Longing for the day ...

Step 10: Regularly take time to review your goals and efforts

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You can't connect the dots looking forward. 

You can only connect them looking backwards.
- Steve Jobs

Sometimes, if all you're doing is focusing on your next goal, its very easy to forget how far you've come and gloss over what you've already achieved. That's not good. If you don't feel a sense of accomplishment along the way, then you will never reach your ultimate destination: your Glorious Musical Future.

You also need to keep an eye on whether you're getting where you set out to go and whether you still want the same things. These are difficult questions and your answers will change as your life and career develop and as new technologies become available. No matter how much an 18-year-old thinks they wanna-be a rock star forever, new desires and new opportunities will arise over 20 years.

Make a point of regularly revisiting where you set out to go, where you are and where you want to be - you might wake up one day and find that Your Glorious Musical Future lies miles from where you thought it would. And that's just fine!

Build into your plan a regular series of reviews:

• Your business goals
• Your personal goals
• Your creative goals

It's vital to give yourself credit for your successes and think long and hard about where the failures went wrong and what you can do to get a better result next time. And it feels damn good to look at your successes and know that you have succeeded.

Step 10 Exercises

1. Look back over the exercises from the earlier steps. What will you do ...
2. (Come to the workshop for more)

Exercise to take home

1. (Come to the workshop for more)

If you're still looking for a little inspiration, here's Steve Jobs's Stanford address, from which the opening quote on this page was taken. You're welcome - enjoy!

Step 9: PLAN each step of your development

I have not failed 10,000 times. I have successfully found 
10,000 ways that will not work.
- Thomas Edison

It's a cliché that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. As we discussed in the intro, just by having big goals and writing them down, you are more likely to succeed, and with careful planning you can get there sooner and make sure that every step is an advance. Goals are important, but the more detailed those goals are, the more likely they are to be achieved. Effective goals are expressed using the S.M.A.R.T. acronym:

Specific - have a clear outcome associated with each goal;
Measurable - have a clear way to know when you have reached the goal;
Achievable - make sure your goals can actually be achieved;
Realistic - set goals that you are likely to be able to succeed at; and
Timely - have a deadline for achieving them.

For example, setting a goal to "record my first album" is an important step, but this is better expressed as "record in a professional studio and release an album of 11 songs via CD Baby within 12 months". This sets much clearer parameters for the goal and it is simple to work out whether you have actually succeeded. You can also tell whether you have partially reached your goal.

The next step in planning is to break down big plans into smaller ones. To achieve the goal above, you have to write, say, 20 songs within six months; rehearse them and perhaps record demos in you home studio within 9 months; book studio time and complete recording and mastering within 10 months; designed cover art and produced printing proofs within 11 months; and receive manufactured hard copies two weeks before your 12 month deadline. Each of these is a SMART goal within the bigger goal, and each can be broken down into weekly and daily goals.

You also have to make sure each step is properly resourced. You need a list of the resources you will need for each goal and the resources available to you. Budget to make a small profit with every step rather than risking it all in one expensive gamble - that's what the big labels used to do. Try to exceed your expectations at every step. Take your time. No long career was built on 15 minutes of effort, so don't beat yourself up if the goals don't come easy.

Finally, be prepared to fail, learn, adjust and improve next time. Every mistake is an opportunity to learn, improve, and get it right next time. Life's a journey, not a destination, so make sure you check out a few dry gullies and dead-end streets along the way. You just might have the most fun in unexpected places.

Step 9 Exercises

1. Revisit the goals we talked about in Step 1. Choose one of your ...
2. (Come to the workshop for more)

Exercise to take home

1. (Come to the workshop for more)

Step 8: Design each step according to 5 principles

(Photo credit: Engineering at Cambridge)

You usually find that what works is better than what looks good. 

