Secrets To Selling Your Services Like A Boss

Ok, I am so pumped because today is the final day of the Boss Producer Business Series!! I’ve put this series together especially for my aspiring producers, and if you haven’t checked out the first four blogs of this series I want you to go and read them now!  Just head to: www.producelikebosspodcast.com/business  

Also, as promised, I’m going to give you access to the entire workbook for this series which includes recaps & exercises to help you get your business started! Once again that link is: www.producelikebosspodcast.com/business 

OK, let’s jump in!

Boss Producer Business

Part 5: Secrets To Selling Your Services Like A Boss

First, let’s recap what we’ve covered in the first four episodes: 

• In episode 1, we acknowledged what starving artist traits we need to shed in order to become a boss producer. 
• In episode 2, we talked about how making great music is just the beginning and that being a generalist can actually be more valuable than being an expert (the practice of skill stacking can give you a unique advantage in the music industry). We also talked about how to value your time as a business owner. 
• In episode 3, we covered how to set up your production company. 
• In episode 4, we discussed the systems and processes that will help you streamline your workflow and help you scale.    

Now that you’ve lined up all of these pieces it’s time to start selling your services like a BOSS!  

So, let’s start with the online marketplaces. There are tons, and I mean TONS, of online marketplaces where you can sell your services as a musician. Whether you sing, produce, mix, or make beats, there are platforms you can hop onto right now and start offering your services. Some of these platforms include Soundbetter, Airgigs, & Beatstars. You simply sign up and get your profile sorted (All of the assets you need to do that are mentioned in part three by the way).  

It’s important to note the differences between selling your services and selling digital products. When you sign up for sites like Soundbetter & Airgigs you are offering your services for hire as a musician. This means taking on a client and working on their project(s). When you sign up for a site like Beatstars, this is where you upload music you’ve already produced. If you’re unsure what I’m talking about right now, visit the blog “What Kind of Producer Are YOU?” where I discuss the different kinds of producers and what makes a beatmaker different from a producer.

Both of these are great ways to make money as a producer, one just requires that you trade your time for money, the other is more of a “digital product” that can make you money while you sleep. The same thing goes for getting your music into film and TV. This is a great opportunity to pitch a catalog you’ve already created so songs aren’t dying in the hard drive graveyard.  

Other ways to make money online are custom songwriting, licensing your original music to other independent artists, creating royalty-free music, and even hopping on freelancing sites like Fiverr or Thumbtack to offer your services there.  

I hope you’re getting really excited right now because I am literally handing you gold! I started working in online marketplaces several years ago and grew my business tremendously! I went from struggling songwriter, to a professional session singer/producer -- initially making around $2,000 a month, then $3,000, then $5,000, to eventually $8000 and beyond. But you’ve got to be willing to put in the work. I’m not the best singer or the best producer, but I will outwork everybody and I’m thinking that if you’re following me, and are in the Produce Like a Boss world, you’re that kind of a workhorse too. You want this and you will stop at nothing to get it. Right? Rawr!! Let’s do this!!! Ok, I’m excited, but let’s get back to the matter at hand.

The reason I push the online marketplaces when you’re first getting started is that you get to capitalize on somebody else’s traffic. When you’re first building your business you’re just trying to learn how to marry the left & right brain as an artist and turn this into paid work. Do you also want to become a google ads expert? An SEO expert? Run paid traffic & ads and deal with ALLLLL the moving parts of a business like chasing down payments, finding clients, and marketing? Probably not. Truthfully, the online marketplaces are a form of marketing -- you are paying somebody for leads and traffic, just like Facebook or Instagram. In the same way, we promote our music on Instagram instead of trying to drive people to our website, we should also take advantage of the online marketplaces. There’s no way you’re going to reach more people than Soundbetter or Beatstars, why not jump on a moving train?

That being said, some of the cons that come with that are that you don’t own the traffic you’re getting and it’s oftentimes forbidden to take work off of their platform. They also charge monthly fees, although all of them have a free tier as well.  

