I Dropped The Ball

I messed up.  Not once, but twice.  In the summer, Gord Deppe, agreed to answer a few questions for my Interview With The Vampire blog.  Gord is one of the founding members of The Spoons and is also currently the lead guitar player for Flock of Seagulls. (You guys know I love my 80’s music, right? Gord killed it in the summer when I saw FOS at Budweiser Stage.)  Well, I didn’t follow up.  A few months ago, Jake Gold from Management Trust agreed to the same thing.  I didn’t follow up.  Jake called me out on that when I saw him a few weeks later, and Jake is not one to mince his words.  My excuses?  Nothing good really, except my time management skills have been in the crapper lately.

What I can tell you is this.  If you meet someone who is willing to spend some time with you or has an interest in your music, you need to follow up. 

Indie Week wrapped up on November 17th and I met many great people, too many to list here. (honourable mentions go to Keith Profeta from Indie Band Guru, my new conference sidekick, and maybe even Leon Harris from The Lazy’s, but I gotta think about that one…hmmm, OK.  Yes, you too Leon). 

I made tons of new contacts and most folks agreed that this little side hustle of mine is needed in the industry.  When I spoke on the Panel hosted by Unison Benevolent Fund, the feedback was great.  Now my friends, it is time for ME to follow up.  I wrote a blog after CMW2019 called “I Hate to Bug You in the Middle of Dinner…” but it deserves repeating, so here’s the highlights.

  1.  Answer your phone!
  2. Don’t do bulk emails, and don’t start an email with “hey” unless you know the person.
  3. Having a show? Invite them and thank them if they come.
  4. Follow Ups needs a strategy and a system. Follow ups need follow ups.  Keep track of your follow ups.
  5. If you really want to impress someone, send a personal note! By mail.

Click here for the full post.  Gord and Jake. I promise I will follow up with you by Friday December 6th…

http://thewealthymusician.ca/2019/05/13/i-hate-to-bug-you-in-the-middle-of-dinner/