The Glam Violinist with Celeste Vee
Helping classically trained musicians transition to solo entertainers and create a profitable business as a gigging musician.
The Glam Violinist with Celeste Vee
Wearing All the Hats - What Does a Musician Entrepreneur Actually Do All Day?
Wondering how to launch or grow your solo musician business? Here's how I went from zero to six figures with minimal outside help.
Instagram.com/TheCelesteVee
How many times have you heard this line? “Wow, you’re so lucky that you get to do what you love for a living!” First, let me just say yes! We ARE the lucky ones! If you are a musician who is actively performing professionally in any way, you are already living the dream. Your achievement and success is more than many aspiring musicians will ever experience. Yes, it took a lot of hard work to get there, but you still have a lot to be grateful for! It is truly a beautiful and rare thing to share your talent and your passion and get paid to do that. No matter what form that takes, don’t forget how lucky you are to have that opportunity. Still, I always want to laugh when people say that to me because I feel like I get paid to do everything else that’s required to run the business, and the performance itself is just for fun. If you’re in the trenches already, you know EXACTLY what I mean.
- [Music intro]
- Are you a classically trained violinist dreaming of stepping out of the orchestra and into the spotlight? But maybe the world of solo gigs feels…intimidating? You're not alone! Welcome to The Glam Violinist, the podcast that empowers classically trained musicians to build thriving careers as sought-after entertainers. I'm your host, Celeste Vee, and each week we'll break down the secrets to getting the gigs you’ve been dreaming of. Get ready to unleash your inner rockstar and turn your passion into a paycheck! Let's get glamorous!
- Today’s episode is about “Wearing All the Hats”.
We started on this topic last week and I hope that with a little self-exploration you discovered that your own experiences thus far have prepared you for success in ways you might not have realized. I shared my own story of how I got to where I am today, and I pointed out all the skills and experiences I gathered along the way that helped me to create the life I have now.
So let’s back up to those years when I was building my solo violin business. Before I had a team. What did those days look like? You’ve heard the term “wearing all the hats”, right? Well, that’s exactly what a business owner has to do when they’re starting out, no matter what industry they’re in.
So, what are all of these hats? What did I actually do all day? Pretty much the same thing I’m doing now, just all by myself. A little music, a lot of marketing, some sales and customer service, plus sprinkle in some graphic design, web development, audio and video editing and a whole lot of entrepreneurial spirit and problem solving, and you’ve got the magic concoction to both create and grow a thriving music business.
Let’s start with the obvious. First, you’re going to put on your Musician Hat, and create your setlists for different types of events you plan to do. I drew from my years of playing in top 40 bands which meant lots of classic hits from across the decades plus a splash of more recent chart toppers. But everyone is different! I still recommend a little something for everyone. You’ll choose the songs, purchase the backing tracks, create the mashups and practice until you can play them without thinking about it. That part is really important. The better you know the songs, the better an entertainer you’re going to be. And that entertainment aspect is what will make you stand out from the crowd. Remember, you want lots of smiles and eye contact with your audience. If you’re asking them to pay a premium price, you’ll need to provide a world class experience. That means practicing and learning your mashups and sets really well so you can focus on engaging with the guests.
Part of this process is finding the right software to play your backing tracks. I’ve said this before, but I strongly discourage streaming during a gig. There are way too many things that can go wrong. If you’re going to be plugging into speakers provided by a DJ you’re going to want to use a laptop, not a phone or iPad because the adapters for other devices besides a laptop are less reliable. Either way, the songs need to be downloaded to your device well ahead of time so there’s no chance of interruptions.
