Aretha Franklin on Inspiring Younger Musicians

Sometimes all you have to do to inspire people is have the courage to show up and be different.

Quartet #24: A 45-Word Call to Action, Finding Anyone's Email Address and More!

Elizabeth Gilbert's Book Big Magic is one I've read more than once and I will also be revisiting her TED Talk below in the future. She is always makes me think about my music and art in ways that are useful.

And idea #2 got me fired the hell up!

Without further ado, here are this week's ideas...

Quartet of the Week

1. ​Elizabeth Gilbert: Your Elusive Creative Genius​ This TED Talk is worth your time. Elizabeth Gilbert is transparent, generous and brutally honest about her creative journey and I am quite sure that every person reading this will be able to relate to some or all of this talk.

So much of the creative process is a battle with ourselves and this gets to the heart of that.

Glad I took the time to watch this.

2. ​Your Notes Need You​ I've been thinking about this tweet ever since I read it last summer.

It is a 45-word call to action. 3. ​8 YouTube Mistakes to Avoid in 2023​

This list actually applies to any social media channel. It's a good list but I think #1 + #2 are especially important.

(#1 is an easy trap to fall into + #2 is a great way to learn quickly.)

4. ​Tool: Hunter.io​

This is the kind of tool that you will have no use for whatsoever until you really have a use for it.

This massive database can help you find anyone's email address.

This is a great tool for the proactive marketing I'm always advocating.

This Week in TEM

​TEM291​ covers five mistakes that I routinely see people make when applying for grants. I have read hundreds of proposals over the years on behalf of The Mockingbird Foundation and there is definitely a pattern. Don't miss this one if you ever apply for grants.

My Final Thought of the Week

Here's a quote to send you on your way:

“This a wonderful day. I've never seen this one before.”

—Maya Angelou

I've been trying to be on a gratitude kick of late and this quote from the always amazing Maya Angelou is just wonderful.

There are some days when I don't take the time to cultivate gratitude. And as an entrepreneurial musician with a portoflio career, I can sometimes tend to focus on what I haven't gotten done rather than what I have. I can also focus on my failures rather than my successes.

But reading a quote like this one makes me realize that today is the only day I'm ever going to get to experience this day and that makes everything slow down just a little bit.

Here's to taking it all in along the way!

Cheers,
Andrew
The Entrepreneurial Musician

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A Powerful Lesson on Outcomes Over Tactics Courtesy of Mad Men

Your messaging needs to talk about how your customers will be changed - not about what you are going to do.

This gripping scene from Mad Men really hammers home that point.

Imagine if Don Draper had talked about the wheel’s sturdy construction, or how easy it is to load the slides, or how to store it.

Those are all important features! We want a product that is sturdy and will last. And when confronted with a new technology like this was at the time, we want to be assured that we will have no problem using it. Finally, storing something like this is important when adding a new tool into our houses.

What he did in this scene is appeal to the real reason why anyone would buy one of these back in the day:

It’s a time machine.

It brings us to moments in our lives which feel simpler. It brings back loved ones who are long gone. It brings us back to the chaotic but simple first days a child is alive. It brings us to a time without uncertainty.

You aren’t just teaching your students lip slurs or how to read tenor clef.

You are also giving them a lifelong love of music. Helping them to become more confident. You get the point…

Not every teacher is going to have the same lines in that last paragraph. You might be specifically helping people win professional auditions. You might be helping young people get more confidence in life.

The point is that you get to choose a lane. And when you do, you need to make sure your messaging is all about how the student will be changed.

Because whether we realize it or not, we all care a lot more about outcomes more than we care about tactics.

Quartet #23: Fascinating YouTube Channel Trailers, Cultivating Calm and More!

Don't miss the short clip from Jazzie Pigott in #4. In this clip she is discussing learning a specific section of music but I feel like it really sums up the entire pursuit of music - the performing side and the business side.

At least it does for me!

And without further ado, here are this week's ideas...

Quartet of the Week

1. ​Nine Most Popular Types of Social Media Content in 2023​ This article shows the numbers behind the most popular (and unpopular) types of social media content so far this year.

I certainly know which types I prefer but it is almost always a mistake to assume that your audience has the exact same preferences that you do.

I've just started ramping up #1 so we'll see how that goes!

2. ​The Science of Cultivating Calm​ This is quite the article! It gets into how breathing is like an operating manual for our nervous system.

I appreciate it showing exactly how our breathing affects our minds and bodies. It served as a good reminder for me to slow down and pay attention to my breathing throughout the day. 3. ​5 Tips to Make a Fascinating YouTube Channel Trailer​

I have really been digging into YouTube lately and trying to increase not only my audience but also my engagement there. That has lead me to learn about all sorts of things which I will share here.

