You will not believe it until you see it

It is no secret that I have almost an unhealthy obsession with the independent music business. I dedicate way too much time reading everything I can get my hands on, every book, every blog post. Being Dyslexic my reading is slower, even though I’m working on it, so this does take a large chunk of my time.

The strange thing I’ve noticed is how long it takes me to sometimes take advice on board. I think this is the same thing with most musicians. We’ve been told to set up a website, start a mailing list record a few songs to give away for free… But we are still wondering how we could get a manager who could lift us to the “next level”. I have been guilty of this time and time again. It is so much easier to wish for a shortcut than actually do the hard work that has been proven to work.

Last year I had a revelation, but even that was a bit accidental… I realised I was reading advice on how to build your following through Twitter / Facebook giving away few free tracks on your website. I realised I’ve been reading this same advice over and over for a few years. But not only had I come back to the same website more than once, I came across the same advice on several websites. The idea is based on HARD WORK and honesty, nothing else.

So I decided to test it out. The initial set up did cost me a little bit and the actual setup of my website and learning how everything works took me a few months of hard work. But once it was all set up, to my surprise it worked! I started to get regular signups on my mailing list, I started to get people engaging with my social media sites more and more.

Six months later I was getting good at it. I had a weekly blog post, I had a very respectable mailing list and social media pages. But the more learned the more I wanted to know. I was digging deep into how the pro bloggers get traffic into their website. I was once again looking for the shortcut. And once again I was reminded that the answer was in the HARD WORK and honesty. I had to post not once a week, but five times a week a blog post. And they had to be good ones. So I set out to write every day. And don’t forget on top of this I am playing live six days a week, writing and recording music, organising tours… And once again I was surprised of the fact that it actually works, the traffic on to my website got much better, MUCH better!

So why are we always going for the shortcut first? Why don’t we believe before we see it our self?

J.P.

The author J.P. Kallio is a singer songwriter
To get two of his free songs go HERE and click Download