You know, the looks good can change, but what works, works.
- Ray Eames

New technologies have made the life of a DIY artist so much easier in many ways, but managing all the things you have to do is a massive task. You need to focus your efforts most effectively and avoid getting distracted by the companies, websites and other services that claim to be able to help. During my research into the best practices of self-publishing Musos, I came up with 5 principles to help guide decision-making along the path to your Glorious Musical Future. The five principles are:

1. Personality: always give what people expect from you.
2. Esteem: create something that people value and respect.
3. Synchrony: make everything available at one point in time.
4. Propinquity: make everything available at one point in space.
5. Novelty: always find new reasons to contact your network.

These are complicated-sounding words but they really are quite simple to apply:

Personality - keep everything you do consistent with your developing brand. Your appearance, your sense of humour, your political views ... everything you make public. If you write songs about social issues, there's not a lot of point dressing like Nicki Minaj.

Esteem - this is about more than being an entertaining performer for your fans. It's about also being a professional with promoters, venues, and journalists. It's about supporting your peers. In short, it's about giving everyone a reason to respect and value who you are and what you do ... consistently.

Synchrony - is about timing. Make sure everything you do builds on your previous successes and that the benefits of it are available to everyone who finds you today and tomorrow.

Propinquity - is about keeping it together. Disseminate your messages and creations from a single point; bring all income and incoming communication to a single point.

Novelty - is about creating a stream of new and interesting reasons to build on the relationships mentioned in Steps 6 and 7. Take every opportunity to let people know what you're up to ... consistent with your personality, via the channels you choose to use, at important points in time and space.

Step 8 Exercises

1. Revisit "what's remarkable" above. This is the most outstanding point about your 'personality' ...
2. (Come to the workshop for more)

Exercise to take home

1. (Come to the workshop for more)

Step 7: Work hard to maintain those relationships

(Photo credit: Career Attraction)

The most important ingredient we put into any relationship is
not what we say 
or what we do, but what we are.
- Stephen R. Covey

Most musicians think that their job is to get on stage and play the best music they can. That's true - but it's only part of the story. If you want to turn your love of music into a career, your work does not stop when you leave the stage. You need to meet people, impress them and make them want to see you again. Make regular contact with fans, peers and colleagues just for the sake of touching their lives again (see Step 8 'Novelty').

This needs to happen online and offline; face-face and in virtual space; with a little bit of give and a little take - like any relationship. When you meet people who see you as successful, offer to help them and take up their reciprocal offers of help. Asking many people for a little help each makes for a mighty pool of labour for your business and is much easier to do than finding one source of lots of help. This is how you allocate the 30% of your time to telling people about what you've done.

After the show. You've just played a kick-ass show and you have the crowd in the palm of your hand. NOW is the time to really make it count - and it's a great opportunity to make sure people know about your CDs, merch, etc. Although this may feel awkward or unnatural at first, many artists say it becomes the most rewarding aspect of their careers. Sammy Hagar and Tupac are famous for spending hours after each show just hanging with fans. The biggest acts get to charge fans extra for the privilege of 'VIP access'.

Emails, status posts. Amanda Palmer has built her career on hanging with fans on Twitter as well as in person. But many acts get this wrong by only posting about their shows, releases and other sales. Fans want to know about YOU - your likes, your experiences, your inspiration. Make sure you post regularly about the things fans want to know about - nothing will lose fans faster than a constant stream of spam.

Community. Nothing makes people feel good about an artist more than a selfless act. Get involved in music communities - online, offline, local, global - and figure out how you can help other people meet their needs. If you've written a song people like, recorded and released it and played more than one show in a month, you've had experiences that others have not. They will appreciate you sharing.

Special offers. This is not about the expensive VIP tickets, it's about turning devoted fans into super-fans. Little things like a photo in an e-newsletter, or a "Bring 5 friends and you get in for free" offer can make a big difference. Think of little extras that make fans feel special.

Step 7 Exercises

1. List your points of contact with your fans
2. (Come to the workshop for more)

Exercise to take home

1. (Come to the workshop for more)

Step 6: Look to build relationships

(Photo credit: Burns!)

