Derek Sivers podcast

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Education
**Derek Sivers podcast**

Derek Sivers very short articles and audiobook chapters, read by Derek Sivers. Transcripts at https://sive.rs/blog

Latest Episodes:

Small actions change your self-identity Sep 10, 2008

Show notes

When we think about what’s worth doing, we usually think of big things.

But when you hear the stories of how people got successful, they usually start with one little action:

Saying yes when someone asked for volunteers
Approaching a celebrity
Reading one book or taking one course

That one little action changes how you think about yourself.

Having taken that one step, you start to think of yourself as brave, or an achiever, or a bit of an expert on a subject.

You do just one thing that makes you feel generous, so you start to act generous, so you become generous.

You do just one thing that makes you feel like a leader, so you start to act like a leader, so you become a leader.

The world treats you as you treat yourself. Your actions show the world who you are.

You won’t act differently until you think of yourself differently. So start by taking one small action that will change your self-identity.

Selling music by solving a specific need May 29, 2008

Show notes

Instrumental music sells best if you tie it into a purpose.

Massage music sells very well.

Yoga music sells very well.

Instrumental Christmas music sells very well.

Notice they’re selling more than just the music itself. They’re selling something that non-music people find useful. They solve a problem.

Imagine two candlemakers.

One says, “My candles have only the finest wax with the best quality wick!”

The other says, “These are prayer candles. Light one whenever you pray.”

There are dozens of people who will buy the first.

But there are millions who will buy the second.

Don’t promote until people can take action May 17, 2008

Show notes

I often hear musicians say they want to do advance promotion — telling people about their new album before it’s available for purchase.

Though the plan may be to generate excitement, I think the opposite happens. Imagine the dialogue.

“Check out my new music!”

“Where is it? Can I buy it?”

“Not yet — but soon!”

“Why are you telling me now?”

“So you can be ready for the announcement!”

(Then two months pass.)

“Check out my new music! It’s ready!”

“I think I already heard of this. Not new. Delete.”

Instead, imagine this plan:

Record your music.
Start conversations with the people who promote music. Don’t pitch them anything. Just get to know them.
Prepare your marketing plan, but don’t do it yet. Just get everything into place.
Get your music distributed everywhere. Before you announce it, make sure it’s actually there. Stream and even buy a copy, to make sure there were no mistakes.
Finally, do your promotion, and tell everyone.

One of the nice things about crowd-funding is that for each project, there are two stages when people can take action, so you can repeat this cycle twice.

Never promote something until people can take action, or you might waste the one moment you had their attention.

two three four ONE, two three four ONE May 08, 2008

Show notes

One of my favorite musicians is Fela Kuti from Nigeria.

I used to play guitar in an Afropop band that did a lot of Fela Kuti songs. The bandleader explained that what we know as the “one” — the downbeat, the start of a phrase — is considered the end of a phrase in West African music. Instead of “ONE two three four, ONE two three four,” it’s “two three four ONE, two three four ONE.” Instead of “How you get to town?” it’s “You get to town, how?”

Most musicians first record songs in the studio, then go perform them in concert. Fela Kuti did the opposite. He performed only new unrecorded songs in concert. Then once he recorded them in the studio, he’d never perform them again. I couldn’t help but notice the similarity. It’s as if to him, the recording was the end of the life of a song, instead of the beginning. It makes just as much sense if you think about it that way.

Which of course makes me wonder about all the other beginnings and endings and things we just take for granted as fact, but make just as much sense as their opposites.

Aim for the edges May 07, 2008

Show notes

An amazing shift has happened in the last few decades.

You used to get successful by being normal and mainstream. But now you have a better chance of getting successful by being remarkably unusual.

Songwriters try to write a timeless standard that will resonate with everyone. But what good is that if nobody hears it because your music is too normal?

Our culture is now split into niches. In 1948, Milton Berle’s TV show had 80% of all viewers, because it was one of only three choices! When the Beatles played on Ed Sullivan in 1964, they had 60% of all TV viewers. But now the biggest hit shows only get 1% of all viewers, because there are so many choices.

There won’t be another blockbuster album like “Thriller” by Michael Jackson. With unlimited options now, music fans don’t wait for mainstream media to tell them what to like. They can immediately listen to anything they want. Because of this, tastes are more spread-out than ever.

So reach the people who have headed to the edges. They’re the ones who are looking for something new, and more likely to rave about it if you impress them.

Think of the metaphor of shooting an arrow at a bull’s-eye target:

In the old blockbuster music business, you had a hit single or nothing. The only way you could be successful was to hit the exact center of a tiny distant target. If you missed the middle, you got nothing.

Now it’s like the target is closer and bigger, but there’s a catch: Someone cut out the middle.

You can aim for the edge and hit something pretty easily. But if you’re still aiming for the middle, there’s nothing there.

So be remarkably unusual, and aim for those people who have headed to the edges.

Restrictions will set you free Apr 29, 2008

Show notes

Someone says, “Write me a piece of music. Anything. No restrictions. Go!”

You’re stumped. It’s the blank page syndrome.

