Produce the minimum amount of content for the maximum amount of results. Too many companies bury themselves in content: sales decks, testimonials, thought leadership articles, case studies. Half of it goes unused or unseen. More content does not mean more leads or business. The equation of “the more busy I am, the more successful I am” is just not true. – Robert Rose
Reflection offers an opportunity to identify and integrate necessary life and business lessons.
After taking a near two-month long sabbatical from the content hamster wheel that was rapidly swallowing my life whole, I have begun to see content creation from a whole new perspective.
Rose’s quote tells most of the story. But I picked up another key insight from him, which is that if someone interacts with your content, and they leave with a bad taste in their mouth, they’re unlikely to return.
That got me thinking.
I embraced James Schramko’s own the racecourse methodology around 2016. This involves setting up a blog with categories that relate to your audience’s paint points and rolling out a steady stream of news pieces, updates, reviews, and other articles.
I still believe strongly in the model and it’s viable strategy even today… if done right.
At the time, though, content and SEO were like the Wild West. Everyone was in a mad rush to land grab their chosen keywords, pumping out new articles like it was a Piranha feeding frenzy. Quantity was the name of the game, oftentimes to the determent of quality.
As much as possible, I focused on producing and curating quality content for my business, Music Entrepreneur HQ. Over the years, though, we had many requests for backlinks and guest posts. We said “no” to most, but sensing an opportunity, we acquiesced, and the bloodstream of our ecosystem was suddenly flooded with infographics, essay writing services, and generic nonsense. Eventually, some lesser content slipped through the cracks. In hindsight, it was like injecting the wrong ingredient – let’s say large quantities of pickle juice – into a perfectly good cake mix.
Although we did our best to update, consolidate, and/or eliminate old content, it was a far cry from a thorough content audit.
I was so caught up in working in my business that I had no time or energy left over to work on my business. I couldn’t see the bigger picture. I couldn’t see that being busier simply wasn’t going to lead to desired outcomes.
Finally, I realized it was time for a change.
Realistically, I knew I couldn’t pump out dozens of articles per day like Entrepreneur or Forbes, and even if I could, I would need significantly more traffic to my sites to generate even a few hundred dollars per month from advertising and affiliate sales.
There’s a way to make it as a creator or independent entrepreneur. But publishing more for the sake of publishing more isn’t it.
It takes hard work to get the attention of a reader, listener, or viewer, never mind keeping their attention. So, I can’t afford to keep content that turns people off my brands.
And so, the time has come to archive content, and the archiving has already begun. You can expect many posts from this site, Music Entrepreneur HQ, and even our YouTube channel to start disappearing.
This doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to access this content anymore. We’ve created (or are in the process of creating) multiple options for you.
First and foremost, members of Elite Players: All Access Pass (tiered access to come) will always be able to dive into a ton of archived training, podcast episodes, and blog posts.
Secondly, some of the content is being compiled and put into books.
Finally, if you haven’t already signed up for our free PDF Vault, know that there are over 100 eBooks, blog posts, podcast transcripts, cheat sheets, and other great resources stashed away in there (and we plan to add several hundred more).
You will need to enter your email to sign up for the PDF Vault, and you will automatically be added to our music marketing newsletter, but hey, we want to connect with you in a more meaningful way, and we hope you feel the same way.
It’s time to embrace something I’ve been teaching for years – clearing the clutter. Clutter takes up mind space and doesn’t pay the rent, and it’s high time I let go of things that no longer serve me in the present.
Expect archiving and locking content to be a regular part of our new workflow, because we will lock away what isn’t generating traffic or business. But there will always be a sizable body of free work you can enjoy at your leisure.
I’m finally breaking a prolonged silence to share about the new homepage layout.
Have you seen it yet?
I know you might have some questions about my absence, and I promise those will all be answered by the end of this post, but first I need to get something off my chest…
It’s Official – Google Hates Me
I have always known that there are forces working against me. But at this point it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it’s affecting my professional life.
Originally, Google gave me no love for the extensive, value adding content on Music Entrepreneur HQ.
Fair enough. This stuff takes time.
But when they finally ranked me for something, it was for a book review for Dr. Joseph Murphy’s The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, sending me loads of traffic for something completely unrelated to my niche – gee, thanks! How am I supposed to serve the law of attraction crowd and a musician tribe at the same time? It’s hard enough building credibility with one crowd let alone two!
