Buyers of the Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook were treated to an early, near-complete version of the book inside the membership today.
Why v0.7?
I’ve been making huge strides with the book in the last couple of weeks, only to realize:
There’s still so much more content I want to add.
Some of the content deserves an extra coat of polish.
I’d like to spend a little more time developing the design, formatting, and layout of the book.
The resources section needs to be built out in full.
It is supposed to be a premium book, after all.
But I wanted to be a man of my word (I said that the book would be ready as early as February 20), which is why I released v0.7, sneak preview edition!
But… it doesn’t stop there! 🧀
Early adopters of the Blackbook were also treated to 14 bonus videos on productivity, performance, and profits. And there will be more bonus deliverables.
Yep. No waiting. You can access these videos right away if you purchase the book.
Starting to feel like you may have missed out? Yeah, I hear you. 👂
I have good news, though…
You can stillget the book and all the bonuses for just $10 USD (regular $57 USD) if you order between now and February 28, 2023.
After that, the price goes up to $57 USD (it’s worth every penny, mind you…).
Here are a few questions that came through. Let’s tackle them! 💪
So, is v1.0 still coming?
Yes, of course it is!
Will there be a paperback or hardcover edition of the book?
It largely depends on demand. So far, everyone’s been quite happy with the digital edition.
But if you’re interested in a physical version, do let me know!
Will the book and all associated bonuses be rolled into Elite Players: All Access Pass membership?
Yes, it will! And the price of membership will remain the same.
What’s the end game here? This is not just a book, is it?
Okay, you got me. The book is loaded with valuable content, and you’re not obligated to purchase a thing more. But there is more coming. I don’t have an “end game,” per se, but as I continue to climb this mountain, I am seeing further.
And here is what I’m starting to see:
The Productivity, Performance & Profits audiobook
The Productivity, Performance & Profits interviews
The Productivity, Performance & Profits newsletter
The Productivity, Performance & Profits challenge
The Productivity, Performance & Profits course
The Productivity, Performance & Profits coaching
The Productivity, Performance & Profits mastermind
Will I really be creating all that? Well, only time will tell. But the ideas are flowing.
At this point, you’re probably starting to realize that musician coaching is a real thing, and it could be quite valuable for you.
But are you ready for coaching?
Is it right for you?
Is now a good time to get a coach?
Here’s a self-assessment that will help you determine whether you need a musician coach.
Are You Willing to Invest in Yourself?
If your answer is:
No, I’m not willing to spend a dime to build a fan base and make a living from my passion.
Then I can’t help you, and neither can any other coach.
If it’s unimaginable for you to spend $37 on an eBook, $97 on a course, $127 on personalized coaching, I’m sorry, I can’t help you, and most other coaches would be warped in the noggin to help you too.
Understand – these are minimum prices, not maximum!
It’s unfortunate, but it’s true – we don’t place much value on things we don’t pay for.
If you don’t act on the information offered here, you will go back to old habits, returning to the same rut you tried to claw your way out of.
Here’s something to think about…
You don’t pay a mechanic for working on your car, do you? You pay them for knowing what to do, regardless of how much time and effort it ultimately takes them.
It’s the same with a coach. You don’t pay them for how much time or effort it takes to do the job – you pay them for their experience and ability to guide you (especially since breakthroughs can happen fast!).
Have You Worked on Your Craft & Live Show?
If “no,” you might not need a coach yet.
First, you’ve got to make the leap from amateur to professional and that means making a commitment to improve and work on your craft from one show, one release, one interview, to the next.
If that’s not what you’re doing, you haven’t made the commitment yet, and that’s okay.
But you don’t need a coach if you’re not building towards something.
Cliché as it might be, my coaches often repeated this phrase to me:
You can’t steer a parked car.
What does that mean?
It means if you’re not doing anything in your music career, I can’t tell you where to go or what to do next – it would all be speculation.
But if, for example, you have a live show you’ve been developing for a while and you want me to audit and review it, I’m your man.
Do You Have Career Goals (Even if They Are Foggy)?
If you do, you will benefit from coaching.
The truth is many artists only think they have goals.
