April 09, 2020

Rick Barker - Taking Your Independent Music Career to the Next Level Through Digital Marketing, Content Creation, and Building Relationships

April 09, 2020/ Chris Goyzueta

You can also listen to this episode on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher |

Rick Barker is one of the leaders in the DIY Musician space. He is a phenomenal speaker and has a great way of explaining things. I love his philosophies on the music business and his style of coaching and mentoring. His career started in radio in 1989, where he spent over a decade of his career learning what listeners want to hear and how to build a community around music. Rick started a country music station in 2001, KRAZy Country, and launched the first country radio tour “Nashville to You,” where artists were paid to perform. Through his experience in radio, he met Scott Borchetta, founder and CEO of Big Machine Label Group, the label that signed Taylor Swift. Scott hired Rick to be a radio promoter for the label, which led him to become the manager for Taylor Swift early in her career. Taylor once told Rick that she wanted a Gold Record (500,000 in sales), and he told her “then let’s go meet 500,000 people.”

Today, Rick Barker coaches and manages musicians, working with over 1,600 clients. He teaches his lessons through his podcast “The Music Industry Blueprint,” YouTube Channel, courses, public speaking, and spending time coaching artists through Instagram Live. Rick is also the co-author of the book “$150,00 Music Degree.” People call him the Gary Vee of the music business. He’s constantly crushing it with valuable content through all his social media platforms, always going live, and finding ways to engage with people online. Not only is he a leader in the DIY Musician world, but he’s a brilliant digital marketer, spending countless hours always educating and improving himself.

This was a really fun episode full of amazing insight. In this episode, you’ll learn about Rick’s journey in the music business, and so many tips to building the right relationships, where to start in your music career, touring strategies, marketing strategies, and so much more. I’m excited to share this conversation with the amazing Rick Barker.

Quotes from Rick Barker
“Focused hustle is more important.”
“The best way today to build relationships is by putting out content and showing up on social media and say thank you.”
“The internet now allows us to play that game. We have direct access to fans.”
“Stop waiting to be discovered.”
“Stop trying to be everything to everyone, and just focus on who your audience is.”
“If you come in with something already happening, you can partner with a label. You don’t have to be at mercy to the label.”
“Fall in love with the fans. Write music for your fans.”
“When you buy courses, you’re buying someone else’s experience.”
“We want to know what you’ve done, not what you’ve learned.”
“Those that pay, pay attention.”
“I would do a lot of getting to know before you just show and say you have tickets on sale.”
“Too often people are trying to get seen before they’re ready.”
“All you need in the beginning is a vocal coach. If you want to be a songwriter, write songs.”
“Anyone who’s smart has a coach.”
“They’re not there to see you, they’re there to be entertained.”
“Get your music right, before you start to go out and do shows.”
“If people aren’t showing back up, it’s all on you.”
“Become a digital marketer. Period.”
“If you are not having success doing it yourself you don’t have the skills and need to learn them.”
“Until you have something to offer, don’t make those calls.”
“Build relationships with your venue first.”
“Become friends with promoters. They’re the ones taking the calls from the booking agents.”
“There is no competition. There is only collaboration.”
“Nobody can take advantage of you if you do your homework.”

Highlights from this Episode
[7:20] Inspiration to coaching musicians
[9:30] Focused hustle and redirecting your focus
[13:12] How Rick got started in the business
[16:00] Radio for Independent artists
[18:15] Benefit of labels
[20:05] Lessons learned from Taylor
[22:10] Standing out as an artist manager
[26:30] Coaches and Mentors
[32:15] Where to start after writing new music
[34:45] Playing open mics
[36:30] Knowing when you’re ready
[37:50] Live music producers
[38:58] Building your team
[40:35] Relationships and playing the right venues
[42:52] Building your email list
[45:00] Getting people to come back to shows
[46:20] Playing shows outside of your hometown
[48:50] Booking Agents
[50:05] Getting the attention agents and managers
[52:35] Become friends with promoters
[56:30] Getting to know Rick Barker

