October 11 began the 3rd Wave of Ariel Hyatt’s Music Success in Nine Weeks Blogging Challenge. She’s written a book that, if followed for nine weeks, will open up the doors of social media success when it comes to promoting your music online and reaching your goals. I’ve tried many things before, but nothing as structured as this. So, I’m going to be blogging every step of the way, all my successes and failures, as a written documentation of this journey. Oh, and did I mention there are some prizes involved? 
Of course, that’s not why I’m doing this. Which kind of brings me to the crux of Chapter One in Ariel’s book – what do I want?
Chapter One is all about the power of setting goals. I’m no stranger to this concept. I’ve achieved a lot of the success in my life because I learned to set goals; however, success in music has eluded me. I think part of the reason is that I’ve yet to reconcile my fantastical dream of being a pop star with the harsh reality that it will probably never happen and I should make some goals that are actually achievable. Part of me, the one that isn’t working 65+ hours a week and has a full life outside of music, still wants to believe that anything is possible. The other part of me; however, still questions why I pursue this.
I’ve given this a lot of thought over the past week as I’ve started this challenge and I’ve come to the determination that I need to have a BHAG – a Big Hairy Audacious Goal – and that even if I don’t achieve that BHAG, the journey along the way will propel me to levels of success I’ve never had. So, in the end, it’s ok that I want to be a pop star and sell millions of records. Would I be happy just finding my niche, an audience that connects with the music I make and will support it the way that I’ve always supported all the artists that I love? The answer is … ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY! Really, at the core, that’s all any artist wants, for people to love what they’re doing .
So, I’m going to break my Goals down into three distinct categories:
BHAG - My 5 year goal – to be an international pop recording artist touring the world to sold out arenas and selling millions of records.
My 3 year goal - to be successful enough selling, promoting and playing music that I could support myself full time doing nothing else if I chose.
My 1 year goal – now this is where Ariel’s book is really helping me to dive in. Understanding that goals are malleable but at the same time need to be concrete, I’ve taken her advice and broken my 1 year goals into five sections:
1. Sales
2. Fans
3. Music
4. Performance
5. Promotion
I could have chosen 10 sections, but as Ariel wisely points out, trying to do too much at once will often lead to nothing getting done effectively. I’ve proved that time and time again. These 5 areas I can have a direct impact on by myself. They aren’t contigent upon anyone for me to see them through, which was another criteria in Ariel’s book.
So, what I plan to do for week one is blog each day about 1 section and clearly write out not only what my one year goal is, but my detailed plan to accomplish it, with deadlines.
I’m also going to take it one step further and blog my successes each day. According to Ariel, this can have a powerful impact on what I’ll be able to achieve. All the little successes will lead to the big success that I’ve been searching for.
My success today:
1. Taking the first step in writing this blog … And so the journey begins …
Of course, that’s not why I’m doing this. Which kind of brings me to the crux of Chapter One in Ariel’s book – what do I want? Chapter One is all about the power of setting goals. I’m no stranger to this concept. I’ve achieved a lot of the success in my life because I learned to set goals; however, success in music has eluded me. I think part of the reason is that I’ve yet to reconcile my fantastical dream of being a pop star with the harsh reality that it will probably never happen and I should make some goals that are actually achievable. Part of me, the one that isn’t working 65+ hours a week and has a full life outside of music, still wants to believe that anything is possible. The other part of me; however, still questions why I pursue this.
I’ve given this a lot of thought over the past week as I’ve started this challenge and I’ve come to the determination that I need to have a BHAG – a Big Hairy Audacious Goal – and that even if I don’t achieve that BHAG, the journey along the way will propel me to levels of success I’ve never had. So, in the end, it’s ok that I want to be a pop star and sell millions of records. Would I be happy just finding my niche, an audience that connects with the music I make and will support it the way that I’ve always supported all the artists that I love? The answer is … ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY! Really, at the core, that’s all any artist wants, for people to love what they’re doing .
So, I’m going to break my Goals down into three distinct categories:
BHAG - My 5 year goal – to be an international pop recording artist touring the world to sold out arenas and selling millions of records.
My 3 year goal - to be successful enough selling, promoting and playing music that I could support myself full time doing nothing else if I chose.
My 1 year goal – now this is where Ariel’s book is really helping me to dive in. Understanding that goals are malleable but at the same time need to be concrete, I’ve taken her advice and broken my 1 year goals into five sections:
1. Sales
2. Fans
3. Music
4. Performance
5. Promotion
I could have chosen 10 sections, but as Ariel wisely points out, trying to do too much at once will often lead to nothing getting done effectively. I’ve proved that time and time again. These 5 areas I can have a direct impact on by myself. They aren’t contigent upon anyone for me to see them through, which was another criteria in Ariel’s book.
So, what I plan to do for week one is blog each day about 1 section and clearly write out not only what my one year goal is, but my detailed plan to accomplish it, with deadlines.
I’m also going to take it one step further and blog my successes each day. According to Ariel, this can have a powerful impact on what I’ll be able to achieve. All the little successes will lead to the big success that I’ve been searching for.
My success today:
1. Taking the first step in writing this blog … And so the journey begins …