This article provides some tips for making a good YouTube channel trailer.

I will be adding a YouTube channel trailer on ​my YouTube channel for The Brass Junkies​ sometime this weekend. Let me know what you think!

4. ​Avoidance, Then Trial and Error​

It's impressive how much of the artistic journey is summed up in this sub-30-second clip.

Once we deal with avoidance we need to keep making trials and embracing the errors.

This Week in TEM

​TEM290​ is a reminder that people who have skills you don’t have aren’t magical - they’ve just had discipline.

My Final Thought of the Week

Here's a quote to send you on your way:

“You have to be unreasonable to see the world that doesn’t yet exist!”

—Will Guidara

I love the task of seeing a world that doesn't exist yet!

The way to monetize your efforts in the music business is to change the world.

Not the entire world! Just the world of the people who consume your art or your services.

And if you only change it in a way that others also offer, you aren't going to have much traction.

Changing people in some new way requires seeing a world that doesn't exist yet and then making that vision a reality.

And that requires being unreasonable rather than simply falling back on the old arguments of why things are the way they are (with the frequently unstated layer added of 'and why they need to stay that way.')

So here's to being unreasonable this week!

Cheers,
Andrew
​The Entrepreneurial Musician

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Avoidance, Then Trial and Error

This clip from professional tuba player Jasmine Pigott covers an awful lot of the artistic journey in less than 30 seconds.

She talks about needing to learn how to improvise for a section of a piece that called for soloing when she had no experience improvising whatsoever.

The first part of this clip sure sounded familiar to me: She just avoided it! And then worked on the rest of the solo instead.

The following is me connecting the dots for her but I’m guessing she felt pretty productive by practicing the rest of the solo, even though deep down she knew she was putting off the truly hard work.

I know I’ve certainly used that tactic many times, both on the playing side and the business side of my career.

The problem is that I’m too “smart” to knowingly avoid it. I have to trick myself into thinking that I’m avoiding it for a good reason - in this case that the entire rest of the solo needed learning.

I love the message of the second part of this clip. Once she stopped avoiding it she acquired a new skill simply through lots of trial and error.

Not by watching one more YouTube video on the subject.

Not by thinking more or better or smarter.

By actually doing it (trial) and doing it poorly (error.)

No one has ever claimed to learn something by trial. It’s always by trial and error.

We have to allow ourselves to not sound good or to price something wrong or to botch an album release.

That simply gets us one step closer to sounding good, nailing our pricing or having a successful album release.

So make sure there are enough trials and not only expect but embrace the errors.

If you do both of those things, good things will happen.

Thanks for the lesson, Jasmine!

Do I Want to Be Happy or Do I Want to Be Right?

A portfolio career means regularly partnering with an assortment of people in different capacities. Work with enough people over time and you are bound to not care for every one of them. While we can never control how the people around us act, we can always control if and how we react to those people.

One of the wisest things I’ve ever heard came from a friend who once told me “I find it fascinating that I no longer have to attend every argument I’m invited to.” 

This simple one-liner had a profound impact on me. The bottom line is I have a choice to make in any situation: Do I want to be happy or do I want to be right?

I tend to get annoyed by people who always seem to feel the need to get in the last word in a disagreement. (Side note: This is because my ego frequently feels the need to also get in the last word!) But continuing an even slightly contentious conversation for another gratuitous back and forth never leaves me or anyone feeling better.

We have all been in an ensemble or on a project with two people who regularly choose to be right in each other's direction. Even if neither one of them ever turns that energy towards you personally, there is a good chance you won’t want to work with either of them again. You will also be far less likely to recommend them to anyone in the future.

Choosing to be happy enables you and everyone else to focus on doing the important work in front of you rather than needlessly wasting energy on managing personalities.

Quartet #22: YouTube Thumbnails, Reacting vs Responding and More!

I have been hyperaware lately of things like YouTube thumbnails so #3 was a nice thing to stumble upon. Things like thumbnails really are an important factor in getting our hard work noticed on a platform like YouTube.

(Plus the photo above is kind of brilliant even though that's some sorry looking pizza!)

And without further ado, here are this week's ideas...

Quartet of the Week

1. ​Zero Time Habits​

Very simple concept, as the best ones frequently are!

A Zero Time Habit is something you don’t do so that you can do more of what you want.

This one got the gears in my head turning mighty quick.

2. ​Will You React or Respond?​

I am confident that anyone reading this is open to change in the music business at least on some level. But we all have blind spots and all face sunk costs when some specific aspect changes unexpectedly.

