This blog post is interrupted by…[Social Media updates]

I was ready to share with you all about a task I’ve been tackling for my clients especially this year, but two new updates for all of our social media profiles happened this week that I wanted to make sure you knew about!

 

What were they? Can you guess? Okay, I’ll tell you!

 

1) Twitter Verification is now open to everyone. That little blue badge let’s followers know that your account of public interest is authentic.

 

You’ll need to confirm your email, phone, and make sure all the details are there. In addition, you will have to send them 2-5 links, plus a paragraph on why you should be verified.

 

Click here to get started on the verification process and join the blue badge club! It’s about time, Twitter!

 

2) Facebook Pages got a new look. Have you noticed? Here’s a shot of my favorite musician’s page with the new layout:

 

What to notice? First off, the banner image is no longer (unnecessarily) covered up by the profile picture. Second, the call to action button is shining through in Facebook blue and larger on the page. Overall, things have shifted around on the page, giving us something new to get used to.

 

What this means for you? You can get more creative with your branding on Facebook with the more visible banner. With the larger call to action button, that gives you more leverage to whatever you need to promote – mailing list, album, video, etc. so make sure it’s set to something you want your followers to be aware of.

 

I for one am enjoying this update and I think everyone else will too.

Social Media - 08/04/2016

12 things to check off before every show [FREE TEMPLATE]

This week was about back-end work with a lot of organizing and creating checklists to organize several processes for my clients. This may sound like the most boring and tedious thing to do, however, I am one of those weird people that like creating checklists, spreadsheets, and step-by-step instructions.

 

Why do I like these checklists so much? Because I understand that we can’t rely on our brains to remember everything. It’s impossible! I have a pretty good memory, but I wouldn’t be able to handle everything that I do without some way to keep it organized. These lists are a way to ensure everything gets taken care of and nothing is overlooked. And you know what? It also makes you move faster in the process because you aren’t asking yourself, did I ask the band if they can make this date? Did I reserve my flight? Does the presenter know I’m a vegetarian? A checklist in front of you can answer those questions right away and you can move on to what you need to do.

 

One mistake I made starting out changed everything for me and is the reason why I started developing and creating my checklists. Here’s how it went.

 

For an upcoming concert, I had thought the entire time that the presenter was covering hotels. When I was pulling together an itinerary for the band a few days before, I realized I didn’t have any hotel reservation confirmations from them. So, I emailed the hospitality contact asking, “Hey, do you have the hotel confirmation numbers? Much appreciated!” His reply? “We didn’t make reservations, it is stated in the agreement that you would reserve and handle hotel.” CRAP is exactly what went through my head. How could I have overlooked something this important?

 

I checked the agreement again and sure enough, the words were there: Artist is responsible for hotel. No reservations were made and I was struggling for the rest of the day searching to find 8 available and affordable hotel rooms. Sure, I made it happen, but it wasn’t a pretty day and honestly, I could have totally been out of luck. I told myself, I can’t let a detail like that slip away again.

 

I learned quickly that details for shows get lost in emails and documents (like what had happened to me), so it’s important to find a way to check off what you have done and what you need to do to make sure you’re prepped for every show, every time.

What should you be checking off in prepping for a show? Here’s a list that I’ve developed over the years:

 

1) Presenter contact name, phone, email and phone day of show.
2) Hospitality contact name, phone, email and phone day of show.
3) Production contact name, phone, email and phone day of show.
4) Contract/Agreement Status – was it sent? Was it signed by both parties?
5) Rider Status – did you send them your rider?
6) Advance – did you go over your tech requirements? Did you send them your stageplot?
7) Soundcheck – what time is load in, soundcheck and when do doors open?
8) Airfare – who’s paying? Have you reserved your ticket?
9) Hotel – who’s paying? Have you reserved your room?
10) Ground Transportation – who’s paying? Who is picking you up and taking you to the hotel/venue/anywhere else? if you’re driving yourself, are you receiving gas reimbursement?
11) If you are driving in, where can you park your car or bus and where do you go to load in?
12) Meals – who’s paying? If you are receiving a buyout, how much?

