Its not too late to include your friends on the DIO push: Team branding
DIY movement. power point teams, and super star soloists, now is the time to not DIY. Now is the time to DIO. I first heard that expression from a guy at the NUE agency while opening for Shinobi Ninja at the Rock Hood video release in NYC @ Arlene’s Grocery during my Give Me Five tour.
It was an amazing concept and still is.
There was also another concept that I completely disagree with which is “NOT CHARGING your friends.” Why hire random people when your family can make it all? OK, i see reason to disagree and agree here.
What is my concept?
Now is the time to invest, and then we’ll figure out the rest.
What do these 3 things have to do with each other? (DIO, hiring friends, investing more) Everything.
Especially for an project release.
Yeah it sounds crazy, but there was anonymous tweet that mentioned this: “You should question your “camp” if your “camp” is the one that asks you for money in exchange for services.”
So lets examine this all guys. We are in an industry that pays people not for their talent (well sometimes), but more for who they know, where they are, and how they can benefit from the relationship ten times more than than the beneficiary.
So lets take a look at how I am approaching my DIY EP , Gina and The Garage Sale, as a DIO project.
For this project i have hired not only one publicist, but two publicist (paper thin media and diamond music group). Why would I do two? Isn’t that expensive? Yes it is. But lets see the differences in comparison to my previous album “beverly dillz,” and why DIY is not enough.
With 1000s of blogs and college radio, and indie blogs that cover rock stuff as well that normal hip hop doesn’t hit, and pressing, publications and more, its a lot of ground to cover.
This project (gina.) was made for free and recording time in comparison to my last album which ran me up to $15,000 (not that expensive provided you can recoup). I spent money on being in LA, recording, production, mixing, mastering, album pressing, publicity, college radio, video publicity, distribution via snail mail (400 copies mailed out) and more things like lunch and dinners, flights etc. etc.
Lets examine what I did here on Gina and The Garage Sale.
I recorded for about a week and dropped 1500 but got free mixing and mastering so that helped. i budgeted time and (thats important creation process, priceless) and it was much different form the last record. My $$ isn’t as long as it was before so we are cutting ends. But because of that, i have faith in this project (the cheaper one which is more real and better than my last) that I am making the decision to hire a third leg of publicity because my radio is covered on this one as well. (connections,perks)
One thing I am realizing is that even though I spent less on one initially in its production doesn’t mean I should or have to match it, but I should be concerned on profits because I need to follow up with a big boom in my publicity and touring since I am more well known than last time.
From the last album, I won battles, toured with Matisyahu, Snoop Dogg, got 2 videos on MTV i I truly believe me spending on the project heaped me push even more because it was my livelihood.
IN REGARDS TO MY CONCEPT (#3)
I truly believe that me spending less on this is not the way to go but manage to hire more of my friends to get on board.
The more you invest, the more you feel a mess,(but we’ll figure out the rest.)
Major Labels who have 200,000 flooding into your album will make sure that everyone gets your stuff via image and sound because if they don’t they are screwed out of 200,000. Indie people can afford to let 2,000 slide. 20,000 not as much.
IN REGARDS TO CONCEPT #2
so OK. I’ve decided in the middle of my project to hire yet another publicist(my friend #2 )that covers my niche market. Where did I make a mistake. I felt that I should’ve done it originally but decided to be cheap and sell myself short. Where i can go right. Its never too late!
Why did I wait? I hated. I envied. Why is my friend charging me this much, why am I not hitting..I wanted him to work for free!
How selfish of me to think my friends should do work for me for free.
I should already know what my friend normally wants to charge. I should already know what his worth is. He has been in the dirt with me so many times for free and taken road trips with me. Oy Vey
ITS NOT TOO LATE – IN REGARDS TO DIO concept #1)
Ok so you’ve been cheap and you’ve been in panic mode. You order burgers instead of burger deluxe to save 2 dollars on the meal. You don’t get lattes and decide to get coffee instead. what you really need to do is invest. For instance…
I decided I was living close to the edge as i moved here to Los Angeles, Ca. Its tough with no mommy giving me an audi and fixing your own car and paying rent and being out here. Does that mean my PR plan should suffer.
NO. NO. NO.
What about all these stuff I got for free because I did work so much work previously!
SO WHAT.
I decided I was willing to pay up to 800 dollars (even though I didn’t have it) just to attend this festival and see if I can sell 80 cds and get my money back. I f I can’t perform at Coachella but can walk around with my official SXSW backpack that should say something. I decided to spend and luckily got a writing gig, and a 350 dollar ticket. I expect this to be 3 days of shows for me..so I’ll be out there with my new album, all ready to go.
(the result)
Ok i Just got back from Coachella and I came home with over 600 bucks and got to link with paris hilton and got messages from Asher Roth that he found a flier and people from magazines took my fliers and people form all over the world knew who Kosha Dillz was… So I’d like to say that was a success. ( and a work out, I also weighed myself afterwards and lost lost a considerable amount of lbs.)
So in conclusion of all this information I want to my album and become enlarger, land an agent, tour, get more press, etc. Its ok to hire your squad as in-house team. Freestyle vs Written hit SPIN magazine and #11 on CMJ. Beverly Dillz hit MTV MTVU, Billboard, Spinner, and I hired my dude from Shemspeed. Now because I try to cut corners I had me difficulties because I decided to go outside the normal and try different things ok.
But never let your core team suffer if you choose to try other things out.
The job is to build to 100 percent. if you are at 90 percent, it does not mean anything if you did not keep the first 10% because your foundation will fall.
follow me @koshadillz like me at listn.to/koshadillz
