the strings, get the frets dressed, buy accessories, and so on.

But the greatest cost of all isn’t necessarily financial. Oftentimes, the greatest cost is the time and mind space something occupies.

Let’s say, for example, that you’re a bit of a pack-rat. I can relate to that. I have a bunch of stuff I could probably get rid of. The problem is that it takes time to do, and I have greater priorities in mind. So, I would need to schedule it in my calendar and prioritize it for it to get done.

So, the cost of ownership is opportunity cost. It’s going to take up resources and mind space that could be potentially better allocated to things that matter to you.

This was true for me in home ownership. When I owned a home, I couldn’t see just how much time, money, and mind space it was ultimately taking up. I became intensely preoccupied with how to pay the bills and little else. My creativity suffered because I couldn’t dedicate much of anything to it.

I still engaged in creativity as I was able, but it was difficult.

Ownership is ultimately a good thing, but it’s good to be aware of the cons as well. And, they may not be cons, per se, but you need to be clear that you will need to allocate resources to ownership, whether it’s time, money, energy, or otherwise. That's accurate thinking.

Upgrade to Members Only Audios for more exciting, exclusive training.

Ownership is one of the most important concepts I could teach anyone in the music industry. Many people do not take responsibility for their lives, let alone their careers. They blame outside circumstances and other people for their lack of results and success. In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I explain the […]

I’m finally back with another career update. I know this is something you guys enjoy, so I didn’t want to leave you hanging. Have a listen to this quick episode to get caught up on how things have been going in the last 90 days.

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I share about the latest happenings in my life and career.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – What’s been happening with career updates

00:54 – What’s new in my life and career

02:45 – My music projects and recent performances

04:12 – Performing with Adrenalize and Long Jon Lev

04:32 – Getting into a groove with The New Music Industry Podcast

05:30 – Trucking along with the Using Your Power podcast

06:27 – How things are coming along with my books

07:24 – What I’ve been learning in quarter one of 2017

07:49 – Gaining clarity with my goals

08:33 – The point I keep driving home about consistency

12:04 – The people I’ve been learning from – James Schramko, Neil Patel, and Eric Siu

12:47 – What I’m looking to do next and how I’m maintaining my focus

Transcription:

It’s been a while since I’ve done a career update. But I know many of you have been following along with them and have shown interest in them, which is why I continue to publish them.

You probably noticed that I fell behind with the updates in January, and though I could have caught up with them in February, I decided instead to do them in quarterly installments.

If you prefer to get monthly career updates from me instead of quarterly updates, you can let me know.

I was feeling like my career updates were beginning to dominate the podcast feed, which isn’t necessarily what I had in mind. My goal is to create content that helps you, so I don’t want to be talking about me all the time.

But if you feel otherwise, be sure to leave a comment or email me.

What’s New?

January and February were both busy months for freelance content work. I haven’t had as much to do in March with blogging, but live performance has picked up some of the slack. Overall, my work life hasn’t changed that much.

But I am starting to look at making some changes again, as things have become somewhat stagnant. This was prompted by a conversation I had with a friend. There’s an entrepreneurial idea I’ve been tossing around for a while, but I put it on the backburner because I just couldn’t see how to make it work. He asked me a question that got me thinking about the problem differently, and now I see how it could be done.

This is good to remember, because sometimes we might not know where to take an idea, but by talking to others and getting their feedback, we can uncover a path we didn’t know existed.

Anyway, this got me thinking about changes in my work life, and possibly even in my living situation. I feel like there is a season for everything, and I seem to be moving into a new season.

I can’t share all the details with you right now, but they will be forthcoming.

These changes, however, should not affect what I do here at The Music Entrepreneur HQ. If anything, it should give me more time to focus on what I’m doing. I even launched a new music PR service for musicians and music businesses. If you’re interested, I would encourage you to go to the products page on the website to learn more.

I’m also working on putting together a live event for this summer. I don’t have any of the details nailed down yet, as far as where it will be or what the exact schedule will be, but I’m excited about it, and hope you will set aside some time in your schedule in August to be a part of it. It will likely be a half-day event, but this is new territory for me, so I’m starting small and simple. Again, keep an eye on the products page for more information.

My Music

As you probably now, I haven’t come out with any new music releases in a while. I’ve been demoing new songs, but some of that hasn’t been going as expected. It could be that I’ve been getting overly ambitious with my self-produced singles. If you try to do too much on your own, it can be hard to get the quality of performance you’re looking for.

Fortunately, I finally have another song that’s nearing completion, so stay tuned.

Though I haven’t released anything new in a bit I’ve had some solo shows, most notably my performance at The Circle in February, and The Brass Monkey in March. At the Brass Monkey show, I had members from Adrenalize backing me up on drums and bass. Unfortunately, attendance was low. I think this might have been because my show landed on the day after St. Patrick’s Day. We all play shows like that from time to time, and sometimes that’s just how things are.

I had a lot of fun playing guitar and singing for Frederick Tamagi’s CD release party towards the beginning of March too. I was just one member of a seven-piece band, and it was a pleasure performing with such accomplished musicians. I think there were 90 people in attendance at this show, which I thought was a great turnout, and they seemed to enjoy themselves a lot.

