If it seems like I place too much of an emphasis all the time (in this weekly blog or on episodes of “Now Hear This Entertainment”) on building and maintaining your contacts, then maybe you’re missing the point. Or, I’m not doing a good enough job of a deep dive on these connections that I encourage you to foster.
This is a perfect place to bring out the expression about quality versus quantity. If you just build up names, numbers, and email addresses (or LinkedIn connections or Facebook friends, etc.) as though you’re trying to win a contest, then you’re going to, ironically, find yourself to be very alone. To use the John F. Kennedy, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” mindset, remember, developing and maintaining these connections isn’t done because you want to know what they can do for you (and when). Will something business-related come from them eventually? Yes, most likely. But should that be your primary focus in meeting these folks? I think you know the answer.
This all clearly falls under the category of relationship-building. It’s getting to know one another as people. Yes, what led you together is common pursuits. It’s a fellow songwriter, it’s another guitar player or drummer, it’s another aspiring entertainer. But let’s not miss the most important aspect of all those. It’s another human being.
Right now in California there are wildfires still burning out of control. Homes are being lost. Lives are being lost. Many being affected by this are celebrities. Well, that’s what the media or society at large want to view them as. But these are human beings. They’re guys and gals just like you and me who all of a sudden don’t have their home to go back to like we do at the end of the day. They don’t have any of their possessions that we take for granted will always be at an arm’s length.
What they do have, though, are their relationships.
Friends, colleagues, and, of course, family members are there to walk with them through this severe challenge. They can lend shelter. They can donate food and money. But they can also provide a shoulder to cry on and a friend to pray with. And no one is using labels such as “celebrity” as these relationships show their true value.
Do these people still have to think about work, about their careers, about their obligations, about making money? Of course they do. Sadly, there’s also an old expression, “The world waits for no one.” But, it’s clear where the overwhelming majority of their time and focus are right now.
It upsets me to hear some people try to shrug it off with a simple, “That’s what insurance policies are for.” Now is the time to show your true colors. It’s time to be a friend and act with these people the same way you would with the guy or gal who you’re still in touch with from back in school or growing up on the same block. It’s not the time to be texting, calling, or emailing looking for a gig or for them to introduce you to that producer or record label or radio exec that you know that they know.
I’ve cited a lot of quotes, clichés, etc. in the above. “Thoughts and prayers” gets thrown around as a figure of speech. But to my business friends in the affected areas of California, you know me as someone who truly is praying for you.
Post your well wishes for our colleagues in California and anyone there that needs prayers in our Facebook group.