Bob Baker's Indie Music Promotion Blog

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

January 24, 2008

How to Quit Your Day Job

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain

So begins a recent post on Leo Babauta's incredibly useful Zen Habits blog. In the post he announced that he had quit his job and would become a full-time blogger after just one intense year of high-quality blogging. (He also just announced a book deal with a major publisher.)

How did Leo do it? And what can musicians learn from his example? I mean, the guy is married and has six kids. Plus he lives on Guam. It's not like he's been hobnobbing with the social elite in LA or NYC (like Perez Hilton).

Luckily, Leo explains what he did to quit his job on this page. You may not aspire to be a full-time blogger, but his "habits" can be applied to any field.

Here I've paraphrased his main points:
  • Create from the heart.
  • Be insanely useful (serve your fans).
  • Focus your efforts and your creativity.
  • Ask for donations.
  • Create and sell something.
  • Interact with your supporters
  • Transition from your day job.
  • Get out of debt and build an emergency fund.
But do yourself a favor and read his entire blog post on the subject. It just might inspire you.

-Bob

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posted by Bob Baker @ 4:06 PM   4 comments

4 Comments:

At Jan 24, 2008 5:31:00 PM, Blogger Brad said...

Thanks for posting this link.

I never would have found that article, but it was a really good read.

-Brad
www.clashofculture.com

 
At Jan 27, 2008 2:14:00 AM, Blogger Josh Gair said...

If you are an artist who is in the orlando fl market and are looking for help with bookings, send us your promo material to josh@impactentertains.com . Also, check us out at www.impactentertains.com .
Bob always has great music marketing ideas in his blog.
Thanks,

Josh Gair - Impact Entertainment

 
At Jan 27, 2008 10:15:00 AM, OpenID oneweeklygun said...

Fantastic!

A LOT of very usable information for us newbies! As always with Bob.

OWG
One Weekly Gun

 
At Jan 29, 2008 2:16:00 PM, Anonymous Sam Carrara said...

I love it when people promote was to get noticed outside of traditional advertising. Guerrilla Marketing with blogs, articles, press releases and more can help greatly when you are trying to bootstrap a business.
Sam

 

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