 

I know as a musician you KNOW what you need to check off before the show, but with this list in front of you, you can make sure you get the most important things checked off. This is about making it easy and saving you time.

 

Take a few minutes and build your checklist of what you need to know for every show, every time. Those 10-20 minutes of creating the checklist WILL save you hours, stress and your well-being in the future. Another plus, you can share this checklist with your assistant and they can check it off for you. You’ll feel confident that nothing will be overlooked when delegating the job.

 

Do you need a checklist for your shows to help you prep? As a gift, I’m offering a downloadable PDF checklist that you can use for your shows. If you’re like me, I like to print and check off these things on paper. If you like to do everything online, I also created a Google Doc spreadsheet that you can use! Click below to get your access today.

 

Every show is different, so you may need to add or change a few things on the checklist I use, but this will definitely help you start somewhere.

 

PRINT MY CHECKLIST

LINK TO AN ONLINE GOOGLE DOC SPREADSHEET CHECKLIST
(Make a copy to your google drive and it’s all yours!)

I hope you find this checklist useful, and if you add anything to it or if you created your own and want to share with me, I’d love to see it! Just hit reply and I’ll be happy to help you build yours. It’s what I do! 😉

 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

 

(Checking off sending you a letter this Saturday),

fionazsig

Blog - 09/13/2014

Hiring your own Virtual Assistant? Know what to ask in the interview.

Happy Saturday! Saturday mornings are my absolute favorite time of the week.You can sleep in and still have a day ahead of you, or you can wake up early and be the most productive you can be. It’s up to you and that feels wonderful to me. Personally, I like to use this time to sip on the biggest and slowest cup of coffee and read up on the industry, news and more. Making some time for yourself during the week really makes a difference.

 

I’m hoping all of you are able to make time for yourself during the week to relax, meditate, do your favorite hobbies, see friends or just veg out. Since starting my own venture, I’ve seen how badly it can go if you don’t take a moment to rest – sickness, overwhelm, burn out, even outright quit. And that’s why I feel it’s even more important for people who do have a lot of their plates (aka you busy musicians), to be able to delegate some of those tasks to someone they trust.

 

I believe this idea is starting to take hold of musicians trying to do it all by themselves. Gone is the romantic notion to say that you hustled and bustled to the top with no ones help. In my eyes, that’s simply not true. You have influences, mentors, coaches, leaders and assistants set up to assist you and help you reach your goals.

 

The top three questions I get when I talk about what I do are:

 

“What does a VA do for a musician?”
“Where do I find a VA for a musician?”
and
“What questions should I ask when interviewing a VA?”

I’ve shared every week what a VA does for a musician, and also have shared resources on where you can start your search for your own (check out and read through my blog for those posts here), but I have yet to brush the subject on what to ask when interviewing a potential VA for yourself.I believe that you want some passionate about the industry itself, but also has the balance of knowing how to keep a musician balanced and organized.

Here are a few questions to include in your interview to find the best candidate for you.

 

1) Tell me a little bit about yourself and why you want to be a Virtual Assistant for a musician?
I’d like to know this because this is where they have the opportunity to express passion for music or interest in what the industry is about. A little spark in their response is really good.

 

2) What music platforms do you have experience with? Reverbnation, Bandcamp, CD Baby, (fill in any sites that you like to use on the regular).
They are going to have to have a good idea of what needs to be managed on a day to day basis. If they don’t have experience, ask them if they have heard of it or if they feel they could learn it quickly.

 

3) Have you ever worked with a musician before? If so, what did you do for them? If not, why do you want to work with a musician?
Find out if they have experience working with a musician. Also, you can ask about the genre the musician was in, considering a hip hop artist will need a different sort of skill set from their assistant than from a bluegrass singer.