Artists, of all people, understand that the more information we all share,

the better it is for our business and for ourselves.
− Janis Ian

Business, and the music business in particular, is built on relationships. To reach your goals you will need to build many relationships with your peers, fans, and then music industry colleagues - in that order. You have to build these relationships by having personal contact with each of these people. You cannot do this by remote control. A million Facebook likes are not nearly as important as 1000 true fans.

You have to gather people's esteem first and foremost (see Step 8). This means you have to give people a reason to think you're great and (revisit "what's remarkable") something to tell their friends about you so they will come to see you next time you play. That starts with your songs and your performances, but it also includes your professionalism, your coolness, and your ability to make them money. Remember: your time can't be copied. If you give it to an interviewer, or a fan, or a peer, you cannot be ripped off and you will be investing in more and stronger relationships.

Your peers - Whether you like it or not, most of the people who hear your music early on will be other musicians. Ask not what they can do for you but what you can do for them (sorry, JFK) - find ways to help them out. Share what you have learned and teach others to do what you do - and what not to do. Look for opportunities to expand your influence by getting involved in music communities - online and offline. You might not feel that you have much to offer, but you will make friends and allies just by sharing. Your peers are the key to getting your music in front of their fans and converting some into being your fans as well. This is NOT a zero-sum game.

Your fans - As your writing and your show improves, you will meet more and more people who are there just for the music. You have to turn these people into fans of your music. This is a strange relationship but ultimately the most important. If you have 1000 true fans - fans who will spend $100 a year on your shows and merch, you have a viable small business. Meet them in person at every opportunity - be cool.

Colleagues - If you get enough of the first two relationships, these people will come looking for you. When they do, don't be a dickhead. Ultimately, these people want a relationship that makes money. They will come to you if you have enough fan relationships. But remember: this industry if full of pretenders - you need a your smoke detector (see intro) at full strength here.

Step 6 Exercises

1. Write down 10 peers who you hold in high esteem. Ask yourself:
2. (Come to the workshop for more)

Exercise to take home

1. (Come to the workshop for more)

Step 5: Use your abundant musical assets as gifts

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You're far more likely to have a song that is not heard 
than a song that is heard and stolen.
- David Hooper

Digital stuff is "non-rivalrous", which is fancy economist-speak for "me having it doesn't stop you from having it too". It costs no more to make 1 million digital copies than it does to make 1 copy. If people like your music and want it, this makes it a perfect gift because it costs you nothing but is worth something to them ... and isn't it always nice when new friends and neighbours bring a gift to your house-warming?

Don't worry about lost sales. Independent US artist Corey Smith proved that for an independent artist, giving your MP3s away INCREASES sales via iTunes. How did he prove it? Well, in 2008 he was going along OK and had sold over 400,000 tracks on iTunes - tracks that he also gave away on his website. When he took the free tracks down from his website, his iTunes sales decreased and when he put it back up, they went up again. Seth Godin did the same thing with his books. BTW - Corey grossed $4million in 2008 - mostly from the people who turned up to his shows after he gave them his songs to learn. Try it out: if you email him asking for a free track he will reply and give you one!

You can't lose sales you would never have had in the first place.

Gifts are a great way to build relationships (see Step 6) and making a gift of your music does not make it worthless or devalued. The most successful Indie artists give their music away all the time: when someone signs up to your email list, give them a free track to say thanks; when a fan asks for an autograph, give them a photo as well. Better yet, put that photo in your next newsletter ...

The flip side of using your recordings as gifts is that playing "exposure" shows is nonsense. Offering you a gig in return for "exposure" is just venue-speak for "we don't want to help you with your career". Every show you play is an opportunity to impress people, collect emails, sell CDs or merchandise. You don't build relationships by exposing yourself, you build relationships by following up first meetings with generosity and attention. Make the fan who has paid you a compliment by liking your music feel special - give them a digital gift.

