Speaking, Getting Opportunities, the Potential TikTok Ban, and More

I’m emptying out my notebook today with a lot that I’ve been accumulating.

In no particular order:

Please be enthusiastic when you speak.  Whether you’re being interviewed or if it’s a situation where you’re actually doing a speaking gig or even a performer who is on stage and talking in between songs, have some good, positive emotion.  I saw a speaker get asked a question recently and their answer started off with, “Ummm, eh.  I don’t know.”  Coupled with the disinterested monotone that this person had, I immediately discredited them.

Next is a spinoff of the famous “fake it ‘til you make it expression.”  I saw someone who was doing an online speaking engagement and immediately upon saying, “Let me share my screen,” proceeded to then say, “Let me see how you do that” and then their eyes were roaming the screen.  Mind you, we’re three years from the pandemic when everyone went online and we all used Zoom (or Skype) whether we ever planned to or not.  You just have to know this by now.

That scenario is not unlike when a speaker gets up in front of a group and in the first couple minutes reveals to the audience that, “This is my first time doing this presentation.”  I see live performers do this a lot too where it’s almost like they’re telling you not to set your expectations too high, because they’ll intro a song and then say, “This is my first time ever doing this song, so, I’m not really sure how this is going to go.”  No and no, speaker and singer.  Keep it to yourself and proceed not with caution but with confidence!  And, and by the way?  Practice more!

I will also use today’s blog as an opportunity to do a public service to anyone who is looking at interview opportunities and being told by a podcast host that, “Your interview will get distributed out to” and then they list a whole bunch of platforms where their show is carried, trying to imply that you’re going to get tons of exposure.  Yeah, it’s ON those platforms, but is anyone actually listening though?  There’s a BIG difference and, as a podcaster, I’m turned off that those folks are trying to exploit that to the tune of charging you to be interviewed on their show!



Check your email.  I know, that sounds like common sense, but it bears repeating.  Check your email.  And that includes not only your inbox but your Spam/Junk folder.  In fact, check that last one just as often as you check your inbox.  If you think you’re not getting any opportunities, maybe they’re sitting and waiting for you to respond and you just – for whatever reason – aren’t active with your email.  I wrote a thank you (yes, really, a thank you) email to someone twice recently and they didn’t respond.  (For the record, I was also asking a question in the message I sent.)

But moreover, there were two artists who submitted through a paid service and I wrote to both of them to say that I’d like to interview each of them on my weekly “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast, yet neither one of them wrote back.  Focus on the part of that that says that they submitted to me through a paid service.  You’re paying to get your music out there, someone wants to give you an exposure opportunity, yet you just don’t answer.  You’re throwing your money away, plain and simple.

Next in my notebook is, yup, this whole “TikTok might be banned thing.”  (In case you missed it, longtime music producer Fred Mollin talked about this less than two weeks ago on my podcast interview with him.)  The point that I want to make here is that never has there been a better example of why having your own website is still an absolute must in 2023.  I read an article where some creator said that in light of the possibility of TikTok being banned in the U.S. she is backing up her content to Pinterest (huh?) and Instagram.  NO!  Make sure your website is up-to-date and has your best content on it.  How do you know Pinterest won’t be the next to shut down?


Oddly, MySpace actually still exists.  But does anyone use it?  Some of you are going to read that and say, “Wait, what’s MySpace?”  Facebook told us podcasters that they were going to incorporate podcasts onto their platform.  And they did.  For a year.  And then they changed their mind.  There was a social platform called Blab that was huge, and everybody loved it.  People would spend hours at a time on there.  But one day the creators of Blab decided, “This has been fun, but we don’t want to do this anymore,” and just like that, they pulled the plug.  No one will take your website away from you (well, unless you don’t pay for the hosting).

So sure, go ahead, tell your TikTok followers, “Be sure to follow me on (social media platform) so that if TikTok goes away you can still see my videos,” but make sure your website is updated and attention-grabbing.

I went a tad bit longer than usual this week, and am curious as to what above raised an eyebrow with you.  Moreover, what questions do you have about your music or your creator career?  What challenges are you facing?  I have been helping folks from around the U.S. for close to 20 years now and welcome the opportunity to chat with you about what you’re doing and insights I can contribute from my many years of experience.  Call me so we can have a one-on-one conversation and keep you moving forward.