What's up gigging pros. It's Jared and I'm back. I just spent the last two weeks it was a crazy, two weeks flying across the country. Well, really from Milwaukee to Orlando, and back and then attending a wedding. Really because I was attending a conference down in Orlando. And this conference was amazing. It was absolutely life changing. It was the first like big conference slash business II event that I've been to. And I went there so that I could, you know, really learn and grow my skills for my gigging group Dream City Strings, but also so I could learn those lessons and share them with you, my gigging pros, the people who listen to this podcast and subscribe to BookLive Pro and bought the Gigging Secrets book and the ones who take the business of their art just as seriously as the art because without the business of it, we can't make a living doing what we love. And this conference was just absolutely inspirational. So many speakers, 2x, NFL players that were motivational coaches, Tony Robbins was there, actually, like high five Tony Robbins, so many amazing speakers talking about digital marketing, and how to use marketing funnels to, you know, help you get more leads, who can buy your service, and there was like an award ceremony and over 200 people made a million dollars, using the software of this marketing funnel. Anyway, I'm just so energized, you could probably tell by how, how much on a tangent I am. And I just want to share a couple takeaways from this event for my musicians for my gigging pros, because, you know, if you're listening to this podcast, it probably means you realize that you can't make a living off of your art without understanding the business of it. And, you know, it's it's not a viable strategy to wait for other people to hand you gigs, you have to go out there and get them. And a lot of musicians don't know that they don't know how to do that. But you're different. Because you're listening to this podcast, you realize you can't just accept handouts, because handouts, they run dry. In fact, I was talking to a musician who actually adds it, you'll hear her interview, I think this week, it'll come out on this podcast. And it's crazy, she talks about how she was relying on a bunch of different orchestra contractors in her city. And the main one, all of a sudden, for some reason, started to not like her. And all of the work that she was getting dried up instantly, because she was relying on other people, the gatekeepers of the industry, to hand deliver her gigs. And, you know, it just takes one person to say no, and all of a sudden your entire income stream dries up. So that's why I am so passionate as a gigging pro that we need to get our own gigs, we need to learn the marketing strategy to generate the demand for our musical services. And then we need to over deliver and fulfill on that demand like crazy. So that's actually one of the big lessons here is that I just want to simplify, the whole thesis of this marketing conference is that if you are passionate about something, and you want to make a living off of it, you need to do two things. And I already mentioned the two things, let's see if you're paying attention here. But most musicians think the only thing that they need to do is deliver on what they promise, which is provide a great musical performance. And that is half of the equation. Delivering over delivering is a key component of this. If you're not willing to fulfill on your, your promises, play your music as best as you possibly can entertain your crowd. And also, you know, be a good communicator about hey, I'm going to show up and here's what we're going to play and all that you can't over deliver, then you're probably not going to have success. But honestly, most musicians don't have a problem over delivering, they play their instrument. Well they sing beautifully. And I'm sure that those of you listening to this are very good at your instrument. But you're probably frustrated because you don't have enough opportunities to deliver on your promise. And that is the other half of this equation. So the second half is deliver on your promise, I should say over deliver on your promise. The first half is generating that demand. So like I said, you know if you don't generate demand for your services, meaning you don't market you don't get people interested in hiring specifically you not the not your bandleader but you because you are in control of your your music career, your destiny. If you don't get people interested in that, don't tell them about you then Guess what you're not going to have opportunities to perform. And this is what happens to most musicians is they go to music school, they learn how to over deliver, but they never learn how to generate demand for their services. And so as a result, you know, most musicians who go to music school get really expensive music degrees, don't wind up making money from music, they might wind up in a career that they don't like, or maybe they do like it. But, you know, when you go to music school, you go to music school, because you believe you are capable of making a living off of performing. I mean, if you think about it, music school is a very expensive degree. It is typically four years for undergrad, I would take five for mine, but and then if you go to a master's degree, which I did to go to grad school, it's another two years, and some people get dma's. And that's literally almost a decade of your life spent on learning, a career skill that most people don't even use. And in their career, it's crazy. So time is irreplaceable. You know, money. Money is replaceable. I mean, there's a lot of philosophies about money. But essentially, you can get jobs and you can replace your money. But that time almost a decade of your life is irreplaceable. And I know, you know, I got a lot out of my music degree. I loved that time, I got to meet some really amazing people and dive deep into music subjects. But the problem is that, that time, did not prepare me for a career in music. And I wonder what would have happened if they did if there was some business classes in music school, that taught me marketing. And so the the whole thing of the conference was generate demand for your services. And there are ways to do this, it's not hard, you don't have to become a business person in a suit and a tie, you just have to learn some some basics of marketing, which, you know, you listen to this podcast, you've already learned quite a few nuggets on that. So learn how to generate demand for your services, price yourself in a way that attracts your dream customer. Which again, if you listen to this podcast, who is your avatar? Who are you trying to target who needs your services, and who can pay your fair rate, because I see so many musicians accepting these really, less than favorable bar gigs or club gigs that don't pay well. And they get mistreated by bar staff and the patrons that are there, where they play festivals where, you know, hey, you're you're reaching a big audience, but didn't really help you pay your bills. And there's nothing wrong with playing those things. But for somebody who has invested almost their entire life in music, and only