 

4) What is one way you went above and beyond for someone you’ve worked for? In what way to you exceed what was expected of you when assigned a task?
This will tell you how driven and how much of a go-getter they are. In this industry, it’s constantly changing and it’s not easy. You’ll need someone on your side pushing along with you.

 

5) What can you do to help me stay organized and on schedule?
You’re hiring this person to help you keep organized and keep you on track. Find out more about how they work and if it would work well with you.

 

6) Tell me a time that you weren’t sure how to complete a task that was given to you. How did you handle it and did you get it done?
Get a sense of what they would do or say if you gave them a task they had no idea how to do. See if they would take the extra effort to research and find the answer on their own, or just turn to you for answers. You’ll want someone who will try to figure things out on their own and THEN come to you with questions if they are still unsure. This shows drive and the extra effort they would make while working for you.

 

And then, be sure to take this extra step: Find a couple scenarios you know that will happen on the job and ask them what they would do or suggest in that situation. For example, you would like them to send an email to a few presenters introducing yourself and interest in their venue/festival, so ask for a writing example of that very scenario and see what they send back.

 

These questions will help you learn more about the person, how they work, why they want to work with you and will give you a better sense of if you will work well with them.

 

Remember, all new team members will have a learning curve, however, you want the V.A. that will give their best effort, whole heartedly. After all, this is your career and life that you are working so hard to enjoy!

 

Go out there and ask the right questions to find the right V.A. for you.

 

Business Tips - 06/14/2014

Sorting through licensing companies?

If you’re in America, I hope your grill is heating up, you’re shades are on and you’re gearing up for the first weekend of summer. It’s amazing how fast the year has gone, isn’t it? This weekend I’m taking a step out of the city into New Jersey to visit me and my boyfriend’s friends – rumor has it, (and vegetarians, including me, prepare yourself) they ordered a roast pig as the main meal for the day. Oh yeah, we take it seriously here!

 

I’ve had a really fun week working on various projects, being a part of a few live events and also rolling out my new website. So many advancements with my company and brand, as well as my clients!

 

In today’s industry, it’s quite common for independent artists to look for music licensing companies to a) create a revenue source and b) breakthrough with an amazing deal on say, a commercial. It’s like a licensing deal with a big name brand or company is the new record deal.

 

Most of the time, these licensing companies are searching for independent artists, like yourself perhaps. They are looking for a new sound, a new voice or new face for these companies looking to feature music in their marketing that will excite people – aka not necessarily the music that is already on the radio.

 

My clients do get emails from licensing companies seeking to work with them. My clients are looking to get their music licensed. But what happens when they are too busy recording a new album, going on tour, or sticking to a writing or composition deadline? These opportunities get lost.

 

Don’t lose opportunities to expand your music. This is where an assistant steps in and can take the hours of research from the musician to help them determine the best fit for them. Here’s how.

 

1) Forward the email requests you’ve gotten that you would consider to work with to your assistant. Forward all of the emails you’ve gotten from companies saying they want to license your song(s), as well as forward companies you know of that you’d be interested in working with.

 

2) Ask your assistant to research licensing companies that would be a good fit for you. This would require your assistant to know your music and listen to what you’ve released. Ask them and be sure they’ve listened to your music, give them a list of similar artists to you, and they can return with a list of companies that have licensed similar genres. Better yet, they can sniff out companies that don’t have what you have to offer so they would be more interested in including you in their roster. This happened recently in an inquiry where a company was looking for a sound that my client offered.

 

3) Build an easy to read spreadsheet. Have your assistant keep this research organized. Below is what you should include. Some are self explanatory, but others are very important.

Build a spreadsheet that lists:
Company Name
Company Website
Contact Name
Contact Email
Contact Phone
Artists they have licensed – Get an idea of their roster to find if you compliment the other artists. If you were a songwriter, you wouldn’t go for a licensing company that works mainly with rappers.
Companies they have licensed to – See what level the company is at. Do they have connections to brands that will help you break through? Do they impress you?
Non-exclusive or Exclusive Agreement –  Are you going to be able to license your music to other companies or opportunities with that certain company? Some won’t allow you to. You have to decide if this is important to you, or it’s worth putting all of your eggs in one basket.
Payment terms – How much do you get and how much do they get if a deal goes through? Do you have to pay any fees upfront? Find out exactly where the money comes in or goes out.
Summarization – Ask your assistant to summarize and say if they think it’s a good fit or not and why. Having this discussion can help a decision happen faster and easier.

