Don’t Be Desperate

At one of my recent speaking events, I had a young man ask me the following question: “So how do you avoid getting taken advantage of by all the…well, snakes in the music business?”

I started my answer by talking about a few tangible ways like checking their reputation and understanding that they’re snakes if they ask you for money and things like that. But then I said simply, “don’t be desperate.”

Desperations

• Financial: It is a real fact that money means survival in today’s world, so financial desperation can literally be a matter of life or death.
• Emotional: Then there’s the “I have to have this” state of mind which I think is the most dangerous. This is caused by the all too common artist belief that you’ll just DIE if you’re not a star! Wrong. Amy Winehouse was a star, how did that work out?

People with these desperations end up in gigs, deals and/or partnerships that either (a) have nothing to do with their career dreams and goals or, (b) rip them off financially. At best, artists ends up wasting time and money. At worst, they end up broke and angry, or dead.

So, don’t be desperate.

Be Great

People who are exceptional at what they do always have multiple options.

• Art: When you get to the professional level of music, everyone’s great, so make sure you are.
• Service: On top of being great, make sure you are professional and personal in everything you do.
• Marketing: Last, but most importantly, understand the who, how and why of your target market. Read more about this here, here and here.

When you do all three of those well, you’ll have people begging to work with you and you’ll create even more options of your own. And you’ll also:

Be Focused

You’ll have a focus by which to judge the available gigs, deals and partnerships. A focus that will guide you choosing the best ones for you and you’re life.

Well, as long as you have money, which I’ll cover in the next post entitled “Get a Job.”

Until then, check your emotions to see if you’re desperate. I hope you’re not.