Top 3 Goal-Setting Tips for Musicians

I just ran across a good review of Brian Tracy's book Goals! It was written by Trent Hamm on his Simple Dollar site.

Here are some of my favorite nuggets from the review:

1) Associate with the Right People

"The people you most closely associate with often set the standard for what you want out of life ... Surround yourself with people who embody what you want to achieve.”

Yes! Attitudes are contagious. That's why it’s a great idea to attend music conferences, networking events, songwriter nights, etc. To reach your goals you should regularly rub elbows with other proactive music people, interact, share resources, and inspire one another.

2) Make a Plan of Action

"Write your goal down, then write a detailed plan for achieving it. The more detail, the better. Can you boil it down to daily steps or individual actions? The smaller the pieces, the easier it is to grab hold of and pull yourself towards your goal, one bit at a time.”

Here's one more ...

3) Review Your Goals Daily

"Take time every day to review the goals you’re working on. I do this by writing in a journal and keeping tabs on a few key goals every single day. I have a section where I write 'Goal #1' followed by a sentence on my progress, then 'Goal #2' ... It forces me to think about each goal every day.”

Great advice from Brian Tracy via Trent Hamm. Put these into practice and you will make progress!

What other goal setting tips do you recommend? What has helped you reach your goals? I welcome your comments.

-Bob

Music & Money: How to Get Paid What You're Worth

Here's a great lesson if you want to generate the kind of music revenue you know you deserve. I first came across this idea in a blog post titled "How to Get Paid What You're Worth" by Peter Shankman.

Here's the golden nugget:

"You can always come down in price. You can NEVER go up."

There's power in those 12 simple words. For example, imagine the following dialogue:

"Hi. I'd like to hire your band for a business meeting. How much do you charge?"

"Well, we could probably do it for 500 bucks."

"Great. Let's book it."

"It's a done deal ... Wait! On second thought, it'll actually cost you $900. Is that OK?"

"What?"

Needless to say, this is not a good pricing strategy. However, imagine this dialogue instead:

"Hi. I'd like to hire your band for a business meeting. How much do you charge?"

"Thanks for asking. First, I need to know where and when it is, how long the event is, etc."

"Sure. It'll be March 17, from Noon to 2 PM. And it's right here in town on the south side. It's a Saint Patrick's party for our sales managers."

"Sounds great. And we are available that day. Our rate for corporate shows like this is $1,000."

"Oh ... I was given a budget of no more than $700 for entertainment."

"Hmm ... well, since it's in town, I'll extend a $300 discount. We can do it for $700."

See how this works?

"You can always come down in price. You can NEVER go up."

So ... put a reasonably high value on the musical products and services you offer. You can always negotiate or lower your "normal" fee when it feels right. But if you don't start from a position of value to begin with, you short-change yourself and your income.

This pricing philosophy also extends to your albums and merchandise sales. If you think that keeping your prices low will endear you to fans and increase sales to the masses, more often than not you will be disappointed.

When you start with prices that are cut to the bone, you leave yourself no room to offer discounts or do special promotions.

There's a better way!

Let's say you would be happy to sell your full-length albums for $10 each. Instead of promoting that price to start with, put a price of $15 on them.

That gives you room to create incentives. Perhaps you could promote "Buy one album for $15, two for $25, or three for $30."

That type of offer makes the $30 price seem awful tempting. By doing this, you would increase the amount of the average sale - and still get the $10 per album you want!

So remember ...

"You can always come down in price. You can NEVER go up."

What are your thoughts on getting paid what you're worth? How have you gone about generating more music income? I welcome your comments.

You can read Peter Shankman's article that inspired this here.

Want to link to this article on Twitter, Facebook, etc? Feel free to copy and paste this text:

How to Get Paid What You're Worth as a Musician http://goo.gl/q5Uk6 via @MrBuzzFactor

-Bob

New Productivity Tool - Your Got-Done List!

You make them. I make them. Just about everybody uses or has used a To-Do List to get things done.

Of course. How else would we know what to focus our energy and attention on every day?

No doubt, To-Do Lists serve an important purpose. But if you're anything like me, seeing all the things on your list that don't get done can be frustrating.

Create a Facebook event page for the next show ... Finish editing the new video ... Sign up and start a profile on the hot new Social Buzz site ... Post a link to the new blog post on Twitter ... Take the car in for a state inspection ... Make time to write songs and practice ... oh yeah, find time to eat and sleep ...

No matter how diligent and effective you may be, there's always a growing list of things you just can't get to during any given day, week or month.

That's why I suggest you start a new list: Your Got-Done List.

Yes! You need to acknowledge and celebrate what you've already accomplished to truly feel good about all this list-making activity.

At the end of a busy day, has anyone ever asked you what you did that day? Most likely you hemmed and hawed and could only remember a couple of things. That's sad.

