Right on. I"m one of the ones that never treated this seriously as a business until the new year where about 5-10 things hit me at once and I reached the point that "I've nothing to lose" so now I'm all in!
Thanks for the video Alex, it's tough starting up any new business, and being a composer is no exception. I think a lot of beginner composers get burnt out or frustrated with a lack of results right away. I unfortunately do not have the financial ability to simply quit the day job and pursue music full-time, so it's difficult having only an hour or two per day to tackle all that is required to run a business - composing demo tracks, working on projects (personal or client), networking, creating marketing materials, maintaining / updating website, email campaigns, etc. There's so much to do and very little time for someone with a day job, teaching music lessons in the evening, and raising two young children to have enough time to cover everything easily. How would you prioritize these tasks? In your experience, is it more important to focus on the business side, or the creative side? I know it's like a chicken-and-the-egg scenario, since there's no business if there's no music, but if there's only music, then how do I get active projects without the business?
Thank you! First of all, eliminate the overthinking and forget the patterns you know. It may need an hour in the beginning to take care of your demo reel and target strategy, then following maybe only around 15-30 mins per day. Totally cool if there is life happening in between but the most important thing is, doing it consistently! All in all, it is less work than you think it would be. If you wanna talk, I am always here or you can check the link in the video description for a free 60 min consultation call.
Hey, if you have questions, you can drop me your number and I will call you. You may want to not post it here but as a Facebook message for example or to my email.
@@AlexPfeffer I will definitely write to you by the weekend (I'm moving out in this moment) via email. I’ve been watching your content for a few weeks now, and I think it could take me to the next level.
Always enjoy your videos, man. I specialize in rock and orchestral and I’m currently working on building my catalog with the hopes of diving into sync and trailer music. I was curious how deep do you think your catalog needs to be before you begin pitching to libraries? Or is there a better route altogether? Thanks in advance!
You only need around 5 tracks to get a slammin portfolio that is interesting to send out! If you have questions, you can always drop me message or check the link in the video description! :)
Alex, I was wondering if you could answer a question about people taking jobs on Fiverr, as after browsing a lot of professional people I see that the prices are extremely cheap (100€ per 1 minute of decent material). How is it possible to work for so extremely cheap money? I mean, if you spread that income across a month, it's not even enough to pay for your monthly bills (depends on which country you live in, of course). But how do people still do it? Do they do it just part-time to get some exposure/clients/word of mouth with a long-term focus in their mind? And if so, I am not sure that outside of Fiverr those clients would be happy to pay a much more premium price for the services that this or that person provides, as the prices on Fiverr itself is so damn cheap. Thank you for your insights in advance!
Tbh, don't ask me. On one side I like the fact that there is a platform for newcomers and people to build their careers, on the other hand I find it ridiculous how people are trying to undercharge each other ... not only on Fiverr but basically throughout the entire industry. It is mostly a mindset and the issue that composers THINK they tried everything to get more money but end up signing up with Fiverr.
Hi Alex. How much work do you like to delegate? And are there specific things that even make sense to delegate as a composer? I also wonder how you like to balance bigger, long-term projects with smaller, quick-cash gigs. Thank you in advance!! -Ben Berkenbosch
If I would have lots of work as a composer I would take care of the creative process and look for a few people that can arrange and finalize the track. As for the balance, I would focus on just aiming the big stuff that gets you 5-20k in one bit.
Thank you, Alex - You're a positive force. What do you think of crowdfunding? I'm a relatively unknown composer with a niche audience and an album idea which I have begun. Would you consider crowdfunding, or simply release the album and market it to the audience in other ways? And how would someone with potentially few backers to start with and zero experience in front of a camera make a good go of it? Many thanks.
I think whenever it comes to win people for something you should build an audience for it. No matter if you try to sell music, back a project, offer a product or a service, the most important is always to build the community around you. Once you have done that, you are free to do whatever you want. I would show the world what you love doing and do that consistently for 6-12 month. The audience that will keep following you will do everything to support you!
Thanks for that. It's good advice and I've been giving music for table-top gamers for nearly 2 years. I don't think I understand the social media though, or I'm building in the wrong place... Or I'm shadow-banned or something... I seem to get a following (nearly 1100 on X at the moment), which is great, but very little engagement. The small amount of actual "fans" do indeed love my work very much, It's not growing to a sizable amount of those yet. I find it hard to keep regular on social media, but I'm non-political and don't only post my music. I'm trying different things all the time but I think the problem is that I don't have a network to help. Just me doing my thing :)
Hey, typically you are building a network by providing content that people find interesting. If there is not enough engagement it could be several reasons. Pretty difficult to says this in a comment, so maybe you can email me and send the link? :)@@D20Music
Right on. I"m one of the ones that never treated this seriously as a business until the new year where about 5-10 things hit me at once and I reached the point that "I've nothing to lose" so now I'm all in!
If you have further questions or want to know more, let me know!
