In the world of memes and GIFs and other imagery on today’s social media landscape, there is a post that I see frequently and have come to like. It simply states that “It costs nothing to be nice to people.” In fact, it almost reminds me of something I heard years and years ago and to this day have still held onto. That was the expression, “It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.”
Today was my fifth and final day in Alabama at the 37th Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival. It’s a good thing that I live in Tampa and thus am always in close proximity to the beach. These last five days the closest I came to the beach was seeing it from the hotel room window. My schedule was packed with doing interviews for the weekly “Now Hear This Entertainment” (NHTE) podcast, putting on a “Promoting Your Music Career” seminar, and, having singer, songwriter, guitar player client Frankie Raye there performing three times during the festival.
I also did as much networking as I could. And that meant visiting with past guests from NHTE and seeing them perform.
There was a common theme that I noticed as I came back together with each one, which was kindness. Yes, of course, they’re all songwriters. Okay, sure, there’s the common thread of having been on the podcast. And it goes without saying that they’re all very talented performers. But gosh, a little kindness goes a long way, and what I felt on my side of these conversations was a lot more than “a little” kindness.
This weekend I saw a songwriter performing in a round and this individual – I’m paraphrasing – said before one song that they should play a ballad, but, that they had an album to promote after all. Well, I get that, I suppose. After all, didn’t I say above that I was busy doing interviews and the seminar and assisting my client? I always talk about this being a business, but who’s really going to want to be around someone who can’t even be kind?
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Many years ago, my father worked for someone who used to say that one “Awe s--t” equaled ten “atta boy” pats on the back. Sure enough, in the midst of all these kind people I was enjoying seeing and talking to, I got an email where someone I thought I was going to do something with (another project) was just downright insulting. I tried to embrace the “don’t let them rent space in your head” mantra, but wow, that one really unprofessional email practically balanced the scale with all the nice handshakes and hugs and smiles and kind words I was receiving from folks I was seeing at the festival! Yeesh.
“Kill ‘em with kindness,” right?
Early this year I worried that as the pandemic started winding down and more and more businesses were getting back to some semblance of normalcy that too many people were going to come out of their homes and forget the big lesson that it seemed everyone was becoming aware of during lockdown, which was to be kinder to one another. I feared that too many people would go back to their pre-pandemic disposition and not have a little more compassion and grace.
In my seminar two days ago, I reminded the attendees that you only have one chance to make a good (or bad) first impression. Exhibiting the kindness that I felt throughout my time at the festival will go a long way towards making sure people remember you for all the right reasons. And sure, you stand a better chance of something coming from your relationships business-wise, but isn’t it already rewarding to know someone is describing you to someone else as being “just a great guy/gal” too instead of just a good songwriter (singer, musician, artist, creator)?
For well over 15 years I’ve been helping artists from around the U.S. Book a private, one-on-one, online video consultation with me and let’s have a confidential session to make sure you’re heading in the right direction. Take advantage of my experience to help with any challenges you’re facing. Let me know your thoughts on this blog too, either on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. You can also just give me your feedback via email.