For Musicians and Educators Interested in Thriving in 2022...
Handle your business; Design your life .
If you could make more money working less, would you?
There are two ways to grow as a self-employed musician or educator.
Answer #1:
Work hard and hope that if you're good enough at your craft, things will work out.
Work hard and hope that if you're good enough at your craft, things will work out.
Answer #2:
Recognize that there's a difference between running a business vs doing your craft.
Treat business as a science and art to be practiced and mastered, just like your instrument.
Treat business as a science and art to be practiced and mastered, just like your instrument.
If you’ve tried #1 with mixed results, and you accept the logic of answer #2, read on.
If you want proof, consider:
Do you know people who don’t play as well as you but get more gigs?
Do you know people with more students who don’t teach as well as you?
We can complain about this, or see it for what it is:
Successful people often do a better job advocating for their services.
Improving our knowledge and skill in this area is something we can take responsibility for.
You learned your craft. With the right training and support, you can do this too,
It's a paradox. We say we value the arts, but resist advocating for the value of it.
We bemoan substandard pay for teachers, the fact that "local gigs still pay $100", the demise of album sales, funding cuts for arts in schools...
But we're uncomfortable promoting our projects, causes, and programs.
If we don't advocate for the value of our service, who's going to do it?
Entrepreneurship is effective advocacy.
Advocacy is enrolling others into the value of a product, cause, or service.
The problem with complaining when no one cares about your cause, program, or service, is that complaining doesn't change anything.
Fear of advocating, or not knowing how, is why many musicians stay stuck in a career path they're unhappy with.
If you’re tired of hoping that if you hone your craft and forces align, things will work out…
then the best way to improve the odds of getting what you want is to advocate for it.
You have dreams. You want to effect change in the world.
You've worked for years or decades at your craft, and you deserve a shot as much as the next person.
There are 3 major challenges you face in taking control over your career.
We get to have clarity on our vision.
It could range from touring, publishing, hosting concerts, producing recordings, composing, to running a full-time teaching studio with employees...
We have a step-by-step, guided process to help you narrow down the choices best for you.
From this foundation, you get to decide what exactly you are advocating for
- Booking a tour?
- Getting bandleaders and agents to hire you?
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Selling Records?
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Building a YouTube and/or Patreon following?
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Having consistent private students?
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Publishing
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Licensing / Composing
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Running a non-profit, festival or concert series...
Problem #2: Not knowing the HOW-TO
The steps of advocacy and growing your business
Solution: Gain effective sales and marketing strategies with feedback and coaching tailored to your specific situation.
Apply best practices:
- What to say
- How often to follow-up
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How to negotiate and set your prices
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Different ways you can offer and monetize your skills
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What platforms to use for your digital content, emailing and other services that best fit YOUR goals.
Getting coaching on this will make a huge difference in your results.
However, as we mentioned earlier, the HOW is not the only part of the equation.
There is also the psychology, aka the emotional component of entrepreneurship.
Problem #3: the psychological and emotional challenges of running a business
These are often particularly challenging for artists.
Do You Ever Find Yourself:
- Disliking or complaining about “networking” or “the business”
- Judging people who are “self-promotional,” when it is clearly working for them?
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Feeling like your hard-earned skill at your craft should be all that is needed to bring consistent, high quality bookings, students, or sales?
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Resisting the idea that you need to demonstrate, educate, and even (dare we say it) sell your services before people will pay what you are worth?
These feelings and patterns of thinking can stop us from showing up and moving forward.
Hesitancy to advocate for your value could stem from the same reluctance that holds you back from doing other things as well.
One way to overcome this reluctance is by tapping into urgency. People are willing to do almost anything when they have urgency.
What's a reason that would make the things you want more urgent?
The consequences of not doing it
Fear of regrets
Getting left behind
Faith; A higher power or greater good.
A sincere desire to cause change
Safety; providing for you, your family, or someone else
You or your work is just plain worth it
Sometimes reframing our goals isn't enough. The challenges with advocacy are often emotional. We're physically wired to move away from pain, which is why we often don't take action on things we want to do. However, there are ways of working with this directly, by addressing the inner mechanisms on their own level.