Finally, I have another show coming up at The Circle, with The Listening Room YYC, which I also got to play in February. This time, I’ll be covering the music of David Bowie along with David Kemick and Patrick Stauch.

Adrenalize & Long Jon Lev

I’ve done a few shows with Adrenalize and Long Jon Lev this year. I wouldn’t say there’s anything major to report on this front, but Adrenalize is looking to line up movie theater shows for May, June, and maybe July and August as well. With Long Jon Lev, we’re working on new music and preparing for the next release.

The New Music Industry Podcast

You can tell that I’ve gotten into a groove with the podcast, mostly releasing shorter, digestible episodes. But I recently did an interview that will be published in April, and I’ve also been working to get more guests on the show.

You’ve heard me mention the word “series” before. Although the original plan was to release episodes in installments of 12, I may just keep things going for now. I have a handful of videos and podcast episodes already recorded, so I’m not straining to keep up. I have a good amount of content in the bank, and that being the case, it shouldn’t be a problem sticking to a regular schedule.

In terms of downloads, February and March have been the biggest months yet. Thank you all for tuning in. If the podcast has added value to you, please consider leaving a five-star review in iTunes to help me get this content out to more creatives, entrepreneurs, and musicians just like you. They need it just as badly.

You can also share this episode with a friend if you think they would enjoy it.

Using Your Power

The Using Your Power podcast is trucking along at a good pace, and as I write this, we have 32 episodes published.

As far as what’s new, we recently decided to change the format of the podcast. Although the tagline of the show is “Going Deeper into Life’s Big Questions,” we’re trying out shorter episodes instead of the longer ones we started with.

We used to talk for anywhere from 50 to 80 minutes plus, but now we’re looking to record snappy 15 to 20 minute episodes instead. We’ve already tried this out, and I think both Maveen and I like the high-energy, rapid fire approach. Since we already have over 30 hours of material, I can’t imagine any of our listeners rallying against this decision. If anything, it should make the show more accessible to more people.

Maveen and I have teased about an upcoming course for Using Your Power, which we’re working on right now. We’re excited about its launch, and I’ll be letting you know when it’s available.

Books

The New Music Industry has been doing quite well this year. I’m glad to see this message spreading.

At this point, most of my focus has turned towards finishing my next book, Flashes of Elation. You can still pre-order it until the end of June if you’d like to support its creation and claim a few bonuses, but this is not a requirement.

You’ll still be able to get the book once it launches, and I will be putting out a deluxe edition featuring a ton of extra material, but the price will be much higher. So, if you’re waiting for a better deal, just know there won’t be one.

I am fast approaching the 40,000-word mark, which was my original goal for the book. There are many projects requiring my attention, and there’s so much more I want to do with our books and courses, but I’m glad I decided to concentrate on the completion of this book. I have a way to go yet in terms of writing, editing, and designing, but I’m long past the halfway point, which is encouraging.

What I’m Learning

What am I not learning?

When it comes to building an online business and a music career, you can always go deeper. And it’s never enough to gain that knowledge. It must be applied.

At times, I’ve been hungry for knowledge. At other times, I felt I had everything I needed. But I’m getting hungry again. Whenever I’m looking to grow and expand, I know it will require a different kind of commitment, and I want to know what that will look like.

Getting Clear on My Goals

One thing I’m learning – at least about myself – is that goals can be a moving target. I set a few goals for myself this year, as I do most years, but I didn’t start out the year prioritizing them. For some reason, I had a bit of a mental block.

As it turns out, my mind was more cluttered than I even realized. A few whiteboard sessions later, I was clear on what I needed to do again. I also took the time to put my high priority projects into a project management system called Asana. Separating high level tasks from urgent tasks is one of the best things I’ve done this year.

There might be a tip in that. If you aren’t sure what next steps you should be taking in your career, it can be worthwhile to spend some time in front of a whiteboard brainstorming and drawing out your goals and p

I’m finally back with another career update. I know this is something you guys enjoy, so I didn’t want to leave you hanging. Have a listen to this quick episode to get caught up on how things have been going in the last 90 days. In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I […]

Do you struggle with your finances as a creative? What about pricing your products? Do you have a system for managing your money?

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I share a chapter from my upcoming book titled “Finances.” I also share the Tony Robbins method I used to handle my money.

Download the PDF Transcription

Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – Another episode on my upcoming book, Flashes of Elation

00:27 – What “Flashes of Elation” means

00:46 – Pre-orders

01:04 – The book is a work in progress

01:14 – Today’s topic, finances

01:19 – The “three taboos” and pricing creative services

03:15 – Firing your worst clients

03:39 – Going into debt

04:54 – Being selfless

05:22 – Making a living and getting money handled

05:43 – The three buckets of savings

06:33 – Paying attention to your finances

Transcription:

Hey. I’m back with another episode on the upcoming book, Flashes of Elation.

“Flashes of Elation” describes what creatives often feel. I know a lot of creatives that have major ups and downs in their lives. But when they feel happy, they feel ecstatic. And when they feel down, they feel downright depressed. And that’s what that terms describes.