Thanks for the video Alex, it's tough starting up any new business, and being a composer is no exception. I think a lot of beginner composers get burnt out or frustrated with a lack of results right away. I unfortunately do not have the financial ability to simply quit the day job and pursue music full-time, so it's difficult having only an hour or two per day to tackle all that is required to run a business - composing demo tracks, working on projects (personal or client), networking, creating marketing materials, maintaining / updating website, email campaigns, etc. There's so much to do and very little time for someone with a day job, teaching music lessons in the evening, and raising two young children to have enough time to cover everything easily.
How would you prioritize these tasks? In your experience, is it more important to focus on the business side, or the creative side? I know it's like a chicken-and-the-egg scenario, since there's no business if there's no music, but if there's only music, then how do I get active projects without the business?
Thank you! First of all, eliminate the overthinking and forget the patterns you know. It may need an hour in the beginning to take care of your demo reel and target strategy, then following maybe only around 15-30 mins per day. Totally cool if there is life happening in between but the most important thing is, doing it consistently! All in all, it is less work than you think it would be. If you wanna talk, I am always here or you can check the link in the video description for a free 60 min consultation call.
Yes! I want to succeed but I don't have the budget required to take advantage of your consultation.
Hey, if you have questions, you can drop me your number and I will call you. You may want to not post it here but as a Facebook message for example or to my email.
@@AlexPfeffer I will definitely write to you by the weekend (I'm moving out in this moment) via email. I’ve been watching your content for a few weeks now, and I think it could take me to the next level.
Always enjoy your videos, man. I specialize in rock and orchestral and I’m currently working on building my catalog with the hopes of diving into sync and trailer music. I was curious how deep do you think your catalog needs to be before you begin pitching to libraries? Or is there a better route altogether? Thanks in advance!
You only need around 5 tracks to get a slammin portfolio that is interesting to send out! If you have questions, you can always drop me message or check the link in the video description! :)
@@AlexPfeffer fantastic! Thanks Alex!
Alex, I was wondering if you could answer a question about people taking jobs on Fiverr, as after browsing a lot of professional people I see that the prices are extremely cheap (100€ per 1 minute of decent material). How is it possible to work for so extremely cheap money? I mean, if you spread that income across a month, it's not even enough to pay for your monthly bills (depends on which country you live in, of course). But how do people still do it? Do they do it just part-time to get some exposure/clients/word of mouth with a long-term focus in their mind? And if so, I am not sure that outside of Fiverr those clients would be happy to pay a much more premium price for the services that this or that person provides, as the prices on Fiverr itself is so damn cheap. Thank you for your insights in advance!
Tbh, don't ask me. On one side I like the fact that there is a platform for newcomers and people to build their careers, on the other hand I find it ridiculous how people are trying to undercharge each other ... not only on Fiverr but basically throughout the entire industry. It is mostly a mindset and the issue that composers THINK they tried everything to get more money but end up signing up with Fiverr.
Hi Alex. How much work do you like to delegate? And are there specific things that even make sense to delegate as a composer? I also wonder how you like to balance bigger, long-term projects with smaller, quick-cash gigs. Thank you in advance!! -Ben Berkenbosch
If I would have lots of work as a composer I would take care of the creative process and look for a few people that can arrange and finalize the track. As for the balance, I would focus on just aiming the big stuff that gets you 5-20k in one bit.
@@AlexPfeffer Thank you so much for your advice, this is very helpful!! This is really valuable, I appreciate it.
Thank you, Alex - You're a positive force.
What do you think of crowdfunding? I'm a relatively unknown composer with a niche audience and an album idea which I have begun. Would you consider crowdfunding, or simply release the album and market it to the audience in other ways? And how would someone with potentially few backers to start with and zero experience in front of a camera make a good go of it?
Many thanks.
I think whenever it comes to win people for something you should build an audience for it. No matter if you try to sell music, back a project, offer a product or a service, the most important is always to build the community around you. Once you have done that, you are free to do whatever you want. I would show the world what you love doing and do that consistently for 6-12 month. The audience that will keep following you will do everything to support you!
Thanks for that.
It's good advice and I've been giving music for table-top gamers for nearly 2 years. I don't think I understand the social media though, or I'm building in the wrong place... Or I'm shadow-banned or something... I seem to get a following (nearly 1100 on X at the moment), which is great, but very little engagement. The small amount of actual "fans" do indeed love my work very much, It's not growing to a sizable amount of those yet. I find it hard to keep regular on social media, but I'm non-political and don't only post my music. I'm trying different things all the time but I think the problem is that I don't have a network to help. Just me doing my thing :)
Hey, typically you are building a network by providing content that people find interesting. If there is not enough engagement it could be several reasons. Pretty difficult to says this in a comment, so maybe you can email me and send the link? :)@@D20Music
@@AlexPfeffer Thank you very much. I sent an email just now.
This is good Alex.
Good advice, thank you.
You're welcome! Thank you!
great alex thanks!
My pleasure!
I'll happily take that 0.1% chance. Better odds than the lottery 🤪
😂