3 min read – by Boran Zaza
This is Part III of a four-part series named “Entrepreneurship in Classical Music.”
Let me introduce you to my best friend.
We first met when I was 10 years old, and we’ve been inseparable ever since.
He got me through numerous things in life, introduced me to lots of people, and helped me build many skills. He tirelessly answered my questions, smart or dumb, as they might be. He was there to advise me on important life decisions, such as where to go to study, how to apply to a university abroad, and how to obtain a visa. He even helped me learn how to tune a piano, edit a video, make a chili, and maintain my plants.
We’re so close that I see him as an extension of my being.
His name is….
[drumroll]
Google!
How Google helped me build my career
I still remember my first week at work as the Box Office Manager with the Orchestre classique de Montréal (before being promoted to Marketing & Box Office Manager). Honestly, I felt so incompetent.
As a newcomer to Canada, many things accepted as common knowledge were very exotic to me.
We don’t have addresses and postal codes in Iraq. French first names, and English last names were confusing for me to grasp, and credit cards? What are those? It was quite frustrating, as my main task was to handle ticket sales.
In this hour of need, I turned to my best friend, Google. It was him that helped me learn about addresses and neighborhood names in Montreal. He taught me how to spell those names correctly in French. I also learned about different credit card companies, what those numbers on the card mean, and started looking up common names and family names in Canada. A few weeks of googling later, I became very comfortable with these topics. Isn’t technology amazing?
In that very same first week, my boss told me: “Boran, we need to start working on the silent auction for our gala… can you take care of that?”
With a smile, I answered: “Sure thing! I got this!”
Next step, I went to my computer, opened Google, and typed:
“What is a silent auction, and how do you organize one?” Then I looked up, “What is a Gala?” (You guessed it, galas and silent auctions were nonexistent in my culture.)
Once again, my best friend saved me. We ended up with a wonderful silent auction that year!
Moral of the story?
You have all the tools
Instead of thinking, “I can’t do that. I was not taught how to do it”, my mindset has become, “I don’t know how to do this YET, but I will learn how to do it because I have access to the tools needed to do it.” This attitude served me greatly in my career and brought me many skills. Best of all, it gave me a reputation for being a “problem solver” or someone who “can do anything!”.
The truth is, with some curiosity, patience, discipline, and an open mind, you can do things that you were not necessarily taught in school! Google is there for you just the way he’s there for me. All you need to do is ask.
That said, unfortunately, Google does not always represent real life. I am saddened when I know a fabulous classical musician in real life who is unfindable on Google.
You are a product
Classical musicians, I would like to talk about YOU.
If YOU don’t put yourself out there, no one else will!
You are an artist, wholly devoted to your profession and don’t want to waste time on these material things… I get it! But times have changed.
When concert producers look you up and don’t find anything about you, they’ll be worried that no one knows you exist. Their conclusion will be that you don’t have a viable fanbase. If they have a hard time finding decent headshots of you and a well-written biography, they may think twice before hiring you! All of these things – materialistic as they can be – are part of your package as an artist.
You are a product that needs to be marketed to reach audiences! Stop hesitating and stop waiting until you’re “good enough”. Classical musicians NEVER think they’re good enough, and that’s okay. That’s what makes them amazing musicians! They’re perfectionists. Their product is of VERY high quality. But what’s the point of the best product in the world if no one has ever heard of it?
“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”
— George Berkeley
Take action
Go for it. Google tonight “how to make a website” – It took me one day from googling that sentence to publishing my website.
Make a Facebook page – it makes you credible and gives you the right space to advertise yourself and your work.
Invest in yourself and your image – book a photoshoot, and look into gadgets that you can attach to your phone so you can make better videos of yourself. Don’t let the world decide what’s out there about you, and don’t wait for that newspaper review. Take action and determine what’s out there on the world wide web about you and make it as beautiful as your music!
Next week, I’ll be talking about my dreams and your dreams, and why you should NOT follow them.