"The world changes and we have a choice:

• Fight hard to keep it the way it was.

• Notice what happened and then decide to do something with that insight."

Which will you choose?

3. ​How to Make a Great YouTube Thumbnail​

It is kind of mind-blowing to me how important having a great thumbnail is to a YouTube video getting traction. Anyone I've ever spoken with who is crushing it on the YouTube front has told me the same thing: a YouTube thumbnail can make or break your video.

And to be clear, this isn't about "going viral." Anyone who claims they know the secret to going viral are full of crap. An awful lot of things have to hit just right for a video to really blow up.

But a great YouTube thumbnail can easily be the difference between a video getting 100 views or 1,000 views.

This article is a great place to start and will show you what to look for in the thumbnails of others which will give you an idea of what you should do for your own.

4. ​Do I Want to Be Happy or Do I Want to Be Right?​

This comes from a nugget of wisdom that was handed down to me by a friend. This one-liner has had an immeasurable impact on my life so I thought I would share it.

Bottom line is the music business is all about relationships. The people who can thrive at managing those relationships have an enormous head start on those who can't.

This stuff should be taught the very first week of the first semester of college but it isn't. Lots of us end up learning the hard way.

Or the lucky ones have a friend who gives it to us straight!

This Week in TEM

​TEM288​ is a reminder that some people will always think you are charging too much and some people will think you are charging too little and that you can't cater to both groups - so you have to choose one!

My Final Thought of the Week

Here's a quote to send you on your way:

"To waste time is to waste your life."

—Mokokoma Mokhonoana

Well this puts a mighty fine point on things now doesn't it!

I really like the concept of Zero Time Habits from #1 and I thought this quote pairs nicely with it.

I am always so focused on what I should be doing which is not a bad thing. But when I occasionally focus on things I should not be doing it offers me clarity.

Here's to a productive end of the week and either a productive or restful weekend!

Cheers,
Andrew
The Entrepreneurial Musician

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Quartet #21: Copywriting Tips Worth Stealing, the Golden Rule for Email Replies and More!

I am really vibing with #3 this week! Such a simple concept but it has already made an impact on me and made me feel just a little more in control of my email (which is a gift!)

And without further ado, here are this week's ideas...

Quartet of the Week

1. ​The 5 Types of Personal Projects (And How You Can Justify Pursuing Them)​

A portfolio career tends to involve a lot of project-based work. This article outlines five different types of personal projects and why it is a good idea to pursue each kind.

I found this article two days ago and the very next day I shared the link with someone during a coaching call.

2. ​10 Copywriting Tips Worth Stealing​

The words we choose to sell the various aspects of our portfolio careers are vital and can absolutely make or break a revenue stream.

I went literally years of being a professional before I learned that copy should focus on benefits instead of features - as in how the person will benefit, not what you are going to do for them.

This simple change made a massive difference in my career.

This article features 10 easy to digest things to think about when writing copy for a webpage, a YouTube video script, an email, anything!

3. ​When You Should Put Effort Into an Email Reply​

Thoughtful communication is one of the biggest keys to the success of any entrepreneurial musician. But there are some traps with things like email.

This quick article asks the question of when you should put real effort into a reply and lays out an equation that is so simple — never put more effort into replying to an email than the other person put into sending it.

That's gold!

4. ​TEM Tool: Beginning Graphic Design - Fundamentals​

This short YouTube video is *awesome*.

I do not have a goal of becoming a professional graphic designer. But the more I learn from simple videos like this, the more I notice things in the logos, websites and YouTube channels that speak to me: both the good and the bad.

It's just like being a musician. It is all about having lots of data. Once you have enough, good and bad, you start to have an opinion about what you want to sound like.

I've just started that journey with graphic design simply by paying attention to videos like this and it is already paying dividends.

This Week in TEM

​TEM287​ touches on why being thoughtful and intentional about what you learn is better than just learning a little bit of everything at once. It also features a great quote from author Anne Rice about learning.

My Final Thought of the Week

Here's a quote to send you on your way:

"The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough." —Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

If you can, spend part of your weekend coming up with some dreams that scare you a little bit and I will do the same.

Onward!

Cheers,
Andrew
The Entrepreneurial Musician

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Quartet #20: Steve Jobs' Brilliant Pricing Strategy, How to Solve Problems More Effectively and More!

TEM Coaching Chats are back - and TEM is going to every other week.

I have been trying to completely set aside how I've been doing things in an effort to figure out how I would do them if I was starting over again with a clean slate.

Bascially, I'm just trying some things to increase my impact on the TEM audience as well as minimize the amount of work (in that order!)

I think I've hit on something. But ultimately, you all will decide whether I have or not!