 

4) The contract – Once you’ve evaluated your choices, the next step is looking over a contract and a package from the company to help you get started. While an assistant can assist in looking over a contract, you should really find a lawyer to go over the agreement to make sure your music and yourself are protected to your interests. A few sites to find a lawyer are Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts or Avvo.com.

 

Go ahead, go back to your songwriting cave. Your assistant has this. Once you return to take care of business, your assistant can have a clear explanation of the best licensing company for you.

 

I hope you found this helpful, whether you have an assistant helping you find the licensing company for you, or if you are doing this all on your own.

 

Have any questions for me on this? Head over to my blog here to comment with your question. Or, just hit reply with your question and I just might answer your question in the next newsletter.

 

Have a great Memorial Day weekend,

Business Tips - 05/24/2014

Find your perfect flight.

Today, I’m writing you from San Diego, CA, during my so-called “spring break” visiting family! I haven’t seen them in over a year, so it’s definitely overdue. Being far away from my entire family is very difficult at times, so I always make a point to visit every few months. After my weekend in San Diego, I’ll also be stopping in Texas where I grew up to see more family and old friends. Can I just say I’m more excited about the warm weather than anything else? Okay, maybe I’m also a little excited about the food, too.

My clients have been doing quite a bit of traveling as well, and I’ve been on logistics duty. There were plenty of festivals, performances, conferences and more that I helped coordinate trips for.  And I have fun doing it (I know, I’m weird). J

There are several parts to planning a trip for your next performance, but I want to first focus on the flight that will get you there. (Full disclosure – I wrote this during my Thursday morning flight so it feels even more appropriate to talk about planning your flight!)

So, musicians, let’s talk about how to find your perfect flight – and also show you how you can delegate it all someone like me who can assist you in your planning. This is from real experience, so take notes.

image

1. Book as early as possible – I cannot stress how many dollar signs you could save if you just book a month earlier than you think you should. I remind my clients of this, especially if they are traveling to perform at an event and they are responsible for the travel bill. Heard stories of last minute cheap seats? Don’t believe it. I’ve been doing this for three years and this has never happened. Nowadays, if you book late, you are stuck with buying the $100 priority seats after they run out of regularly priced seats.

Tell your assistant as soon as possible about an event you will be going to. Ask them to remind you to look for your ticket at least 3 months, if possible, in advance to secure a great price.

2. Gather your frequent flyer numbers – Surprisingly enough, when I book with a client that has a frequent flyer account, seats open up and upgrades are readily available. If you visit a city more than say 4 times a year, it’s worth it to get a frequent flier number under the airline you use the most. Some aren’t free, so choose what you can.

Most frequent flier numbers can be created by your assistant with your email and basic contact information. Find out what they can do first for you before you create your own account. If you already have them set up, send them a shared document with your frequent flier airlines / number as well as login info on the sites.

3. Know where to search – If you are traveling to a city that JetBlue or Southwest cover, you will 9 times out of 10 get your best deal there. If you aren’t finding the city you need, you can find a great flight through a couple search engines. Otherwise, I’ve consistently found the best options from only two: Kayak.com and Cheaptickets.com. They find great options for any domestic or international flight.

Ask your assistant to search your preferred sites and send you options based on your preference. Like this: “Please search Southwest.com & Kayak.com for flights from any NYC airport to Sioux Falls, SD, departing May 6 and returning May 9. I need to arrive by 5PM on May 6 and can depart as early as 8am on May 9.” This gives clear directions and you will get better choices of what you want the first time, saving tons of back and forth emails.