When people ask me “is it worth it to pay the monthly fee?” my answer is always “yes,” at least to test it. If a platform costs $70 a month and you book just ONE job you’ve made your money back. Even if you don’t make it back in the first month, maybe the next month you book a job that pays $1000. Now you’ve paid $140, but you’ve made $860. So, is it worth it? Hell yeah, it is!! Don’t get it twisted my friend, you're in business, you’re going to have to invest to make returns whether it’s your time, your money, your gear, paying for leads/advertising, or even in coaching, that’s how business works. We must have skin in the game. If you’re the producer going “is it worth it? Meh, I don’t want to pay anything” but you want to make money, BRO! SIS! FAM! Your mindset needs a makeover.

Now, I consider online marketplaces as one basket. I never put all of my eggs in one basket. You can also start marketing your beats, your services, and your songs within your own network. This includes your social media, your current email list, and even locally in your town! Do you know singers that need songs produced? How about songwriters that need demos? I actually have a student who was hired to compose songs for her church group. Do you know somebody who wants to start a podcast that you could do the editing for? How about any companies that need a theme song? Here’s something amazing I saw on Instagram the other day. An influencer mentioned that a musician reached out to them and said, “Hey, I really love your brand man. I actually made this song for you and you can use it for your podcast or in your videos. If you like it, we can strike up a licensing deal. If not, no worries, just love your stuff and wanted to see if I could be of service!”  

Gahhhh!!! Can I get a mic drop moment here?! Cue *explosion sound* because my damn mind is blown.

These are the type of forward-thinking, innovative, go-getter STRATEGIES I love to hear about!  

The last thing you’re going to do to sell your services like a boss starts working on your CRM which stands for Customer Relationship Management, which is pretty much your email list. This won’t be something you can mesh with the online marketplaces as much since they kind of forbid email and telephone number exchange, but this is super useful for your own network. You can sign up for a service like mailchimp for free and the next tier is $9.99 a month (as of this posting).

I could do an entire SERIES on email marketing as it is its own beast, so I’m gonna keep this part short: I believe when you’re first getting started that the online marketplaces are the jam because you’ll get to reach more traffic faster, which will get you making money sooner and that’s what I want for you. I want to get you generating income ASAP. Just keep in mind that as you start knocking projects out of the park and building a customer database within your network, you’re gonna want to keep track of those customers in a CRM. Side note on that: people who have hired you or purchased from you are FAR more likely to hire you and sell to again. Much more so than it is to get a new customer to enter your Customer Relationship Management!

Wooooo Weeeeeee, that blog series was a DOOZY am I right?! Are you feeling the fire?! Are you ready to go SLAY the day by producing and recording professionally?!

Well then check it! If you dug this series, you’re going to LOVE ...LURVEEEEE….The Boss Producer Bootcamp! I’m going to be going LIVE with you guys and doing a five day FREE training on how to build your business as a producer!

In this five day bootcamp you will discover...

• The mindset takes to go full time as a producer
• What it takes to run a business from your home studio
• The path from the amateur producer (unpaid) to pro producer (paid)

I’m going to show you...

• How to increase the quality & speed of your productions
• How to make pitchable, placeable, profitable music
• Ways to make money online whether you’re a singer, songwriter, producer, mix engineer, or instrumentalist

We’re going to give away tons of prizes including a SHURE SM7B mic & the SLATE VMS-1! Plus there will be contests & even scholarship opportunities.

This bootcamp is 100% FREE, but don’t get it twisted, this isn’t your run of the mill “fluff” filled freebie where you show up and give your time and don’t actually receive any real value. You are going to leave this bootcamp with a plan to start your production business today!! So I want you to treat this training like it costs you thousands of dollars because that’s how valuable it is!

Just head over to www.producelikeaboss.com/bootcamp to reserve your seat!

Thanks so much for catching the Boss Producer Series on youtube, the podcast, and the blog! Please make sure to like & subscribe & drop a comment if you have any questions!

Alright my friends, well I hope you got a whole lot of value out of the Boss Producer Series!! I LOVED making this for you. Don’t forget to head to www.producelikeabosspodcast.com/business to download your ENTIRE workbook with recaps, handouts, and resources!