One of the great things about having a brand is that it can be used in so many ways. A brand is fundamentally a marketing tool that connects the best of you with your ideal audience. Your brand has a practical application as follows: Logo and tag line Website Promotional Materials Career Materials, including a professional bio, resume and CV. …
Personal Branding for Musicians: How What I Do Makes Me Unique and Memorable
I have been doing a lot of work with students these days around branding and the results have been fascinating!
First, I worked with the Choral Conducting students at the Yale School of Music to teach them the basics of branding and how to use a brand statement to write a professional bio. Then I was at Juilliard to help the students create a brand statement that we then converted into an elevator speech.
A lot of the focus of these classes is to help students discover how they are unique so that they can best present themselves to the audiences that will hire them. One of the best ways to do this is by looking at what you do besides music and figuring out what that says about you. But first, some basics.
Finding Passion in Your Life’s Work: Do What You Love
One of the reasons that I love working with musicians is that they chose to do what they do because of a deep sense of commitment and passion to the field. Otherwise, why would they spend some much time practicing and honing their craft in a competitive and challenging field?
It is one thing to be in love with your art. Yet many musicians have trouble taking the next step to figuring out how to translate that passion into a successful and sustainable career.
Where do you start?
Thoughts on Ben Zander’s TED Talk on Music and Passion (Leadership and Possibility)
I am in the process of finalizing the reading list for my course next semester at the Yale School of Music on “Creating Sustainable Careers in the Arts” and am including Ben Zander’s TED Talk on Music and Passion. TED Talks originated from a conference with the world’s thought leaders in Technology, Entertainment and Design around the theme of “ideas worth spreading”. The talks have broadened in scope to include inspirations voices that anyone can access for free online on the ted.com website. I have chosen this particular talk because not only it is an inspiration for today’s conservatory students to hear one of the world’s great proponents of classical music but also because it contains some powerful leadership lessons that transcend music and apply to all areas of life.
Career Transitions Part 4: “I’m There”: Managing expectations and keeping it fresh
The fourth point of the cycle of transitions is getting “there”. If you have tested out a number of possibilities and hit upon the thing that works, it is now time to do it. Eureka! You are there! How exciting to hit upon a career path that aligns with who you are at your best! . You may want this …
Career Transitions Part 3: “I’m Exploring”–The power of testing options to discover your new career path
I work with a lot of musicians and creative professionals who feel stuck and trapped in their current roles. This feeling of being stuck can be stressful and debilitating, especially if you think that there is something “perfect” out there if only you could figure out what “it” is. This is a classic case of the first phase of career transitions that I previously wrote about called “I’m done“: what happens when your dream dies or your job comes to an end.
The good news is that if you spend some time “reflecting” on who you are at your core– the next phase of transition where you do the personal development work that you need to do in order to set yourself up for a successful transition–you will be in a much better position to move on.
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.
How to Spot Your Strengths: A Music Entrepreneur’s First Step in Identifying What Makes You Unique
The start of the academic year is a great time to reflect on strengths since it is my belief that knowing and developing your strengths is one of the basic elements of creating success.
Moreover, for musicians, knowing your strengths is key to creating your brand—the message that sets you apart from others—as well as a beacon of light when your confidence is flagging and you need a boost to remember what your talents really are.
How do you spot strengths?
Listening: An Essential Communication Skill for Musicians
I have been attending a lot of chamber music concerts lately and have been observing how important it is for musicians to listen to each other as they perform. The better the members of an ensemble are able to listen and communicate effectively to each other, the better the performance. This has gotten me thinking about ways that musicians can …
Communication 101 for Music Entrepreneurs: Know Your Communication Style
In my recent post about what it takes to be a successful musician in the 21st Century, one of the skills that I mentioned was Communication Skills. What do I mean?
Musicians need powerful communication skills in many different settings:
- In ensembles to make sure that the group is on the same page musically, listening carefully to each other so that the music flows;
- In collaborations with other artists to maximize the synergies and create a powerful experience for the collaborators and their audiences;
- Engaging their audiences so that the audience members will appreciate the music and have a deeper and richer understanding of the performance;
- Teaching so that their students understand how they can improve and grow and learn;
- Creating something new, be it a festival, a non-profit organization or an ensemble, and getting people on board to support the new venture
- Networking so that they can meet and connect with other people.
Effective communication is a powerful leadership skill. It starts with knowing who you are as a communicator and what are your strengths. One way to do this is to know your communication style.