4. What to consider when browsing through connections – One thing I see overlooked constantly is not leaving enough time in between flights for you to get from Terminal A to Terminal D. This is imperative to make your travel day as smooth as possible. In my experience, leaving at least one hour and 30 minutes in between connections is a safe time length for connections, whenever you can. Otherwise, you risk missing your connection, losing your luggage and being late for the important performance. Not worth it. Leave yourself enough time to get through the terminal (especially Atlanta, that airport is HUGE).

Make this clear to your assistant the first time they begin booking your flight. Making sure it’s a priority from the beginning will diminish this being overlooked.

5. For Musicians only: Traveling with your instrument – If you are traveling with a small instrument as a carry on, you might want to opt for priority seating or seating in the back so that you can claim overhead space before it gets too full. You are absolutely allowed to travel with your instrument if it’s small enough to fit overhead. As for larger instruments, like a cello, I usually have to buy them an extra ticket to fit the cello in a seat. There are also great travel cases for larger instruments if you choose to check it.

If you can, have your assistant purchase priority boarding so that you can find space for your instrument. If not, it usually is not a problem, but some of us like to make sure there are no issues on a travel day.

Are you headed somewhere in a few months? Use these tips and you will find the best option for you or your band. Of course, every trip is different and offers their own challenges, but I make sure I know these 4 things for each flight I am booking to be able to give my client their best options.

Tour / Travel Tips - 04/17/2014

Don’t let it slide…

Hey there!

I hate to say it again, but yes, we had another cold weekend (and a cold week ahead of us!) here in NYC. This has to be the longest winter I’ve experienced! Maybe if I close my eyes and click my heels 3 times I’ll appear on a beach?

Yeah, enough day dreaming. Let’s snap back to reality.

If I think too much about my big dreams or long term goals, I lose sight of my to-do list. Does that ever happen to you? You get so focused on writing and recording for a new album that you miss a deadline for the release? Or you are having a really great conversation with a top guy in the industry giving you priceless connections, and when you hang up, you already forgot that persons name he gave you?

It’s easier than you think to forget important tasks when you are trying to balance your business, your creative process and your life!

We’re not robots who have programmed reminders or alerts that will go off – we’re humans. We need to be realistic and set ourselves up for success in reaching our goals.

Whether you are tackling your to-do list on your own or with an assistant, here are some tips I myself use to keep me on track and crossing off things on my to-do list!

1. Don’t count on remembering.

If you are in a conversation and you are conjuring a great plan, say, book a tour next year, don’t count on remembering the conversation after you hang up. Write down dates, names, notes, ask for spellings while in the conversation so you will not forget! This saves a ton of time having to a) try to remember or b) having to call back and get the info again.

2. Use your resources.

There are a zillion apps that can keep you focused. I keep it simple by using Google Task Bar with my gmail account. Take a look at a snapshot:

I’ve blurred this mail account, but you can see the Google Tasks box in the bottom right-hand corner. To turn it on in your Gmail account, just click on the tasks link on the left-hand side of the screen. You can even make it pop-out and open in its new window.

With it, you can quickly create a list to check off for yourself. The great thing about it is that it stays open when you are in your email, so it’s in your face, every day, all day. If you have a to-do list, you need to put it where you will look, right?!

I use the task list to keep track of any emails I need to send, deadlines, quick tasks and more. It’s also my go to when I do need to be reminded what needs to be done – such a great way to keep focused.

3. Write it down!

Currently, I’m assisting a client release a new album along with the sheet music this summer and there are plenty of deadlines with both products. The checklist includes filling out a new release form by a certain date, submitting the cover art for both the album and the songbook, publish the music, get licensing for certain pieces, proof read the book, and the list goes on and on!

For a large project like this, instead of using a task list, I wrote down the deadlines clearly on an old-fashioned paper calendar so that I can see clearly the month(s) ahead and remind my client of the important deadlines. Visually seeing the timeline helps me immensely and I highly recommend it for anyone.