Step 5 Exercises

1. In groups, list as many digital assets as you can think of: Recordings, photos, artwork, blog posts, tweets, Facebook updates, blog comments, videos ...
2. (Come to the workshop for more)

Exercise to take home

1. (Come to the workshop for more)

Step 4: Work hardest on creating the best art you can

(Photo credit: A.Davey)

The key is in not spending time, but in investing it.

Successful people are very good time managers who maintain a healthy work/play balance. Of course, that's much easier when you regard your work as fun, but everyone has to slog through the same un-fun issues to build their creative career to the point that it becomes their life.

Your GMF follows the quality of your music and performances and it's too easy to get sidetracked into spending your time in the social media swamp trying to promote music that's already reached its maximum potential audience. Don't cut corners in the name of conformity or take the easy writing or producing option just to meet a deadline. Make something better.

Revisit "What's remarkable ..." above. That's what you need to work hardest on. To manage that and everything else, you need to plan your time carefully. Work on a 70/30 rule:

70% of your work time should be spent on your music. 

If you get that right, only 30% of time needs to be spent on 
telling people about it.

So, if you practice your art for an hour each day, spend 20 minutes telling people where you're at and what you're doing that they can help with. Remember that when you write a blog post about your new song, that's also a piece of your art.

Don't tell people what you're going to do. 

Either tell them what you've done or ask for their help.

Telling people what you're gonna do has 2 side-effects: it lets you think you're making progress when you've really only told people about your plans; and it sets you up as a try-hard, gunna-be, wanna-be. Successful people just DO STUFF. They don't tell anyone else what they're going to do unless they want those people involved.

Step 4 Exercises

1. They say it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill. If you spend one hour a day mastering your playing/singing/writing, that's more than 27 years.
2. (Come to the workshop for more)

Exercise to take home

1. (Come to the workshop for more)

Step 3: Understand your art

Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.
- Frank Zappa

Your art starts with your music but goes way beyond it. Every show you put on, every video, every interview, every album cover, every T-shirt, every class you teach, every meet-and-greet - everything you do or create that reinforces people's joy at the experiences you have shared - is your art. Don't feel that your music is all you have to offer - it comes from you and what you stand for.

Seth Godin talks about the Bob Dylan rule:

it's not just a record, it's a movement. 

Your music is the soundtrack to other people's lives.

Think deeply about what your art means to you and what it means to other people. It comes from your why. Once you understand why you create, create other things that mean the same things to you and reinforce the joy that other get from your music. Harness your music's themes and express them in other ways.

At your show, you're not selling your music. You're selling access to an experience that you share with your fans because of your music. When they buy a CD they're buying a reminder of that experience and the feelings that it created. When they buy a T-shirt, they're buying a symbol of their identification with the artist who inspired their feelings and with other people who have had the same experience. When they read an interview they're learning about how you got to that point in your life and either sharing your experience or aspiring to it.

Your music is the starting point for all of this, but it's NOT what you're selling. Think laterally about other ways and other media you can use to express what you have to say and seek to use those outlets as well. This has two benefits:

1. It gives people a new reason to talk about you and your music; and
2. It gives you something to sell that, unlike digital stuff, can't be copied.

In my research I referred to the first one as "third leg" music marketing. It's about understanding that sometimes it's better to draw attention to your music without mentioning your music. It's very powerful and used by the biggest names in the game ... but we'll come back to it later.

Step 3 Exercises

1. Think about the music you listed in Step 2. Look for patterns or pathways ...

Exercise to take home

1. (Come to the workshop for more)

Step 2: Create something remarkable

All men dream, but not equally. 

Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds,

wake in the day to find that it was vanity; 

but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, 

for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, 

to make them possible.
- T E Lawrence

If you create something that other people think is OK then you will join the swelling ranks of people who have created something OK. There is nothing wrong with that. That's what most people do.