That’s pretty much the only part of this business that is directly music related so you can go ahead and take off your Musician Hat for now. Everything else I’m going to talk about in the rest of this episode is the same or similar to what any other Entrepreneur or business owner does all day. So let’s dive in:
You’re going to need to set up a booking process so grab your Sales Manager Hat and do a little reading about a sales funnel if you don’t already know what that is. First, you’ll need to create a contact form that collects your inquiries - ideally on your own website, but of course you can use GigSalad, The Bash, The Knot, platforms like that if you don’t have your own site yet. You need to be able to send contracts and collect signatures, and you need to be able to accept different forms of payment. You CAN use Zelle or Venmo, but when given the choice, 95% of my clients prefer to pay with a credit card, so I recommend making that an option. (Anything to lower the barrier to entry for your potential clients.) I’ve used a lot of different software programs over the years, but Honeybook is by far the best. It’s a relatively new kid on the block, but they understand the gig industry and the workflow is geared towards people like us. If you’re not already using it, I highly recommend giving it a try.
Once the gig is booked you’ll switch hats again and become a Performance Coordinator. To do this well, you need an organized system for collecting details, timelines, song requests, etc. If you’re performing for large complex events, you’re going to spend a lot of time coordinating details with the clients and other decision makers, plus the planner, DJ and venue. This part can get really tedious but it’s super necessary to make sure everything flows smoothly on event day. These high end clients expect everything to run like clockwork - like a scene from a movie - and you’ve gotta do it with no rehearsal, no dry run through, no familiarity with the space, and often no sound check. At our gigs with Violin Event Entertainment we rarely perform in one location so that also means we’re setting up and then moving and setting up again in multiple spaces. You want to be really clear about the logistics and division of responsibilities for special songs, etc. Don’t overlook this crucial step! Spend whatever time it takes to make sure you, the client, the DJ and the planner are all 100% on the same page! Again, I use Honeybook for most of this, but there’s a healthy mix of email, texting, phone calls, WhatsApp, WeTransfer, and Google Drive sharing in there.
Ok, this next section is where I spend about 60 - 70% of my time. This is where you become your own Chief Marketing Officer. I’m going to break this into sections. There’s Branding, Media (that’s your photos and videos), Website, Social Media, Networking, Email Marketing and Paid Ads. Most of the work you do to promote yourself and get the gigs will fall into one of these categories.
Before you even start on your marketing you’ll want to ask yourself a few questions and put together a marketing plan. Like millions of other business owners around the world, I am a huge fan of Donald Miller’s StoryBrand approach. He provides a clear step-by-step guide to help you decide how you position yourself and your services. It’s not my story to tell, but if you’re interested I highly recommend reading his books, especially “Building a StoryBrand”, “Business Made Simple”, and “Marketing Made Simple”.
Once you’re really clear on who your target audience is, what problem they’re facing, and how you can solve that problem, you’re ready to start marketing yourself.
The first step in Marketing is branding. To keep it simple, that just means designing a logo and choosing your colors and fonts so that your brand is consistent across all of your marketing platforms and collateral. Your brand guidelines PDF should be on hand and consulted constantly when you’re creating any type of marketing. We’ll call this the Graphic Design Hat, and Canva is your best friend for this! It’s great to know how to do at least some basics on your own so you can create logos, social media posts, business cards, website content, and all of that fun stuff.
Next, you need to create and organize your media so that it’s easy to share with clients. If you don’t have professional looking photos and videos I would pause everything at this point and do that first. Go check out Episode 4 for a how-to guide for creating a demo video. You’re going to wear a lot of crazy hats during this process… And if they’re not fun for you, you can always hire outside help with these tasks - Audio Engineer, Videographer, and Video Editor. Ideally, you’re also going to need to set up some kind of space and buy some basic equipment so you can record yourself at home. You can always rent a professional studio from time to time but that cost can add up in both time and money. The filming part is much easier with a second person, but I have done it on my own with a tripod and made it look like there was a live videographer with some fancy editing during post production. There are tons of great video editing software options if you decide to learn how to do this yourself. Or you can outsource it using Upwork or Fiverr as I’ve mentioned. Even with a great looking demo video, you don’t want to get lazy about capturing live performance videos. Fresh and consistent content is invaluable when it comes to booking future clients, especially when you’re in your element working with your perfect target audience. Don’t let that opportunity slip away without capturing it on film!
