Portraying A Consistent Image :: 20/20 Vision

Hey everybody, didn't say guys. Hey everybody, so, um, imaging. We talked a little bit about this in the beginning of my 2020 Vision series, but it's really important that whatever your image is, that you stick with it. Like, don't confuse people, right? So, um, one of the things that I see a lot of you guys doing is you're not really sure yet who you are. So you're making all types of different music, you've got all types of images. Um, I guess what I'm saying is if you're a weedhead, be a weedhead. If you're a gangster, be a gangster. Very early on in your career, people don't know who you are yet, so you want to portray to them who you are through your photos, your comments, your videos, your music videos, your your artwork, for your, um, for everything, right? You just want to convey who you are. That doesn't mean that you're multifaceted, because everybody's multifaceted, right? It just means that whoever you are, let them see that up front and don't switch it around. And the best example I can give you is, um, if in the very beginning of your career you've got dreads and then 6 months into putting out music you shave your head, you're going to confuse your fan base because they don't really know you well enough yet to know that, oh, that's Dude without his dreads. Some people will catch on, but a lot of people won't, and you don't want to have to start from scratch with people that don't recognize you and don't quite know who you are yet. So try to stick to one image. If you're a rapper who wears suits— and I don't know what the fuck you would be, but let's just say you're a rapper who wears suits all the time— then don't pop up in, um, in a tracksuit or, you know, everyday clothes. Like, and I'm not saying you can't wear a suit once or twice, but I'm saying if you're in a suit in every video you make and then you switch up early in your career, people aren't going to recognize that it's you. You're going to confuse them more than you're going to send a statement about yourself. So just be as consistent as you possibly can early on in your, in your career of building a buzz and building fans. In relation to that, if there's something that you're really good at or something that you're very passionate about that you can bring to the table in your career, it's not a bad thing to do that. For example, if you're somebody who loves basketball or loves football, and you want to start a blog or a video blog on— vlog on your YouTube channel talking about sports, that makes sense to me. You know, do it because you may pull in people that are also interested in sports and love hearing your commentary, but then they find out that you're also an artist. It may intrigue them to listen to your music, and you might be able to turn them into a fan. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Um, there was a guy in the industry that I'm close to who started doing, um, relationship advice on his, um, on his like a vlog for relationship advice with his wife or his girl. And that was so interesting to me. And it wasn't whether or not I was following his advice, but it was just really cool to be able to tune into him and see what he and his girl were talking about. And a lot of the things that I was going through in my relationship, they were talking about and giving insight about so I could relate to it. So there, there's— if you're— if you've got a skill set that you can portray to others, um, one of my clients mixes and masters, and he's a great engineer, and I think he should start a video channel for up-and-coming artists of how to get the best sound out of, um, studio equipment, how to get the best mastering, because I think that a lot of people can benefit from that. And the fact that he happens to be a singer-songwriter just really adds to the beauty of who he is and what he's doing. And that just makes perfect sense to me. Um, I have another friend that I go to the range with, and he happens to be a rapper. And although he doesn't want to put that side of himself out there, which I totally get, it would be really cool to see him do some sort of a blog or, um, a video show on, um, on arms. You know, I'm, I'm a gun person. I have a license to carry. I don't carry that often, but I go to the range and I enjoy it. It's just, it's one of my hobbies. So if you've got a hobby that— and I'm not saying he should do that because I get, I get what he's trying to do, like he's trying to be sponsor-friendly, and I totally get that— but if you've got something that you're really good at and it matches your image of who you are I just think it's, it's better to do multiple things than just one thing trying to gather up your fans. And then, um, if it were my call, I would say to put a budget behind it. And then the last thing I want to talk about today— today's kind of a mishmash of stuff, isn't it? Um, the last thing I want to talk about today is after you do the research and you hire people that you know are competent and that have proven track records of success, make sure you follow their advice. Make sure you listen to them. So if they're advising you to do one thing and not do another, take that risk. Like, even if you're a little bit uncomfortable— not if they're telling you to wear a pink thong and you're a guy, or a tutu, they're not going to tell you to do that— but if they're giving you advice that's telling you to try something, try it. Just give it a try, see what happens. You're not going to get the same results doing what you're already doing. You're going to have to switch up a little bit. And if you've already put in the time to do the research to make sure that they're legitimate and that their advice is going to work, then follow it. Just listen to them, you know, give it a shot. I know as a consultant I try to balance what I know is going to work with what my clients are able to do. I try not to tax them too much to get them to do shit that I know that they're never going to do. But not all consultants are like that. There are some consultants out here that are going to be very rigid. They're going to give you a plan, a list of things to do, and if for some reason you buck and you don't do what they're advising you to do, what you're doing is you're removing the culpability for them to have to produce results. So that if something goes horribly wrong, they can say to you, well, I told you to do A, B, and C, but you didn't, and you went and did D, E, and F. So just give it a try, like, see if you can try it their way and test it and see what the results are. And if the results are showing that it makes sense, then keep doing it. So that's just a little bit of mishmash of advice for today. Hope you guys are doing well. This will appear on my YouTube channel with all of these, um, 20/20 Vision series pieces, and that's at youtube.com/thisiswendyday. Thanks, guys.