It’s 2020 and we are now officially in a new decade. If you’ve been dreaming of leveling up your music business whether you’re a seasoned singer/songwriter, a band, or aspiring to break into music some day, this challenge might be just the catalyst you need to set yourself on a path to enjoying more fans, more engagement, more brand authenticity and recognition, and a better you. The guides and resources in this 5 week challenge combine together to walk you through (re)defining your goals, embracing your purpose, creating meaningful content to last you the entire year, getting organized, and earning more money in the process.
This challenge should take you about five weeks to complete. But it is completely self-guided and it’s set up for you to go through at your own pace. If you’d like to receive weekly emails (recommended) to keep you on track, you can sign up for that here .
So let’s get started….
Week 1: Defining Your Mission, Values, and Goals
We can’t start this challenge without going back to the beginning to revisit why you began this incredible journey in the first place. In your evolution as an artist, it’s a requirement to become intimate with the reason why you first started in the first place. If you do not have a complete picture of why you started, you will forever be lost. Going back to the beginning will help you re-align your focus and get a better perspective of what you really want in the end – your ultimate goal.
Day 1: Let’s talk about your mission.
What is your mission as an independent artist? Why do you do what you do? What keeps you strumming those notes and singing those tunes? What contribution are you making to the world and why? Do you know?
A mission statement is your declaration of purpose to your fans and to the world. It describes how your music impacts your community, your fans, your friends, and whoever else happens to come into contact with your music. The music you create and share is about so much more than just the music. Whether you know it or not, you’re doing it for a reason. That reason is what attracts your fans, detracts your haters, and resolves the problems or conflicts it’s supposed to. If you don’t have a mission statement for your music, this guide will help you create one. If you do have a mission statement, skim through the guide and take this time to get re-acquainted with the reason you’re here.
Day 2: Determine your core values as an artist for healthier decision making and true happiness.
The most straight forward approach to facilitate easier decision-making is to focus on your core values as an artist. What your belief system allows you to approve of is the key to relieve the stress that normally comes with tough decisions or circumstances. This will give you the clarity and focus you need as you move up in your music career. You’ll need a strong set of values to help you make important decisions throughout your music career. Read through this quick post on why your values are an important cornerstone of your career, and start thinking about what your values are. Make some notes! You’ll need them for next week.
Day 3: #GOALS, or lack thereof might be the reason you’re not getting what you really want. Here’s how to fix it.
Goal setting is the bedrock of success. Goals shape, motivate, inspire and provide accountability in anything they are applied to. Goal setting is writing down a quantifiable set of desires that are attainable and measurable. Goals also help you stay focused on the end game. Being an independent artist affords a lot of flexibility. Many things, ideas, and opportunities become available for the taking. But having a good set of goals will help you stay focused by only selecting the opportunities that will bring you closer to your end goal. Read through this post to learn the elements of a goal and how to create a goal set for your career. Use The Ultimate Goal Setting Workbook as a guide to walk you through the process.
Week 2: Increase brand recognition and engagement by harnessing the power of your musical purpose.
Start this season of your career off by getting the fans you really want and getting serious about building your tribe. Take the 5 Day Finding Your Purpose Challenge and you’ll go through a process of honing in on your personal purpose. You’ll find out that real purpose is backed by authenticity and you’ll learn how to use it to your advantage to make deeper connections with people and build your own private community of loving fans. Start the 5 Day Challenge here.
Week 3 – Content is King! Plan newsletter, blog, and social media content for the entire year!
Life happens and it can get in the way of you being consistent when it comes to maintaining important elements of your business like social media, blog posts, and sending out monthly newsletters to your subscribers. So while you’re refocusing your intention on your music business, take this opportunity to also plan out your content for the entire year. Use the following resources to walk you through the process.
Day 1. Get in front of your monthly newsletters.
Plan and schedule your monthly newsletters for the entire year in just 20 minutes with the free Email Writing Guide.
Day 2. Get in front of social media content management.
Use my free Social Media Content Planner to work through each quarter of the year with consistent and engaging content. You can be sure to never run out of things to say on social media ever again with this resource.
Day 3. Plan and schedule blog content.
Last but not least, firm up content for at least one blog post each month for the entire year. You don’t have to write out each blog, but if you have a topic and a general outline or idea of what you want to write about, you can clunk out a winning blog post in no time. What can you write about? A lot! You can write posts endlessly on song lyrics and meanings behind the song, fan features and shout outs, merchandise items, what charities you’re giving to and why, posts related to your mission, goals, values, and purpose, and even posts related to holidays and special observance days like what you’re doing for National Cheeseburger Day! For more topic ideas and inspiration, check out Dave Cool’s post over at Bandzoogle, 13 Topics That Musicians Can Easily Blog About. Pro Tip: Once you have your blog topics planned and outlined, set up a task alert in your calendar to remind you when it’s time to write and post.
Week 4 – Refocus your booking objectives and give yourself a raise.
Since you’re in business for yourself, you don’t have to ask the boss for a raise. You are the boss. So, why not make a boss move this year and give yourself a raise? You deserve it!
Day 1: Implement a Revenue Outlook Strategy for Gigging.
One small change in the way you look at your gig earnings can make a world of difference in your profits! Seeing the numbers in a specific equation will allow you to take more control over your earnings and make more money. Check out the Income Boosting Spreadsheet. It will help you take a more proactive role in how you run your music business. If you implement the strategies outlined in my walkthrough on how to use the Income Boosting Spreadsheet you’ll end up giving yourself a significant raise this year and each year after. Click here to view it.
Watch: 5 Booking Tricks that Can Help You Earn More Money
Day 2. Look for new business opportunities and pick at least 1.
As an artist you have so many options on what you can do! If you’d like to earn a bit more money this year, all you need to do is get creative and put some action behind your ideas. Have you explored all the ways musicians can make money? Here are 26 of them for starters. Also, check out my friend Caleb’s article: How to Find Musician Jobs on Upwork. He’ll walk you through what kind of jobs you can get, how much you can potentially get paid and how to set your own profile up to start making money. If you need a little more inspiration, check out these 5 Side Hustle Ideas as well. If you’re looking to bring in more cash over the next year or give yourself a raise, start with 1 idea. Put all your energy into building that idea and see where it leads. If you work hard at it, 9 times out of 10, you’ll make it happen.
Week 5 – Start gathering important documents and prepare for tax season (US)
Do you know what a P&L Statement is? What about a Quarterly Balance Sheet? Are you prepared for the next tax season? In the US, the tax deadline is April 15th. But you don’t have to wait until tax time to get organized. In fact, the sooner you can gather important documents, receipts, and forms, the better off you’ll be. Come tax time, when everyone is scrambling to get their paperwork in order, you’ll be sipping tea (or wine) and relaxing. Check out our guide, 7 Tax Questions Every Musician Should Answer and the tax tips section in our article 21 Insanely Practical Budgeting Tips for Musicians for help with organizing your records for tax preparation.
It’s a great time to start planning and setting your intention not just for the year, but for the rest of your career. Work on building your business from the ground up and you’ll see positive changes before you know it.
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