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Assess every opportunity.
Published about 1 month ago • 7 min read
Hey Reader,
A while back, in our EDUcreator Club Mastermind, we were discussing the fact that we sometimes have to pay for things like going to present at conferences, which means we need to really think through each opportunity and ensure we can make a good financial decision to go and take on that cost. Before I go any further, I want to make sure I note that I 1,000% do not want you to ever spend recklessly. This story might seem to go against it, but that is not the point of the story.
This in no way is meant to tell you to make bad decisions. Seriously, always assess the opportunity, the costs, and think through things before taking a gig or attending a conference or anything that you need to financially invest in. With that said, it's story time... Back when I was in the music industry (if you don't know, once upon a time I owned an independent record label) our team put on a conference for musicians to come together and learn about the business side of things. We had 2 days of breakout sessions and panels that consisted of record execs, booking agents, lawyers, etc. Anyway, during one of the sessions, one of our panelists (who is truly an incredible talent agent) made a very bold statement to the close to 100 musicians in the room that they "should absolutely, never play for free...anywhere." This confused the room a little because probably 75% of them were not to the point of their careers where anyone was asking them to come play for money. That just doesn't happen in music. Doesn't happen for most people, and those it does happen to, it takes a long time and a lot of performing for free to get there. Anyway, this particular time, it rubbed me the wrong way because of this story: Five or so years prior to that, when I was still playing in my band, we had started to grow a decent fan base in our hometown area. Nothing to write home about, but we usually had 100 or so kids coming out to our shows and that was noticeably more than most of the other acts we played with. So we typically got paid to perform. Not much, but usually at least something. We had stopped playing as many free shows. Anyway, there was a young girl who came to a lot of shows and one day she asked if we would play her 16th birthday party. They couldn't pay us, but we could eat all the cake we wanted lol (not a joke, that was the pay). We took the gig. And it was just what it sounds like: We were in a basement of a house, in the corner, playing to a room of probably 25 15-16 year old kids. It wasn't a horrible show because our fan base was in that age range at the time (I was 20, and my bandmates were 16-17) and there were a few fans there. But it wasn't a great show, it costed us money to get us all there and make CDs to take and give away…and the steps we had to carry all of our gear up and down were a nightmare. So when we look at that gig, you could assess that it was a small crowd that wasn't super interested in our music. It was not paid. It was a pain to go up and down the stairs. It was on a day where we might have been able to book a different, paying gig.
All in all, it was not a good gig. We probably shouldn't have invested the time and energy in it. We also gave all of the kids free CDs, so we probably shouldn't have invested that money either.
But we had assessed all those negatives, and decided that the potential positive of making this young fan's birthday special, and maybe gaining a couple new fans, was worth it for us at the time. Here's the twist... There was a 14 year old kid there. He fell in love with our band that day. He took that free CD and shared it with his cousin. His cousin was a swimmer at Hiram College in Ohio.
The men's swim team from Hiram had a tradition of putting on a huge bonfire party every Labor Day. This party consisted of 20 kegs of beer and 6 full pigs roasted over a massive fire, and it was attended by hundreds of Hiram students. (It was crazy.) Anyway, that little kid's cousin loved our CD and invited us to come play that party. They also could not pay us. But we'd get free beer and roasted pig. And it was likely to be a big crowd, so we took the gig. Long story longer, in that crowd was a female swimmer named Amy. She loved our music. She got a CD from us afterwards and she and I hit it off talking after our set. Her and a couple friends started coming to our shows and we became friends. We also ended up playing that same party the next two years. They paid us both of those years. We also became a go-to act for Hiram College and played dozens of events on campus, selling thousands of dollars worth of CDs and merchandise. And to top it off, 3 years after our band had broken up, I'm in Kent, Ohio out to eat and 3 random guys come over....college guys, visibly nervous to approach me, and asked for my autograph because those Hiram parties were some of their favorite memories and they loved our music. Sometimes what appears to be a "bad gig" can lead to a lot of great things. Oh yea, and that female swimmer that started coming to shows...I've been married to her for 17 years. Moral of the story: Assess every opportunity so you can make the right decision for you and your business at the time. Be aware of your finances and how every opportunity will impact your numbers. But also....don't be afraid to take a chance on a "bad gig." It could change your life.
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Helping educators create and grow brands to promote a product or idea they want to share with others to better education. Tips, tricks, and resources for educators creating content and/or launching side hustles to share their passions.
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