Take charge of your performing career as a classical musician

Waiting to be booked.

Being at the mercy of fixers, managers and directors.

If they are visionary, you’ve already been booked to perform by them. Give them a huge high five. It takes courage to create these opportunities. It takes, even more, to bring other people on board.

But what if your regular bookers are still uncertain. You’re left with a Snow White diary. Deep frustration. Waiting…to…be…a…musician.

You are determined to forge your performance career.

But have you thought about doing it On YOUR terms?

Being visible online has something to do with it. But how can posting online be of help to you? Especially when there’s a deluge of stuff on your newsfeed already.

I was in a room on Clubhouse on Monday afternoon. I was set up comfortably. Coffee aroma to my left. The enveloping warmth of sunlight. Gazing above the treetops down to the sea.

There was  something striking about the conversations. It was how reliant musicians are on gatekeepers for opportunities.

One way to change this is to create your own performance opportunities.  Performing online can do this. Have performances you want to do.

What’s the catch? Well, you need to know you’ll have an audience to join your performance. Once you have this, you are empowered to create.

Few musician blogs talk about this. Yet it’s a crucial element to any performance. Remember, you also want to earn money from it.

The No.1 Block
 

This is where a lot of musicians have got stuck in the last 14 months. They’ve started to perform online. They’ve had low audience numbers and a low income.

It’s the same reason I had three people come to my first recital after my undergrad studies.

It’s not being KNOWN.

You can have a brilliant performance ready to share. You have spent hours preparing it. You are at the top of your game. But if you are not known, then there is no one to share it with.

Being ‘known’ can be any number. From 1 to a million people. I like Seth Godin’s idea of seeking the smallest viable audience. This allows you to build relationships and help an ideal number of people. You are no longer blinded by vanity numbers.

How can you do this?

Becoming Known
 

This is where posting content online becomes useful. It allows you to become known over time. Content could be:

• Short-form posts
• Long-form posts
• Blogs
• Videos
• Podcasts
• Email
• Images

Remember this content wants to be R.I.T.E.S.

• Relevant
• Interesting
• Timely
• Entertaining
• Superior

Engaging

Liking, sharing and most importantly commenting. Engaging with other people’s content is a friendly way to get known. It’s being social on social media!

The ‘relentlessly helpful’ LinkedIn geek, John Espirian advises a ratio of 1:5 as a minimum. For every one of your posts, you should then engage on 5 other people’s posts. I’m still working on this myself. I’ll let you know how I get on!

As you develop those relationships, people will start to care about you. This bit is key. It is only when people care about you, will your audience want to buy tickets for your digital recital.

By showing up . Like clockwork. You become trusted. You start to be seen in the eyes of others as being:
 

• Known
• Liked
• Trusted
• Front of mind
• Talked about it in a positive way
  
  Thank’s to Trevor Young for this!
   

In Summary
 

Online performing is an empowering step to take. It allows you to have performance dates in the diary. It can help you forge the performance career you are determined to have. The biggest block to achieving this is not being known. This is where creating content and posting it online can help. Remember to create content that is R.I.T.E.S. Aim for the smallest viable audience. Engage with other people’s content. Then start to build relationships.

It takes consistency,  patience and grit. You’re playing the long game. But the reward is having your own audience. To perform. To know you have their support. You are no longer relying on the gatekeepers to book you. You are in charge of your performing career.

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