Fuck It...Quit!

As independents we all love to be in the company of success. The thrill of touching the same mic as your idol gives you the feeling of entitlement. "I'm about to show the crowd, I'm supposed to be here!" Is that success, is it the rung on the ladder that you were trying to climb?  When we are on the same playing field, we begin to think about their success, the videos, who they're sleeping with, and "Damn I want to be on Worldstar or TMZ!" 

We don't get to see the day in and out of the struggle. The baby momma drama, the lies they told that got them in trouble or the lies that got them to the position of where they are now. Yep, it's some selling of our souls involved, whether indie or mainstream. We aren’t going to be told about how many times they didn’t quit. Have you seen the video of the 2 little boys and the older little boy defines quitting to the younger? Now that's the encouragement! We need that early in our career. There’s at least 1 supporter out there who is screaming that in your ear every day. 

True failing is when you don't ever try again. If we truly learn from failure...QUIT! If the path you're going down isn't quite right, fuck it...quit! Quit going down the wrong path. Give up on the wrong ideas. Yep it's kind of backward, but we do know the definition of insanity? Well quit doing crazy shit! It’s a fact that you can win if you don’t give up. You can only win, when you implement change. Keep reading, I'm not preaching but it's a personal message we all could use. 

Remember this when you add change and quit doing that same ole thang!

Your talent is what got you here in the first place. Many times I watch talent go to the wayside. Whatever motivated you to enter the booth in the first place should be that same thing to keep you building, adjusting, and progressing your talent. Athletes can't afford to sit back in the off season, they workout. Why not you? I believe entertainers of the future are going to need a Master P mind set. Master P pushed new music all the time and stayed active in the studio. Quit making excuses or allowing distractions to interrupt your flow.

Of course life happens as you make your way to your goal, but implement life changes into your craft. It's all about the journey! Think of yourself as a blazing fire that never dims. All of the successful people that I've ever known have had to overcome incredible odds and struggles to get where they are. People who prosper understand you have to have the mindset, "I will not lose!" Surround yourself with positive and like-minded people. If you are the smartest person in the room, you need to change rooms! Eliminate the naysayers and people you know that have and will quit on their on goals. Protect yourself as if you were scared that you might get an STD from these people. 

Is there a guarantee that you will hit billboard? No! So enter the booth with the knowledge

that this is your chance to change your life. Pressure has formed many things of this world. Accept the pressure, apply to every beat, bar or scratch. You are stronger than you think. Your one goal has been achieved once you put your talents in line with others who have gone before you. The pressure should inspire your creation. Plato is accredited with saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” Quit lallygagging in the wrong end of the pool, swim to the deep end. 

Recognizing what you need to quit doesn't require the "Intervention" team from the A&E network. You need to listen to your inner circle playlists. Truthfully you should be in their rotation. Fans quote their favorite bars and DJ drops all the time.  If you don't have that in your crew...Fuck it...Quit trying to convince them that you're next. You can't sell them any stories when don't help in the construction of your empire. Excuses cloud a lot of our decisions, excuses without warrant will keep you in that circle of failure. Quit allowing excuses to be a part of your journey. When you learn the difference between Facts and Excuses, your journey learns your intentions and direction, sort of like the WAZE GPS app helps avoids traffic, and puts you on a better course to your destination. 

Remember failure comes before success. Plenty of our greatest contributors to this world have failed. Michael Jordan was cut from his basketball team when he was high school.

Now who of you reading this don't know what a pair of J's feel like on your feet? Exactly! Did you know many singles fail in some markets, but succeed in others before your ears catch wind of it? Yep songs that make it to the radio or clubs good or bad take journeys that puts them in front of new fans and even new haters. Hits do fail!  The CD that you just wrote your contact info on...Fail. Inventors fail time and again, but they kept going, but they learned from the failure before. They put in work to fix the failures. Sometimes it's a small tweak or adjustment in your plan in order to make that big leap forward. 

There is no Overnight Success! Many years of work went into every success before it ever came to your attention. Yes, I say Fuck It...Quit giving into those things that don't work for the greater good of your success. 

Agree? Beg to differ?  Leave your thoughts and share this knowledge!  

#LeslieMac

AS REAL AS IT GETS!

There's no way to sugar coat this, I have to dare you to promote your career. I view a lot of friends and fan pages and 1 thing that I'm finding is there's not a real strong connection between the two.

If 10% of your friends have not liked your fan page...that's a problem. Too often I see posts about, "what I'm eating," and "look at how we do it" all over a artist profile wall. When I search for an artist fan page, there's less than 10% of fan engagement. If you promised all of your friends a free download of your single or even your whole album, would 10% of your “friend base" get the download? Would 10% of them share the link?

I was recently out visiting some DJs and as we talked about the "Needle To The Record" documentary, they took immediate action and began to promote and share the link to support it. That's love #SaluteTheDJ! The likes on your pics from the night before should be accompanied with a SHARE! The "average" Facebook user has about 200- 338 friends,

though the median number is quite a bit lower: 200. But entertainers have lists topping 500. That’s a lot of virtual friends and Facebook lets you add friends until you hit the peak of 5000. That's about the size of a small U.S. City. According to Robin Dunbar, an Oxford University Anthropologist that studies social networks, says "any group larger than 150 starts to strain the mental capacity of the human brain." Some of us are overdoing it. 

With 5000 possible friends on Facebook, you should have at the least 500 fans. The same goes for retweets and IG likes. I'm just being honest. It doesn’t really matter how many friends you accept into your online communities, the number of people you will actually interact with will linger around the 200-338. Look at it like having 30 pairs of Jordan's in your closet. You probably have 15 pairs that you call your favorites. Those 15 pairs most likely see daylight twice a month. With that in mind, too many friends, is like having too many pairs of shoes, and that can clutter up your life, check out your news feed NOW...I'll be right here. Now imagine what irrelevant information comes to your friends newsfeed. SMH!

If you're busy putting in work hitting the “like”  button and adding comments, you miss the

opportunity interact with a valuable network, for instance your social media groups whether it be FACEBOOK, TWITTER, or INSTAGRAM. If that's not enough of an issue, Facebook has begun to put an end to the posting of shows, events and entertainment content unless you you go through your FAN PAGES or PAID PROMOTED ADS. So the promotion of your Fan Page should seem more appealing. And not to add, turn-up promoting your YouTube channel. Your YouTube page is a sure way to get paid. 

So here's an idea...post the link to your FAN PAGE and the next time you want to tell

Facebook what's on your mind. Do this for a week and do it often. Promote your Twitter handle, drive traffic to where you talk about your career. Instead of checking in on your personal page, tell friends to go to your fan page and see what you got into the night before. Yep… I'm still against buying followers, but if you have them, then be sure you promote, promote, promote. Seriously… push that brand of yours. DJs do it best, they promote their brand diligently! The DJ is the heart of it all. So go like a few DJ pages. Interact with them, but DON’T spam them!! You the artist can change the current status of your career. I dare you to promote your page! THIS IS AS REAL AS IT GETS!

Support and share our "Needle To The Record" campaign and remember to submit me your music via Fluence!

#LeslieMac