Today we have a very special guest post from Robert Granholm. Robert and I have been able to chat on a number of topics and the one I wanted him to step into today was that of creating a process for your outsourcing. We have touched on outsourcing your music business in the previous weeks (Part 1 here and Part 2 here) and today we hopefully will be able to paint a picture of how some of the processes work! I am trying to get Rob on a call next week for a free teleseminar on outsourcing and I’ll keep you posted on that. For now, enjoy!
photo credit:Â Meg Rorison
What a boring title huh? You want to play music not “process design” right? In fact you’d rather spend less time managing all together so you could JUST PLAY. Well I get that, and it’s exactly why a little process design now can help you do more playing later.
See, the idea behind outsourcing and automation is finding those things that can be minimized in your life with little or no effort AFTER you’ve gone through some front work to get a system set up. The “AFTER” part usually escapes people, and puts a mystery behind how some people seem to get so much done with so little effort.
It requires a lot of initial energy to set up a system and then put it in motion and monitor it. It’s why people often do the same repetitive thing over and over in life, because it’s easier at that moment to make one sandwich than it is to make five. Even though making five one time, is easier and takes less time than making one, five times. Although the initial work might suck, it pays off later as you end up spending more time doing what you love and less time…making lunch or switching tabs on your computer, or writing the same e-mail over and over.
Here are some automation and outsourcing processes you can plug into furthering your musical goals, executed well and they’ll save you hours a day and push you to the next level. Check them out below.
Training
Go at it like a weight watchers diet, meticulous and focused. You can’t outsource practice or performance, but you can streamline it. Mental tactics can be automated to activate your best work. Have you ever seen that episode of the Office where Jim trains Dwight to want an Altoid? Train yourself to do your best every time. Here are some tactics…
- Singular focus – This one might be easier for artists, but turn off the phone, disconnect, go some where remote if possible. A new place with no emotional or memory ties to the things around you will help you zero in on what you’re trying to do.
- Repetitive memory triggers – One way to mentally trick yourself into practicing is to perform the same action before practicing. Try reciting something, or doing 10 pushups, or cracking your knuckles…the trigger doesn’t matter, but doing it every time before practicing does. This repetitive memory training has been used for years by performers to mentally focus and “snap in” to what they were doing. It can calm nerves by bringing familiarity before a performance or simply get your mind in gear that it’s time to practice. Cycle them every few months to create a new experience.
- Body tuning – Some writers have a perfect mixture of environment, food and drink or physical state to write their best work. Growing up you were taught to study in quiet environments, because that was believe to be the best way to zone in. Some people actually zone in best with music blaring and their foot tapping. Take a week to observe your “on” times, when you’re most awake, alert and responsive. What did you do get into this zone? What can you do to find it before you practice? Keep the stimulants to a minimum.
Marketing
Exactly how and where to market is always going to be a moving target, but certain tasks will stay the same. You’ll always need to contact some place, give them some form of advertisement or name or “pitch.” Stop doing this on the fly each time, sit down, create some resources and streamline them.
- Do you create a flyer each time, can you create a template?
- Do you scan the same website for local venues or call the same bar for open slots? Outsource this type of work with a virtual assistant for as little as $3 an hour. Don’t believe it?, check out this article or see more info below.
- Write out a flow for how you promote, break it down into steps your little brother can follow. Now ask yourself, what steps are really needed?, which can be skipped and which can I describe how to do in a document and have someone do it by sending them an e-mail you’ve prewritten. Create a marketing workflow that acts like a switch each time you have new content to push out to the online networks and local music hubs.
- Hire an assistant to take music or video’s you send them and upload them to your social networks like Myspace, Facebook fan page, and Twitter. It will save you hours and take the viral minutia out of it. Write a workflow that anyone could follow if they had your new song sitting in their inbox.
Getting Gigs
You have to get out there eventually. Use a virtual assistant to hunt down local venues, sign up for Google Alerts or start posting your music to social media sites.
- Google Alerts send you an e-mail on search terms you tell it to. Are there are any common searches you can run that would be useful on a weekly or daily basis? How about “open mic night 19072″.
- Hiring an assistant to call local venues for available band nights, cost etc.
- Applying for gigs on Craigslist. I’ve taken this rather boring task and completely automated it to an outsourced virtual assistant. Breakdown the websites you go to and apply for gigs or hunt for information, make a mind map and hand it off or search for where you waste time. See how I outsource finding computer gigs on Craigslist.
click here or on the image for the full size
Networking
Keep your personal touch here, but schedule auto reminders as weekly events where you take an hour to reach out and network, talk to your fans, talk to some other bands, talk to producers or talent companies. Automate the information hunt by using a VA so when you sit down you know exactly where to go.
“How” to Outsource and Automate
The linch pin to using a VA, is not paying a lot, or finding the perfect person…it’s using good documentation. This is the process design part that can at times be difficult for the creative brain to get present with. Consider taking a few days or a week to write out some clear instructions, your “master” system for moving to the next stage of your music career. Put these in any $5 an hour virtual assistant’s hands, and you’ll be maximizing your efforts to get noticed, get gigs, and get paid. If you’d like more tips on how to write a good process flow, let me know in the comments.
Resources
Mindmeister.com – for creating mind maps, or decision trees when breaking tasks down.
oDesk.com – Awesome outsourcing resource, although I’m partial to using Craigslist in the Philippines or India
SourceControl – An awesome resource on how to go about working with a VA and the beginners templates on setting up workflows and assigning tasks.
Google Docs – A standard in online document creating and sharing.
About the Author: Rob is often learning something new, developing a website or unearthing ways to generate productivity. He writes about process driven testing of lifestyle design at The Life Design Project while building resources and giving away free tech support for entrepreneurs and fellow lifestyle designers at IT Arsenal.
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