But because they haven’t taken certain actions to put their goals into existence, they don’t know what they’re working towards, let alone how close they are to achieving their goals.
Fogginess around goal setting is very normal because what I teach, they don’t generally teach in school. So, it’s not your fault that you don’t know.
Bottom line – if you aren’t working towards something, or don’t have at least partially defined goals yet, forego the coaching and instead come up with three things you would like to accomplish in your music career, so we have something to discuss.
Do it now. This post will still be here when you come back.
Could You Benefit from an Outside Perspective?
For most artists, the answer will be “yes.”
If you can’t see it for yourself, all good, here are some things to consider:
How often do you record yourself to listen and evaluate your performance?
How often do you film yourself performing on stage to watch, listen, and evaluate your performance?
Do you track the number of people attending your performance (as well as how many people were there when you started, and how many were left when you were done)?
Is auditing your web presence a common practice of yours, and do you take note of how you’re coming across to fans and prospective fans, what’s missing, or what could be improved upon?
How well do you track your income and expenses, and could you make projections based on the numbers you see?
This is but the tip of the iceberg…
There’s just so much you don’t see when you’re working in the business instead of on the business.
And yes, I do mean to use the term “business” here because if you take your music career seriously, that’s exactly what it is.
I remember calling my friend over one day to share my new business idea with him.
I was excited out of my mind and couldn’t possibly conceive how anyone would think it was a bad idea.
“He’s probably going to want to join my enterprise,” I thought to myself.
But as I started sharing, not only did he not share my sense of enthusiasm for the business, but he also tore apart the idea, systematically, limb from limb.
Although I kept answering his questions in the calmest manner possible, understandably I became frazzled by the end of that conversation!
You’ll never guess what he said to me next:
I was just being your devil’s advocate. Someone needs to punch holes in your idea so you can see all the ways it could fail, rather than getting tunnel vision on why it will succeed.
Wow.
Do you have tunnel vision? Are you seeing what no one else is seeing? Are you imagining a bright future only you believe in?
While you don’t need anyone to tear you down, you do need someone to help you reinforce your weakside.
And oftentimes, the only way to uncover that blind spot is to consult someone who’s equally invested in seeing you succeed in your music career.
Do You Feel Stuck in Your Music Career?
Cheer up.
If you’re feeling stuck, it means you’ve made a lot of progress to get to this point!
The growth curve only gets steeper, not gentler.
But you could literally name a big name you know, and I guarantee you they’ve reached plateaus on their journey to the top too.
Trust me when I say a visit to the rut-ville isn’t a view filled with unicorns farting rainbows.
But here’s the thing:
There’s always some adjustment to be made at this juncture that will make a difference.
The problem? There’s no way to know what that adjustment might be without expert help!
Do You Feel Frustrated in Your Music Career (Because You’ve Tried Everything & it Didn’t Work)?
If you’re stuck, you’re probably frustrated too – the two tend to go together.
And this is a solid indicator you need coaching (before you throw in the towel, call it quits, curse the music business, and swear off passion for life).
But does it seem like you’re trying everything without getting anywhere?
Trust me when I say I’ve spent years spinning my wheels in my personal growth, music career, and business endeavors, sometimes simultaneously.
While I never stopped looking for answers, I stopped putting pressure on trying to find them. Answers started showing up far faster when there was no pressure for them to appear!
You didn’t land on this page by accident. You’re on the brink of becoming unstuck. All you’ve got to do now is make the leap and invest in yourself.
When you invest in coaching, you’re never investing in the coach. You’re investing in you.
Things will go smoothly and even be perfectly manageable in your music career for a while.
You’ll start to get more gigs, sell more merch, get more email signups, and so on.
But then comes a new challenge – in the business world, we call it scaling.
Scaling is where you adjust to the new demands as they come pouring in (usually at an uncontrollable rate).
Everyone thinks fast growth is awesome and it’s what they should go after, until they realize they’re not even ready for it!
To scale, a business must systemize and hire. It’s time-consuming and expensive, especially if you mess up.
Prolific novelty songwriter Jonathan Coulton eventually had to hire an assistant to help with the huge influx of emails he was receiving from fans every single day.
