Make Every Impression Count, Not Just the First

Last week I wrote a firsthand account of it’s not what you know it’s who you know.  The fact that I find myself so often blogging – and talking on the weekly “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast – about the importance of connections should tell you something.

How important are personal relationships?  Why do I always say that you can never have too many contacts?

The fact of the matter is, you can be a solopreneur in whatever you’re doing, but you can’t do absolutely everything alone.

For example, last week on Episode 271 of NHTE, Australian singer, songwriter, guitar player Chelsea Jyles talked about how she does everything by herself: sings, writes, plays guitar, records, and even makes her own videos and does her own photoshoots.  Well, except that in the case of those last two, someone else points the camera and presses the ‘shoot’ button.  So, she doesn’t truly do it all herself.

Then there’s singer/songwriter Whitney Doucet, who returns to NHTE the day after tomorrow after having been the guest four years ago on Episode 59.  On Episode 272 you will hear her say that she designs the artwork by herself for the singles that she releases on iTunes, etc.  And a lot of indie artists probably do that, but then think about when it comes time to get hard copies (CDs) made of an EP or a full album.  Someone else does the actual printing of that artwork that you designed by yourself.

So, it’s important to develop relationships and make good impressions from day one.  And then maintain that image as things go along.  Someone might otherwise think, “Wow, he/she had me fooled.  The first time we met I thought he/she was really nice, genuine, down-to-earth.  But now that I’ve spent more time with him/her, wow, talk about what-you-see-is-NOT-what-you-get!”

I know that an argument can be made for giving someone a second chance, but, the harsh reality is that nowadays business is too vital for people to wait around and see if a leopard will truly change its spots or not.

The moral of the story here is that you never know who might come to you with an opportunity that you had no idea you were even being considered for.  But it will be in part because you’ve made a good (the right) impression.

Unbeknownst to them, there are currently two former podcast guests who I have submitted to someone that brought an opportunity to me that they want music for.  And mind you, this isn’t just a one-time event, where you might think, “Ah, big deal, what’s one show?”  Instead, this is something that will be multiple dates in multiple cities (and for the skeptics out there, by ‘multiple’ I don’t mean two).  These two artists will be (pleasantly) surprised when I contact them about this.  But, they shouldn’t be when it comes to knowing that they’ve made a good impression on me.  It’s as simple as this – had they not, they wouldn’t be a candidate.

What surprise opportunities have you been given that you didn’t know you were being considered for? What connection did you make that has unexpectedly bore fruit that you did not foresee?  Talk about all this in our Facebook group and – yup – start new relationships there!