4. Delegate – The most important part!

There will always be more to do than you can handle. Delegate the simple & low profit work to your assistant, such as, sending a quick link to a person interested in booking you, searching for a flight to your next gig, sending rehearsal times to your band, etc. Allocating what you need to do will diminish the to-do list for yourself and get things done quicker.

I hope these short tips will help you keep on track of your deadlines so you can make this year amazing!

Business Tips - 03/03/2014

7 Ways a VA Can Create Your Best YouTube Trailer

(Shared on Music Think Tank)

Ah, Youtube. Where more than 1 billion unique users visit each month and over 6 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube—that’s almost an hour for every person on Earth.

Chances are you have an account but since they upgraded all channels to Youtube One back in June of 2013, I bet you $10 you haven’t gotten around to uploading a killer promo trailer to drive in subscriptions to your channel. Did I just get a free lunch?

So, why is it important to have a YouTube trailer?

A YouTube trailer is your moment to create a new fan. And with booking agents and festivals looking at social media numbers, you want to be able to grow your following whenever you can. Plus, you could probably use this trailer to promote yourself – a video EPK if you will – which can make you stand out from the other applicants.

I am all about musician’s finding support in their careers, sharing the importance of having an assistant as a musician and how they can create time in the day for you.

Having a virtual assistant could make creating a Youtube trailer practicallypainless, quick and effective. While you are writing a new song or practicing a new riff, your VA could be taking care of this with minimal direction.

Today, I’m going to show you the best way to work with a VA to get you a great video promotional trailer in now time. With free and low cost tools like iMovie and Final Cut Pro, even if your assistant isn’t quite a pro, they are very user friendly.

Here are some tips to make the process go smoothly for you and your VA:

1. Make sure they are comfortable with a video editing program.

They don’t need to know how to create flashy effects, but make sure they can fade in / fade out, add text, and trim clips. These are the very basics and what you’ll need to make a great video. How do you make sure? ASK! If they say yes, ask to see examples. If they say no, ask them if they are willing to learn. You can ‘test them out’ by asking to clip a video you have to make it shorter, or ask to combine two videos fading in and out of each other.

2. Select what videos you want to feature.

One client I work with has over 180 videos on his channel. Another has 8. With either situation, you can create a fantastic video. What to focus on is quality, energy and what best reflects you as an artist! With my client with nearly 200 videos uploaded, we focused on the top 10 viewed videos of all time. I’m going to assume you don’t have nearly that many and we’ll go into what you need to include from the videos you do have.

3. Find the following in your videos.

  • Live footage – Quality is key here. Find your greatest, powerful and most beautiful moments on stage.
  • The crowd and/or fans – Get footage of fans excited to see you. Of crowds jumping up and down. You want their energy and enthusiasm to convert visitors to also become a fan.
  • Your top viewed music video – Show a successful video that made it mainstream or a well produced music video. This shows professionalism to your fans.
  • Your personality – Do you have any clips of you on the road, joking around with the band? How about backstage jokes or interview bloopers? Show your fans a glimpse into your personality so they can relate to you. Double points for showing something entirely unique, like a trick or special talent other than you music.

4. Give exact clip markers of what you want to use to your assistant.

Give exact time markers, for example:

“In my music video, “Seven Stars”, pull 1:29 to 1:56.”

This will guarantee you will see exactly what you want.

5. Order up the clips

If you know the order you’d like to go in with the clips you’ve chosen, give your assistant those directions. If not, let them be creative and put something together first. Sometimes it is easier to know what you want going that route and after you’ve seen something, you can arrange it to exactly what you’d like.

6. Add any text

Once you get the flow of the video down, now is the time to add any intro or outro text, press quotes within the video and/or links to your sites. You don’t want a ton of this, but if you’ve got an awesome quote from New York Times saying you’re the best show in town, you’ll want to tell that!