Overwhelm isn’t bad. It means there are new opportunities, and it means there’s greater demand for what you’re doing.
But if you don’t have a way to parse your opportunities and scale with the demand, you will end up in the same position I’ve found myself in multiple times – burning out!
Burning out sucks. It might take months to recover from. What good is opportunity then?
You need a coach, and stat!
Final Thoughts, Musician Coach
In closing, I wanted to let you know about something free I created.
Honesty, I think I might be crazy for giving away this much…
I’ve offered my coaching and consulting services to a variety of people over the years, from artists and executives to professionals and entrepreneurs, but coaching really works best when we’re not talking about the conceptual.
Now, I’m a big believer in speculating on possibilities or brainstorming. There’s a lot of great stuff that can come out of that. I do this all the time with my team. But that’s not the same as having something out there that everyone can see.
When you put yourself out there, whether it’s a song, a website, or a marketing initiative, there’s always feedback. And that feedback is often missed, or it goes unnoticed and untracked by the artist. And sadly, that doesn’t lead to accurate thinking. If you’re trying to pinpoint what works, and you’re not tracking, you’re not going to get anywhere fast.
That’s a situation where a coach can make a big difference. They can look at what you have and go, “let’s steer that car in this direction,” “or let’s pick up the speed a bit,” or “watch out for that congestion ahead.” They can improve upon your marketing campaign. Or maybe they can see that based on what happened with your last one, you need to start an entirely new campaign.
A lot of artists don’t have anything in motion and try to cause or force an outcome, and that’s not much different than sitting around at home, meditating, feeling great, waiting for your dream date to fall into your lap. It might happen, but it seems quite unlikely. You’d have a much better chance meeting people in the park than at home.
And from there, you can keep adjusting. You can start having conversations in the park. Or you can give people a reason to have conversations with you. Or you can try another location.
Then you can improve your conversation. Maybe make a direct ask of the person you’re talking to. Get a few dates. Bit by bit, you’re getting closer to what you want.
If you don’t have an outside vantage point on your career, you’re almost certainly leaving opportunity on the table. They’re passing you by, and you’re not even noticing. And there are so many things that are hard to see when you’re so entrenched in your own ecosystem.
A coach can help you identify what’s missing in your approach and help you course correct.
And it’s the same thing with getting a record deal too. Record labels don’t jump-start engines anymore. They just add momentum to a moving car – like a rocket fuel booster or something like that. If you don’t have that car moving in the right direction at the right speed already, no one’s going to be knocking on your door.
For a proven, step-by-step framework in cracking the code to independent music career success, and additional in-depth insights into making your passion sustainable and profitable, be sure to pick up my best-selling guide, The Music Entrepreneur Code.
When presented with the choice of doing something hard or doing something easy, most people choose to do something easy.
It’s human.
And this tendency shows up everywhere in our lives, including things we aren’t complete with, and still need to deal with.
If you want to cause a breakthrough, you can’t keep chipping away at the easy. You can’t be satisfied with incremental improvement. You must confront the monster you’ve tried to keep behind closed doors.
Today, I was talking with a friend who wasn’t moving forward powerfully in her life.
So, I offered some coaching. It was difficult for her to dig where she didn’t want to dig. She’d been stuck in the same pattern for a long time.
When I could see plainly that she was capable of so much more, as someone who’s up to something in the world.
I knew that she didn’t really want to look at what I was pointing to. But I poked around a little anyway, knowing that it would hurt a little. Because the pain of not moving forward would surely be greater than dealing with whatever was there for her.
As she kept looking, she started to see what was there for her. Unsurprisingly, it had a lot to do with her childhood and upbringing.
Eventually, she saw why she wasn’t doing anything with the projects that were supposed to be so important to her.
That would not have happened if we had dealt with the surface. It happened because I kept digging, and ultimately, because she kept digging where she didn’t want to dig. I can’t take credit for the breakthrough. Only for the stand I’d made for her.
Stop looking for gold on the surface. It’s time to go deeper. That’s where the hard stuff is. And the hard stuff is where we have breakthroughs.