Evan is a professional facilitator with years of experience working with people on this emotional level. You'll have access to training in this.
Solution: Get clarity on the urgency around your vision and resolve inner conflict. Learn how to do this.
This is another aspect of the Music Biz Mastermind that you won't find anywhere else.
Get the Solutions to Your Challenges
Wherever you're at now, getting to the next level requires:
1. Understanding and applying the right levers within your business
2. Getting personal support for your unique situation
The Music Biz Mastermind will provide you with both.
The Music Biz Mastermind is designed to help you:
Clarify your goals
Uncover the right actions to reach them most effectively
Address the emotional and external roadblocks to taking those actions.
The result is:
Better quality and quantity of work
More Income
Alignment
More time to do what you love
What Exactly Is the Music Biz Mastermind?
The MBM is a membership program that gives you access to a library of training, live calls, ongoing feedback and community support.
Our recorded courses & curriculum are well organized and address topics relevant to your business
Live calls (always recorded) where we answer your questions, whether live or posted by you in our private group.
Our recorded courses & curriculum are well organized and address topics relevant to your business
Live calls (always recorded) where we answer your questions, whether live or posted by you in our private group.
The ability to interact with others in the group for Q&A and support.
Led by Christian Howes, Evan Gregor, with special guests and an amazing community, you'll get everything you need to earn more, attract better quality projects, clients & students, and work smarter (not harder) so you can have a better quality of life in the process.
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Education and Training:
You'll have immediate access to a library of our workshops, covering topics ranging from online teaching, enrolling clients and students, financial strategy, marketing, guided exercises for dealing with emotional challenges and more.
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Support and Accountability
You'll be able to post questions anytime in the forum. During frequent small group calls and office hours, you'll be able to get 1-1 coaching from either of us. We will answer all of your questions and make sure you are clear on your next steps every time we meet. -
Even when you know what to do, getting the proper support and having a structure to keep you accountable is critical.
We'll help you address procrastination, overwhelm, and other emotional challenges that are often more of a barrier than the 'what' or 'how' to do.
Empower yourself with the right information and support to reach your career and lifestyle-related goals
"I'm So Glad..."
The best part of your course is that it put a microscope on what I was doing and made me be more focused, better with time management, with less headaches and more money. Quality over quantity.
I enjoyed looking closer at what makes sense for my business- a business that I love. I’m so glad I gave myself the opportunity to learn from you.
Natalie Brown
What You'll Get Inside
- Instant Access to Our Training Library of Courses, Workshops & Guides
- Live calls each month with recordings available to get personal feedback, Q&A
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Ask-Us-Anything through our Facebook Group; we'll answer your questions during the monthly calls.
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Opportunities to connect with others on the same path forward.
Join Us Today
We are excited for you to see results in as little as two weeks, just as many of our students have
Satisfaction Guarantee
If you are unhappy with the course, get a full refund within 7 days
100% Safe & Secure Checkout...
Payment processed through secure gateway networks...
Why Learn From Us?
For 25 years I built a career working for myself...
As a bandleader, sideman, clinician, Associate Professor at the Berklee College of Music, selling albums, licensing original music,running camps & workshops, endorsement deals, running a booking agency, teaching in-person and via Skype, producing records, recording strings online, winning grants, arranging, publishing online courses, books, and sheet music.
I started in Columbus, worked in NYC for 10 years, and now live in Asheville, North Carolina. All while raising two kids.
"One of the most knowledgeable people..."
“There is literally no one I know who has studied the business of music more thoroughly than Christian. He is not only a master musician; he is one of the most knowledgeable people you’ll ever meet regarding how to make a living as a performer.”
Joel Harrison – Guggenheim recipient, composer, guitarist (NYC)
Evan Gregor
I've been a full-time bassist in New York City for over 10 years.
I've been helping musicians earn online for over 20 years.
I first met Chris on the bandstand. I became a business coaching client of his which was enormously valuable.
