Music Career Talk 13

Just finished my 2 mile walk/jog/slow run this really sucks!! Sometime next week I'll jack it up to 3 miles, can't wait.
This blog is very important (as I hope all of these blogs are) we're going to talk about business edict as it pertains to the entertainment business. Using proper edict gains the respect of your piers and moves your goals along a little more quickly.
When I cold call a company the first thing I do is to get the name of the person I'm speaking to, find out their position, and sound friendly and positive without being phony and pretentious. This isn't hard to do if you think about how you would want to be spoken to. The other thing I do is to write my thoughts down not word for word, but a general idea and what I need to accomplish from the call.
If the person I'm trying to reach is not available, the next time I call I've got the name of the receptionist or assistant so there is the beginning of a relationship. This simple practice doesn't work most of the time, it works all of the time!! In the entertainment world there are (hate to say it) so many jerks, rude and arrogant low lives that people who are polite with manners stick out (should be the other way around) and may be more likely to get a return call. If I call an executive at a company and they are not in or just can't take my call, I never ask for them to call me back, because then you have dumped the responsibility of a return call on their lap. This then falls under the jurisdiction of "how important is it to call you back in a reasonable time". Time is money so look at what I call "the totem pole of priority", where do you fit. At the top of the pole you find the most important clients/contacts, and money making activities at the bottom, well you know, the opposite. Think about where you fit in and how you might start climbing up ward. There is a fine line between staying on top of a situation, being persistent, showing ambition, vs being a nuisance, and a major pain in "you fill in the word. Learn that line because it's the difference between success and failure. I've had decades of practice . Remember in most cases if you spend more time listening instead of talking you'll learn a lot more. That one took me forever to sink in. Here's something else to remember, the entertainment business is a small business, everyone one knows everyone and bad news travels faster then good news. Sometimes you have to "fake it before you make it", just do it with style and grace. See you next time.