Week 8 with Ariel Hyatt’s “Music Success in Nine Weeks”
Week 8 in Ariel’s book focuses on real life networking, which is probably one of the most frequent things you will do as a human being. I was terrified of networking at first, but as with anything, practice and repetition has made it much easier for me. Reaching out to people online and offline is essential to any career, let alone music. Effective networking and connecting with people can open all kinds of interesting doors and introduce many new and exciting opportunities.
Network to find your fans
If you have no idea who would be into your music, the best way to figure it out is to start talking to everybody and anybody. Whenever you’re out at night, chat it up with some randoms and try to steer the conversation towards your music at one point, giving them a business card or a download card or something when you’re done chatting so they can remember you. Don’t be pushy though, nobody wants to hear a sales pitch when they are out for a few drinks. When my bandmates and I would go out on the weekends, we’d go our separate ways sometimes and start talking to randoms, eventually turning the conversation towards music, asking them what places they like to hang out, who their favorite bands are, stuff like that to help us get a feel for where any potential fans might be lurking.
Network to raise your street cred
As with any industry, you need to establish yourself as a credible musician amongst like-minded peers. Seek out bands and venues in your area that are similar to you, and reach out to them. Just get to talking, don’t plug yourself right away. Establishing a good relationship first is the key thing to remember in any networking situation.
Be. Memorable.
How do you get somebody to remember you? Make the conversation 95% about them. Take a wholehearted, honest interest in what they are saying, and ask tons of questions that let them ramble on without pause. Also, ask them what their name is before introducing yourself, and they will usually reciprocate with the same question.
Following up is crucial
I have this one friend that goes out to clubs and bars all the time, and racks up girl’s phone numbers each night like it’s nothing. His Droid X is loaded with random girls’ phone numbers, but he has yet to call any of them back. Why? For some reason, he has no problem with the hardest part of the equation, which is getting the phone numbers. Yet, he is terrified of following up and seeing any of them again, in fear that it would lead to a relationship or something.
Don’t be that guy…the guy that never calls back. Following up is a crucial step to effective networking. You need to develop that relationship. Without the follow up, nothing will ever come to fruition! Send a quick e-mail, text, phone call, or whatever and just say something like “Hey dude, nice meeting you the other day. Wasn’t that [insert funny thing that happened] just hilarious?” If they respond, then you can start pitching them with your music. They will be much more open to listening, I guarantee it.
Words and phrases to never say
Everyone has their bad habits, weird phrases, and expressions, which is fine, but here are a few that sound downright unprofessional and stupid (in my opinion), and really should be avoided:
- “I’m just…” – makes you sound like you are not confident about what you are going to say, which is never good.
- “I’m not trying to sell you anything…” – makes it sound like that is exactly what you’re doing.
- “Literally…” – is redundant and your sincerity should be expressed by your tone of voice and facial expressions, not that awful word.
- “At the end of the day…” – just a personal preference, but it annoys the crap out of me when people over-use that expression. So cliche, you’re better than that!
Are there any similar phrases that annoy you, or that you feel are definite no-no’s in a networking situation? Leave a comment below! Literally!