(I’m not ungrateful – we eventually found a way to leverage that traffic too, but it was just one post mixed in among hundreds of relevant posts about building a music career.)
Obviously, you can’t take isolated incidents as final. But it doesn’t end there… Not even close.
This is How Google – Infuriatingly – Wants You to See Me
Google “David Andrew Wiebe,” and this is what comes up:
Wonderful. Fabulous. Google thinks I’m a musician.
Is that a problem? Well, no. Except that I have not actively been promoting myself as a musician for over a decade. If I had been doing that, I’m sure I’d have more than seven monthly listeners on Spotify.
I still make music, sure, and I’ve got some big plans for my next release. But that’s beside the point.
What exactly does it do to my reputation as a musician coach when people see I’ve got a whole seven monthly listeners on Spotify?
It discredits me. It makes me look foolish, that’s what.
I built my career on YouTube, SoundCloud, and ReverbNation. That’s how long I’ve been around. Spotify didn’t even exist when I was first getting started.
Google also seems to want to promote me as an actor. Well, I’m still waiting to hear back about those roles…
(Could it be because I don’t live in Hollywood and haven’t been actively auditioning for roles that I don’t have a solid career in acting?! Hmm…)
Anyway, Google “Tony Robbins” instead and see what his knowledge panel looks like:
Beautiful. Awe-inspiring. Shows the best side of his work (mostly).
So why the hell can’t I have a knowledge panel that looks like that?
Because Google won’t let me.
I went and claimed the damn panel, verified myself, and I still can’t edit. And I’m frickin’ David Andrew Wiebe for crying out loud! There’s only one of us!
I reached out to Google and haven’t heard diddly squat.
All I’m asking for is a little bit of control over what shows up when people search for me. Show my music releases, fine, but could you also show my books and relevant social media profiles please?
To denounce all the work, I’ve done outside of making music is to COMPLETELY ignore six books, hundreds of posts on this blog, Medium, Tealfeed, hundreds of podcast episodes on Apple Podcasts (and elsewhere), hundreds of videos on YouTube, multiple courses, and frankly the insane amount of work I’ve put into becoming a content creator, author, designer, and musician coach. I frickin’ dedicated my life to this work!
Google, could you please do something about this?
If Tony can look his best in your search results, can’t I too? Can’t you show my best side instead of focusing on platforms where people barely even check out my stuff?
I’ve got a substantial following on Twitter, Medium, and Tealfeed at the very least. Could we focus on those platforms instead?
Show my music, sure, but it should probably go below my books at this point.
So, yeah, a homepage redesign showcasing what I want people to know about me was clearly in order.
<!– Rant over. –>
Now let me answer a few quick questions before calling it a day. How’s that for giving a damn, Google?
Are You Okay?
Yes, thanks for asking.
I have been living nomadically out of Airbnbs for the last couple of months.
After taking a long-awaited two-week vacation in Chilliwack, I have been bouncing around from Langley to Port Coquitlam and soon to Surrey in a “working vacation” type scenario.
Understandably, there has been an “adjustment period” in making it all work, but it’s starting to fall together.
I consider myself fortunate that I get to travel and work remotely and daily remind myself to focus on the blessings rather than the minor inconveniences and annoyances I’ve experienced along the way.
If you do happen across a sweet deal for a ground floor or basement suite between $800 to $1,500 per month in the Tri-Cities area, though, do let me know ($1,200 or less is preferred).
Where Can I Find You?
You ever heard the saying “birds of a feather flock together?”
Well, this is exactly what’s been happening as of late as I quickly become addicted to BIGO LIVE.
After passing my audition to become a host, I have been streaming almost daily.
If you’d like to catch up with me, download the app and use the invitation code 2721876854 to earn some surprise bonuses.
I’ve also been putting out some free audio trainings on Telegram. You can follow me over there too.
Are You Still Going to be Podcasting?
Yes. It might be in a completely different capacity, but rest assured The New Music Industry Podcast will be revived. There’s more to cover.
What About YouTube?
This is the main thing I’m looking to work back into my schedule. I’ve already filmed a dozen or so videos, but they need to be edited.
Is Your Next Book Almost Done Yet?
Yes. I announced the completion of my latest manuscript on Twitter just yesterday.
If you don’t follow me on Twitter yet, do so. I share a lot of stuff there.
I’ll likely be setting up pre-orders for the book real soon.
The Leading Musician Coach
Hey! I’m author, entrepreneur, and musician David Andrew Wiebe. Learn more >
