Taking a leap of faith. Taking some time to write down a list of people to work with. When I was in my early 20’s and started to get gigs, it was because I started doing a few new things. I added an hour per day of sitting on the couch and going through my phonebook, rolodex, scraps of paper and business cards and calling and texting people. I also emailed people, but I mostly remember sitting on the couch of my house in Seattle and dialing up the phone numbers from my box of papers and business cards. I had a shoebox and that was my business. I realized, the more I did this, the more gigs I started getting. This is how my “music business” started. No social media, no videos, no emails, not anything but a shoebox filled with phone numbers of people I met throughout life. Now, there’s so many other factors leading up to this, like meeting these people at shows, in school, at studios, on MySpace, emailing through contact info on websites, cold calls, friends of friends, old and new contacts, and business cards I kept along the way. I still do a similar thing to this day. I set aside an hour multiple times per week and get on the phones. I feel if anyone can do this, it can greatly increase your odds of getting more gigs, meeting more people and doing more recordings and collaborations. Leading to more music opportunities, gigs and overall music business career. I had no business experience, no sales training, nothing. Just a producer / drummer and decent all around guy, calling up a dude for a music endeavor. Or, just to reconnect, stay connected, and those calls lead to many musical opportunities. Gigs come from phone calls. Gigs lead to more gigs. More gigs can lead to better gigs. Better gigs can lead to better paying gigs, and it goes from there. And of course, if you don’t know this, I have to say it. Before picking up the phone, you better be fu*king good at your craft. You better put in the 10,000 hours on your instrument and DAW. Full stop, you have to be in demand with your skills. Break down the door with your skills.

Hey all, The Elevate Your Craft Compilation Volume 2 The Elevated Volume 2 deadline is coming up - Get your demos or completed works in as soon as possible Deadline: September 15th Ideal submission: September 8th - If any changes are needed, this will give you one week to complete these changes. If you have any questions, please put them in this thread or email me directly. If you have already submitted, please submit your song to me again to double check I have it. If you don't think you can finish it time - think again - you can do it! Get it done, you got this!