receive like, a nice, oh, that was beautiful, like, I wish we could pay you more. That is so frustrating. And that's wrong. Because we deserve to make a living doing what we love. And yeah, that marketing conference was just incredible. So generate demand generate more than enough demand for your services. That way you have all the opportunities in the world, you need to over deliver, and perform and connect with those audiences. Because every single gig that you generate demand for you get an audience with that you get get to grow your fan base. You know, I was thinking about this the other day, I know this is a very rent filled podcast, I apologize. I haven't podcasted in a while. And I've got a lot bottled up in here, but you're gonna get it all. But I was thinking about it. There are people who there are musicians, specifically, who kind of frown upon private event gigs. And I make my living off of private event gigs, and I love it. But the reason those musicians frown upon those private event gigs, is they feel like it's less artistically fulfilling, or it's selling out. And that you don't get a chance to build an audience. But the crazy thing is, you know, for every event that I play, the average wedding that I played for, has at least 200 guests. Many of them are local to where I'm performing, which is Milwaukee, that's kind of where I'm at. And to me that is a built in audience I get to touch 200 lives on average, every single time I play, which many bars you know, if you play a club gig, you might only touch 50 people's lives. I mean, sure, you might say those 50 are are dancing and they're there to see you. But what about those people who didn't have a chance to see you? And so for me, weddings, with 200 people coming, I get a chance to touch 200 lives with my music And I get to connect with my friends who are playing there with me. In fact, I told you I was playing a wedding right after this marketing conference. And it was for two very good friends of mine, who the couples amazing, they're just beautiful couple. And I got to play with two of my really good friends who are also in Dream City Strings. But also I got to play with my wife. And my wife's a musician, she's a flute player, shout out to Emily, if he listened to this. And just playing for that wedding, again, about 200 new audience members, plus, getting to play with my friends, and perform with my wife, and play music that I have so much fun playing. Like I really do love playing the music that I helped a couple pick out, it's such a good experience. And I do weddings, about 100 150 of those each year. So 200 times 100. I'm not a math person, but I feel like that is 20,000 people, maybe more to a musician, not a mathematician. So don't check, oh, feel free to check my numbers. And let me know how much that is. Because I'm on a walk right now. And I can't pull out my calculator. Regardless, that is so many audience members that I get to touch their lives with music, and you do too. So that is, to me a case for playing private events, I get to touch so many more lives. And I get funded to do that I get funded fairly, because I set my own rates, I have learned how to generate enough demand for my services, through my online marketing. And I over deliver, I help them pick out their music, one final marketing message, which, let's see if I can pull this up real quick. I'm not gonna be able to pull it up. But we were given a book, we were actually given a ton of free books at this conference. It was amazing. Like every break we had, when we came back to our seats, on our chairs, it was a stack of free books. And even there's like supplements on the chairs at one point. And I just finished reading the first of those books, which is called magnetic marketing by Dan Kennedy. Dan Kennedy is a marketing legend. Like if you've ever watched Mad Men, he, Dan Kennedy, like worked with Ogilvy, who is one of the legends that they mentioned on madmen is crazy. So this book, magnetic marketing, one of the takeaways was for service based businesses, of which you know, private event music is a service based industry. Most people when they're buying it, they don't actually care or know the difference between your service and somebody else's, your musicianship and somebody else's, I mean, you can make a very strong case using a unique selling proposition. But most people when they're buying your services, they're not actually buying your musicianship. They are buying somebody who is on their side and understands what they're going through, and will do everything in their possible to make them feel safe and secure. And you know, that your friend in their corner, you're going to bat for them, and you're, you're there for them every step of the way. And so I had a consultation with a couple after this marketing conference, and they remembered that little tidbit just how important it is to let them know that you're the human who cares more about them than just another gig. And I mentioned that to the couple, I was like, you know, this is one of the things that I bring with me to every every gig is that I am not just a musician here, who treats your wedding as just another gig. There are many musicians who do that they just treat each gig as another gig, that's all about them. There's a lot of ego involved. I tell them that's to me, that's not what this is about. This is about me, helping you have your perfect day your perfect event, I will do everything in my power to help you with that. I will sit down with you and make music recommendations. And I will walk you through exactly how it goes. In fact, as part of my consultation and walk them through how the whole day goes. And just demonstrating my expertise the entire way. And I mentioned to them, it's not another gig to me, that I truly want to help you. And they'll even help you if you have questions outside the scope of music. And when I made that little shift in my consultation, it was really cool because like I could see the guy, he something about his body language changed. And he was much more receptive and very excited by the end to book my group. And we did get booking about I sent him the contract. He signed it within like five minutes. So I'm so energized. There are tons more golden nuggets coming from this conference that I'm going to share with you on this podcast over the next couple of episodes. So I hope you got some value out of this. I hope it starts to open your eyes up to the business of live music. And thank you so much for listening and sticking with me. So remember you are just one gig away. And by the way, if you haven't gotten your copy of Gigging Secrets, I know it's a very long episode. I'm just gonna sneak this in here. I'm giving my book to you for free. This book no longer cost money. All I ask is that you pay some shipping but if you go to GiggingSecrets.com right now open up your browser, go to GiggingSecrets.com and you will see I'm giving this book away for free. So if you want to dive deep on any of this music, business stuff, go get your copy of the book. It's literally free, GiggingSecrets.com. Alright, that's enough for today. Thanks so much for listening. And you are one gig away.