Once you have your photos and videos, you’re going to put on your Web Developer Hat. Choose your domain name and where you’ll host it, design the site and brush up on those copywriting skills unless you want to hire out the Copywriter Hat. Remember to keep your StoryBrand at top of mind during this process. Make it about your clients, not about you. And stick to those colors and fonts you already decided on when you created your brand guidelines. Ready to launch your site? Now you get to become Chief Technology Officer and learn about website hosting and DNS Records and CNAMES and software integrations and all the things. For the record, this is one of the first things I outsourced because it’s soooo time-consuming and tedious for me personally. I’ve always loved designing my own websites, but I get super overwhelmed and frustrated when it comes to troubleshooting the technical aspects. Either way, you’re going to want to understand the basics here so you can decide things like email personalization. Do you want to stick with an email address like celeste vee @ gmail .com or personalize it to your domain using Google Workspace.
Ok, now you’ve got your website launched, but if you want the world to find it, you need something called SEO - or search engine optimization. These are keywords and regularly updated content that help Google and other search engines know you exist. You can go down a really deep rabbit hole learning and optimizing, but if you want to get the most out of your site you’ll want to put in at least a little effort here.
Another way you can direct people to your website is through social media. I don’t personally enjoy this part as much as some people do, so I delegated my Social Media Manager Hat to someone else as quickly as I could. Don’t get me wrong! I still approve every post and I helped to create the pillars and templates that we use, but I don’t do the day-to-day posting if I can avoid it. I’m far from an expert in this area, but you can bet I’ll be bringing some people onto this show who are passionate about creating content and building an audience. You do what works for you, but here are the basics. You’ll want to choose which platforms you will focus on. I primarily focus on Instagram, Google and YouTube, but we repurpose our content and post it on Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and in other places from time to time. When you’re just getting started, I recommend focusing on one or two platforms.
Then choose your pillars. It’s important that you have a strategy for your content. It helps to keep your brand consistent and it also helps you to figure out what to post when you’re faced with a blank canvas. Every single post should fall under one of your pillars. As a performer, you’ll obviously want live performance videos, along with maybe some reviews or frequently asked questions and whatever else you think your followers will want to hear from you. Make sure the content you’re creating is adding value or improving your audience’s lives in some way or they’ll lose interest.
Next, create a posting schedule and stick to it. I know everyone says you have to post five times a week minimum, but that’s just not realistic for me or for most busy people. Do what works for you, but stay consistent. If that’s one post a week, make it a good one! If you can commit to two or more, great! Just keep in mind that what you post will define the types of events you book. This means that you may not post photos or videos from every single event you perform at! If it doesn’t elevate your brand or help your potential clients to envision you at their event, I would recommend that you leave it off your profile grid. High quality content is more important than frequent content in my opinion.
And don’t forget that engaging with your audience is just as important - if not more so - than posting! Reply to every comment, follow people you want to work with, and comment on their posts. These actions can go a long way toward getting you noticed!
Another super important piece of your marketing strategy should be networking. We’ll call it being your own Director of Community Engagement. Join the local Facebook group for your target audience. Attend community networking events. Invest in a booth at your local bridal show, and don’t forget to network, network, network at every event you perform at. Don’t leave the venue until you’ve followed every vendor there on Instagram and exchanged contact info! These relationships are what helped me grow probably more than any other single factor when I first started my business, and to this day I value those relationships, both new and old, more than anything!
Email marketing is an often overlooked way to stay connected with people who are interested in what you do. Here’s what’s crazy… Litmus recently released a study that showed that email marketing generates an average of $36 of revenue for every $1 spent on email. That’s a crazy return on investment, you guys! If that doesn’t incentivize you to create a great lead generator on your website and start collecting email addresses I don’t know what will. Don’t let this one slip through your fingers! Your Email Campaign Manager Hat is made out of pure gold if you do it right.
You might be wondering about paid ads. Yes, that’s always an option, but I’d focus first on what you can do without spending a lot of money on advertising. Get listed on every free site you can find and focus on SEO and organic growth. Down the road you might want to invest in some paid ads, but I definitely wouldn’t start there.
