You are a badass! You divine inspiration from the ethos, and document it in lyric and melody and music for other people's enjoyment. That’s incredible! You are incredible! It’s really important to make sure that you are happy with the work that you’re doing. But also, you have a tremendous gift of being able to turn your passion into your livelihood. What are you gonna do about it? You need to share your magic with the universe! So what are you waiting for? A boss doesn’t wait for business to come to them, a boss goes out and builds the business. Here are five ways to help you boss up and build your business brand better. I love alliterations.
By: Justin Gray Founder/Chairman MDIIO Strategize - We have talked about this in the past, but it cannot be over-emphasized enough that even songwriters need to create a business plan. How many songs are you going to write this year? How many demos are you going to complete? How many collaborators are you going to try and add to your creative circle? Don’t just think about it, actually write it down, and follow through on your intention. You’ll be amazed to discover how just sticking to a plan that’s written down creates accountability for your own career and ambitions. Invest in R&D - OK, so you play a little guitar, or maybe you understand how to program in Logic or Ableton. That’s great. But that’s not an investment. An investment is sacrificing time out with your friends so you can be in a creative zone to get better at your craft. Immersing yourself in understanding why certain songs work and succeed, is almost as important as actually writing songs. Don’t just invest your time and money in equipment, computers, and instruments, you also MUST invest in educating yourself, to inform and expand your own creativity. Investing in research and development will ultimately improve your product. Managing and Team Building - Writing songs and creating music can be a very solitary experience. It does not have to be. In fact, it’s a lot more fun when you find other like-minded creators to create with. Make a point of reaching out to your local ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, or SOCAN rep to find out if events and activities are happening near you. It’s amazing that once you start going down the rabbit hole and discovering a songwriting community, more and more opportunities become available to you. Build your team and surround yourself with people who subscribe to your way of thinking. It doesn’t matter if you’re just beginning, or a super professional, building your network is the most crucial component of expanding your reach. Pivot and Diversify - all great entrepreneurs know when to pivot. As a songwriter, you are an entrepreneur. You are your own boss. You run your own company, and your product is your songs. But maybe your songs aren’t connecting in the way that you had hoped, or maybe you’re just not super happy with your product. Identifying where you excel is a key part in executing and facilitating a successful pivot. When you look at the ratio of time spent versus successful outcomes, where do you shine? Reduce the time wasting, and expand on the stuff that you know works. Sales - OK. Now that you’ve strategized, identified a plan, managed and built your team, pivoted and diversified…here you are. Product (songs) in hand and ready to go! Believe it or not everything to this point has been the fun stuff. Now it’s your job to turn around and self-promote. Considering the fact you have now built a team around you, and a network, you don’t have to do all of the lifting on your own. The whole point of “selling your product” is to have as much inventory as possible. This means that you need to keep writing and keep stockpiling great songs. Also, be very aware of trying to sell shitty products. Your reputation is wholly and exclusively based on the quality of your product. Make certain that when you present that, you are presenting yourself and your product in the best possible light. That’s how you create loyal return customers. Parting thought: (Gonna start calling this the CODA) It may take years to nail that hit song…and when you do, all the time, money, emotion, and energy spent will have been worth it. And with every success, you will build more and more. That’s how this works…In my experience, all BAD ASSES believe in themself. Do you? I do!! See you next week, and until then, keep writing the hits!! Justin@mdiio.com