Recently I’ve had a couple of moments where rewards for efforts have manifested in unexpected ways.
A lot of the time we consider return on investment (ROI) directly based on the money in and out. We spend X dollars and we make back X dollars. The math doesn’t go deeper or broader.
When it comes to time spent our investments aren’t really about the money we spend and make back. They are about planting the seeds to clock the experience to harvest results down the line. Sometimes it’s about meeting new people and sometimes you are just stacking your portfolio like I’m doing with this here Substack.
I wanted to take some time to share a few ways this has panned out for me over the last few years.
Freestyling at a pizza shop led to writing invoices for rapping
One time I went to Sherbrooke to perform at a show.
This show wasn’t a paid opportunity. I had to pitch in for gas. I ultimately shared a bed with the homie JS#NOREGARD as there was nowhere to sleep. We were set to perform at a show that was ultimately not that packed, maybe 50 people. To some folk, that could be a loss.
It turned into a huge blessing.
At one point in the day we were at a pizza shop and I freestyled a plug for the pizza shop. I had just been guilted for eating free pizza without doing any promo for. So I did that little freestyle to a little lady that played the trumpet.
Turns out this lady was part of Plomberie and if you’ve followed me over the last few years you’d know I’ve performed with them quite a few times now. The first couple of times were trial runs and then they started offering me money for my services.
This matters a lot because I need the government to see I make some real deal money off being a rapper.
All that to say, one little moment that could have been written off turned into a lot more for me.
Freestyling mixtape projects on Twitch led to a whole merch line
One day I was on Twitch and I was freestyling songs.
In this case I had been putting a lot of time that in theory could have gone into making money, into producing music. That year I pulled about 750$ off streaming. But that wasn’t really where the ROI was going to come.
In the middle of that run birthed my “i don’t like pickle chips” song which was a direct response to the pickle loving bullies I know. That turned into some lore, which evolved directly into a clothing line I’m aiming to launch more formally in early 2025.
I have pulled over 1000$ so far off of merch and I’ve barely done anything with it. In fact I made a few blunders. But having this “I sell the clothes I’m wearing” vibe has definitely added a lot to my portfolio.
It’s simply more impressive to be like yeah I’m wearing my own shoes too.
Plus a lot of people dig the wave.
Still if we were talking raw dollars back on the time spent it could be an L but instead it’s unlocked all kinds of doors in my life.
I can now make money anywhere I travel to.
Travelling to Toronto led to future booking opportunities in Kitchener
What really prompted this one was a conversation I had today with some stranger who hit me up.
He saw I had done some work with a particular promoter, one who likes a pay for play model. Of which, I did pay that guy a couple of times because I was trying to get shows outside of my city. Now in general I did not make a lot of money back on those efforts.
What did happen was I met a lot of people in other places and I figured that’s where it ended. However lately I wanted to get into the Kitchener market. Turns out this guy who hit me up is a Kitchener artist who wanted to know more about working with that promoter.
Long story short homie is going to try and get me some love in Kitchener. Once I’m out there it’s going to unlock doors all over the smaller towns in Ontario, which will let me start building fans all over. Kitchener was always my dream starting point given its proximity to Montreal while not being boring old Ottawa.
If doing the shows I did leads to getting myself into a new market bypassing traditional gatekeeping, that is very much worth any investment I put in last year. Money I barely remember spending.
All I’m saying is the reward system may not be as linear as you think. Sometimes things are just worth doing on the faith it will go somewhere. Then when it does you can trace it all back proper and be surprised.
Live Long and Prosper Everyone
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