Giving Up or Gearing Up?

Hello Friends,

My sense of time is skewed: weeks are flying by and yet each day seems to contain a new world. I turn on my phone in the morning wondering what sort of WTF moment will pop up! And certainly, I've found myself wanting to go back to bed, pull the covers back up over my head while I wait this out...

Artists in particular, as the "translators" of our lives, may be finding themselves stretched. Making sense of the mess for the masses, while trying to make rent is challenging at best! Nobody would blame an artist for giving up in January 21st... (There's something to be said for taking orders and working 9 to 5 - being able to say "My work is done.")

For Artists, the work is never done! So the way through is two-fold: carving out your time for Respite, and Gearing Up!


 

RESPITE

Respite, means "to rest or to take a break". Its origins are from the Latin word respectus, meaning "take refuge". I encourage the artists I work with to adopt "blackouts" - these are periods where we don't communicate and I shield them from outside calls & emails. They can be a few hours, a day or a week - whatever they need to step away from the pressure and relax. Since I started doing the same, my mental health has improved. There's something to be said for guilt-free play time, with no strings attached. It was hard to do at first (lots of nagging voices in my head) but now that I've witnessed the benefits first hand, it's got much easier to say, "F--- it! I'm going to take Harley for a walk, then sit on the couch and sing him some songs."


 

GEARING UP

So what about Gearing Up? Just the sound of that is a bit daunting! If you'll bear with a bit of MBA Business jargon, I'll walk you through an approach I've taken (and one I feel is fun!): "proof of concept", "proof of performance".

Before jumping into a brand-new activity or direction, it can be useful to test it first. When start-ups look for new investors to join them for the ride, they present two forms of "proof" based upon which the investors assess the potential risk in moving forward.

"Proof of concept" basically asserts: "People like this". This is usually an idea you test out right at the beginning of its life cycle. You don't have to show that it works or that it's perfectly produced. It's a hunch that you've shared and that you've received positive feedback for.

For artists, this can be finding a hook that friends tell you should be made into a song. It can be a demo that your inner circle encourages you to go further with.

One way I've done this is by trying out Groover.co Groover is relatively new platform that allows you to reach out directly to "influencers" and request feedback on a new track for example.
I've been working on an international strategy for one of my artists, but wanted some sense of whether I was on the right track. So, I invested a hundred bucks and sent out a single to a diverse group of influencers related to radio and media, with an invitation to listen to her song and share it. Thanks to their responses, I was able to see that the song was well received in two regions in particular (Brazil and France, fun!). More importantly, it allowed me to start building the second phase of Gearing Up: "proof of performance".

"Proof of performance" asserts that: "We've launched a first trial run and the results are promising". At this stage, you'd be proving to investors that their risk was significantly lowered. "Not just an idea, but some results to look at." These would be the stage of projects you might see on a show like Dragon's Den or Shark Tank.

For artists, this can be putting together a new product (online course, new merch, a special show, etc.) and doing a first run to see how it goes.

So many people skip this step! They think that a great idea automatically translates into a great business venture and then are disappointed with it fails to launch... An intermediary "pilot" stage is a chance to try a new initiative out, and then fine-tune it before a widespread launch.

Going back to Groover.co, I'm now looking going through the feedback and offers to select those I want to do a trial run with. I've asked two French bookers who were excited about the work and wanting to support it whether we could get a few shows booked for the Spring of 2022. I'd like to test a few shows in a city or two so that we can gather our own "proof of performance": Is this something that feels good? fits well? is worth developing" What mistakes did we make and need to be corrected? What did we learn from it that will make us stronger?" And from those answers, we'll know whether to gear up again or shift down.

What does this mean for you? Well - you have the advantage of being in the "Innovation" sector. You're already 90% ahead of businesses for whom innovation is a challenge! You've got the creative matter. "Gearing up" means having a bit of fun with your project - either testing it to get feedback or, once tested, setting up a trial run, a pet project to see how it goes. This is a really healthy way of keeping your levels of risk down while building up your careers. The best thing is that these are both pretty creative periods: designing something new, playing with ideas and possibilities!
 

xo Nat