Chris asked me to partner with him to bring my knowledge of online business tools, software, platforms and strategy into the program - as well as my training in facilitating emotional work and meditation.
My online experience has helped many fellow musicians create life-changing income streams.
My facilitating has helped fellow human beings overcome fears of flying, selling, performing and more.
I'll help you avoid the common pitfalls so that your projects have the best chance of being profitable.
Just like in music, knowing theory is not the same as performing.
In this program you will be learning from fellow creatives who have actually, successfully:
- Run online courses and memberships with high enrollment rates
- Built websites, courses and funnels using many of the platforms available
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Created YouTube, web and social content that leads to real revenue (not pennies from ads)
- Launched and helped others launch successful products, online and off.
More importantly, we care about your success
We will share and teach what has actually worked for us
We will share and teach what has actually worked for us
We will give undivided attention to your situation.
Included Courses and Contents
This course will give you a rock-solid foundation to set the stage for success.
The DIY course will take you step-by-step through training and exercises that will help you learn more about yourself, your goals, and how to create a plan guaranteed to move you towards them.
- Change in the structure of your teaching where students will happily pay more for shorter lesson times
- How to make a single piece of content to attract new students, leverage existing students, & create recurring revenue.
- How to create an engaged student community in minutes, increasing value & saving time.
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3 types of content for teaching AND promotion, using only your phone
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4 easy steps to "Flip Your Classroom /Studio"
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How to help your students feel more consistently engaged, while actually requiring less of your time.
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How to effectively run and sell group classes, courses and more.
Included Course #3
This workshop will help you fill your studio in 2 weeks, without relying on Google listings for inquiries.
- Get step by step processes to easily enroll more students.
- Develop a healthy mindset around enrollment conversations
- How to avoid time-wasters
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Get Done-For-You Templates to validate your offers and lock in recurring students
- How and when to use low-cost, no-fuss ads
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Clear and ethical ways to optimize a small email list
Included Course #4
Learn simple, direct but very powerful ways to resolve the emotional challenges that face us in business as well as day to day life.
The challenges we face as creative freelancers are emotional as much as they are mental and physical.
Whether it has to do with raising prices, moving your studio online, or sharing a post- you may have ideas that you agree with in principle and know how to execute.... However, when you try to take action you:
- Are uncomfortable assigning a dollar amount to what you do
- Question your worth or compare yourself to others
- Become self-conscious about being perceived as self-promotional
- Doubt your ability to execute or provide a valuable service
… and it stops you from taking action.
These feelings can create, or arise as a result of, emotional pain.
We're physically wired to move away from pain.
Imagine a mechanism inside you that jumps out of the way of a moving car or pulls your hand away from a hot stove.
For some of us, a “simple” task like starting a conversation can feel like trying to force yourself to touch a hot stove.
You will always avoid it. Your brain will find a way to distract you or ramp up your fear.
However, there are ways of changing this directly, gently and effectively.
It just requires addressing these inner safety mechanisms on their own level.
They don't operate at the level of thought, so you don’t effect them by thinking. You work on the level of feeling and experience.
When these mechanisms no longer see your goals as a threat, they won’t need to keep protecting you.
Join us for a short, practical and effective process to help you work towards your goals by reconciling inner conflict.
You don’t need to know how to meditate, quiet your mind, chant, or do anything abstract. If you can read these words and have ever felt an emotion, you’ve got all the tools you need.
Included Course #5
- Determine what you need in terms of your numbers and finances
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Discover what you already have to offer as a service that you may not be
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Strategize useful, practical ways to present these offers
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Scale to have more customers, clients, and/or to earn more with those you serve
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Minimize distraction, overwhelm, and chasing shiny-objects
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Take Action in a way that can make a direct impact on your income
Included Course #6
Positively transform your relationship with your inner critic and emotional resistance through this 90-minute workshop of practical exercises and 1-on-1 work.
Learn how to communicate with, and actually transform your relationship to that part of yourself that currently speaks critically -- so it can become your ally
Bonus Resource
The financial turnaround process can help anyone get clarity on where to get started and learn exactly where you need to invest your time and energy.