Not long ago I created my own Got-Done List sheet. For a couple of days, as I completed various tasks (whether they were on my To-Do List or not) I wrote them down on the sheet.

And guess what?

At the end of each day I was amazed at how much I had accomplished over the course of several hours. As I looked over each day's long list of completed tasks, I felt satisfied and productive.

But that rarely happens when you focus only on your To-Do List -- which really should be renamed the "Bunch of Stuff I'm Too Lame to Get Done List"!

How empowered do you feel when you focus only on the unfinished tasks you still have yet to do?

The best way to get things done is to create both lists: One to record the important stuff you want or need to get done, and another to log the (hopefully) many things you actually do.

At the end of the day, you deserve to feel good about how you spent your time and the progress you made ...

Of course, if the items on your Got-Done List consist only of "Took a nap" and "Watched Seinfeld reruns," you have another issue that needs to be dealt with :)

But my view of you is more optimistic. I know you proactively pursue your passions and take steps every day to make a difference with your music and your message. And to you I say, "Make a daily Got-Done List to celebrate all of your many accomplishments."

What do you think? Have you ever used this idea? Did I miss something? I welcome your comments.

-Bob

Dick Clark: Tribute to an Icon & Legend

I'm old enough to remember Dick Clark's American Bandstand. Sure, it was safe and squeaky clean. But there's no denying that Dick Clark and his iconic TV show were trailblazers.

He introduced an entire generation of music fans to pop stars of the day. He was a prolific host, performer, and entrepreneur.

My biggest Dick Clark memory, though, was a double album called 20 Years of Rock N' Roll. My mom owned it and, along with her many Elvis records, this album was part of my early introduction to pop music of the '50s and '60s.

I salute Dick Clark for his immense contribution to American music history and culture.

If you want to learn more about the man and his legacy, here are some of the best news stories that were posted today:

USA Today

Huffington Post

ABC News

Pitchfork

New York Times

Wikipedia

Use This iPad App to Create Original Graphics

I'm really enjoying the new Paper app on the iPad. It's free to get the ink pen tool, and $7.99 for the full kit.

I sprang for the full version. Here's a quick doodle I made last night using it:

I plan to create my own graphics and use them in upcoming photos and videos, etc.

Here are links to learn more about it
itunes.apple.com/us/app/paper-by-fiftythree/id506003812
www.fiftythree.com

What about you?

How could you use Paper (or any other image creation app or software) to create original graphics to go with your original music?

-Bob

Don't Make THIS Mistake with Your CD Artwork

A friend of mine, who happens to be a great singer and songwriter, recently released his first EP. He was very excited about getting this debut recording out to the public.

He was doing all the right things: Getting digital distribution through CD Baby, setting up a Facebook fan page and a YouTube channel, hiring a graphic designer, and even manufacturing a short run of physical CDs.

I was so happy for him and eagerly bought a copy of the EP when it was available. The packaging looked great ... but I quickly noticed that an important detail was missing.

I examined the album artwork two or three times to make sure I wasn't overlooking it. Alas, one crucial detail was nowhere to be found.

On the album artwork, this talented artist had neglected to include a web addrdss of any kind. No artist website, no Facebook address, no Twitter URL ... nothing!

Of course, you can say that many of the people who buy the album will already know where to find the artist. Or that anyone can simply "Google" his name to find him online. But WHY make fans work that hard to connect with you?

Your physical recordings are more than just pretty packages to deliver your music in. They also act as marketing tools. Therefore, you should use them (and every other piece of physical promotional material you create) to connect with fans.

Do This to Make a Real Impact

In fact, I encourage you to take it a step further on your album artwork. Don't just list your website. Create an attention-getting incentive to visit the site and ... drum roll, please ... get on your mailing list!

That's right. Think about it. Is everyone who purchases your album, or everyone who sees your album at a friend's house or in their car, on your mailing list? In most cases, the answer is absolutely NO! Which means there's a huge disconnect between you and your fan base.

Consider all the people who purchase or hear your new album and love it. How will they know when you have something new for sale? How will they know when your next live show is? How will they get to know and appreciate you more?

The short answer: They WON'T if you aren't able to connect with them directly!

That's why building a mailing list is so important. And that's why creating an obvious "call to action" on your album artwork to visit your website and get on your list is important to your growth as an artist.

Note of clarification: I'm suggesting you place your websites and calls to action on the inside of the CD booklet/insert or on the back cover - NOT on the front cover of the album. Some digital retailers, such as iTunes, will not sell music in their catalog if the album cover contains a web address.

What do YOU think? I welcome your comments.

-Bob

P.S. The image above is by Chris Griffith.

Bob Baker: The CD Baby Interview [VIDEO]

A few months ago, CD Baby president Brian Felsen interviewed me at the TAXI Road Rally. We covered a wide range of marketing and indie music career topics.

Here's the full video interview.



What do you think about the topics we covered? I welcome your comments!

-Bob