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Celebrating The Success Of Others

July 3, 2012 by 2 Comments

Bassnectar at Electric Forest Family Photo

Photo Credit: Shaun Hollingsworth

 

It’s hard to celebrate the successes of others when you have come up short on your own. The most viewed post at this site is “How I Got My Music On Pandora.” The second most? The one about How I Quit My Day Job Too Early. One is about a very cool success story. The other detailing a monumental letdown. It’s easy to feel like you’re not living up to your potential when you look around at others your age or in your field and you start comparing.

I work another day job now. It’s been exactly one year since I quit that other day job. One of the things that inspired me to quit that job a year ago was a lifestyle of comparison. I was looking at everyone else who was doing what I wanted to do and comparing my life to theirs. I was looking at DJs and Electronic Musicians; watching them tour the country wishing I could do the same. I was sitting back and counting my Facebook Fans, Twitter & Soundcloud followers and wondering how can I take over the internet.

 

going viral

 

When you live a lifestyle of comparison, you can only set yourself up for disappointment and feelings of inadequacy. Is my music good enough? Am I working hard enough? Did I make a mistake that I can’t recover from? Should I give up? No one really develops artists anymore. I never had a DJ mentor; I’ve been kind of just doing it on my own. I had already learned a lot about the new music economy since moving to Nashville. But I had a lot of questions that only DJs could answer.

But you can’t learn from people when you’re jealous of them. It’s hard to have an open mind when you have a sense of entitlement. I definitely needed a shift in my mindset. Why not celebrate the successess of others? These are the things that I could learn from and ultimately grow as an artist. I had definitely not grasped the art of being an apprentice. Nor the art of becoming good at things or being a master of my craft.

I talked to Greg Rollett and he suggested that I start interviewing DJs. Well, I had already been doing that. (DJ Orig, Ducko McFli, Bateman) However this would be different. This time I would put everything together and build a course that would help people like myself trying to change their DJ career. The result of that is The Definitive DJ Mindset: 5 Ways To Take Your DJ Career To The Next Level.

Definitive DJ Mindset Long Banner
 

The process of putting this together has been very educational for me. Just having an open mind and being willing to learn has been a huge difference. This difference for me has been being willing to learn and not being bitter about the success of others. I’m thankful and grateful for all the people who have been willing to invest in me. Including you, who are taking time out to read this. Whether you’re a DJ or not, I’d want you to consider that you can learn both from your mistakes and from the successess of others. In time, I hope that people will be able to celebrate your successes, too.

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Five Things To Consider Before Launching Your Kickstarter Campaign

January 27, 2012 by 2 Comments

When I wrote my blog post awhile back about quitting my job too early and how I now need to work even harder and more hours, a lot of people on my email list wrote me and suggested I launch a Kickstarter campaign. I’ve seen some artists get well known for their success on Kickstarter. I’ve also seen some artists and bands not do so well with it. Lately, I’ve heard about a lot of bands going the Kickstarter route. It sure seems better than selling all my gear on eBay. I’ve felt uneasy about using Kickstarter. I’ve hid from it. I didn’t want to launch a huge page just asking for money. Even though I have a donate button on my page (wink!), It’s kind of off to the side, my own way of passive promotion. I’ve been looking around and I’m still considering whether I want to do it. If you’re in my same boat, I’m thinking there are 5 things we should consider before we launch a Kickstarter campaign.

Do you have a following? Or at least a list?

You have to have an email list. I was thinking about one campaign from a guy I know. This guy was in one band that had a huge following. But then he left that band and started another band. So his new band and new music had a Kickstarter. So yeah, he was Kickstarting his new project, new album, etc. But for the majority of that campaign, he was doing it just through friends, family, and social media as far as I could tell. I think at some point, his previous band reached out to their huge list to promote it to people who already were fans of his music from before. I wonder if Kickstarter is best for launching your FIRST project or your first record. Otherwise, I think about that band and wonder how it would have gone if the previous band would launched the campaign from the beginning. I don’t know the details of that; so I’m only speculating. But that’s one of the things that’s held me back.

Do you have a cause?

What’s the reason for having a Kickstarter campaign? Are you just trying to put out an album? I have this feeling that it has to be about more than that. Amazingly, technology has made it that you can make a fantastic record without the thousands of dollars that some are asking about. Here’s a great post about that. I guess that is the main thing that artists will try to raise money for. I don’t know all of the rules for using Kickstarter. I remember wanting to buy a new mixer before. I still haven’t done that. What if I did a campaign to buy a new mixer? Still kind of lame. What about a new mixer so I could start a new DJ teaching business? A little better. What about money so I could start my new business of teaching DJ lessons to kids? Now we’re talking… by the way, what a great idea for me. What about you?

Are you adding value?