This is an invaluable tool no matter where you are at in your business and level of success.
This is an invaluable tool no matter where you are at in your business and level of success.
- Determine what you need in terms of your numbers and finances
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Discover what you already have to offer as a service that you may not be
-
Strategize useful, practical ways to present these offers
-
Scale to have more customers, clients, and/or to earn more with those you serve
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Minimize distraction, overwhelm, and chasing shiny-objects
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Take Action in a way that can make a direct impact on your income
"Significantly Increased My Annual Income..."
Christian's mastermind gave me a boost when I needed it, and reframed the way I approach my music career. I went from passively taking opportunities when they were offered, to focusing on my goals and reaching out directly to potential clients.
By narrowing down the work I did and becoming confident in charging what I'm worth, I've significantly increased my annual income.
Christian offers accountability, support and straight talk about how to tackle the challenges you're facing. He walks the walk, leading by example by applying the ideas he offers his clients to his own work. His feedback is respectful, direct, and insightful.
Andy Lentz
You'll Get Instant Access to All Content
Reference videos, worksheets, and all materials Any Time!
Join Us Today
We are excited for you to see results in as little as two weeks, just as many of our students have
Satisfaction Guarantee
If you are unhappy with the course, get a full refund within 7 days
100% Safe & Secure Checkout...
Payment processed through secure gateway networks...
Is It Right For You?
I believe you're perfect for Music Biz Mastermind if you are:
-a freelance performer, composer, teacher, producer, or musician of any kind.
-any type of freelance service provider. (We've helped a swim coach, a videographer, counselor, a photographer, audio engineers, graphic designers, an actor, and even a restaurant owner.)
-whether you're just starting in your career, or an industry veteran ready for a change and tired of settling
-developing a side hustle while working another job or piecing together various streams of income
Many of my clients have increased their income, gained new skills, felt more in control of their career, and been able to better design their ideal lifestyle.
Neil and Rachel run a private teaching studio...
I helped them fill their studio quickly when they moved to a new city; Now their studio has a waiting list, they have a thriving Youtube channel, and they are inspiring other Suzuki teachers as leaders in the field.
Reggie is a versatile, skilled pianist...
Despite his immense talent and charm, he was working at Office Max. I helped him get more work performing in a wide variety of different situations, including corporate, orchestral, touring, teaching, and more. He doesn't work at Office Max anymore and his calendar is full of well-paid work.
Caleigh was juggling teaching and performing gigs in NYC...
I helped her increase income teaching, build work touring for recognized bands, promote her own shows, and attract session recording work. Now she maintains bases in both L.A. and NYC.
-Some of our clients have pieced together various types of freelance work together.
-Some developed their side hustle while working another part-time job, and then quit that job.
-Some were already very successful, and they relied on help from me to grow, make a change, or get more work/life balance.
What Others Are Saying...
My students have never been more engaged...
Austin Scelzo - Darien Public Schools Music Director
My students have never been more engaged... I've been listening to 130 of my students submit their creative projects this week. Acapella, Soundtrap, live performances, music videos, iMovie/Wevideo duos, kareoke performances, free improvisations, original tunes- I feel so much more invigorated by my work helping them develop their musicianship through their own creative voice
My Life is Not The Same
Holly Hamilton - Pianist, Teacher, Composer
My Life Is Not The Same. Because of Chris and this course, I’ve learned how to offer service to people without being afraid of naming my price. From watching Chris I’ve learned about honesty, integrity, and what I see as genuine love for everyone (qualities I’ve tried to develop my entire life, but which I struggle with). I’ve seen someone who’s just fine with being real, and who offers himself without apology, who doesn’t wait until he’s perfect to give what he has to others, and does so much good in the process of becoming better himself.
Take Yourself to The Next Level of Success
Satisfaction Guarantee
If you are unhappy with the course, get a full refund within 7 days
100% Safe & Secure Checkout...
Payment processed through secure gateway networks...
Copyright © 2021 Christian Howes and Evan Gregor. All Rights Reserved.
