NHT Blog

Usually when I’m asked to cite one of the best pieces of advice I’ve gotten or lessons learned in business, I’ll point to someone I used to work for who lived out combating “out of sight, out of mind.”  He would travel halfway around the world, sit in a meeting for three hours, and then fly all the way back.  “If you’re not there, they forget about you,” he would tell us in staff meetings, reporting on his latest trip.

It’s Monday.  Strike one.  And it’s raining, because Hurricane Eta is starting to arrive for an uninvited visit here to the Sunshine State.  Strike two.  And my beloved Tampa Bay Buccaneers suffered a lopsided defeat last night on national television.  Strike three.

Let’s do something different and dive into the mailbag for this week’s blog.

Depending on whether you’re a glass half-full or glass half-empty person will determine whether you are drawn to the artist (or artists) in this post who blew it on potentially getting booked for an interview, or, the individual who seized the moment and was successful in consummating the appearance.

It may sound unusual, but there are plenty of advantages to turning your band into a limited liability company (LLC). Posting your tracks on Soundcloud, paying for Facebook business ads, and even using LinkedIn to have a more professional presence can only do so much for your band.

As I surf the feed on Instagram every day, watching what past guests from my weekly “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast are up to, it’s encouraging seeing some of them posting about being back out playing real shows, meaning, in-person, not sitting at home and broadcasting via livestream.

I, myself, am almost getting sick and tired of hearing my own voice preaching to people about the value of connections.  You can never have too many contacts, I always say.  There are just so, so many benefits to networking.

Seven weeks ago, vocalist, actor, songwriter, and producer Terry Barber wrote a guest blog (published here) that talked mainly about how his official music page on Facebook had been hacked.  While you should go read the whole post that he contributed, the bottom line is that now we’re sitting here at the end of September and he still hasn’t gotten it back.

I have often adapted the expression “You can’t be all things to all people” to instead imply that you can’t be on every single platform – industry-specific or social media.  But you do, however, need to be on some, meaning, enough.

Consider the source.  We’ve all heard that expression, but do we execute that when evaluating opportunities?  I’m really starting to wonder.

Musicians, podcasters, creators, it’s time for a little warning.