Music Success in 9 Weeks: Week 2 - The Pitch

The second week of Music Success in 9 Weeks in geared toward creating your "Pitch" or what some might know as your "Elevator Pitch". A short description of who you are, your brand and what you sound like.  When you are a new artist on the scene people need to have a point of reference in order to connect and become a potential fan. The pitch is no longer than 15 seconds and this chapter guides you through how to create one perfect for you.

The first step is to write down all the basic info about you as an artist. All the genres you play, all the artists other people say you sounds like, as well as all of your favorite influences including authors, books, movies, people, and places etc. Finally you write down the energetic vibes you want expressed through your music. From here, you choose the elements of this scratch paper that feel like they fit the most and begin working out a few ideas. I recommend inviting trusted friends to help you, more brains more ideas, more creativity.

My paper read something like this:
Hip-hop, Rap, Soul, Jazz, Positive, Ohio, Hollywood, Spoken word, Cincinnati, Wiz Khalifa, Snoop Dogg, Currensy, Tupac, Kid Cudi, Fresh Prince, Lupe Fiasco, Big Daddy Kane, the Simpsons, Basketball, SEGA, Metaphysics, The Game of Life and How To Play It, James Allen, Og Mandino, Florence Scovel Shinn, Robert Greene, Russel Simmons, Master P, Boss Life, Cash Money Records, Mos Def, Ice Cube, Spiderman, New Jack City, He Got Game, 80s Baby, Pacman, Retro Air Jordans, Conversational, lyrical, stoner, nerd, Weed music, blunts.... And the list goes on....

After a couple hours of back and forth, rewriting and marinating, I landed on: Peter Parker 513 is GILE$, a metaphysical Steve Urkel think DMX and Wiz Khalifa.

Once you settle on something make sure you love it. Say it out loud and repeat in the mirror. It has to feel like it is true to you. If you see, hear and read this pitch everywhere will you still love it? When you're sure, the last step is to post it to all of your social media sites and with that you've strengthened your brand as well as made yourself relatable to people watching.

Go With the Flow...

I  make my own hours, I don't have a boss and I make more money than most people who went to school for their profession. On top of that this hustle allows me to create a fan base while pursuing my dream of being a performing artist. But. Believe it or not some days I take it for granted. Some days I wish that I was somewhere else or that I had made different decisions or that I was further along in my music career. Some days it's just depressing. Looking around seeing all the homeless people and drug addicts, seeing all the different types of scams that go on all around me and questioning if I am any different. Am I just a 2 bit hustler?

And on those days there is always someone that reminds me that I'm unique and special they remind me that I'm worth it. This homeless man watched my hustle from across the street and said he was inspired by how I did it and had to come give me his last $10. I told him "Stay positive, the tables always turn, hard times never last long." I have a feeling this guy won't be homeless for long. A few years ago I was in the same spot. I'm happy to have come so far and I'm gaining momentum every day and encounters like this definitely keep me humble.

Music Success In 9 Weeks: WEEK 1

With my new music in production as we speak, I thought it would be a good idea to let you in on the other preparations I am making to create success. Which brings me to this awesome book that made it's way randomly into my life though a friend of a friend. It's called Music Success in 9 Weeks by Ariel Hyatt. It is a step by step guide on how to use social media and online tactics to supercharge your PR, build your fan base, and earn money with music.

When I was first given the book it sat around my apartment for over a year but I knew the time would come when I would need, it and that time is now. Each week outlines specific tasks to complete among various different categories as well as tools to use in order to keep you on track.

Week one, which I am proud to say I have completed instructed me to set goals. Goals for the next 12 months as well as lifetime goals in music and in general. The tasks involved were to get creative with goal making writing them out in bold colors and creating a vision board.

In this first chapter the author also advises to get a notebook and write down 5 small successes each day (and its suggested to continue this practice for the duration of the 9 weeks and your life) Simple things in order to keep your mind focused on the positive and stop being so self-critical.

Personally, I really enjoyed these exercises because many of the metaphysical books that I enjoy reading talk about the power of writing goals out on paper and using photos to help you visualize.

Check in with me next week for a week 2 update!