Derek Sivers

When I do my 1-2 hour talk to a crowd, I leave this point until the end, because I consider this the most important lesson I ever learned.

For YEARS I let smart people talk me into things that just weren’t right for me. I’ll bet you have, too. I went down wrong paths, doing things I wasn’t excited about, because someone or something convinced me it was what I “should” be doing.

Then I finally figured out something that’s made all the difference, and I’ve been happier and more successful since:

There’s a compass in your gut that points two directions : EXCITING and DRAINING.

No matter what advice anyone gives you - no matter how smart the person telling you what to do - you need to let this compass override your other decisions.

Whatever excites you, go do it.

Whatever drains you, stop doing it.

I’ve seen too many musicians get into music because they LOVE playing drums, for example. They love it so much they want to do it for a living. But then the world says, “If you’re going to be in the music business, you have to understand cross-collaterization! You have to read this book on music business law. And you need a great website. So you have to learn HTML. And Flash. And how to stream audio files on the web. And you need to understand marketing, and accounting, and blah blah blah….”

Soon this drummer is spending all his time doing everything BUT play the drums, and decides it’s not worth it! He gets a job at a bank and loses interest in his drums, because a career in music now seems like the most awful thing ever.

Yes, the people who said he should know all that stuff meant well, but nothing is worth losing your enthusiasm. NOTHING!

You have to pay close attention to that compass, even in little day-to-day decisions. You get offered a gig - they’re on the phone waiting for an answer - is it exciting you or draining you? To make a new website is going to take about 10 hours of work. Does that excite you or drain you?

If it doesn’t excite you, don’t do it.

There’s almost nothing that you MUST do. Someone somewhere is excited to do the things that drain you. Find them and let them do it.

Work towards this ideal, and soon you’ll be doing only what excites you the most, all day. Then you’ll find that doors open for you, opportunities come your way, life seems to go easier, because you’re doing what you’re meant to do.

“Whatever scares you, go do it.” <– one of my favorite slogans

If something scares you in an excited way, (something that *gives* you energy) - that’s a good sign.

BUT IF SOMETHING IS MAKING YOU MISERABLE AND DRAINING YOUR ENERGY, PLEASE STOP.

Life is telling you that is not the path for you.

QUICK EXAMPLE: Biggest mistake I ever made in my life:

My band was doing well. A well-meaning lawyer that I trusted told me that I should start a record label. “Find and sign 3 other artists. Do for them what you did for your band. Then sell the whole label for a million bucks!!”

I walked out of his office with slumped shoulders, miserable, saying, “yeah… I guess he’s right…”

With a long face, I plopped in a chair back home and thought, “Oh man… do I really have to do this?” But because I trusted him, I spent 2 years of my life trying!

It wasn’t what came natural to me, and so of course it was a failure, AND since I had spent so much time on it, the thing that I WAS good at (making music) was being ignored!!

I wish I would have paid attention to my lack of enthusiasm and stuck with the things that excited me.

Please don’t make the same mistake.

If anything I’m talking about here makes you tired instead of wired, just don’t do it! Stick with what excites you. That’s where you’ll find your success.

Stay in over your head.

Whatever you’re doing in your life right now, if it’s become a routine, it’s time to move on to something new and scary.

Abraham Maslow wrote, “Life is an ongoing process of choosing between safety (out of fear and need for defense) and risk (for the sake of progress and growth): Make the growth choice a dozen times a day.”

Whatever scares you, go do it.

You don’t get extreme talent, fame, or success without extreme actions.

Be less leisurely.

Throw yourself into this entirely.

Find what you love and let it kill you.

Get to the point of being a novice marketer/promoter/agent. Then hand it to an expert.

Moby, the famous techno artist, says the main reason for his success was that he found experts to do what they’re best at, instead of trying to do it himself.

(Paraphrased:) “Instead of trying to be a booking agent, publicist, label, and manager, I put my initial energy into finding and impressing the best agent, publicist, label, and manager. And I just kept making lots of the best music I could.”

If you sense you are becoming an expert, figure out what your real passions in life are and act accordingly.

Maybe you’re a better publicist than bassist. Maybe you’re a better bassist than publicist.

Maybe it’s time to admit your weakness as a booking agent, and hand it off to someone else. Maybe it’s time to admit your genius as a booking agent, and commit to it full-time.

I prefer to ignore the music industry. Maybe that’s why you don’t see me on the cover of Rolling Stone.

One of my only regrets about my own band was that we toured and got great reviews, toured and got lots of airplay, toured and booked some great-paying gigs. BUT… nobody was working the inside of the music business.

Nobody was connecting with the “gatekeepers” to bring us to the next level. We just kept doing the same gigs.

Maybe you’re happy on the outside of the biz. (I know I am.)

But if you want to tour with major-label artists, be on the cover of national magazines, be in good rotation on the biggest radio stations in town, or get onto MTV, you’re going to have to have someone working the inside of the biz.

