Morning Coffee - Staying afloat, relevant, & not giving up

Don’t miss a beat! Sign up for my newsletter – find out about all my latest drum lessons, morning coffee posts, and more!

I received a message from a fellow musician who, in January, released their debut EP. They got some traffic initially when the EP dropped, and now are coming to terms with the reality – the wave of interest feels as though it’s past its peak and the spotlight has moved on.

Everything you do as a musician is promotion for your ‘brand’. Everything. It all takes a tremendous amount of effort too – writing a song, an EP, a full record, shooting a music video or a playthrough video, booking and completing a tour or a one-off show, arranging a new merch drop… the list goes on. All of these things are significant accomplishments for any musician.

There’s a tendency once this work is done to feel a sense of relief. Once you hit ‘send’ on that email campaign, and post on Facebook that your work is now available, your message is out to the world! Job done!

You can sit back and watch as your Spotify plays climb higher, your Instagram followers grow, artist reps contact you for company endorsements, tour offers magically appear in your inbox, and promoters around the world bid to book you.

This is what we want to happen but in reality, this isn’t how it works.

As a musician or a self-employed person, your job is to create something every day, or as many days as possible, that continues to push your message to the world. Sending one email, or three emails or ten emails isn’t enough. Posting on Facebook once or twice about your new album, or your merch sale, isn’t enough. You have to continue to create new content and publish it.

Some of that content won’t make much of an impact either, and when this happens, keep your head high. When you only get five likes and one comment from a friend, don’t feel disheartened. The goalposts of social media change too often for anyone to guarantee that their message hits the target. This is why it’s crucial that you prioritize growing your mailing list.

Why?

Because when someone signs up to your mailing list, they WILL get your email. They may not open it – in fact, the majority of people won’t open it. But they’ll see your name/band/company name in their inbox which is a reminder that you exist, that you’re proactive, that you’re working – and one day when the message and timing are right, they’ll open your email and read your message. They might buy your new t-shirt, or download your new single, watch your new music video, sign up for your music lessons, etc.

I go through this process on a weekly basis with my drum lessons. I sometimes feel as though I’ve put in SO much work and ‘damn, I only got a few likes on that post’, or I haven’t received an email from a potential new student in a few days… and if I listen to negativity in those moments, it can suck. Especially when I feel like I’ve been proactive.

But then I’ll get a message from someone out of the blue. They’ve seen my posts for the past few months and the email I sent out last night was the one that tipped the scales – the one that made them reach out to me, finally. And now, they’re happy because they’ve sorted the next step in their drumming journey, and I’m happy because I’ve signed up a new student and confirmed that my offer has value to the world.

This is generally how it happens. I post, and post, and post, email and email and email – sometimes the same message – and then someone reaches out.

So, don’t negotiate with yourself – be relentless. Post stories, send emails, make Facebook, Insta, Twitter, whatever posts – and keep doing it. Everyone else is in the same game, scrambling for 0.5 seconds of someone else’s attention, trying to sell their ‘thing’. You’re either in that game, or you’re not.

Most importantly – don’t overlook the importance of growing your mailing list. Give people a good reason to sign up, and be consistent.

This message is for all musicians battling the grind of staying afloat, staying relevant, and not giving up.

This is what we want to happen but in reality, this isn’t how it works.

Why?

This is generally how it happens. I post, and post, and post, email and email and email – sometimes the same message – and then someone reaches out.

So, don’t negotiate with yourself – be relentless. Post stories, send emails, make Facebook, Insta, Twitter, whatever posts – and keep doing it. Everyone else is in the same game, scrambling for 0.5 seconds of someone else’s attention, trying to sell their ‘thing’. You’re either in that game, or you’re not.

Most importantly – don’t overlook the importance of growing your mailing list. Give people a good reason to sign up, and be consistent.