And without further ado, here are this week's ideas...

Quartet of the Week

1. ​How To Solve Problems More Effectively With One Simple Change​

This video is only 114 seconds!

Sometimes I like to share links to deep dives on topics and other times I like to share things that get in, make an impact and then get out.

I'm glad I stumbled onto this Daniel Pink video. Good stuff.

2. ​8 Things Every "Link in Bio" Should Include​

This article from music business reference site Hypebot talks about viewing your "Link in Bio" like an EPK (electronic press kit.)

There are many services that serve as a "Link in Bio" tool and some of them are even free. This article is a good place to start to make sure you are including the right stuff.

And remember, if someone is voluntarily trying to find out more about you, make it easy for them! Having a "Link in Bio" set up is a good way to accomplish that.

3. ​Steve Jobs' Brilliant Pricing Strategy​

This is an Instagram Reel which means it is less than a minute!

This video shows hows Steve Jobs used something called anchoring to make the $499 price of the first iPad seem like a steal.

And that technique will work for anything you have to sell: booking your group, lessons, compositions, anything.

4. ​Tool I Couldn't Live Without: Adobe Express​

I used to have a partner do all of the graphics for TEM and The Brass Junkies. When that partner decided they were moving on they set up some templates for me in Adobe Express and they were blown away by it when they tried it. Someone who does graphic design professionally couldn't believe how powerful it is while also being unbelievably easy to use.

Seriously, kick the tires on this thing. I find Canva pretty easy to use but this is next level. And Adobe also offers thousands upon thousands of royalty free images. It's kind of incredible how powerful this tool is and good graphics are vital for your website, videos, social media posts and promotional materials to name just a few things!

This Week in TEM

This is the first place I'm announcing this but as I said in the intro, TEM is moving to every other week.

Every part of the episode process takes time (writing the episode, making the graphics, editing the video, mastering the audio, writing the show notes, posting to the websites, doing promotion on social media, etc.) If I make slightly longer episodes every other week then the time spent doing most of those things will be halved. And that means more time to do more impactful things like coming up with new ways to serve the TEM audience through courses, group coachings and this newsletter.

But I am going to start TEM Coaching Chats back up again! I did one yesterday titled ​Fear in Fancy Shoes​. You can follow the link to our YouTube channel or check it out here:

My Final Thought of the Week

Here's a quote to send you on your way:

“Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.”

—Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs was a quotable man! He was always good for a great soundbite and that is exactly what this is.

When I am obsessing about the opinions of others it doesn't allow me the space to hear my own voice, the one I should actually be following.

What a priceless reminder.

Cheers,
Andrew
The Entrepreneurial Musician

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TEM Coaching Chat: Fear in Fancy Shoes

TEM Coaching Chats are back!

Today’s was inspired by re-reading Elizabeth Gilbert’s wonderful book, Big Magic.

I will be reading it for a third time within a couple of years - it’s that good!

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Quartet #19: Building a Meaningful Network, Taming Your Inner Critic and More!

January is chugging along!

Networking is something that everyone knows is important and yet somehow practically every music school in the world lets you just figure it out on your own.

I like that the first link gets into multiple layers of networking because it is so vital and I needed the refresher!

And without further ado, here are this week's ideas...

Quartet of the Week

1.  Don't Just Network — Build Your 'Meaningful Network' to Maximize Your Impact 

We have all been on the receiving end of self-serving networking and it always feels gross. And sadly, that kind of networking is not uncommon.

This article talks about ways to build a meaningful network which is the opposite of making people feel gross. But it also offers actionable advice on how to get more connected to the people who are already in your network which is vital.

I appreciate this article because networking has literally never been more important than it is now to thrive in a portfolio career. So being able to do it well is almost a superpower!

2.  How to Tame Your Inner Critic 

This episode of The Upgrade podcast features an interview with psychologist Ethan Kross. This conversation really resonanted with me. He defines "chatter" and offers ways to deal with it. And the part where he talks about "the seductive allure of venting" is must-hear.

I found this conversation fascinating.

3.  Books That Changed Lives 

Designer Tina Roth Eisenberg asked Twitter back in 2017 what books had changed people's lives and the replies she got are wonderful. A bunch I know and a bunch that are brand new to me.

4.  If You're Upset About Something Watch This 

That was advice I read and sure enough it works. It's a completely ridiculous video that's less than a minute and will guaranteed hit reset on any frustrating situation (like this video that I have spent literally the last two days making that's not rendering correctly.)

This Week's in TEM

 TEM286: Not Making a Decision Is Still Making One  is all about how my brain tricks me into inaction when I’m faced with a decision I don’t want to make and the trick I then use to convince myself to take action and make a decision. Lots of tricking going on!