If you’d like to claim the pre-order bonuses that come along with this book, then you’ll want to go to the pre-order page before June 30, 2017, when pre-orders officially close.

And just so you know, what I’m about to share with you isn’t necessarily in its finished form. I’m still working on the book. But it will give you a good idea of the content that is within.

And today’s topic is finances, so let’s take a look.

Finances

How do you feel when you hear the word, “money”?

Supposedly, the “three taboos” in conversation are politics, sex, and religion. But don’t you feel like money also belongs on that list, at least in North America?

What’s your response when it comes time to negotiate salary in a job interview?

What do you tell your future client when they ask you how much that website is going to cost them?

Do you answer promptly and confidently, or do you balk and start talking in circles? Do you ask for less, or come up with some kind of friendly discount and justify it later?

How about when someone asks what you do for a “living”? It’s a loaded question, and you know you’re being sized up.

When you observe the way us creatives price our products and services, it’s usually in a very timid, apologetic way. Our attitude is, “we don’t know what we’re worth, so you tell us”.

But people put more value on what they buy than what they get for free. Give an eBook away, and nobody will read it. Sell an eBook for $7, and that thing still might not get read. Sell it for $57, and people have to take it seriously (there will always be a percentage of people that still don’t read it though). Ironically, they’ll get more value out the eBook too, even if the information in the $7 eBook and the $57 eBook are exactly the same. Imagine that.

“Oh, but no one would buy my thing for $57.”

Have you ever tried? How do you know for sure that you can’t sell your thing for $57 (and if $57 sounds like chump change to you, let’s say $597)? How do you know you wouldn’t make more money, earn more sales, and attract better quality customers? You probably would, because people would value your work more.

There may very well be a threshold for how much you can charge for your work, but that ceiling is much, much higher than most of us even know.

I find it interesting that the first tip in Michael Port’s book, Book Yourself Solid, is to fire the clients that are causing you the most stress. Tim Ferriss makes a similar suggestion in The 4-Hour Workweek. It’s not about the money you lose as much as it is about the freedom and joy you gain back.

As sensitive creative people, we put up with far more and ask for far less than a person ever should.

As artists, we tend to put up with more and ask for less than we should.Share on X

***

I’ve gone into debt twice during my adult life. I’m not talking a miniscule amount of credit debt either – I was in serious trouble. Let’s just say the banks and the collection agencies knew what my number was.

But it was those experiences that taught me what to do and what not to do with my money. Whatever lesson I failed to learn the first time around, I sure as hell learned the second time around. I was tired of making the same mistakes, and I didn’t want to make them anymore.

I’ve talked about the fact that I was in network marketing companies for a while. I remember when one of my “mentors” sent me a message concerning a financial decision. This was smack dab in the middle of me going broke for the second time. I distinctly remember responding with something along the lines of, “I’m happy to invest in my business, but from now on I’m going to do it safely, and I’m going to pay myself first. I’m not going to put my future and security at risk to buy product I don’t need.” I might as well have said “F*** you”, because that’s probably what they heard.

Everything changed in that moment. Subconsciously, I think I knew that my so-called mentor wasn’t that concerned with my future. They just wanted me to put money I didn’t have into products I couldn’t afford to help them fund their dream. What about my dream?

The world tells us to be selfless, to be giving and generous, and to relinquish our resources and energies for the “greater good”. And I say you have to be selective about where you put your time, resources and energy, especially as a creative, because you don’t get a second go at this. Life is too short to waste on manipulative, self-interested human beings.

***

Did I warn you of that fact that money is a charged topic? If not, I should have.

If it was not important to you, you would not wake up to an alarm clock, shower, and risk your life on the road to rush into your job every morning. On that point, I can agree with my former mentors.

So you need to get money handled, and I don’t believe you need to be aggressive, pushy, or devious to make the kind of money you want and live the kind of life you want. What you need is a process.

A few years ago, I caught a video on YouTube in which Tony Robbins describes the “three buckets” to put your money into. To this day, my financial life is anchored by this concept. The three buckets are:

Emergency fund. Robbins suggests six to nine months’ worth of expenses in your emergency fund.

Dream fund. People tend to defer their dream vacations, cars, boats, homes, and other experiences they could be enjoying. But Robbins suggests putting your dream fund towards things you want to do now. Tomorrow is uncertain, so start doing the things you want to do today.

Aggressive growth fund. Once you’ve built an emergency fund, you can use your aggressive growth fund for high-risk, high-return investments. That way, even if you end up losing money in your investments, you’ll have something to fall back on.

One final note about finances: you need to pay attention to them, because what you focus on expands. I know a lot of people that don’t like paying attention to their financial reserves. Is it any wonder why they don’t have any money?

Pay attention to your finances - what you focus on grows.Share on X

It doesn’t need to be hard. Opt to print out a receipt whenever you deposit or withdraw money at the bank. Log in to online banking and move small amounts of money into the three buckets on a weekly basis. Check your balance before going to eat out. Do the little things.

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