But if being OK isn't part of your vision then you need other people to talk about you and your work, so you must create something that is different somehow. Catchy, throwaway pop might do that for a while but will not sustain a career for long. Obscure, highly technical guitar music might change the way the instrument is played by a few but may not have sufficiently broad appeal to make you a living. Again, if that's what you want, that's OK ... just be clear about it.

In this age of almost-infinite music supply, the key to viral success is to create what politicians call "water-cooler conversation". You want people to talk to their friends about you and your music. This doesn't always have to be positive - but the stronger the effect, the better. No matter what you do, haters gonna hate ...

Say what you like about me - just spell my name right

- Gene Simmons

REALITY CHECK #2: Go back to your Vision Statement. 
What do you want to be known for? 
If people are not talking about what you want them to talk about, 
you need to work harder on making your life's work remarkable.

So, think about

• What do people like about your music or act?
• What do people tell their friends about it ...
  
  ... they they don't say about anyone else?

Step 2 Exercises

1. Think of 5 musicians who you love/admire. Make a list of their 10 songs you love most. Write down:
2. (Come to the workshop for more)

Exercises to take home:

1. (Come to the workshop for more)

Alive and Alone - and slow

You might have noticed by now that I've stopped posting about the Alive and Alone recordings. That's because I burned out badly (literally) trying to record in my house in the heat, then turn up to work feeling refreshed. Also, I've decided to take some time to refine the way I'm playing things.

It's a funny thing, this songwriting/performing/producing thing. Each piece of the puzzle bring its own challenges, and when you're responsible for all of it, sorting each piece out is a challenge. I think the songs are pretty great, but when I get down to the nitty gritty of recording them and producing the sounds, I keep hearing things that could be done so much better. Need to work through all of those ...

Work is a drain, emotionally and physically. I love the job, but it's looong hours of travel to get there and I have no energy left at the end of the day to play music when I get home. Finally, the Australian Songwriters Association's Wax Lyrical events will start in Brisbane next week and I'm the Regional Coordinator, which has taken up bit of my time and a lot of my attention. To top that off, we've decided that I will open the show by way of breaking the ice and being the first to be critiqued by my peers. At least that means I have to do some practice ...

I will get back to Alive and Alone soon, though, so watch this space.

Step 1: Define your musical goals clearly

Take time to know who you are, what you are good at, and what you are prepared to do to build your career. Be realistic about how you are best able to express your music and start with the basics. Have a brutally realistic grip on what you are NOT good at and what you are NOT prepared to do, and be prepared to adjust as opportunities arise or disappear. Plenty of good books exist on this topic.

Successful people say that having goals and a plan is pointless unless you understand WHY you're trying to do something. Building any career is about the "why" of your life. If you want to make music your life, you need to think deeply about why, and what you want out of doing so. Once you understand Why you want something, you have a better handle on exactly WHAT you want. Only then can you figure out HOW to get it and set goals so you know whether you're succeeding.

Remember that these are only goals. As your life changes, you achieve some of these and others become less important. You can change them and you should review them regularly (see Step 10). You are not committing yourself to an all-or-nothing path - you are just giving yourself the best direction you can see at this point in time.

Research has shown that only 3% of people write long-term goals down and those that do are ten times more likely to achieve their goals. After 50 years of research, Harvard's Dr Edward Banfield concluded that taking a long-term view on life was more likely to predict a person's social and economic progress than their family background, education, race, or intelligence. So just by setting and writing down your goals, you are far more likely to succeed in achieving them.

You also need to persist. Top athletes, inventors, artists, and business people all report that they fail a lot more times that they succeed. It's called PRACTICE and working through all the failures so you can try again is what enables you to succeed when it counts. You haven't failed until you quit.

So let's start exploring the WHY, the WHAT, and the HOW.

Step 1 Exercises

1. Define your music career goals. Start at the end: when you die, what do you want to be able to say about your music career? Why do you want this career?
2. (Come to the workshop for more)

Exercises to take home

1. Write down everything you want - all of it ...
2. Come to the workshop for more)

Introduction

- Lao Tsu

Thanks for reading this workbook. It aims to help you define and achieve your musical life goals and by doing so you are helping me achieve mine. I am very grateful that you have given me that opportunity.