Links to people, places, and things mentioned
Gary Vee
Taylor Swift
Scott Borchetta
Big Machine Label Group
Russell Brunson
Click Funnels
Todd Brown
Sunny Lenarduzzi
Ari Herstand
Wade Sutton
Circa from Indepreneur
Episode with Rick on Creative Juice
Amy Porterfield
Dawn Beyer
Shannon Curtis
Tom Jackson
Prince
Bruno Mars
Rel Carter
Roc Nation
Creative Juice Podcast
Chris Greenwood / Manafest
Rob Level / Smart Rapper

BOOKS
Traffic Secret by Russel Brunson
The One Thing by Gary Keller
One Million Followers by Brendan Kane
How to Make It in the New Music Business by Ari Herstand
Ask by Ryan Levesque
Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuck

Rick Barker’s Definition of Making It:
“When someone is able to do what they love, and can make a living doing what they love.”

Get in touch with Rick Barker
https://rickbarker.com/
Music Industry Blueprint Podcast
YouTube Channel
Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

Keep in touch:
chris.goyzueta@gmail.com
www.makingitwithchrisg.com
https://www.instagram.com/chrisgoyzueta/
https://www.facebook.com/makingitwithchrisg

Credits:
Host: Chris Goyzueta (Chris G.)
Producer: Jason Trosclair
Executive Producer: ONElive Creative Agency
Music: Emily Kopp

February 15, 2018

Mark Schaefer - Strategies to Building Your Personal Brand and Becoming KNOWN

February 15, 2018/ Chris Goyzueta

You can also listen to this episode on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher |

One of my favorite topics in marketing since starting the podcast is the concept of content marketing and building media companies. It’s something that’s been happening for decades. As Joe Pulizzi mentioned, he modeled the Content Marketing Institute on Disney’s business model as a media company. Over the last 10 years or so, there have been some brilliant marketers that have studied content marketing or building a business around being a media company. They’ve done endless amounts of research, built media companies themselves, and have many amazing success stories. Musicians should be the best set-up at building media companies because they’re building a business around media. Yet unfortunately, many musicians struggle with building an audience, including their labels. However, there is a ton of amazing information out there and marketing strategists that have identified simple steps on how someone can build a media company, and become KNOWN. One of these marketing strategists is Mark Schaefer, the guest for this episode on the show.

Mark Schaefer is a marketing and social media strategist. He’s a six-time author, which includes the book KNOWN - “The handbook for Unleashing Your Personal Brand in a Digital Age.” Mark is one of the Top-10 Most retweeted marketing authorities, a public speaker, a professor at Rutgers University, well-known blogger for the blog {grow}, and even has his own podcast, The Marketing Companion. In this conversation, we discuss the book KNOWN, and how musicians can use these strategies to find their sustainable interest, build a powerful brand, and creating an effective social media strategy to grow your business, and become KNOWN.

Grab a copy of KNOWN by Mark Schaefer on Amazon

Highlights from this Episode
[2:31] Mark’s first memorable live music experiences
[6:15] Mark’s Story
[7:45] Why KNOWN is a good start for Musicians
[13:10] Finding your sustainable interest
[15:34] How to find your sustainable interest
[19:57] How to find the right space that’s not already oversaturated
[23:34] Four types of “rich” content to consider
[27:32] The importance of focusing on one type of content on one platform
[31:58] How consistent and patient do we need to be?
[37:52] Using Twitter advanced search
[42:10] Where is the trend of content consumption going in 2018
[46:25] How Mark Schaefer would design a Music Business program
[48:40] Mark’s Hollywood Vampires
[50:01] Getting to know Mark Schaefer

