“If you don’t know your own value, somebody WILL tell you your value, and it WILL BE less than you’re worth” ~ Bernard Hopkins
When I was just starting to play live gigs, I pretty much accepted whatever any bar would pay me to play. I was not privy to a negotiation, the venue just TOLD me how much they paid. I was completely fine with that, I mean every gig was an opportunity to perform, and most were more akin to a paid practice session than to an actual performance. I was thankful for the space to share my new found passion of noisemaking with anyone who would listen, and learned incredibly valuable lessons about drinking too much, vocal stamina, audience engagement, song selection, travel, audio setup, and the list goes on and on….. I took every gig I could get my hands on, and in no time I had a calendar FULL of gigs all over the place. Life couldn’t have been better.
Fast forward to 2021, and I find myself booking my ENTIRE YEAR of shows 12 months in advance. I’m playing a mixture of dive bars, high end restaurants, beach bars, breweries, and wineries. I’m receiving a steady influx of booking inquiries, and taking anything that fits. I’m making more money than ever before. I felt like I had it all figured out. I mean, isn’t the goal to perform in front of as many people as possible? To earn as much as possible? To strike while the iron is hot?
My friends in the music biz told me to slow down, take some down time, don’t get “burnt out”.
I, like a rebelling teenager, told them that I knew what I was doing.
Turns out, I didn’t, and like a lesson beamed down from the music gods, things started to unravel. Turns out driving 35k miles a year hauling gear means you’ll replace wheel bearings on your vehicle like they’re made of plastic. Playing 4-5 shows a week WILL give you vocal nodules if you don’t warmup and use proper singing form. Drinking 2 beers at each show turns into 10 beers a week pretty damn quick, which will turn into a frontal counterweight if you don’t keep it in check. Your marriage WILL fail if you’re never home and you don’t pay it the due attention it requires. Your family and friends WILL become estranged and the strangers at your shows will become family and friends. You will feel alone, especially when you’re always alone. You will feel guilty for wanting to complain about one of the best “jobs” in the world.
I made my goal for 2022 to play LESS shows for MORE money. I didn’t know how I was going to do it, but I knew that the steady grind of 4-5 shows a week was not sustainable for me. It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy music, or appreciate the wild opportunities that had been given to me, it was that I was burnt out at home, I was burnt out on stage, and I was just wholesale not happy anymore. I needed to figure out a way to charge more so I could be home more with my family, pursue other interests and hobbies, maybe even start a podcast…..
So, I raised my prices, and immediately lost 25 venues on the first round of booking emails.
My schedule was now wide open, and I was FREAKING OUT!!! Did I just screw up? Had I just burned all the bridges that I worked so hard to build the last few years? Was I not worth what I thought I was? Would I have to go back to those venues begging them to take me back? Negative thoughts can run rampant when allowed to, and at the time, I was giving them an all access pass.
Two days later, I received a booking request from a bar in Delaware. I told them my rate, and they booked me for 4 dates without any negotiation. Later that week, I landed a bi-monthly residency at a local bar paying me OVER my asking price. The booking requests kept coming in, and each one I booked gave me more confidence in my decision. Within 2 months, my ENTIRE YEAR was filled with new venues that paid my new asking price. By believing in myself, and knowing what my time was worth, I was able to achieve a better work/life balance, better compensation, and better fulfillment from my “job”.
In this episode, I’m going to discuss the importance of “Knowing your worth”. Simply put, the compensation you should require, both monetarily and non, for the that work you do. How to gauge where you are, how to know when to ask for more, and how to continue to invest in yourself to achieve greater fulfillment. Because compensation and money are two different things, we will dive into exactly what compensation may mean to you on an individual level. I’ve broken down my approach to understanding what I truly believe I am worth into 5 questions:
Where am I at currently in regards to the quality of performance I’m providing?
Are you just starting out?
Seasoned vet with a draw?
Professional sound and demeanor?
What do I bring to the table, and HOW is that different from other acts?
Will I bring people out?
Do I take requests?
Do I have a versatile song catalog?
How does this venue/event positively impact my life, or others’ lives, beyond money?
What are the comps?
What is the clientele?
Do I feel fulfilled when I play this venue?
Is this good business?
Does this make sound financial sense?
Does this move me forward in the career path I’m trying to progress in?
Would I attempt to talk a friend out of this business decision?
What does compensation look like for me?
How much money do I need to survive? And how much to THRIVE?
How much is the time spent away from family and friends worth?
When do I actually feel compensated?
Even if you’re not a musician, you too can benefit from learning ways to value your time appropriately. The more you feel fulfilled and well compensated for what you do, the more time and energy you can focus into getting better at that skill. If you’re constantly undervalued and under appreciated at your day job, does that motivate you to improve your skillset? Does that make you want to go the extra mile? Or does that make you bitter, make you want to quit? When you commit to valuing yourself and your time, no matter the cost, you will encourage others to value your time as well. By being real with yourself about exactly what you’re bringing to the table, you can gain a new confidence that you’re never asking TOO MUCH for your time. That no matter what, you KNOW YOUR WORTH, and you aren’t in the business of settling for less than that anymore.