Someone who loves it. Someone who is loved by it. Someone persuasive who gets things done 10 times faster than you ever could. Someone who’s excited enough about it, that they would never be discouraged.

Like your love of making music. You wouldn’t just “stop” making music because you didn’t get a record deal would you? Then you need to find someone who’s equally passionate about the business side of music, and particularly the business side of YOUR music.

It IS possible. There are lots of people in this world.

My first job ever was telemarketing: renewing people’s subscriptions to Time magazine. We worked on commission.

When I started, I used to meekly ask, “Um. Hello. Your subscription is coming up for renewal. I’m wondering if, maybe, perhaps, you might want to renew it again this year?”

After three weeks, they were going to fire me, because I was doing terribly. But the manager (Denise Koss) thought I was cute so she let me listen in to the top salesman on the floor. Here’s how his calls would go. Pay attention to the difference in approach.

“Hi there this is George Amos from Time Magazine, and I’m calling to renew your subscription today. I notice you’ve been wasting money by renewing only one year at a time, $54/year, and I hate to see you waste money like that, so let’s get you in for a three-year subscription, bringing your price down to only $25/year. That way, as the price of that one-year renewal keeps going up each year, it won’t matter to you, because you were smart and got in at the half-price rate for three years. Now are you still at ___(their address)___?”

Now if they complained about the price of a three-year subscription, he’d say, “Ok I can tell you’d rather just do it for a two-year subscription, then.” If they complained about that, he’d say, “Alright - we’ll do just a one-year renewal.”

It was amazing that almost every phone call he made renewed, whereas I would call 200 people and none of them would renew. After listening in to a few of his calls, though, I tried it myself, and became the top salesman on the floor. It’s easy. Just get into the right mindset. You’d be surprised what a huge difference it makes.

A band on CD Baby called Celldweller did this wonderfully. When their new album came out, they emailed their fans and said, “Our new album is out tomorrow, and nobody anywhere has it yet. If you buy only one, the price is $12. But if you buy more than one, the price is only $9 each. So buy 10. It will cost you $90, but you’ll be able to sell them to your friends for $12 each and make a profit.”

What’s amazing is most of them did! Most who didn’t buy 10 would apologize at the end of the order form, saying, “Sorry I don’t have $90 now, but I’ll buy 5 copies today and come back for 5 more soon.”

They sold 3000 CDs in no time at all.

Have you been filtered? If not, you should start now.

With the internet, there are more “media outlets” than anyone can digest. People in the music biz get piles of CDs in the mail everyday from amateurs. Many of them are crap.

You need to go through filters. Places that reject many, only letting the best of the best pass through.

As long as you’re good (really good) - what you want are MORE filters! More obstacles… More hurdles…

Because these things weed out the “bad” music. Or the music that isn’t ready. Or the people that weren’t dedicated.

I worked at Warner Brothers for 3 years. I learned why they never accept unsolicited demos: It helps weed out the people that didn’t do enough research to know they have to go meet managers or lawyers or Jimmy Iovine’s chauffeur FIRST in order to get to the “big boys.” (Deal with the ‘gatekeepers’ to get to the mansion.)

If you really believe in your music, have the confidence to put yourself into those places where MOST people get rejected. (radio, magazines, big venues, agents, managers, record labels, promoters…)

Because each gate you get through puts you in finer company. (“the best of the best”)

And you’ll find many more opportunities open to you once you’ve earned your way through a few gates.

Secret trick to get people in the audience to sign your mailing list AND be part of your inside club.

At every show you do, from now on, bring a camera and a notebook.

About halfway through your show, when everyone is having fun, take pictures of the audience, from the stage. Tell them to smile, make a face, hold up their beer, whatever.

Afterwards, pass around the notebook and say, “Please write down your email address in this notebook, and in a few days, I’ll email you, telling you where you can see YOUR goofy picture on my website.”

At the end of the night, before bed, write up a journal/diary/memoir of that show. Scan and upload all their pictures onto a page of your website. Dedicate a page of your site about that show, with the diary, photos, and a little link on that page that says, “If you were at this show, please introduce yourself!” - so people can contact you.

Email everyone that was there that night. Of course EVERYone will go look at your site. How could they not? People are infinitely more interested in themselves than they are in you.

Stay in touch with them all!

The other hidden idea in this is to make every show a Real Event. A Big Deal. Something worth documenting. This will get you out of the habit of thinking of it as “just another gig.” Because for many of your fans, it’s not. It’s the most fun they’ve had all month.

If you’re putting your fans to work, let them know they’re on the “inside family” now. That if you hit it big, THEY hit it big.

No need to make specific promises. It’s a feeling more than a contract.

Same with your casual fans and email list. Make them part of an exclusive club. Bring them inside.

Everybody wants to be able to say they hung out with ____(your name here)_____ when she was just playing little clubs in her hometown, and now look at her!