Published: Friday - January 11, 2008
Words by Donny Goines
Blog by Donny Goines (Photo: Don Michaels)
I remember a meeting I had last year with Tone Capone (Sunday School, Hot 97 Street Soldiers, TVT, etc. a man of many hats) and he told me that he thought my operation was pretty good ,except for one single thing. I was unorganized. At first, I thought to myself, how can I miss something that obvious, but then I realized that the reason being was because I was unorganized, lol. When you do anything in life, you need to have some kind of order amidst the chaos, especially in this business.
So what exactly is organization? It might not be as simple as you think. In my case, it was more about restructuring and goal setting (my thoughts were scattered and I didn't have a solid plan), but your situation may differ. It may be straightening out paperwork, fixing your payroll, hiring employees, or even something as simple as cleaning your studio. Whatever it is, you have to really make sure you cross your T's and dot your I's before you step out into the professional world. If you don't, it really gives a bad impression overall and also makes people think that you have no idea what you doing (even if you do). Organization is a vital aspect of any artist career and without it expect alot of problems along the way.
Getting organized may seem like a difficult task, but it's really simple if you prioritize and write things down, which brings me to my first tip. WRITE THINGS DOWN!!! I know it might seem trivial and unnecessary, but trust me, you would be surprised how helpful this one action can be.
Another suggestion would be to delegate tasks to others, that way you can focus and not be all over the place (this is where your team comes into play). Hire an assistant if you need to. The only job I've EVER had while pursing music was working as a personal assistant to Disco D (R.I.P) and you would be surprised how easier I made his job during my time there. Something else you can do is to set long and short term goals. If you do this (and do it effectively), you can really clear your path and work more efficiently. Trust me.
Organization is key to any business, process, so you know it also applies to your music career. Without it, you won't really be able to do what you have to and it may hinder your process even more. Don't be too arrogant and think "this is so obvious" because it took someone one the outside looking in to make me aware of the same thing. Now look at me.
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