People: Friend of Foe?

Well, the title of this post is kind of a joke at my own expense, because I'm sort of afraid of other people. I'm not good in social situations and when I meet new people I do not make the best first impression. Either I'm so shy I seem aloof or I bumble over my words so much I just seem retarded.

This is a very bad thing.

In local music (where most musicians start, fyi) networking is an extremely important tool. Having connections with other local artists can help you find new venues, new ideas, new inspirations, and of course, more connections. Maybe a friend of a friend is a radio executive or an A&R rep, maybe someone's dad does the booking for Red Rocks and they're looking for someone just like you, or maybe someone you meet used to play in a town not far from you and can give you info on venues there. The first few are pretty unlikely, obviously, but the last has happened to me, and it's great when it does!

There's of course all the obvious reasons to have connections with people. You know, like friendship, companionship, hanging out, having fun, that sort of thing, but those kind of go without saying. Establishing, growing, and maintaining a network of likeminded individuals is vitally important (as in any job), and incidentally, one area where I have the least success. Therefore I don't have the greatest tips on how to maintain relationships and friends, but I think I have a few suggestions that might help.

Make your contact info easy to find. If you're at a show, have a mailing list sign up sheet or something, put your website/myspace/e-mail/whatever on the cd, or on a business card inside the cd case maybe. When someone comes up at a show and introduces themself, don't just shake their hand and forget about them, get their name, give them your e-mail or website. People matter, always have and always will. Don't treat people like fans. Odds are if you're actually taking my advice then you don't have many real "fans". They're friends, who also happen to like your music. Treat them as such. Don't alienate people by being standoff-ish or thinking you're somehow better because you play music. That's just dumb.

I've talked before about being personal with people, reply to comments on youtube/myspace/whatever, take the time to really read e-mails and respond to them thoughtfully. Aside from the fact that it's just plain polite and you'll be a nice person if you do these things, you also never know what connections someone new might offer. Maybe they'll have new song ideas or want to collaborate with you on a project, maybe they'll offer you an opening spot or a shared bill at one of their concerts.

In short, people are your friends, don't be afraid...they usually don't bite.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you found this at least remotely helpful.

-loren