What if just below your artist profile picture there was a rating. For everyone to see. A rating out of ten stars. The ten stars correspond to how good your show is.
Here’s the catch…It’s not a rating from your fans. But rather YOU decide how many stars you have.
So then your question is: Out of ten stars how good is your show?
The likely answer would be to instantly say TEN! Even if it isn’t. Of course the show is a ten out of ten!
Ok here’s the real catch…If you give your show ten stars, people will show up expecting something that looks like ten out of ten.
But if your actual show is a three, not only does it bum your audience out that they paid money for a three show…you also look silly for being the type of person who mistakes a three show for a ten show.
So once you realize the conundrum, you might have to take a really tough, honest look at how many stars you deserve. Because now you’re not just talking about the number of stars as an advertisement for your show, but an advertisement for how well you assess entertainment.
aka…I’m the type of person who thinks this show is a ten star show. Or a seven or six star show. Do you want to be known as the type of person who thinks that?
I don’t think my newly invented star rating system will be adopted by any social media platform.
But it’s a valid exercise.
And if you’re willing to do the hard work of giving yourself an honest show rating, then you get to ask yourself the next question of: What do we need to do differently to increase our rating?
When the stories they tell and the cool factor, the warmth factor, the caring factor, the style factor is even better when you’re actually with that person.
But right now most artists (and really most people in general) are doing it backwards.
When we worship at the alter of social media numbers then we want to make sure our absolute best stuff goes on there. So the numbers go up. Actually we’ll even improve the truth a little (or a lot) on what we display digitally because an increase in Likes or plays or comments or consumption means we mean something.
So then in real life you could never be better than that. You’ve already shown your best and probably lied to make it even better than reality.
It’s a bummer to see a flashy, cool, conversational social media account only to have the person be a total dud in real life.
(Which happens often in the music biz)
It’s about priority.
If you’re more concerned with social media numbers than being someone (an artist) who a certain group of people want to be around and with. You’ll probably get what you want.
If you’re more concerned with being and becoming an artist who a certain group of people want to be around and be with, your social media numbers and posts will simply be an overflow…as overflow comes from an abundance of the actual thing.
I get cold easy. And I don’t like being cold. So growing up in Minnesota had its natural challenges.
I was at a high school football game (attending not playing) wearing a long sleeve shirt on top of my t-shirt. And I brought my coat for when the temp really dropped later at night.
First quarter I’m ok. But by the second quarter I’m really getting cold. By halftime I’m completely distracted by what is now absolute arctic discomfort.
But my thought is this…The longer I can wait to put my coat on the more Ahhhh I’ll feel when I finally put it on.
So I push.
Like a proud Minnesotan, I push through the cold.
I am shivering I am shaking. I am in an icy igloo of despair.
Keep in mind…I have had my coat with me, right next to me since the beginning of the football game.
Finally in the fourth quarter I put on my coat.
There was no Ahhhhh moment. Nothing got better. The wait was not worth it. By the time the fourth quarter hit, the coat could not rescue me. The damage was irreversibly done.
Don’t wait to get cold before putting your jacket on.