What do people get for backing your project? It’s got to be more than just downloads to a new record. Especially if you don’t have a list or following. What does a fan get? I was messaged about a band’s project one time. I had never heard of them. For the different tiers of giving, you could get free downloads, posters, vinyl, t-shirts. This would all be great if I were a fan of the band. But this campaign was my introduction to the band. So I absolutely did not want to buy any of that stuff. Would you? If I were already a fan of the band, I’d have been more into it. When I think about this, I consider that maybe kickstarter is only best for fans. Maybe just for checking out the kickstarter project they should get music for free anyway. I don’t know.

Are you showing work? Showing yourself?

I just don’t want people to think I’m lazy. I work a day job (hopefully not forever). And I work on this blog. And I work on music. Yet musicians are often seen as lazy. I would not want people’s pity. I’ve been really challenged with the thought that people want to support hard workers. People don’t want to give out handouts. In my financial struggles, I’ve received a lot of handouts. I appreciate those but also, I hate that I was in the position of need. On the other hand, I would want people to know that they are not just supporting some project or some record. They are supporting me. Supporting the pursuit of art; and therefore supporting the artist. Me as a person. Do people see that when I communicate? When they read my blog? When they are on my email list? When they follow me on Twitter? Do I only speak about how I’m working on my hot new track? What is Quiet Entertainer really about? I have to think about these things. What about you? What are people supporting? The work? Or the pipe dream.

How long will your campaign be? How much will it be?

If I give people two months to donate, then is it really that important? I don’t know. Do I want my fans to raise money so that they can afford to help me raise money? It seems kind of backwards. I suppose if I did something I would make it really short. I’d know very quickly. Either I have the following and the interest of fans to support what I’m doing, or not. If so, great! If not, I can not waste two months of posting, updates, and emails with everyone asking for money. One big push and it’s over. There is some principle from Influence. Scarcity. I don’t remember it right now, but I know that if the opportunity is short to get the value, then it’s more attractive. Maybe two or three weeks max for me. What do you think?

I suppose I should stop over-analyzing and just do something. Don’t want to think it to death. However, these are some things I’m thinking about before I launch a Kickstarter campaign? What else? Let me know in the comments.

Pics by FurtherBeyondPhotography & Audible Imagery

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Why I Use Reverb Store For Selling Merch

January 5, 2012 by 3 Comments

I was talking to Ugly Lovely the other day. He has some new hoodies and t-shirts printed up. He was asking me what I was using to sell my own merch. So I wanted to put this out there. I am currently using Reverb Store through Reverbnation. I do this simply because they allow me and the customer to buy merch on demand. What that means is, I don’t have to print up a huge bulk order of t-shirts before someone can buy one.

This is great for me because I can’t always afford to buy a bunch of merch. I also don’t always have room to carry around a whole bunch of shirts that may or may not sell. I enjoy having this setup because the people who want them; will buy them.

I understand that at live shows, it’s tough to get someone to buy anything online and have it shipped to them. Also, they don’t get that “take-home” item. Also I see now that with on-demand shirts, there is no scarcity. Meaning, there is no urgency to buy a shirt. No chance that I’m going to run out. So no need to buy TODAY. These are the only drawbacks. Otherwise, it makes great sense if you don’t have hundred or thousands of dollars to drop up front.

I’ve found that when I have shirts printed up; it’s easy to let the shirts go for less than what they are worth, just so that people will have them. I end up doing this to disguise and to hide myself from the simple truth: The demand for my merch isn’t that high right now.

Or put another way: No one wants to buy my merch yet.

It’s pretty demoralizing to just have a bunch of shirts and hoodies lying around. Just like it’s a bummer hanging on to a thousand CDs that no one is buying at the shows. So you end up just giving them away.

Mind you, if I were touring across the country. Being in front of a new audience every night. Introducing myself to someone new every time. It might make more sense then to have physical merch pressed and ready to go. As it stands now though, I’m working a day job. Looking for another day job. My work as a DJ right now is to create more music and content and to make money quickly and steadily as I continue. Here’s another great perspective on what I need to do in 2012.

Anyway, I use Reverb Store. It’s easy. Maybe one day I’ll use Topspin. Maybe not. What are you using?

(BTW: I’ve put up some pictures of people wearing their Quiet Entertainer shirt! Be sure to send them to me if you have pictures of yourself wearing one!)

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How I Quit My Day Job Too Early and Wasn’t Ready For The Next Step

November 14, 2011 by 37 Comments

Denzel Washington as Malcom X

I was Bamboozled! Hoodwinked! Led Astray!

However, it’s really my fault. I don’t think I was sold a lie. But I believed a lie. But let’s start with the truth.

The truth is that I want to be a musician and DJ. I want to make great music and perform that music all across the country and all over the world. I want to do this just like all of my favorite artists have done. I also want my live show to create great experiences for people who like the music. I want people to be able to look back on a show of mine and say that it was one of their great life experiences either because of me or the people they met there; and of course, the art. I also want to act and perform on TV and film like my childhood heroes did. I want to be part of great storytelling and great presentation.

