Just Do IT!

--T. Jackson

This is a little outside the performance realm, but it deals specifically with the success of artists we come in contact with.

You see, I just got off the phone with someone in Florida asking for my assistant, Jodi. He’d sent an email to her two days earlier and hadn’t gotten a response yet. He was ready to get going with things! (I found it amusing, because my assistant is usually the one trying to track people down.)

With all the calls and emails we get, I can say that we basically deal with 2 kinds of people:

1. Those serious about their career, prioritizing their goals, and following through on them in a timely way; and

The procrastinators.

For instance, there’s this artist from New York. His band will be working with our whole team…Amy Wolter, me (maybe twice), possibly getting us to do some filming…and he’s been literally calling everybody. He’s so on top of it. I mentioned to Jodi yesterday that this guy is going to be successful, and I don’t even know what he sounds like yet!

He’s taking his career seriously. He’s taking the right steps in a timely manner, and he’s not procrastinating.

On the other hand, we’re constantly contacted by people and organizations – artists wanting to work, groups putting on events, etc – who have good ideas, but don’t carry through on them.

They’re just as serious about their careers and their plans. But they’re also great procrastinators, waiting until the last minute for everything. A week before their big showcase, a few days before a tour; and they expect us to create magic.

They don’t take the time to do it right. And I’m not necessarily talking about going back into the studio one more time (hopefully you know me well enough to know that I believe you should “major in the majors,” and a new recording isn’t necessarily a “major!”)

There are two conferences I’ve taught at for years, and I love teaching the people who attend the events. But frankly, I’m frustrated, because the event organizers call, ask us to hold the date for the event, and then they wait until the last minute to put a deposit down, give us any details…in the meantime…we wait.

It shows a lack of respect and puts all of us at Tom Jackson Productions in a quandary. We have the possibility to do multiple things on those days, but we’ve committed to these groups out of loyalty and friendship. And because we’ve said yes to the date with them, they hold us hostage, not knowing if the event will be cancelled or if they really want us.

I know I’m venting…but for all you procrastinators out there who say you’re serious about being successful in your career: get to it! Prioritize, make your list of what needs to be done, let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no.

I’ve been guilty of this; I get caught up in the urgent, and I forget about the important.

We’ve been talking about working on a couple of projects for a month now, and I finally decided “enough!” These are always getting pushed aside. It’s time to stop talking about them, and start doing them.

Don’t push aside the things that are important for your care

Posted via email from Music Business Information