Stay Curious, Produce Success
By Dave Hoffman, Editor
Last week, 200 musicians descended upon Dallas’s Deep Ellum district for the Launch Dallas Music Conference and Festival, two days of industry panels and three nights of live music.
At the most fundamental early levels, a band seeking their audience is similar to any business looking for their customers, especially in the world of wealth management. You have to be the best version of yourself, exuding competence and a unique value on the one hand, and tuning into the habits and preferences of an audience who is looking for what you have to offer on the other.
There were a lot of talented musicians at this event, all in different levels of building out their fanbase. The bookers wanted to know that the bands were on the same mission as them. This is why the investment community puts so much of an emphasis on attending conferences and other networking events. People turn to wealth managers as experts who will guide them to a secure better life. Music fans similarly want to follow a band who will guide them towards a great time and an identity that they love.
“Being seen is being seen in the scene,” said conference organizer Jeremy Weiss. “A lot of times people will approach me to be booked at a show or festival and I’ll ask ‘do you like music? Because I never see you at shows.”
Your expertise comes from research and instinct of course, but if all you do is pass along a prospectus, how are you differentiating yourself from the competition? If you want to truly add value to your clients, you want to have a deep bench of experts to call upon whenever a tough question arises. The community is where artists absorb culture and zeitgeist. Our maxim, “When two people engage in a spirit of curiosity and enthusiasm, the Gods of Inspiration get jealous and insert themselves into that conversation,” applies to the music world as well as investment. Those future ideas come from putting your heads together.
In order to be a client or fan, people need to have faith in our ability to deliver what’s promised. That means beyond knowing our investment strategy, we need to understand the business we’re a part of. I always advise our sponsors to go into the evening with a few things they’d like to learn from possible investors. Likewise, attending shows refines musicians’ instincts about what fans expect.
Video – Yung Delirious, Better Place – Launch Dallas attendee
This applies behind the scenes too. Each person in a transaction expects the other to understand what is being agreed to, and that includes standards, norms, and laws.
“Know your business,” advised Mike Zeimer, founder of Third String Productions “and be a part of the community.”
In a world of referrals and high stakes, we want to know that our partners are on the level. That’s why we go to industry conferences and private dinners. I advise all my guests that while we all have certain defined reasons we’re at this event, let’s remember to keep our minds open for ideas that we may not have anticipated or even imagined.
“I know it’s transactional, Jake Gatewood, a Texas-based producer, DJ, and creative director said, “but think of the community.”
A lot of domain and industry knowledge comes from experience. What we haven’t learned from experience yet can be learned through the relationships we forge with others.
An example of leveraging community to optimize your process came after the marketing panel, where I asked how a busy professional can keep up with constantly changing best practices for social media sites’ algorithms. During the shuffle between panels, Casey Cavaliere of True Level Studio and Lesser Matters Management, advised me, “Ask other bands. They’re doing the same thing you are, and they’ve figured it out.”
This advice obviously extrapolates to your career as a wealth advisor, and it’s why Asset Allocator Institute convenes events. Another of our maxims is, “The best way to know more than the next guy is to ask the next guy.”
Towards the end of the panels, I spoke with Weiss, the conference organizer and complimented him on his commitment to the music scene – to me it permeated the entire event. We talked about music for a while, and he shared the observation that while he advises bands to look down the ladder to see how far they’ve come, many can’t help but look up the ladder to the next rung they’d like to reach. They should really enjoy where they are right now, he said.
I thought about that for a bit. The thing I love about music is that it’s transcendent. It takes me out of the rat race for a moment. The harmonica I keep at my hip is the vehicle that lets me escape the pressures of whatever I’m working on. I think many musicians would agree that that creative act is irreplaceable and holy. Not to mention, don’t we all hate it when bands we love rise to the next level?
And so it is with our careers. The human connection is what allows us to maintain the trust and expertise our clients rely on, and that only exists in the moment.
The Launch Music Conference and Festival returns to Lancaster PA for its 17th year April 17-20 – submissions are open now – visit launchmusicconference.com.