This workshop is about you, not me. I can only guide you through the process and coach you along your journey. The answers and the energy that will take you to your Glorious Musical Future (GMF) have to come from you. Your peers will share their answers and the energy that a group exercise can generate. But everyone's journey is unique - your answers must come from you and only you can follow your path.

There has never been a better time to be in the music industry. Never before have artists, musicians and songwriters had technology that provides so much opportunity to create, connect and convert. The people who dominated the music industry in the 20^th century look at the technological and market changes as disruptions to their business. Successful 21^st century musicians, songwriters and artists see the changes as opportunities. This is not a revolution so much as it is an evolution and you have to keep up with the constant changes. A lot of what worked before doesn't work today and what works today may not work a year from now.

Some people will be able to make the most of these opportunities and some will struggle, fail, and hopefully try again. Your willingness to learn and try again is the key. There are two types of musicians in the 21st century:

1. those who create a system and work hard to build their GMF, and
2. those who wait around for someone to hand them a miracle.

The two have the same amount of talent. Both make wonderful music that is very appealing to their audience and both have a GMF ahead of them. The difference is in how they approach their GMF: one understands that their destiny lies in their own hands and the other thinks it is given to them by someone else. This workshop is designed to help you become a career builder because I can't help you with miracles.

When we leave here I will always be available to help but it is up to you to follow through on the journey this workshop lays bare before you. This is an opportunity that will take time to set up, time to practice, time to adjust to. Hence, this is not just about music, it's about changing your life in ways that will make you more successful in everything you do and happier in general.

A little theory ...

These steps and the exercises that help you reach them are built on the concepts I wrote about in How the record industry got it so wrong (and how their mistakes point to your glorious musical future), which you can read online for free here or can purchase from http://www.huge.id.au/shop. This workshop aims to put you on the path to your Glorious Musical Future via an evolved version of the 10 steps in the book's conclusion.

A summary of the key points:

• The music industry is reverting to a cottage industry, in which most musicians will be amateur, part-time or at best semi-professional - but no-one will be able to stop musicians from getting the rewards their work deserves.
• A growing "Musical Middle Class" will be able to make significant income from their music and the best of these will be able to make a living as a musician. There is nothing to stop you joining their ranks.
• Building a music business means understanding that your music is not a product that can be sold; it is the service of entertaining people and touching their lives with your art. It is used to sell the things that can support a musician's career.
• Like all businesses, a music business is built on relationships. The best way to build relationships is to make a gift of your digital assets. Trying to enforce your digital copyrights with your fans is usually counter-productive.
• Your Glorious Musical Future depends upon the network of people and resources you can tap to help you achieve your goals. Your job is to build a far-reaching and powerful network ...

This is not an easy process, nor a quick one. It will take a lot of work and will probably involve steps forward, steps back and repeated attempts before you succeed. The music industry is not as big as you might think and the sheer volume of amateur talent means that musicians are not given the respect and rewards their efforts would earn in other industries.

Reality Check #1: Less than 200 Australian musicians and composers earned
more than $100,000 from their creative practice in 2007/08 -
the median creative income for performing musicians was
$7,200 - (Australia Council 2012).

So where's the career? That's not promised to anyone. You have to love what you do and excel where other people struggle - and that takes a particular kind of person. Here's a few characteristics of successful people:

• Big vision
• Motivation, about a passion
• Organisation
• Discipline
• Commitment to continuous improvement
• Fearlessness
• Willingness to bring others into the fold
• Gratitude and humility
• Unwavering faith that they can succeed

Some of the characteristics on that list may make you uncomfortable because you look at them and know that you don't have those attributes. THAT'S OK! The great thing about creativity is that we're all in it together. You can develop these with the help of this workshop and/or you can find people who have them via this network. The great thing about this journey is that you have lots of fellow travellers and music is best when it's shared.