Quiet Entertainer

Additionally, I want to make a lot of money. I want to be able to be generous with that money in the same way that people have been generous with me. I want to support my local church. I also want to support organizations like Christ In Youth that really impacted me when I was younger. I also want a lot of free time. I would spend that time volunteering with kids at my local church, just like volunteers were there for me. I would spend time visiting all my friends all over the country and world that I’ve met over the years. I’d also spend time practicing my craft, both music and acting; and getting better. Eventually, I’d want to spend my time with a wife and kids.

That is the whole picture.

You can earn more money, but you can’t earn more time. We are always running out of time. Not only that, but we don’t know how much time we have left. I started looking to use technology in smarter ways to market music. I stumbled upon music marketing blogs. Those led me to lifestyle design blogs. Those led me to minimalism blogs. I settled on a few experts. One guy told me Sell all my crap. Another told me to stop being a wuss. Another said there is never a right time. Some more people said they quit their day job. What is a real job anyway?

Well, I quit my day job to pursue the music. I was doing great for a while. I had some shows lined up. I was making money. And then it all dried up. No shows. no money. No way to pay the bills. I was on the Ramen Noodles diet. I ate Ramen so often, one day I physically could not look at another packet of Ramen. I chose to just not eat. I’d never experienced it that bad. It was so bad, that I actually lost hosting on this site and the site was down. I suppose I didn’t work as hard as I could have.

A year and a half ago, I was inspired to run a full marathon. Not a half. a FULL 26.2 miles. Running a half isn’t on anyone’s bucket list. So I bought some great running shoes. Some insoles. I talked with a lot of runners. I signed up to a some running sites. Read some running blogs. I got a run your first marathon book. I suppose I did everything except actually get out and run every day. So when the marathon came, I wasn’t ready and I didn’t do it.

I suppose this quit your day job stuff is like that. I didn’t really hustle like I could have. I realized this when I read Jon Acuff’s book, Quitter. I should have figured it out sooner. I knew that there isn’t a lot of money to be made in music business. There’s just a lot more work that I have to do to make my big picture a reality. But that’s the task. I suppose I was seduced by the visions of trying to live the life now before it’s “too late.”

I really screwed it up this year. It’s tempting to focus only on these failures. However, I did have some victories. I played a great live PA show in Knoxville. I did a great DJ set this summer for some church kids (BTW: here’s the difference between Live PA & DJ Sets). I made my first DJ mix, Q-Gaze. And really, at least I tried it. I jumped without fear. It may have been financial suicide. But I tried it. So now that I have to take a minimum wage job just to try and catch up, I at least have a better perspective on what I need to do to create the life that I feel led to create. I need to hustle. I need to focus less on my marketing strategy and make sure my stuff is epic. I need to not care what other people think. I need to focus on the right things.

I say all this publicly so that I’ll actually have to do that. Hold me accountable.

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How To Use Google Alerts to Track Your Online Buzz

September 21, 2011 by 1 Comment
If you’re a DJ or an artist of some kind, it’s helpful to know what people are saying about you. I mean this in a promotional sense. Not so much in a sense of changing what you’re doing to please people. Anyway, Google Alerts is a great way to do this! I just put out a new mix (Q-Gaze, by the way) and I am going to show you how I will keep track of any online buzz about it. Basically, I’ll go to the Google Alerts page.
Now for this example, I’m going to walk you through this alert that I’m setting up. However, this would work for anything. I’m going to set type to “Everything.” Why not. I’ll set How often to “As-It-Happens.” If it’s about me, I want to know as soon as it’s found. If I’m doing research, and I want to find some alerts on a similar DJ or band, I might just do once a day. or once a week.
I’ll set Volume to All Results.

You never know if you’re going to miss anything. Case in point. I had previously set Google Alert pic up an article where the Nashville Scene mentioned me. But they mentioned me because I was being mentioned on another blog, We Own This Town. So even though, I found both posts. I wouldn’t have known about the first if not for the other mention. So, I actually went in and changed my settings after that.
Okay, I have it set to my name and the name of my mix. I use quotations so it will only find the words used in that way. And now when something pops up. BAM, you get an email.
I put Q-Gaze on mixcloud myself so nothing to get too excited there. However, I know it’s working. Meanwhile, you can also use Twitter search to track your buzz on Twitter. The most painstaking one is tracking your Facebook mentions. Really impossible to do unless they are friends or if they tag you. Or you just manually search.
How are you tracking your online buzz? Let me know in the comments.

By the way, if you want to know how I am able to rock this stuff; check out the Evolvor Marketing Machine Mindset & New Music Economy Blueprint. I went through both of these and it’s where I learned how to do all of this.

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