G
GuestUser4aMPs1
Guest
Good morning fellow fastlaners.
Posting at 1:00am as I wake up from a nap - burning the midnight oil.
Without going into too much detail about my background, I am 19 - making my way into a music career through semi-unconventional means to this industry.
As a quick disclaimer, what my "creative career" actually consists of is 3 - yes, 3 - different "businesses..."
HOWEVER, they are all very similar and will feed of of each other + synergize once they are sufficiently built. Most fastlaners will argue that we need to focus on one thing - but I want to make the distinction that these three are NOT hugely deviant from each other.
I admit, it's not easy front-loading 3 different projects...but I try to focus on the work that is most important and try to get each one to a point where it will take as little involvement as possible to keep these things maintained.
These are:
1: (My Personal) Music Project
Any and all activities related to the creation + performance of music, whether original to serve as entertainment for an audience, or commercially composed to serve a function in another creative work.
2: (Music) Blog
Not just any music blog. I want to change lives. I want to give artists the courage to create. This project is the running documentation of what I will be doing for the next few months and beyond - I am doing this because nobody else has documented it. I want to document and show people what it takes to make it...but it's only possible by pushing the music project.
3: Band Merchandising
Basically another business that nobody else has done before; I create graphics + ecommerce stores for bands for free for a % cut of what they make. This project is a few months in the making already with a validated concept - it solves a huge need in my market - but it hasn't scaled like it should.
Briefly, what has happened this past month...
SEPTEMBER:
Band Merchandising:
Prior to this month I have been running the business by actively reaching out to musicians who wanted to work with us. Ended up taking too much time and effort to keep up with all of the contacts. Wanted to build something that leads will be attracted to, instead of me spinning my tires contacting individuals.
So...
-Built my first website and ran PPC Campaign - split tests revealed which methods worked the best to drive traffic.
- Closed on a few license deals, one new online store up and running. No new sales this month.
It's becoming very evident that there are design and copy flaws that are not allowing the site to convert more visitors. Also the functionality is flawed; how it is set up involves too much back-and-forth communication. Hinders progress but this is very important information - Design and functionality improvements will be a priority next month to help streamline the design process.
Music Project:
- Got involved in a great music composition project with a local entertainment company, producing a night show in the hydroflight niche. Developed our first show in under a month and performed to a group of ~1,200 people at a public event. This project was the bulk of the work this month and alone made me reach my income goal for this month.
- Daily writing. Having enormous creative breakthroughs by challenging myself to write one new song and publish it every day. Having daily content has helped grow attention slightly, averaging 1,100 plays on soundcloud alone each month (at the end of the day money talks, but shows marketing strategies and making content consistently and in large volume is working. Previously I average ~300 plays per month).
Music Blog:
- Daily Writing. Made a bulk amount of content that will be drip-released in the coming month.
-Very rough website up & running.
Not a significant amount of progress with this particular project, but the content is there.
Bonus Miscellaneous:
So, let's talk about timing...and health.
This all came when it felt like the floodgates were about to open.
For the last 6 months, I was working at a website development company.
They probably haven't changed the air filter in 15 years, and the dude sitting next to me constantly vaped in the office. I was sedentary for several hours a day.
I was getting sick, low energy, probably low T, etc
It took a ton of time away from everything above and I wasn't making much money ($9 an hour).
Also, manager wanted me to take on all of his responsibilities for when he went on vacation in October.
No. I was not about to spend more time rotting away in a chair.
I realized I could be making much more money doing something else.
So I took the leap and quit my job.
This past month has been the most challenging and exciting month of my life, I feel more vibrant and healthier than I have ever been before.
So, there you go. I will update this thread later for my current goals for October - for now, need to get back to work. I am 100% to all criticism, suggestions, etc.
Peace
UC
Posting at 1:00am as I wake up from a nap - burning the midnight oil.
Without going into too much detail about my background, I am 19 - making my way into a music career through semi-unconventional means to this industry.
As a quick disclaimer, what my "creative career" actually consists of is 3 - yes, 3 - different "businesses..."
HOWEVER, they are all very similar and will feed of of each other + synergize once they are sufficiently built. Most fastlaners will argue that we need to focus on one thing - but I want to make the distinction that these three are NOT hugely deviant from each other.
I admit, it's not easy front-loading 3 different projects...but I try to focus on the work that is most important and try to get each one to a point where it will take as little involvement as possible to keep these things maintained.
These are:
1: (My Personal) Music Project
Any and all activities related to the creation + performance of music, whether original to serve as entertainment for an audience, or commercially composed to serve a function in another creative work.
2: (Music) Blog
Not just any music blog. I want to change lives. I want to give artists the courage to create. This project is the running documentation of what I will be doing for the next few months and beyond - I am doing this because nobody else has documented it. I want to document and show people what it takes to make it...but it's only possible by pushing the music project.
3: Band Merchandising
Basically another business that nobody else has done before; I create graphics + ecommerce stores for bands for free for a % cut of what they make. This project is a few months in the making already with a validated concept - it solves a huge need in my market - but it hasn't scaled like it should.
Briefly, what has happened this past month...
SEPTEMBER:
Band Merchandising:
Prior to this month I have been running the business by actively reaching out to musicians who wanted to work with us. Ended up taking too much time and effort to keep up with all of the contacts. Wanted to build something that leads will be attracted to, instead of me spinning my tires contacting individuals.
So...
-Built my first website and ran PPC Campaign - split tests revealed which methods worked the best to drive traffic.
- Closed on a few license deals, one new online store up and running. No new sales this month.
It's becoming very evident that there are design and copy flaws that are not allowing the site to convert more visitors. Also the functionality is flawed; how it is set up involves too much back-and-forth communication. Hinders progress but this is very important information - Design and functionality improvements will be a priority next month to help streamline the design process.
Music Project:
- Got involved in a great music composition project with a local entertainment company, producing a night show in the hydroflight niche. Developed our first show in under a month and performed to a group of ~1,200 people at a public event. This project was the bulk of the work this month and alone made me reach my income goal for this month.
- Daily writing. Having enormous creative breakthroughs by challenging myself to write one new song and publish it every day. Having daily content has helped grow attention slightly, averaging 1,100 plays on soundcloud alone each month (at the end of the day money talks, but shows marketing strategies and making content consistently and in large volume is working. Previously I average ~300 plays per month).
Music Blog:
- Daily Writing. Made a bulk amount of content that will be drip-released in the coming month.
-Very rough website up & running.
Not a significant amount of progress with this particular project, but the content is there.
Bonus Miscellaneous:
So, let's talk about timing...and health.
This all came when it felt like the floodgates were about to open.
For the last 6 months, I was working at a website development company.
They probably haven't changed the air filter in 15 years, and the dude sitting next to me constantly vaped in the office. I was sedentary for several hours a day.
I was getting sick, low energy, probably low T, etc
It took a ton of time away from everything above and I wasn't making much money ($9 an hour).
Also, manager wanted me to take on all of his responsibilities for when he went on vacation in October.
No. I was not about to spend more time rotting away in a chair.
I realized I could be making much more money doing something else.
So I took the leap and quit my job.
This past month has been the most challenging and exciting month of my life, I feel more vibrant and healthier than I have ever been before.
So, there you go. I will update this thread later for my current goals for October - for now, need to get back to work. I am 100% to all criticism, suggestions, etc.
Peace
UC
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