Have you noticed that some of your peers seem to get some crazy opportunities and others seem to be moving in circles?
I have. I am one of those moving in circles types. Recently however I got scolded by Forever Preach about not having my ps and qs in order. I released a song that can get me media attention and did nothing to get that media attention.
This one isn’t about people being boring on social media, which most of us are. This one is more focused on outreach and making opportunities happen. There’s a lot I can do and will do.
Now what was different this time is it finally clicked what he was referring to.
My current income is made doing the things I need to do for my music
Basically my job for the food IG page is to find restaurants in Montreal.
Once I find them, it’s on me to convince them to part with their money for a placement on our page. It’s pretty open ended as far as a mandate goes but it also is based on me creating my own opportunities to seize.
This is a glamorous way of saying I Google restaurants, make a list and keep track of who says yes and no. There’s more to it, but what really matters is that this skillset is actually pretty easy to learn. You may not know what to look for at first, but the more you dig into it, the more you find where you need to go to get the information you need.
Now if I don’t know where I can find 25 media outlets to contact, Google is a great starting place. I need to take the time to do research and find lists of people I believe need to know me, and Bonjour-Hi exist.
You know what I did to promote my song? I made some social media posts. I didn’t even spam people.
I got one of the worst day 1 numbers I’ve ever got.
To be fair I’m not into inflating our numbers in the era of bot detection.
Still I can do better.
Thankfully it’s never too late to sell a good song to people
Just because you fumble your launch doesn’t mean you can’t still go do the work retroactively.
There should be files on files of pre-written templates describing me and my universe.
Things like:
My current artist bio
My general plans for the future
The story behind Bonjour-Hi in a digestible pitch
Up to date photos and graphics
Lists of my accomplishments
A description of who my market is
Basically I need to write out my marketing assets. Then I need to create longer and shorter versions of each. One bio that is 4 lengthy paragraphs, one version that is 100 words. I need to know the most impactful things I can say in each.
To create all this requires a very clear understanding of a few things. I need to know what genre I fit into and what artists I sound like. I need to provide key players the keywords relevant to help them place me into the right part of the musical zeitgeist.
For years I’ve put off all this work. It’s actually pretty hard. I’m going to need to do a lot of research to answer some very difficult questions. Unfortunately even with help, these questions can only be answered by me. It will take time and it will be boring at first.
However once you get into it, you’ll create the relevant line items that will sell your song.
Regardless of when it dropped.
Then you need to go figure out where the money is at
Once you’ve effectively made yourself look pretty, you are ready to go out there and get that bread.
There are many ways to sell a song. Google them. As an example look into sync licensing deals. Find a wrestler and get them to use their song as a theme song. Hit up corporations and offer to ghostwrite gimmicky crap.
I know a guy who literally writes and records 8 bar cheers for money. Like cheerleader cheers. Once you got your portfolio, people will take you seriously. People who don’t know how to write a song, will hit you up, if for whatever reason they want a song made. Or they’ll use AI, but if they want some fire, they’ll hit you up instead.
I’m not here to tell you how to make money. In my experience, whenever I try to do that, people tell me all the reasons it’s a bad way for them to make money. I do in fact listen over time so I’ll say this instead, don’t cut off your nose to spite your face. Should you see a cool opportunity that is corny, do it.
You never know what will happen next.
But if you act like a snob, you will definitely burn a lot of bridges like I used to.
Don’t be afraid of winning.
Live Long and Prosper Everyone
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