Quotes from Mark Schaefer
“There is only one thing that matters today. Either you’re known, or you’re not.”
“Being known is really the only sustainable competitive advantage a person can have today.”
“Every single person, in every field, everywhere in the world, did the same four things to be known.”
“I didn’t follow my passion. My passion followed me.”
“To be known, you have to identify your sustainable interest.”
“All of the great musicians have combined genres, they’ve combined cultures.”
“Many of the musicians we look up to today, when they started, they didn’t have it right. But they started.”
“If you want to stand out in some way, you have to find a way to do it that really hasn’t been done before.”
“There are so many new and exciting opportunities out there.”
“The whole idea is to be discovered and to create something new in a new space, where you can be discovered and loved.”
“A social media audience is different from an actionable audience.”
“On average it took people [from the book] two and a half years to tilt.”
“The key is focus.”
“Twitter is the most powerful way to find a targetable audience.”
“The number one consideration has to be; what brings you joy?”
“If you’re not having fun, not having joy, the audience will find that.”
“When you put content into the world, it’s a daily performance review.”

Links to people, places, and things mentioned
Bruce Springsteen
Pat Metheny
Hologram Electronics
NAMM Conference
Isadora et Marisa (Food YouTuber)
Rodney Hazard
Slide Share
“Got Twitter? You’ve been Scored” (NY Times Article)
Advanced Twitter Search
Rutgers University
Walter Isaacson
Elon Musk
Ernie Watts
“Blogging and Your Moment of Truth” (Article inspired by Ernie Watts)
[BOOKS]
KNOWN
The Tao of Twitter
The Content Code

Mark Schaefer’s Definition of Making It:
“Peace in your heart. When you get to a place when you get peace in your heart, you feel satisfied, you feel rewarded for giving back to the world in whatever way. That’s the ultimate definition of success for me.”

Get in touch with Mark Schaefer
https://www.businessesgrow.com/
Twitter: @markwschaefer

Keep in touch:
chris.goyzueta@gmail.com
www.makingitwithchrisg.com
https://www.instagram.com/chrisgoyzueta/
https://www.facebook.com/makingitwithchrisg

Credits:
Host: Chris Goyzueta (Chris G.)
Producer: Jason Trosclair
Executive Producer: ONElive Creative Agency
Music: Emily Kopp

December 28, 2017

Greg Rollett - Taking Your Marketing Game to the Next Level with Content Creation, Newsletters, and Sales Funnels

December 28, 2017/ Chris Goyzueta

You can also listen to this episode on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher |

Greg Rollett returns to the show for his third time. In this episode we get into tips on creating content, the importance of content, how to apply the marketing sales funnel to build your brand and business, and much more. Since last time Greg was on the show, episode #017, he has successfully launched his TV Show Ambitious Adventures where he travels around the United States to meet with successful entrepreneurs. The show is distributed on Entrepreneur.com where Greg is also a consistent guest teaching lessons on entrepreneurship, and sharing many of his articles. For those that don’t know Greg, he’s a serial entrepreneur, Emmy Award Winning Producer, Multi-Time Amazon Best Selling Author, and much more. In this episode, we discuss content creation strategies, putting together effective newsletters to communicate with your fans, the sales funnel process, and much more.

This is from the first episode of Ambitious Adventures. Check out more at ambitious.com/adventures.

Highlights from this Episode
[4:40] 2017 Successes for Greg Rollett
[7:35] How many platforms should you be creating content on
[10:48] What type of content should musicians be creating?
[12:57] How consistent should you be?
[14:51] Repurposing Content
[16:40] Getting your audience from content to email subscriber
[19:48] What is a good opt-in?
[22:26] Hypothesizing who your ideal fan would be
[25:27] Creating the fan newsletter
[28:32] Review and example of a sales funnel
[31:38] How to get people to become promoters of your brand
[34:10] Lesson learned in 2017
[37:02] Getting to know Greg Rollett

Quotes from Greg Rollett
“Online TV is everything right now.”
“You have to be putting yourself out there constantly and consistently.”
“If you’re not there in the news feed, somebody else is.”
“Email is not dead!”
“You need to play to your strengths.”
“I’m very bullish on video, but I don’t think it’s for everybody.”
“Get awesome at doing it once a week.”
“It’s more important to be consistent in the beginning.”
“Start with what you actually can commit to and will deliver.”
“What’s going to make someone stop and pay attention to you?”
“The opt-in, there has to be an incentive for someone to join.”
“You really need to think about, what does the fan want.”
“What does the marketing want? What is the big idea?”
“If you really want to build a fanbase, fans really need to be able to identify with you.”
“Write the newsletter like you’re writing your friends.”
“People want to be part of something bigger.”
“We all want to believe in our stars.”
“If you have fans who actually really like your stuff, they want to be involved.”
“Go back and do more of what worked.”