7. Keep an eye on the clock.

My final piece of advice is on the length of the Youtube Trailer. There’s no exact length limit, but the shorter the better. I would recommend nothing over 2 to 2.5 minutes and with that you should be able to fit only the best clips within that time frame.

Put your assistant to work and create a fabulous and unique video that you can share to get noticed!

Social Media - 02/13/2014

5 Benefits of a Virtual Assistant – for Musicians!

image

You know that image we all have in our heads about personal assistants? Only celebrities are busy (and rich) enough to have someone to keep them on track and book their first-class flights. Maybe you don’t see the need for an assistant – you are determined to be the DIY musician and actually believe it’s possible . But your life is feeling unbalanced, and you are finding yourself spending more time updating Facebook than working on your next album.

Hiring a personal assistant is costly for anyone, especially a musician getting their feet off the ground, but there is an option here for you – a virtual assistant. You could still be hurting yourself professionally, financially AND personally by not hiring a virtual assistant – want to know how?

Below are 5 benefits of getting a virtual assistant of your own.

1. Clear and efficient payment terms.

Virtual assistants understand that you are only paying them for the time they work on you – NOT for lunch breaks, sick-days nor vacations. Your money is 100% going to investing in you! You are not responsible for office space, office supplies, computer, etc as you would be with a regular full-time employee. Also, most VA’s work as independent contractors – this means to you that you don’t worry about insurance, benefits or taxes. Make the agreement clear and on your terms from the beginning and you’ll be set.

2. They do the ‘stuff’ you don’t want to do.

You know you should be writing a new blog post. You know you should be writing to venues or conference appearance opportunities. You might procrastinate, avoid and even all together not even start a task that you know should be done. But you would just rather tune out and practice on your instrument, spend a couple hours in the studio, and get to that next record as soon as you could. With an assistant to delegate to, those tasks are as easy as done. Bottom line – you don’t have to do stuff that you don’t want to do!

3. You’ll get organized without really trying.

Virtual assistants are all about organization, prioritizing and getting sh*t done. And the best out there are proactive and manage their time extremely well. Ever double booked yourself? Sure you have! When I start working with a musician, right off the bat I create their calendar. I share the file with them via Google Docs, as well as emailing it to them every other week. Their calendar includes performance dates, personal appointments, meetings, rehearsals and travel days. My musicians might have their own way of marking important dates down, but this allows for both of us to double check any possible future conflicts. Double bookings WILL happen with musicians handling their own schedule, but are typically avoided with 2 pairs of eyes watching. This would make any person, let alone the busy musician, more organized.

4. No training needed.

One musician I work with only hired interns before bringing me on board. I understand why she did this because you can hire them for zero to minimum wage. However, she found herself spending more time explaining and training rather than them getting the stuff she needed done, and it felt more productive for her to just do it on her own. Where she had it wrong was knowing what kind of support she needed. Yes, an assistant will cost more, but the right one will have the skills and knowledge already established and is only the best investment you can make in terms of starting your team. The time you work with them won’t be training, but delegating those tasks you don’t want to do (see no.2!) and concentrating on getting to your next show or writing the next Billboard charting hit.

5. They are real support – you’re not alone!

You might have already realized you can’t do everything yourself, so you went and hired the booker, manager and publicist to help you book shows, plan routes, plan recordings, promote your show, etc. You’re thinking, isn’t that enough? Truth is, as a musician, it might not be. An assistant’s job description is typically more flexible in the tasks they could do for you. While a publicist is hired only to promote and spread the word, or a booker is hired to book you an upcoming tour, the assistant works hand in hand with those positions, plus more. Who’s going to plan your band’s next rehearsal? Who’s going to update your mailing list after a show? Who’s going to mail out master copies to your distributor to meet a deadline while you are on the road? These sorts of things are not in a manager’s or publicist’s job description, and certainly NOT what a musician’s energy should be drained on – they should be focused on their music and building their own enterprises! With a virtual assistant, you aren’t alone anymore.

Business Tips - 10/24/2013
Powered by Sam | Creativity Heights. We Beautify Your World!!