Grow Your Audience - Step 4: Make Yourself Accessible
So far, we've looked at how you can identify your audience, how you can enlist people to help you grow your audience, and how you can make it easy for people to spread your message.
This week, we'll touch on one of the touchiest subjects in the recording industry - personal accessibility. We'll take on the task from three angles: how to set reasonable boundaries, how to be available without losing your own identity, and when it's appropriate to use other people to make you seem like you're in more than one place at once. We'll wrap up with some quick ideas about how to use these concepts in the field.
First, let's look at BOUNDARIES. The moment you take the stage or releasing a record, you're forever surrendering a substantial amount of your privacy and your anonymity. For many people who make this leap, the desire to be "famous" drives them to this career in the first place. Others trade off the ability to create great works in solitude for a few hours per day in the spotlight. Either way, you should start thinking NOW about setting some specific boundaries.
Ask yourself some critical questions, like:
* Will my audience be able to make the distinction between who *I* am as a person, and who my characters are?
* How willing am I to allow total strangers into my financial affairs and my personal life?
* Are the important people in my life willing to tolerate a reduced amount of privacy in order to help me achieve my goals and dreams?
* Do I have any unresolved financial, romantic, or criminal matters that I should attend to now, BEFORE they could threaten my dreams?
* How much time in a given day, week or year am I willing to turn over to the Business of Me?
Start writing down some ideas, with a goal of forming your own privacy policy. Mine would look something like this:
"I have nothing to hide, but I expect others to respect my personal boundaries. I will make myself available to the world most of the time, but the first and last two hours of every day are reserved for myself and my family, without exception. I will give myself one day every week for renewal and enjoyment, and any urgent matters that arise that day can be handled by my team or can be postponed until the next 'business' day."
Sure, I'm squeaky clean, and not likely to be pursued by the National Enquirer. Here's what one of my rock n' roller clients might write:
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