Links to people, places, and things mentioned
Tim Ferriss
Kevin Rose
Ambitious Adventures
Ambitious Life on Entrepreneur
Full Sail University
Entrepreneur.com
Ambitious Media Group
Gary Vaynerchuk
Joe Pulizzi
Medium
Atticus (Poet)
Black Thought Freestyle
Kiss Army
Lewis Howes
Hootie and the Blowfish
Lord of the Underground
Dr. Dre
Shaquille O’Neal

Greg Rollett’s Definition of Making It
“Being able to do what you what, when you want, with who you want, for the price that you want.”

Getting in touch with Greg Rollett
Greg@ambitous.com
https://www.facebook.com/ambitiousadventuresshow
https://www.instagram.com/gregrollett/
https://www.facebook.com/gregrollett

Related Podcasts:
1. Greg Rollett Episode #001 - Taking Risks & Trying New Things
2. Greg Rollett Episode #017 - Creating Your 1,000 True Fans
3. Kyle Lemaire, Episode #054 - Disrupting the Traditional Music Business
4. Joe Pulizzi, Episode #055 - Killing Old Marketing Practices with Content Marketing
5. Jasmine Star, Episode #051 - Building the Right Fans on Social Media

Keep in touch:
chris.goyzueta@gmail.com
www.makingitwithchrisg.com
https://www.instagram.com/makingitwithchrisg/
https://www.facebook.com/makingitwithchrisg

Credits:
Host: Chris Goyzueta (Chris G.)
Producer: Jason Trosclair
Executive Producer: ONElive Creative Agency
Music: Emily Kopp

October 12, 2017

Joe Pulizzi - Killing Old Marketing Practices And Building Media Companies with a Content Marketing Focus

October 12, 2017/ Chris Goyzueta

You can also listen to this episode on iTunes | Stitcher |

Joe Pulizzi is the founder of Content Marketing Institute (CMI), and is known as the Godfather of Content Marketing. His book “Content Inc.” inspired the start of this podcast. Content Marketing Institute is the largest education and and training organization for content marketing, which also includes the largest in-person content marketing event in the world, Content Marketing World. Pulizzi is the author of Epic Content Marketing, which was named as one of the must read business books of 2013 by Fortune. He’s also the author Content Inc., and co-author of the September 2017 release, Killing Marketing. He is the founder of Content Marketing Institute and Content Marketing World. In this conversation, we talk about what Content Marketing is, and how artists can use it to build their brands, and turn themselves into powerful media companies.

There is so much information out there when it comes to marketing. Though it’s important to constantly be learning and educate yourself, it can also be very overwhelming with the amount of information out there. Joe Pulizzi, not only describes a strategy that’s realistic, but also digestible. I mention Gary Vaynerchuck on the podcast a lot, but you can’t start off creating content on every platform, and try to be everything to everyone. Even Gary Vee started off building ONE media channel first, his YouTube channel for Wine Library. When reading Joe’s books, and listening to this episode, you’ll learn the importance of a narrow hyper focused strategy that offers enormous value to a very specific target audience. It’s this kind of approach that Making It with Chris G. has been building its business on over the past year.

A narrowed focus on ONE channel (the podcast), with a focus on giving value to musicians and music business students as the primary audience. The goal is to start expanding the “Making It” brand into blogs, and events. Our THREE media platforms. In Joe’s book, Content Inc., he talks about the power of the three and three model. The first three media platforms you build are the personal ones. For us that’s podcasts, blogs, and events - which Making It will be expanding to in the near future. I really hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did, and hope it’ll inspire you to check out one of Joe’s book. - Chris G.

