Firm and Fluid Pricing

If your price is fluid you’ll spend a lot of time and energy determining what the price is going to be for this particular customer in this particular situation. Part of your job becomes negotiating your own price…and then you still have to do the actual work.

If your price is firm it takes the entire slog of negotiation off the table. Here is the price, let me know if that works for you.

Sure, if your price is firm you might miss out on some customers who had hoped you were a little bit cheaper…but in turn you’ll gain back all the time and headache you would have spent negotiating with each potential client along the way.

»» It’s worth mentioning that for whatever you charge you may miss out on some customers who had hoped you were a little more expensive too.

 

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

After The Hit

What you do after the hit will be dictated by what how you believe the hit came to be a hit.

If you believe it was pure luck, you’ll probably be really worried that the best has now come and gone because luck rarely strikes twice. And then you’ll be paranoid about trying to recreate the exact circumstances that gave you the luck the first time around.

If you believe it was purely your hard work, you’ll probably work even harder, stay up later, more effort, more control, more efficiency.

If you believe that your contribution was vital along with the rest of your team making vital contributions along with some good luck and good timing sprinkled on top…that frees you up to keep making your contribution again next time while knowing that you’re contribution is simply one important piece. That if you want another hit, you didn’t do it alone the first time and you can’t do it alone this time either. The best you can do is bring your best work to the portion of the project you’re responsible for.

 

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Talking and Singing Along

We don’t want people to talk along with the movie.

We don’t want people to talk along with the comedian.

But we want people to sing along with us at shows.

It’s a unique marker that you are connecting with the audience. It’s not the only marker but it’s a sure sign you’re on the right path.

 

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Standing At The Fountain

I love the scene at the end of Ocean’s 11 where they’re all standing victoriously in front of the Bellagio. The music, the swaying water, Brad Pitt. It’s all so magical.

But the fountain scene doesn’t last.

That’s why there had to be sequels.

They couldn’t stand at the fountain forever, they needed to go back to work.

The work is where the action is.

 

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

A Word About Tired

Of course you’re going to get tired.

The real question is how long does it take for you to recover?

If you need a month to decompress and re-energize before you book the next writing session, it’s going to be tough to write for a living.

If it’s going to take a year to recover after the exhaustion of putting out an album it’s probably best not to try to do this as a profession.

If you need two minutes to mentally rest and prepare before you can perform the next song, a touring career is probably out of the question.

 

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple