The first thing you have to think about when putting together your marketing plan is this:

• What is your core goal?

It’s essential that the most successful and long-lasting campaigns start locally and build globally, and that no matter how grand the overall goal is, it makes sense for all artists to attack this goal on a per-project basis. A typical music marketing plan looks at the lifecycle of one record (which could end up being more than a year of well-performing release).

For traditional record labels, the goal was easy: sell records. Labels have the infrastructure in place (distribution and marketing, mostly) to replicate past marketing plans with slight adjustments based on the individual characteristics and existing fan base of the particular band they are working with.

Independent artists that do not have a label’s built-in promotion and distribution mechanisms must be more detailed with their plans. For example, the core goal of using their new release to expand their fan base. A band that was formerly signed to a label might be interested in tapping into the national or international marketing inroads that their former label made.

This plan might have the goal of connecting with past supporters of the band to sell an independent release. It’s essential to have a long-term vision in terms of creating a working marketing plan, you need to consider the stage you are at in your career and be realistic about what is possible for you.

At times artists, musicians and songwriters need inspiration for songs. Use your own life story or someone elses life story to inspire others. I give you 6 inspiration tips for a song.

Make a song about:

• Self-realization / Self development
• Appreciation / Self respect / Respect for others
• Recognition / Acknowledgement
• Social contact / Belong to a social group
• Safety / Security / Certainty
• Oxygen / Food / Drinks / Sleep / Sex

Getting feedback from your environment.

1. Feedback doesn’t tell something about yourself, it says something about the person who gives the feedback
2. Feedback which is strategically useful is something you save
3. You will get criticism
4. Criticism hurts when it’s a reflection of what we believe in
5. Ask yourself what is more important

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Stress is not good for our health. It has damaging risks on your body and mind. Therefore it’s important to look at things to reduce your stress. How can you reduce your stress?

– Don’t call stress stress. Most of the time we tell ourselves we stress, if we keep on calling it stress then we feel the stress. So it’s important to call it something else like overwhelmed. Do you feel the difference in words?

– Do sports. Sports reduces your stress level. It keeps you fit and gives you positive energy.

– Walking (in nature). Our head tents to feel overloaded when we have stress. If we focus on nature our head feels less overloaded and is focussed on a few things around us.

– Focus on your hobbies. Work is our main stress factor. When we decide to focus on hobbies as well, we feel enlightened from the experience we have on work.

– Look for positive energy. During stress we feel negative. It’s not the most productive way to work. Therefore positive energy gives us a lot more. Focus on the positive things you’ve already reached.

– Talk to other people. Sometimes we don’t know the answer ourselves. It’s good to talk to other people instead. How do they reduce their stress?

– Take enough rest during the day. We are always running from one work spot to an other. It’s easy to do this, but in the mean time we don’t have relax moments to reflect. Reflection is a good way to see what you’ve already done and be proud of that. 

– Make to do lists. We’re stressing most of the time, because we think we have less time to do tasks at work. When we make to do lists, we can see if we use the time in a usefull and stress reduced way.

– Listen or play music. Music works therapeutically. On Spotify you have lots of music which makes you feel more relaxed and comfortable. 

– Is the stress realistic or not? We think we have stress, but most of the time it’s not realistic. We need to realize in the end we all do the best we can. And sometimes we don’t accomplish work deadlines. Is that really something we should stress over? We still are humans in the end.

And at last, ask for help if you need it.