TAG: values

Top 10 Tips for Music Entrepreneurs: How to Create Sustainable Career Success

With the year coming to a close, it is time for top 10 lists.  My contribution to the field is a top 10 list for Music Entrepreneurs on how to create career success.  This list reflects my belief that successful music entrepreneurs align who they are with what they do  .

The short answer is be authentic, be unique, and master the skills that will enable you to create big dreams and make them happen. Not surprisingly, this list reflects the topics that I will be covering in my class next semester at YSM on Creating Sustainable Careers in the Arts.

Here are my top 10 tips for musicians who are committed to creating and sustaining authentic success:

Looking for Career Inspiration: How Music Entrepreneurs Find Their Vision

One of the hallmarks of a music entrepreneur is having a vision and taking action to make that vision happen.  In my role as Coordinator of Career Strategies at the Yale School of Music, I have the privilege of working with an extraordinarily talented group of musicians, all of whom have worked hard to get to where they are.  Yet many of these students do not have a vision for where they want to take their careers.  Since having a vision is a powerful motivator for creating career success, how do you create such a vision for yourself?

In my experience, many successful musicians got their career inspiration from listening to other people and paying attention when they got excited about something that someone else was doing.   In other words, they met someone and realize, “That’s what I want to do.”  Then, they put their personal spin on the idea and that became their vision.

Personal Board of Directors

What is a personal board of directors?

A personal board of directors is comprised of the people in your life who support your vision and to whom you turn when you want honest and trustworthy advice and/or when you are looking for help in figuring out solutions to your challenges. 

Connecting with your Target Audience: The “Aha” Moment for Music Entrepreneurs

One of the hallmarks of personal branding is knowing who your target audience is.   A target audience is an essential piece of information for branding and marketing, both of which are skills that the effective music entrepreneur needs under his or her belt.  At my recent Branding and Marketing Class at the Yale School of Music, our budding music entrepreneurs embraced the concept of knowing your ideal, target audience as a way of authentically connecting with the people they most want to work with.

Know Your Values: The Key to Great Decisions and Positive Motivation

I am a big believer in the importance of knowing your values and aligning your life in order to honor those values. 

What are values?  Quite simply, the principles by which you live your life: authenticity, courage, fun, relationships, personal growth, service or spirituality.   Each person has a unique set of these principles that define you and tell you what is truly important to you. In effect, values are the essence of who you really are: i.e., the core to your authenticity.

Know Your Core Values: Great Decisions vs. Difficult Decisions

Values are the core principles that run your life.  They are the key to your authentic self. One of the best ways to create success in your life is aligning your life with your top values and making decisions that honor those values. In my career development workshops, I introduce the concept of values so that my workshop participants can …

Just Say No: Setting Boundaries so that You Can Say YES to Yourself

One of the biggest reasons that we do not have time for ourselves is that we say yes to other people and take on commitments that we really do not enjoy.  Often, it stems from a place of not wanting to disappoint these other people. Learn how to set healthy boundaries and say no to others so that you are saying YES to yourself.

Shaking up the world of classical music: a call to all music entrepreneurs

Young musicians today are eager to shake up the world of classical music.  Not only do they see the traditional outlets of classical music drying up but many of them also feel a sense of mission around creating new possibilities for the music world.  It is exciting to see what today’s music entrepreneurs are up to.  Read on to see what is on their minds!

How to Overcome Procrastination: Why Do I Procrastinate?

What do you think about when you hear the word “procrastination?” Do you feel embarrassed, guilty or ashamed that you are putting off tasks that you know you have to do? Rather than dump on yourself for procrastinating, why not ask yourself why you are procrastinating. The answers will give you some valuable clues as to how you are living your life. So think of procrastination as your friend as you begin to dissect the reasons you are procrastinating and use the following tips to start doing all those things that you may have been putting off!