Wendy Day breaks down how to actually reach people in hip-hop: research them first, find common ground, email respectfully, and drop the entitlement. She works 80-100 hours a week and only responds to people she knows. Attitude and genuine connection beat aggressive pitching every time.
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Hey guys, welcome back. Thanks for joining me here on my channel. Please make sure that you subscribe so that you can be part of this and not miss anything. Um, love having you here. Um, today— and welcome to Wendy Day— I'm going to answer questions live this evening at 7 PM, so make sure you tune in for that. Today I'm gonna ramble on about attitude. You know, in hip-hop, sometimes we don't all have the best attitude when we're asking people for help. And when you're starting out, you're really depending on other people to see value in you and want to help you move forward. In fact, you can't do this without other people. Your whole goal is to build a fan base and have people follow and support and interact with you, especially if you want to do this for a living. And one of the, um, one of the issues that we have in hip-hop is that sometimes folks don't have the best attitude. So if you can swallow your pride a little bit, and I don't mean do things you don't want to do or compromise your integrity. You should never do that. But understand that most of the people that can help you have been in the music industry a little bit longer than you have, and you need something from them. They don't necessarily need anything from you. And there's a whole lot of new artists that are looking for help and support and attention. So you may have to humble yourself a little bit and be polite and be respectful and have a pretty good attitude in order to succeed. And I say that because lately I've noticed artists that have been interacting with some of my peers, they've gotten a little annoyed when they don't get what they want from the person that they're seeking something from. And I think that rather than get annoyed, if you can just adjust your attitude a little bit and look at it like you're building a relationship instead of trying to get something out of somebody, you're probably going to get a lot further. So all I'm saying is this industry is built on relationships. And relationships are what matter. So if you can build a lot of relationships, and a relationship means that there's give and take, right? It, it, it goes both ways. If you find someone that you need something from and you don't know them, instead of just asking them for what you need right up front, it may be helpful if you learn a little bit about them, maybe follow them on Instagram, follow them on Twitter, watch their Snapchat, see what they're interested in, see what they're intrigued about. And then reach out to them in the areas where you have shared interests. Don't pretend to be somebody you're not. If somebody is really interested in flying drones, don't pretend that you are in order to get close to them. That's not going to work. But as you, as you get to know somebody on social media, you really get to learn their personality and you learn what matters to them and what doesn't. So you can kind of tell things that you may have in common with them, and then reach out to them on the things where there's common ground. You know, if somebody is a Dallas Cowboys fan and you are too, reach out to them on, on that tip. Or if you're not a Dallas Cowboys fan, you know, make jokes and reach out to them. You know, maybe you're a Steelers fan, you know, reach out to them and make jokes. Like, build a relationship based on something you have in common. Don't just ask a stranger, hey, listen to my music, or hey, can you introduce me to so-and-so? Once you've got a relationship with that person, you can certainly interact with them on that kind of a level. I mean, don't, you know, don't pimp them out, but you can relate to somebody on a different level once you have a relationship with them. You know, there's so many people that somehow get my cell phone number and will call and leave messages, and I'm always very vocal when I'm on my social media or I'm speaking on a panel, I don't return calls, but anybody who emails me, I respond to. So the way to reach me is by email. And if you've done the research on me, you've learned that. So a lot of folks will text me or cold call me. And the truth is, if you're not in my phone and I don't know you, I'm not going to call you back. It's just, it's just the way that I am. I've been that way for, you know, 2 or 3 decades now. I don't think I'm going to change. So the best way to reach somebody like me is by email. If you did a little bit of research, you could find that out and save yourself from feeling some kind of way when I don't call you back. And it's not you I'm not calling back. It's I don't call anybody back unless they're my client or we've got a relationship or it's a friend or a family member. I'm not calling back if, if, if it's an unknown phone call or if the caller ID is blocked and I don't know who it is. I'm not calling you back. I'm not picking up the call. I'm too busy. I don't have enough time to do my work as it is. So when you're reaching out to people, just be a little respectful of the fact that they're already doing what you want to be doing, and they've already got a career, and they're busy. You know, I work 80 to 100 hours a week. I'm not looking for the next hot artist. I'm not looking for what most people are reaching out to, to bring me. I'm just not, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm set, I'm good, you know. So get to know the people that you want something from before you start pitching them on your ideas or before you start asking for favors. It's very much a relationship business, and that'll really help you a lot. Okay, y'all, have a good day. Thanks for tuning in. Hit the subscribe button, and, um, we're gonna keep doing these. Okay, peace.