Highlights from this Episode
(5:41) Joe’s new book: Killing Marketing
(8:00) Joe’s electronic sabbatical
(10:36) Joe’s first concert and first album
(11:30) Content marketing
(13:33) Common bad advice by marketers
(16:18) Focusing on a primary channel
(21:25) A musician’s content
(26:30) Where do artists start?
(31:15) Joe’s backstory
(36:48) Overcoming ruts
(40:45) Effective newsletters
(44:00) Building an audience
(48:10) Reaching out to influencers
(51:03) Writing goals
(54:54) Disney’s business model
(57:32) Joe’s morning non-negotiables
(58:57) Favorite books and documentaries
(1:00:06) Fill-in-the-blanks

Quotes from Joe Pulizzi
“marketing really should be a profit center”
“it all starts with giving away really valuable information”
“today everyone has a smartphone, they can ignore us at will they don’t have to pay attention to us so you have to create information that’s with paying attention to”
“those [social media] platforms own those audiences, you don’t; you’re basically renting them”
“organic reach on Facebook has pretty much gone away”
“we’re inconsistent with our communication so consistency is really, really key”
“you have to start with one audience, one platform, one content type at a time”
“really know who your core fanbase is, and then lean into that”
“it’s a marathon, not a sprint; there’s no such thing as viral success anymore”
“if you’re not going to put the effort into it, maybe you shouldn’t do anything at all”
“if you build an audience first, they will tell you how they want to pay”
“don’t fall in love with what makes you money, fall in love with your audience”
“you can only target one audience at a time”
“email is not dead”
“create something that is worth talking about”
“once you have a show, make sure you have a call to action”
“figure out what they [influencers] need and how you can help them, and you’ll get it back in return; tenfold”
“if you keep a goal in your head, it’s not real”
“don’t miss family, spiritual goals”
“if you build an audience in the middle you can generate revenue in ways you’d never though of before”
“question everything you’re doing about the music industry right now”
“build the audience first and the revenue will follow”

Links to people, places, and things mentioned
Content Marketing Institute
Killing Marketing
Content Inc
Bee Gees’ Spicks and Specks (Joe’s first album)
Ohio State Fair
Casey Neistat
Matthew Patrick
New York Times
John Deere
Entrepreneur on fire
Gary Vaynerchuck
Rob Scallion
Nine Inch Nails
Grateful Dead
The Huffington Post
Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich
The Defiant Ones

Content Marketing Institute Business Model

Get in touch with Joe Pulizzi
Joe’s webpage: http://www.joepulizzi.com
Twitter: @joepulizzi

Joe Pulizzi’s Definition of making it
“The ability to spend time with the people you love and not be thinking about something else at the same time”

Keep in touch:
chris.goyzueta@gmail.com
www.makingitwithchrisg.com
https://www.instagram.com/chrisgoyzueta/
https://www.facebook.com/makingitwithchrisg

Credits:
Host: Chris Goyzueta (Chris G.)
Producer: Jason Trosclair
Executive Producer: ONElive Creative Agency
Music: Emily Kopp
Show Notes: Manuel Pachamoro

Check Out these Books by Joe Pulizzi

May 11, 2017

Brandon T. Adams - Reaching Your Crowdfunding Goals, the Power of Content Marketing, and Podcasting with Industry Leaders

May 11, 2017/ Chris Goyzueta

You can also listen to this episode on iTunes | Stitcher | SoundCloud

Brandon T. Adams is a serial entrepreneur and crowdfunding expert. One of Brandon’s first ventures was starting a podcast where he travelled the country learning from some of the leading experts and entrepreneurs. He owns a stake in several businesses such as The Accelerant Media Group, Live to Grind, Young Entrepreneur Convention, Arctic Stick, Keys to the Crowd, and many more. Also, he is a co-Host and co-executive producer of the Entrepreneur TV Show Ambitious Adventures with one of my best friends and former podcast guests Greg Rollett. Currently Brandon is also working with the Napoleon Hill Foundation to create the film Think and Grow Rich: The Legacy, and is the youngest entrepreneur featured in the film. In this conversation we talk about entrepreneurship, his passion for creating content and adding value to relationships, how to run a successful crowdfunding campaign, podcasting, and so much more.

