5 TIPS TO TURN YOUR PASSION INTO YOUR DREAM GIG (from the creator of Postmodern Jukebox)
Entrepreneurs and creatives are an interesting breed. Never content with more conventional means of employment, we really do insist on making life harder for ourselves. This unfortunate fact became very apparent to me when I moved to New York City after college to pursue a career as a jazz pianist. In the frustrating few years that followed, I managed to rack up over $100,000 in debt while barely earning enough to pay the rent on my small basement apartment in Queens. Having failed at securing steady work in jazz clubs, I turned to what was in 2009 an unlikely outlet for jazz: the online repository of cat videos and stupid human tricks called “YouTube,” and the course of my life changed dramatically. Here are the five crucial things I learned in those years of struggle and eventual success about how to create the gig of your dreams:
- Start Small.
My early Postmodern Jukebox YouTube videos were low-budget affairs. Most were shot on cheap camcorders, with insufficient lighting and a crew of one (me). Despite all this, a few of the videos struck a chord with viewers and went viral on the strength of their concepts alone — a feat that is difficult for even the most boutique advertising agency to achieve. Instead of viewing my lack of a production budget as a hindrance, I chose to embrace it, and the lo-fi feel of the resulting videos created an intimacy that resonated. In the beginning, I paid my musicians in falafel sandwiches, and fortunately, they stuck with me long enough to graduate from chickpea-based currency to real wages.
2. Don’t Be a Perfectionist.
Before YouTube, I was perpetually afraid of releasing anything I created — afraid that it just wasn’t good enough. In my mind, I just needed a few more months to perfect something before it was “ready.” Those months quickly became years, and before I knew it, I had wasted years of creative ideas out of a truly irrational fear. If you are a creative person with a self-critical streak, you will never feel “ready.” That doesn’t matter to your audience, though. They aren’t looking for perfection, they just want to feel stimulated and engaged by your creations. On a broader scale, this applies to creating any product — there is no substitute for testing things out and incorporating feedback from your audience. Don’t let perfectionism stop you from taking this step. Which brings me to…
3. Develop a Thick Skin (Or Just Don’t Read the Comments)
Every success story has its detractors: the proverbial “haters” who are “gonna hate.” Although we often view criticism as a negative, online critics serve an important role in the ecosystem of your social media presence. Outlandish takedowns from haters will often provoke a passionate rebuttal from your fans, which has the effect of solidifying your community of supporters as they band together to defend you. Also, feedback containing valid criticism — while often more difficult to hear — shows that people care about the things that you create and can often help to steer you in a productive direction. And of course, some haters are just hilariously memorable, like the one that wrote to me, “You’re amazing at that piano. Too bad you look like such a douchebag.”
4. Don’t Believe Your Own Hype
Every successful project is a collaborative one. Once Postmodern Jukebox experienced its initial success, which landed us on Good Morning America and, later, a sold-out tour, it was very tempting for me to shut down creative ideas that came from others, believing that I knew far better than anyone else. Check your ego! A great leader doesn’t need to have all or any of the answers, but they must know how to get the highest quality of work from the people that they manage. This can only happen when the members of your team feel empowered to do what they do best — without having to tiptoe around the ego of a micromanaging boss. Let the best idea win — whether it comes from an employee, a fan, or a 7-foot singing clown (see: our cover of “Royals,” starring Puddles Pity Party).
5. Scale When You are Ready — Not Before.
Because of our large roster of talent (comprising of over 100 singers, musicians, and dancers) Postmodern Jukebox is the rare concert act that can tour multiple cities simultaneously. It wasn’t always that way, though, and getting to that point took years of careful planning to ensure that my original vision always stayed intact — even when I might not be around to offer guidance When a project takes off, it usually does so in a swift and dramatic fashion, and a founder may develop a sense of urgency to capitalize on each and every opportunity thrown their way. This is a trap. Resist the urge to spread yourself too thin; instead, keep doing what got you to the dance in the first place and concentrate on your core product or offerings. Scaling a business should never be an emotional decision. It should be an obvious one that comes as a result of careful planning and confidence in your core values and identity. And although we no longer pay people in falafel these days, we do still consistently film in my (now slightly larger) living room. Some things never change — and that’s good!
For more advice and stories aimed at creatives, check out my book, “Outside The Jukebox: How I Turned My Vintage Music Obsession into My Dream Gig,” available here.
