Timing is Everything – Be Punctual with Deadlines

There’s the old expression, “I was in the right place at the right time” and I see lots of benefit in looking at the second part of that statement.

I have written ad nauseum about the importance of putting yourself out there.  (Read my “Get Out There: See and Be Seen” post from two-and-a-half months ago.)  And while I have mentioned in passing about timeliness (including in my Interview Tips Course), I am seeing too many instances that demand a deep dive into why that’s critical in the entertainment industry.

If you perform live music, whoever books you tells you what your start time is, not to mention how long they expect you to play for.  If they tell you 8-11pm, guess what?  There is an expectation that the first song will begin at 8:00 on the nose.  That person who booked you will be walking up to you at 8:08 if you still haven’t started.

“Oh yeah, I know, I’m just (insert excuse here)” is NOT what they want to hear.  Their patrons are also going to get fidgety and the fallout from it is them having a bad opinion of you and the venue.  You haven’t even started your first song yet and already you’re in the hole.  As they say in sports, you’re having to “play from behind.”

If there’s a contest you’re entering or maybe are submitting to be part of a showcase, there’s always a deadline.  If you contact the organizers 48 hours after that, thinking, “Oh, I’m sure they haven’t started reviewing everything yet, they’ll let me in,” think again.  Deadlines exist for a reason.  It’s not just a coincidence that you’re having to email them because the form is no longer online.

Interviews are another instance of artists not being on time.  Tell me this.  If it were a live TV interview you would somehow manage to make it there on time, right?  So why is any other such opportunity different, that you can stroll in when you’re ready or send a text saying, “Hey, just a heads-up… running a little behind”?

You being late shows a lack of respect for someone else’s time.

The saying, “You only have one chance to make a good first impression” has been around for a while but it’s still very true.

There is a show host that I was emailing with, trying to set up an interview with one of our clients.  Despite not only expressing interest in doing the interview but proposing a few dates for the client to pick from, the host ghosted me.  Thus, it should come as no surprise that my client eventually told me, “Just drop it.  I don’t want to do an interview with someone who’s not professional enough to follow through.”

Imagine planning to go live on YouTube and you promote everywhere that it will happen on a certain date at 9:00pm Eastern Time, which is 8:00pm Central Time and 6:00pm Pacific Time.  People set a reminder for it and get themselves in place on that date and at the advertised start time.  There they sit in front of their smart TV, their laptop, their phone, or some other viewing device.  But where are you?

In today’s short attention span world, people will click away very quickly rather than giving you the benefit of the doubt that, “Surely, he/she will start any moment now.”

As common sense as this sounds, do a role reversal.  How would you like to be kept waiting beyond an agreed upon time?

You have seen doctors and dentists list that they will charge you for a missed appointment.  Guess what?  Other professionals will do the same.  And maybe it’s going to take your tardiness hitting you in the wallet to learn that it’s critical that you be on time.

And “That’s the artist in me” or “I’m just historically late” aren’t going to make it okay to the person who you’ve upset that now must somehow regroup and put their best foot forward.

If you walked into a concert or a movie a few minutes late and would be heard saying, “They started already?” or “What the heck?  What about the previews?” then consider implementing something that’s going to get you ready and out the door sooner, so you are on time.

Imagine going for an audition and not having one because you were late.  You prepared extensively and you feel confident that you’re who they should pick.  Yet, you were casual about getting there in time because you thought, “I know how these things go.  There are tons of people there sitting and waiting and they always end up running behind.”  But not this time.  They were on time.  They called your name and you weren’t there so they moved on and will not be inconveniencing themselves to accommodate someone who couldn’t be there when they were scheduled for.

Don’t airlines actively tell you when the boarding door will close?  As someone who travels a lot, I’m here to tell you that yes, they sure do.  And once that has taken place, they’re not going to re-open it because you sauntered up to the gate with some excuse that you think merits them making an exception for you.

When I meet with someone on Zoom, I sometimes have another such meeting right after that and will say, “I have a hard stop at (time).”  If they’re late getting online, that’s that much less time we’re going to have because I’m not going to be late starting my next videoconference.

Do yourself and those that you do business with a favor and be timely.  You might not be thanked for doing so but it sure beats hearing about not having been on time.

A Member of the Recording Academy, I have been helping indie music artists, authors, actors, entrepreneurs, podcasters, filmmakers, small business owners, and more for over twenty years.  What challenges are you having in your creator career that I can lend some insight to?  Connect with me so you can take advantage of all my experience, and I can help and keep you moving forward.