I was first introduced to Brandon through our good mutual friend and two time podcast guest, Greg Rollett. We actually went to see Atmosphere in concert (go see shows). A few weeks later Brandon asked me for a videographer, and I recommended my guy Herb Gonzalez to him. I told him that he doesn’t really do much video, but I believe in Herb so much that I know he can do it. His first gig with Brandon was at the Ambitious Adventures premiere party, and now the two of them are working together full time cranking out content like champions.

This was a really fun conversation and very inspiring to me. After the podcast we discussed starting your own business and the challenges that come with that. From the very first episode with Greg Rollett, we talked about “Ready, Fire, Aim” and how a lot of people get stuck in Aim. If you want to live your dream, you have to start doing. Start firing, and aim and fine tune as you go. Greg worked on his business in between breaks, on his way to his day job, and when he got home. However, it wasn’t till he ripped the bandaid off and went all in when things started happening. Brandon couldn’t agree more with that. You’ll never reach your full potential until you go all in on your dream. In this episode, Brandon really lays down a solid foundation of adding value to others and marketing yourself through creating content. Regardless of what industry you’re in, if you’re an aspiring entrepreneur and creator of music, film, video, art, books, comics, blogs, or any other intellectual property this is for you. Be ready to be motivated to get one step closer to making it.

Text “Brandon” to 313131 to receive a daily motivational text from Brandon T. Adams.

Highlights from this Episode
Brandon’s start with podcasting [4:41]
Where things are at with Greg Rollett and Ambitious Adventures [7:14]
Key lessons learned from creating a TV Show experience [11:00]
How Brandon got started with his entrepreneurial journey [15:39]
How Brandon got into Crowdfunding [17:52]
Where should people start building a brand [22:39]
How does someone start creating content [25:04]
What kind of videos can musicians creates besides covers [28:39]
How do you choose business partners [31:42]
How do you choose your topics and guests for the podcast [34:46]
Who Brandon really wants to interview for his show [35:55]
A situation that didn’t go your way, and the lesson learned [40:37]
Who is crowdfunding for and who should consider it [44:43]
Tips to starting a crowdfunding campaign [47:33]
Facebook Questions [54:01]
- How to crowdfund for a nonprofit outside of your community by Brad Mason
Closing Questions [56:54]
Brandon’s Warrior Chant [59:32]

Quotes from Brandon T. Adams
“If you’re an entrepreneur or anybody, you need to create your own audience.”
“I just press play and hit the record button.”
“Go into a conversation knowing what you want to learn.”
“Just keep going and eventually you’ll find your groove.”
“Just be you. Authenticity is what people want.”
“To become an influencer you have to do TV, Books, and create content.”
“Always find a way to offer value.”
“If you get an opportunity, jump on it.”
“When people see you, what do you want them to remember you as.”
“One person can change your life.”
“Create content and be consistent.”
“Video is the most powerful thing you can use.”
“The best way to get to the top is creating consistent video content, and start doing Facebook Live.”
“If you can get people wondering what you’re going to do next, they will keep watching.”
“Everything I do for my business, you should do for your band.”
“Go inspire people”
“You can tell a lot about a person by their Facebook page.”
“Usually within 5 minutes you can tell what kind of person they are.”
“Music is powerful. It moves people and changes their lives.”
“What influencers do good or bad, it influences people.”
“Trust your gut.”
“When I say I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it.”
“When you hit your lowest moments, you’re closest to one of your biggest moments.”
“If you keep going, you can’t lose. There is always light at the end of the tunnel.”
“Sometimes failure in disguise, is a good thing.”
“If you just keep going, you’ll see your true potential.”
“Stories sell”
“At the end of the day, you have to add value to your audience.”
“Success is about the people I surround myself with.”
“Once you can convince your mind you can do it, you can achieve it.”
“If you don’t set your goals, you don’t know where you’re going.”
“If you’re a person of value and you’re driven, you can achieve anything.”