A lot of Indie artists pride themselves on being the DIY Kings and Queens to a fault. I’m here to challenge you to learn the difference between necessity, pride, & opportunity. What I mean by this is just because we can do things for ourselves, does not mean we always should. If there is a subject matter expert that or a professional that can execute a task faster or better than we can, or can even teach us how to do it better than we know how to…WHY TF ARE WE NOT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THIS OPPORTUNITY? Do not get in your own way. Your pride should not be bigger than your hunger for success, ever.
In the words of our beloved, Cardi B, “Everybody wanna be lit, Everybody wanna be rich” & if you have turned on the radio AT ALL in 2019, you know the rest. And if no one ever has, allow me to be the first, to say YOU. NEED. HELP. If not now, you will one day.
You can and will get further faster with the right help.
Recognizing when it is the right time to hire help is one of the biggest differences between you and the next up. I’m sure you can do it all yourself but if you don’t have to, why are you? Not so little secret, as the artist, your very first job is to be the artist. So if you are running around booking shows, styling photoshoots, writing songs, performing and promoting… First of all – you are a beast! But for the love of chicken and waffles, GET HELP. You don’t have to do all that. I promise you, you can and will get further faster with the right help.
Here are some important things to remember when thinking about building your team:
HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU NEED A TEAM?
1. HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU NEED A TEAM? Are you at a point in your process where you have to stop or slow down because you do not know how to do something? Are you being pulled in so many directions, your creative process is impacted? If so, you may want to consider outsourcing some of these tasks. For instance, if you are creating single cover art but do not do graphic design. Hire a quick graphic designer off Instagram and have them make it for you to the specs the streaming platforms require. Don’t spend 2 weeks trying to master Adobe and your cover look amateur when you have experts that specialize in this everyday out here doing this in 20 minutes for the low.
WHAT KIND OF TEAM DO YOU NEED?
This starts by knowing what your overall music goals are. Think about where you are and where you are trying to go before just adding unnecessary people that you can’t afford to your roster right now. Depending on the direction you are headed will help you narrow down what type of skills you need on your journey. For instance, do you need someone to negotiate for you? Book shows for you? Mix your records? Etc.
DESIGNATE ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES.
When you start building a team, you may not know what you need or have the resources to fund this momentum. However, you can start with tasking who you know to do what they are good at. They may not be professional but if you have access to someone that adds value to your situation, don’t count them out. … I like to be the dumbest person in the room anyway. I have a unique talent for scouting subject matter experts as friends so I know who I need to call when I need merch, graphics, legal counsel, promo, marketing, social media help, studio time, etc. These friends also know they have an author, songwriter, singer and actress in me.
HIRE PEOPLE WHEN YOU NEED THEM.
Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Making ththe mistake of getting help too soon. If you don’t need it or cannot afford it right, save your time and money. Or at bare minimum, allocate your budget for what makes sense for you right now. For example, if I have $150 in my budget, I may spend that on my mixing / mastering before I spend it on a box of merch. And once my music is ready to press up, I will apply my budget to marketing to promote said music.
ADDING VALUE TO BE EFFICIENT.
Your #1 goal should always be to add value. If anyone you are looking to add to your team, make sure it makes sense. If the folks on your team are not doing something you can’t do, doing something better than you, or saving you time / money, ditch them.
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