Ok, moving on from Marketing. I swear it feels like that’s all I do, but there are a few other logistics and no fail tasks that a musician entrepreneur has to handle. One is bookkeeping. Your Bookkeeper Hat can be worn by you or someone you trust, but it has to be done. I highly recommend QuickBooks Solopreneur (formerly QuickBooks Self-Employed) because it easily allows you to separate your personal transactions from your business income and expenses. It also helps you log your gig mileage and capture receipts and so much more. It won’t scale with you if you plan on growing a team, but it’s great if you’re just working on your own, and it will help you prepare for tax season.
Another trend I’m noticing increasingly in the last few years is venues requiring every vendor to provide a COI for the event. A COI is a Certificate of Insurance, where you list the venue as additional insured on your existing insurance policy for a specified period of time (basically during the event). I think every gigging musician should have insurance, but you may find that you don’t have a choice if you run into this at one of your events. The company I use is called Specialty Insurance Agency, and they are geared toward unique performers like us. Their policies are reasonable and will give you some peace of mind for a small yearly fee.
Whew! I’ve probably left so much out, but let me tell you… this podcasting adventure has been so eye-opening! I thought I was going to run out of topics after a few weeks, but the more I share, the more I realize that each little bullet point is an entire episode in itself! We’re going to unpack all of these treasure troves together if you stick around for this journey, and I promise to keep it real and as fun as possible!
So today, we went behind the curtain to see what makes a musician entrepreneur tick. This is what I do all day, and what my team does all day, so that our violinists can go out there and just perform! If it’s all a little overwhelming, that’s okay! Take a step back and choose one thing to focus on. Start with a great demo video. And if you decide you don’t want to do the other stuff, hit me up! Violin Event Entertainment is a full service entertainment agency that does all the messy stuff so our violinists don’t have to. If you have the skills and you’re the right fit for our company, we would be honored to add you to our roster and recommend you to our clients in your area - anywhere in the US. We haven’t expanded overseas (yet) but we’d love to connect with you either way! You can visit www.vee.llc or send an email to info@vee.llc if you’re interested in learning more about working with us.
And that’s it for today!
If you found this helpful, will you share this episode with at least one friend who also wants to learn more about being a solo musician? Also, be sure to subscribe to this Podcast and you can follow me on Instagram @TheCelesteVee While you’re there, feel free to send me a DM with your questions and any topics you’d like to hear more about on future episodes!
- [Closing music]
Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of The Glam Violinist! I’m excited you’re here and I truly can’t wait to watch you grow, no matter where you are on this journey! We are in this together and I believe in you!
Until next time, this is Celeste Vee reminding you to stay glamorous!
HATS:
Musician
Sales Manager
Entrepreneur
Sales Manager
Performance Coordinator
Chief Marketing Officer
Audio Engineer
Videographer
Video Editor
Web Developer
Copywriter
Chief Technology Officer
Social Media Manager
Director of Community Engagement
Email Campaign Manager
Content Creator
Graphic Designer
Music Producer
- Learning music and creating setlists
- Booking
- Inquiry Collection
- Proposals
- Contracts
- Billing
- Coordinating Performance Details
- Marketing
- Branding
- Media (Photos and Videos)
- Headshots
- Photo Shoots
- Recording
- Demo Videos
- Live Photos and Videos
- Website
- Domain and Hosting
- Design
- Building
- Maintaining
- SEO
- Social Media
- Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn
- Google Business
- Pillars and Strategy
- Creating Content
- Posting Schedule
- Engagement
- Networking
- Social Media Groups
- Onsite at Events
- Showcases
- Vendor Events
- Email Campaign
- Frequency
- Topics
- Platform
- Lead Generators
- Advertising
- Free Advertising
- Vendor Lists
- Paid Advertising
- Showcases
- Bridal Shows
- Other Expos (Quinceanera, Bar and Bat Mitzvah, Etc.)
- Paid Social Media Ads
- IG, FB, YT, Google, etc.
- Showcases
- Free Advertising
- Marketing Collateral
- Signage
- Business Cards
- Logistics
- Bookkeeping
- Taxes
- Insurance