You, Inc.
If you’re like most musicians, you don’t think about business, don’t know about business and don’t WANT to know about business. As a passionately creative person, it never dawns on you to ask for help, and you’re not sure who to ask anyway. Finally, you are intimately and inextricably tied up in your work – when people like your music, you feel they like you, and when there’s nothing but rejection, you crawl in a hole.
Contrast this with Muhtar Kent, the CEO of the Coca Cola Company. What do you think he knows about business? What do you think he WANTS to know about business? Do you think he runs the company by himself, or with the help of a team of trusted, expert advisers? And finally, do you think Mr. Kent feels personally dejected by the half of the world that prefers Pepsi?
There’s a lot you can learn from thinking about Mr. Kent and one of the most successful companies in the world. Why? Because you run a business too, and it’s YOU!
You, Inc.
In 1997, Tom Peters introduced the concept of A Brand Called You in a FastCompany magazine article of the same name. In it, he wrote, “We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.”
He was writing to help business people understand and cope with the dramatic changes in the traditional job and work markets. Changes that meant people could no longer rely on companies for career security and had to instead become “free agents” who continually learn and build careers based on experimentation, failure, growth and success. Free agents that run their careers like businesses.
Just like you.
What I found mostMost importantly though, he taught that the key to success in this changed world was going to be the marketing
In other words, they had to think like musicians.
Running Your Business
I have come to believe that this concept is the foundational principle on which to build a successful career as a musician for two reasons:
First, as a musician myself, I know how you feel about you and your music. I know you are a personally invested artist who feels that who you are and what you do are the same thing. I get it. But it’s wrong and dangerous.
• It’s wrong because you are not a drummer, guitar player, writer or singer. You are a person who drums, plays, writes of sings. This may not seem like a big deal to you, but that’s why…
• It’s dangerous: as long as you believe who you are and what you do are the same thing, you will ALWAYS live and react. emotionally instead of strategically. So instead of working towards what will make you happy and fulfilled, you will chase good feelings and avoid bad feelings and never build a career.
Second, the only way to overcome what I just said is to think like a business person instead of a personally invested artist you are. By separating you from the career you are building, you can analyze your strengths, weaknesses and competitors with more clarity and certainty. You can then decide on goals and actions that will get you where you want to be.
Thinking Like A CEO
Don’t be intimidated by the thought of being CEO of You, Inc. One of the primary reasons I wrote my book Why I FAILED in the Music Business and How NOT to Follow in my Footsteps is to introduce musicians to a world FULL of help. Bookstores, websites, blogs and schools are packed with all the information, discussions, stories and biographies you need to become a successful CEO.
In future columns, I’ll reveal the different areas of business that CEOs manage as well as how they manage them too. Until then, look for sources on information in the places I suggested. You’ll be amazed how much help is out there for You, Inc. and the difference it will make in your career.
After 20 years as a professional drummer, Steve Grossman left the music business for a career in the “Real World.” Learn how NOT to follow in his footsteps at www.whyifailed.com
