Bob Baker's Indie Music Promotion Blog

News, notes and ideas on music marketing, self-promotion, artist empowerment and more

October 12, 2006

The Smartest Thing You Can Do

Do you think you're an indie music know-it-all?

Chances are, you aren't that bombastic. But I'll bet, if you really think about it and are honest with yourself, you'll agree that in many ways you have stopped learning all that you should.

Don't feel bad about it. It's human nature to fall into routines and neglect some of the things that are important. Plus, once you're officially out of school, people just don't have a system in place for continuous learning. Or, if you're currently in school, there doesn't seem to be any room to squeeze in extra studies.

Why am I bringing this up?

Because learning and growing mentally should be a lifelong activity -- especially when it comes to your music career. There's always more to understand. More ideas to consider. More success stories to be inspired by.

Here's one of the smartest things you can do to increase your indie music knowledge base:

Grab a spare three-ring binder, or go to an office supply store and buy one. As you come across articles and tip sheets that interest you, place them in the binder. Print off things you find on the Internet, photocopy articles from magazines, grab effective promotional pieces used by other artists ... anything that will expand your mind.

Organize these various items in the binder. Have sections for marketing, sales, recording, web design, songwriting, etc.

In addition to the articles, insert blank sheets of paper into the binder that you can brainstorm and doodle on. Let your creativity soar and then capture your ideas on paper.

It's one thing to randomly surf the Internet and read books and magazines. That's better than doing nothing, but the ideas you find are fleeting. Putting them all in one physical place (like a binder) adds muscle to your learning activities. It also gives you a place to turn when you're in need of a new idea or you want to remember that brilliant PR plan you came up with six months ago.

Here are some places to find learning material for your binder:
So, buy a three-ring binder today and start your own Indie Music University!

-Bob

posted by Bob Baker @ 8:18 PM   1 comments

1 Comments:

At Oct 22, 2006 6:51:00 AM, Anonymous Career-Change-Wanted said...

Wow you have so many resources here, I'm a little overwhelmed, but will be sure to start poking around.

Speaking of too many choices though, I was looking at both your books and ebooks (as a gift, I'm not the musician) and in trying to choose, I was wondering -- are the hardcover books more comprehensive than the ebooks? Obviously with the ebooks, one gets them immediately and saves on shipping (AND gets special reports). So maybe my question is, what advantage do the hardcover books hold?

 

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