Instead, someone says, “Write me a piece of music using only a flute, ukulele, and this toy piano. You can only use the notes D, E, and B. It has to start quiet, get louder, then end quietly. Go!”

Aha! Now that’s an inspiring challenge!

You can use this approach for business, too. If you’re feeling stuck with marketing, give yourself restrictions.

Contact fifty fans using only personal emails — no mass-mailing.
Make a music video using only stock footage.
Give promotion a time-limit of just 15 minutes per day.
Spend a week only contacting people you’ve never contacted before.

Whenever you’re feeling uninspired or unmotivated, use creative restrictions to set you free.

Never have a limit on your income Apr 06, 2008

Show notes

Imagine two people. One is a toy maker. One is a masseuse.

Imagine both get suddenly famous. Now a million people want that toy. And a million people want a massage from that masseuse.

For the toy maker, that’s no problem. Have the manufacturer make a million more.

For the masseuse? That’s a big problem. She’s limited by her hands-on time.

So which business would you rather be in? One that makes money while you do other things, or one that only profits by your own two hands?

Many pundits say that since people aren’t buying recorded music, musicians should just be in the business of playing concerts. You can see the flaw in that plan. It limits your income.

So what other ways can your music earn income while you sleep? Originally I had a list of ideas here, but they were all really obvious, and I don’t know what decade it will be by the time you read this. So the important thing is to keep asking the question, and keep trying the ideas.

Whatever scares you, go do it Mar 26, 2008

Show notes

Sometimes people ask me if there’s one motto or rule of thumb I use most often. This is it:

Whatever scares you, go do it.

For thirty years, I’ve been following that rule for both small and big things in life, and it’s served me well.

On a small level, it can be that little nervous moment, when you’re scared to talk to someone intimidating. You notice you’re scared. Aha! Whatever scares you, go do it. So you go talk to them.

On a big level, it can be that huge terrifying idea that won’t go away. Starting a business. Visiting a country. Quitting your job. Whatever scares you, go do it.

Fear is just a form of excitement, and you know you should do what excites you.

Best of all, once you do something that scared you, you’re not scared of it anymore! As you go through life, doing everything that scares you, you fear less and less in the world.

Legendary psychologist Abraham Maslow said it well: “Life is an ongoing process of choosing between safety (out of fear and need for defense) and risk (for the sake of progress and growth). Make the growth choice a dozen times a day.”

I heard that as a teenager, took it to heart, and made this rule. Whatever scares you, go do it.

The strength of many little customers Mar 11, 2008

Show notes

Many small entrepreneurs think, “If we could just land Apple, Google, or the government as a client, we’d be all set!”

Software companies often do this. They hope to make some technology that a huge company will want to build into every product, or install at every employee’s desk.

But this approach has many problems:

You have to custom-tailor your product to please very few specific people.
Those people may change their mind or leave the company.
Who are you really working for? Are you self-employed or is this client your boss?
If you do land the big client, they practically own you.
By trying so hard to please the big client, you lose touch with what the rest of the world wants.

Instead, imagine if you designed your business to have no big clients, just lots of little clients.

You don’t need to change what you do to please one client — only the majority (or yourself).
If one client needs to leave, it’s OK. You can sincerely wish them well.
Because no one client can demand you do what they say, you are your own boss. Just keep clients happy in general.
You hear hundreds of people’s opinions, and stay in touch with what the majority of people want.

So much of the music business is actually the star business — people hoping to catch the coattails of a huge mega-star. But I wanted nothing to do with that, for these same reasons.

When you build your business on serving thousands of customers, not dozens, you don’t have to worry about any one customer leaving or making special demands. If most of your customers love what you do, but one doesn’t, you can just say goodbye and wish him the best, with no hard feelings.

The public you is not you Sep 25, 2007

Show notes

I hope you don’t have to learn this lesson the way I did.

One day, I wrote a blog post sharing what I had learned while switching between the PHP programming language and Ruby on Rails framework. At the time, my blog had no readers, so I didn’t think anyone would see it. I just wrote it for the record.

But when I woke up the next morning, my post was all over the tech news sites, and it was like I had insulted everyone’s religion. There were over a thousand comments saying that I was a complete idiot and a terrible programmer.

At first I was upset and insulted, like anyone would be. Then, luckily, something switched in my head and I realized the most important point: They weren’t talking about me. They were talking about a cardboard cutout that looked like me. A little online avatar that has the same name as me, but is not me.

I couldn’t be offended when they said I was a terrible programmer, because they had never seen my code. I couldn’t be offended when they said I was an idiot, because they didn’t know me. They had read a few paragraphs of an article and spewed some insults. Their reactions had nothing to do with the real me.

Suddenly it was like watching a little videogame character get attacked. It was funny to watch, part of the game, and not personal at all.

Then I realized it was the same with compliments. I couldn’t take praise personally, either. Some people have liked things I’ve written or made, and have said nice things about me. But those aren’t the real me, either.

So the conclusion is this: Public comments are just feedback on something you made. They’re worth reading to see how this thing has been perceived. You can even take it as feedback on the public image you’ve created. All people know is what you’ve chosen to show them. So if your public persona is coming across wrong, try tweaking it.

Never forget that the public you is not you.