My Final Thought of the Week

Here's a quote to send you on your way:

"Think of your energy as currency. When you focus less energy on the things you are against, you have more to spend on creating what you do want."

—Maryam Hasnaa

This is brilliant. Thinking of energy as a currency is spot on because we all have a limited amount of it in any given day. So I desperately need to spend it on things that I want to do and things that will really move the needle for me.

This is exactly why my main goal for 2023 is to be intentional with how I spend my time and not just settling for "working hard" or something nebulous like that.

Here's to using your energy and attention wisely!

Cheers, Andrew The Entrepreneurial Musician

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Quartet #18: The Best Parts of a Must-Read Business Book, the Four Types of Luck and More!

This is my first "normal" week in quite some time.

I am sleeping in my own bed every single night this week. My son has five days of school. I haven't traveled farther than about seven miles from my house. And it has been so incredibly productive!

Momentum feels good and I hope you are experiencing some yourself.

And without further ado, here are this week's ideas...
​

Quartet of the Week

1. How to Design the Perfect Day​

There is a lot to digest in this post. At the least I would recommend skimming it and bookmarking it to return to later. It's worth it I promise!

Two things jumped off the page at me. One is the busyness is a lack of priorities section and the other is the quote that I include below in my final thought of the week.
​

2. The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing Summary: Top 10 Lessons​
​
​The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing is a really great book! Probably a third of it doesn't apply at all to a musician with a portfolio career but the rest of the book is vital to anyone on this path!

I highly recommend that you check out the book but in the meantime, this blog post is a really good summary of some of the key points.

If you are thinking about starting anything from a band to a teaching studio, you are making a mistake by not checking this out first. It will affect not just how you approach the venture but even what you try to do in the first place.
​
​
3. The Four Types of Luck​

This twitter thread describes the four different kinds of luck as laid out in a 1978 book by neurologist Dr. James Austin.

The fascinating thing about this is that only the first of four is out of your control. We can play a direct role in increasing the chances of the other three types of luck showing up in our life simply through intentional actions.

I find that empowering!
​

4. 2022 TEM Year in Review​
​
This one isn't an idea but it's always fun for me to go over the stats for the show at the end of each year. This short post includes my five most popular episodes of the year and the Top 10 countries by download.

Some of those are awfully far away from where I'm sitting right now which is kind of crazy!

If you are reading this then you are a big reason for the continued success of TEM and I appreciate you!
​

This Week's TEM Episode

​TEM285: Follow the Green Lights is about why you need to be following the green lights in your portfolio career rather than stopping to fixate on the stop signs.

You're probably brighter than I am but I have to re-learn this lesson over and over again! So keep reminding me if you notice that I need to hear it again!
​

My Final Thought of the Week

Here's a quote to send you on your way:

"You don't have eight creative, problem-solving hours in the day - you have two. Use them wisely."

—Naval Ravikant

​
These two sentences made me reframe how I structure my days and what important work needs to go where in the day.

I certainly have more than two productive hours a day in me. But truly peak effort where I'm doing my best and most creative problem solving?

I bet it's right around two hours.

Love simple concepts that help solidify so much so quickly in my mind.

Have a great week!
​

Cheers,
Andrew
​The Entrepreneurial Musician

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2022 TEM Year in Review

With 2022 in the rearview mirror I thought it would be fun to take a look at just a few stats from last year:

Top 10 Downloads by Country:

1. United States of America

2. Australia

3. Canada

4. United Kingdom

5. Japan

6. Singapore

7. Germany

8. Russia

9. Taiwan

10. Spain

TEM was downloaded in 81 countries which is really hard to wrap my brain around! And that includes such faraway places (relative to where I am sitting when I talk into this mic) as Zimbabwe, Peru, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates. Again, hard to process!

Bottom line is there’s never been a more exciting time to a content creator of any kind. It is possible to get your podcast or album or TikTok video in front of people literally all over the world. That wasn’t at any time in human history until quite recently.

You just have to keep showing up over and over again!

Top 5 Most Popular Episodes in 2022:

1. TEM246: Getting Others to Market for You Without Asking

2. TEM248: When Is It Good Enough

3. TEM254: Monica Ellis of Imani Winds

4. TEM250: Eric Branner of Fons

5. TEM247: What Procrastination Actually Is

And maybe my favorite stat of all is that every single episode in the history of TEM was downloaded in 2022 - even the ones that are over seven years old.

If you are reading this is a really good chance that you are a part of the above stats and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your attention. You are appreciated!

Here’s to an even better 2023 for your portfolio career and to TEM!