TPS #013: 3 Power Moves to Grow Your Creative Brand
Author: Andre Mullen - 4 min Read
Read time: 4 minutes
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In today’s newsletter, I want to talk to you know about 3 power moves you need to make in order to build leverage for yourself as a creative business person.
We are currently in the attention economy. Attention is not only a resource but a currency. Hence the reason for the rise of the creator economy.
The rise of the attention and creator economies has had a direct impact and influence on the music industry.
Now, more than ever, artists need to embrace content creation as a method and means to reach an audience that they can cultivate into a fanbase.
So, understanding how to build leverage for your personal and client’s brand is critical in creating sustainable revenue streams.
This takes work and dedication and as we all know, many people don’t really want to work or be dedicated to something that they feel doesn’t have an immediate return on investment.
"Developing leverage requires you to believe that you will win the war even when you lose a battle."
Most, if not all, creatives have heard several times that they are “crazy” for believing what they create will actually yield money.
Every creative and those that work with one must be steadfast in their belief that they will win.
“Winning” takes different forms. However, the most common is the ability to make a living from your creation.
The areas where you need to build leverage are:
1. audience building
2. community building
3. distribution channels
If you learn how to leverage those three areas, you will be able to measure three important areas of growth of your brand as well as that of your client:
1. audience size
2. influence
3. finances
I have mentioned in my previous newsletters the importance of planning the work and working on the plan. This isn’t any different.
I will reference a previous newsletter as it will give you a more detailed piece of what I’ll discuss here.
So let’s build leverage so we can build your audience, your influence, and most of all, your revenue, step by step:
Step #1: Commit to Building Your Audience
Building your audience is the first critical step and area in building leverage for your creator brand.
This begins with understanding that building an audience requires you to lead them somewhere.
Content creators – artists included – are discovered by content. Your content is found on social media platforms, DSPs, and movie, film, & television placements.
That’s merely the beginning of the journey of the Artist Creator Funnel. You can read about it here.
Building an audience is a commitment.
Establish a set frequency and consistency that people can count on.
When I decided I really wanted to help artist managers, I committed to releasing a weekly newsletter every Saturday at 8am along with publishing content 3X a day, 7 days a week on 3 platforms.
Your audience will increase as people follow you because your voice is consistent and honest.
Over the course of 90+ days, I have created almost 1,000 pieces of content.
My commitment to building an audience for the sake of educating artist managers and creative entrepreneurs is important to me.
Was there days when I didn’t see any new followers or new email subs?
Yes.
Many.
But I committed to the decision and my audience is growing.
Step #2: Commit to Building a Community
So many artists and creatives go wrong with this step because they try to get here with neither a process nor a system in place.
You can’t build a community if you don’t have two things:
- a heart with the people
- a heart for the people
Your heart is with the people when you understand their pain points, their struggles, and their insecurities because you’ve been there yourself.
You believe you have an answer to those issues as well as helping them to deal with those issues with like-minded individuals.
Your heart is for the people when you understand that growing and building a community requires the leader (i.e. you) to desire the best for those that are following and subscribing.
They trust YOU.
You have influence with them.
Influence with 100 people is better than 100,000 people with whom you don’t have any influence.
Many years ago, I created and executive directed an annual music business conference. My desire was always to help music professionals learn and understand the business.
Throughout the year leading up to the conference, I would have a series of workshops in an effort to build my audience.
I wanted people to know it wasn’t just about taking their money for the conference.
But rather, it was about giving them tools to grow.
I used these workshops to build trust with my audience.
Every year, more and more people came because they saw that my heart was with them -understanding their pain points – and for them – desiring to see them succeed.
Step #3: Finding and Maximizing Distribution Channels
Finding and maximizing distribution channels builds leverage.
Creatives are always overwhelmed with FOMO by trying to post on every single social media platform.
Utilizing and maximizing one social media platform should be your focus.
Familiarize yourself with that platform and grow your audience.
As you build and move people off the platform to your newsletter or text messaging service, for example, repurpose your content on another platform.
This gives you an opportunity to generate revenue that is native to the platform as a creator.
You should take the time to build an audience on a platform before repurposing your content to an additional platform.
Remember that each platform has its own parameters and you want to make sure that if you repurpose content anywhere else that it fits.
With the music business conference then and my commitment to helping artist managers and creative businesses now, I understand the necessity of reaching people where they are.
By understanding the nuances and parameters of my particular platform of choice, I’m able to better communicate and engage. Then, I’m able to maximize my output on the particular channel.
In the case of the conference, maximizing a distribution channel yielded more paid registrations. With my content, it yields more paid consultations.
Less is really more.
TL;DR:
The 3 areas that you need to build leverage
- Audience building
- Community building
- Finding and maximizing distribution channels
Hope all this helps.
See you next week.
Whenever you’re ready, here are two ways I can help you:
1. I’m offering a Growth Strategy Session. Let’s put together a growth strategy for your and/or your client’s business for FREE.
2. I’m also conducting a FREE Systems Audit to see what systems you are using and optimize them.