NHT Blog

Nice guys always finish last.  For years (and years) I have said that I, unfortunately, have had to learn that the hard way, meaning, firsthand.  Although mind you, I certainly won’t apologize for leading with my heart and being nice to people.

While it’s true that in business you do need to think with your brain and not your heart or you’ll end up broke, I think it’s awfully tough to criticize someone who is kind, honest, thoughtful, polite, and, well, just always trying to do what’s right.

You can imagine how nerve wracking and what a range of emotions it has to be for an artist when they’re about to release their newest single.

There’s the obvious excitement, of course.  There’s also relief that the project is completed.  He or she (or the band) also is hopeful that the song will be well received and, obviously, that listeners will buy it and/or pre-save it.  Unfortunately, it’s also human nature that negative forces will try to chip away at one’s confidence and whisper, “What if people don’t like it, though?”

Variety is the spice of life, they say.  But it’s true, isn’t it?  It’s easy to get stuck in a rut when you’re a creator and have been at something for a long time and get to a point where you feel almost as though you’re on an assembly line, meaning, just doing the same thing over and over again.

This even extends to writing a weekly blog and so this week I’m doing a song review instead of the content you’re typically used to seeing here.

Over the weekend I attended a ticketed performance by an up-and-coming trio that performs live with a bass player and drummer also joining them on stage.  I must say that they more than exceeded my expectations going into it.  To be honest, I really went into it unemotionally, but sure came out having been moved, although first to a disappointed mood and then to a very impressed demeanor.

Last Thursday night I was broadcasting a men’s college lacrosse game.  Had the home team – dare I say, the favorite – won that night, they would’ve advanced to the conference championship game.  Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be the case, as they lost by two goals.

It has been refreshing lately to see a few folks posting on social media about someone other than themselves or their own business.  And in this context, I’m not referring to people who are posting from a personal standpoint, meaning, sharing on, say, Instagram, a picture of an immediate family member.  (Although, to be sure, not that that doesn’t count for anything.)

Today I’m flying back home to Tampa from having been out in Anaheim since last Wednesday, with the NAMM Show having been the impetus for this latest trip out west.  My luggage weighs the same as it did going out there, but I’m sure carrying back lots of new insights gained while in California.

In last week’s blog I made a reference to “Who do they know,” as I suggested that you keep in mind how making the right first impression on someone could lead to a referral, even if the person you’re talking to doesn’t end up doing anything with you.  This week’s post takes a look at that from a different, cautionary, perspective.

I was meeting with one of my clients recently and she talked about an opportunity I’d gotten for her and how she looked at that and took gratitude all the way back to the people responsible for the two of us ever having met in the first place.

Connections, moments, meetings, introductions can really be powerful.  Talking to someone for the first time can be a true make or break moment.

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.