Part Two
This is the second of ten career success tips, I plan to impart for any interested listeners. Whether you are trying to decide if a music career is for you, just starting your music career, or a seasoned music professional, I think one or two of these tips will be of interest to you. There are a lot of people providing access to joints that help to build your skills, and most do a great job. My goal here is not to try and compete with them. I will stay in my lane. From time to time, however, I might suggest and recommend others. I view these tips to be aimed at your mindset, and behaviors that will either make you or break you. So, whether you aspire to be a songwriter, an artist, a musician, and or producer, in my experience, these tips may apply:
Some Tips To Dip Into:
- You got to put in the time.
- You can only do two or three things very well, so focus. (See details below)
- Once you are focused, decide on what value you offer to others.
- Determine how you fit in.
- Determine how you can market what you offer.
- Develop a marketing strategy.
- Provide quality service or products.
- Follow up and communicate with your customers.
- Always try to anticipate what your customers, followers, or clients need.
- Keep trying, you can always make it better.
YOU CAN ONLY DO TWO OR THREE THINGS VERY WELL, SO FOCUS
My mother has since passed, but when I got out of the service, and joined my first band, “ The Liberators Show and Dance Band”, and would come home late at night waking her up, she would always say, “you better have something to fall back on.” Of course, this would psychologically devastate some people to hear this, but I took her decry to heart. I remembered that I got out of the service to pursue my education. I had played trombone since the fifth grade, and really did not want to lose my talent. After playing in the band on the weekends, sharing and divvying up the Black audience in Tulsa with the unsigned Gap Band, the Liberators Show and Dance Band members, took off to the Buckeye state to pursue their college education. The journey was not without its difficulties, but we persevered and got to Wilberforce, Ohio. As things sometimes go, when a new band is not focused, have uncommunicated intentions, or basically don’t want the same things…the band breaks up.
As a result, a mother had advised, I fell back on a Bachelor of Science in Experimental Cognitive Psychology. Only three band members followed Tip 1: You got to put in the time, and were able to finish their college education. Myself, and two other band members continued to pursue the music dream. Of these two band members were the bassist on Natalie Cole’s “Inseparable” album, and temporarily a drummer for DJ Rogers (A 70’s Soul Star). Continuing to pursue my education, I have now achieved a Doctoral degree in Psychology. I am mention this because it represents one of my three areas of focus. Your music journey and three areas of focus for success will be different from mine, but tips for achieving success are the same. I had to travel for psychology job positions, but I always had a music studio setup with me, in order to keep learning music skills that seemed to be more and more required by the music industry to achieve some bit of success.
In Tip/Chip 1, I briefly mentioned my music background and professional career experience. From 1975 to 2011, I juggled my academic and music skills, building upon both a psychology and music career. I say this for you to explain the way I performed Tip/Chip 2, because if you can do it, one supports the other. It might not be the quickest way of achievement, but it let me say focused on the dream, while having a little fun along the way. I am still pursuing the dream and staying focused on being a successful songwriter, and improving my songwriting skills. I love to write songs, but I am still working on the other required music industry skills. So, music and songwriting is the second area of focus for me.
I have done and achieved a lot, but I am still not satisfied. I know it is hard to make it and be successful and I am sensitive to the emotional feelings elicited when you try and try, but don’t see any success at all. I have been there. Nothing worthwhile is achieved without a few bumps and bruises. About a year ago, I established” MiJen Publishing” (https://mijenpublishing.com) to provide music, information resources, and added value for those trying, like me to achieve music success. Digital the technology allows great music production from home, and the industry is still changing. My third area of focus is now to create a sister company, “MiJen Productions, LLC” (https://mijenproductions.com) to meet recording, mixing, mastering, and other music needs. So stay tuned to these blogs, and visit MiJen Publishing and MiJen Productions for music services, lyrical and music content, and helpful music resources. Find your three areas to focus on, put in the time, and don’t discouraged. The next Tip/Chip I want you to digest is 3: Once you are focused, decide on what value you offer others. Stay tuned, and we’ll explore your abilities, their value, and who needs them.