Selected Quotes & Ideas from the Book

Marketing

• "Marketing is an extension of your art. Business is just as creative as music."
• "Don't confuse the word 'marketing' with advertising, announcing, spamming, or giving away branded crap. Really, 'marketing' just means being considerate. Marketing means making it easy for people to notice you, relate to you, remember you, and tell their friends about you. Marketing means listening for what people need, and creating something surprisingly tailored for them."
• "Everything usually feels so serious—like if you make one mistake, it'll all end in disaster. But really everything you do is just a test: an experiment to see what happens...There is no downside. Try everything!"
• "Use the tricks that worked on you...Ask yourself why a certain headline or photo or article caught your attention...Analyze that. Use that. Adapt those techniques."

Uniqueness

• "Describe your music in a curious way, and it will travel faster and further."
• "Be extreme and sharply defined. Target a niche. Proudly exclude most people."
• "Maybe due to social media, artists are less mysterious than ever. It's kind of sad to have everything so transparent. Once something is explained, it stops captivating your curiosity...Make mystery in and around your music."
• "You don't get extreme results without extreme actions. You can't just normal your way through this...Extreme success requires extreme focus—saying no to distractions and leisure...You can't do what everyone else does. You can't watch 63 hours of everyone's favorite TV show...The more intense, the better. Normal people will think you're insane. But your fellow achievers will welcome you to the exclusive club."
• "An amazing shift has happened in the last few decades. You used to get successful by being normal and mainstream. But now you have a better chance of getting successful by being remarkably unusual."
• "Have the confidence to find your niche, define who you are, then declare it again and again and again and again. If you do it persistently enough, you will own that niche."
• "To be a great entertainer, you need to be larger than life. Push your outer boundaries. Show your weirdness. Bring out all your quirks. The world needs that. Your public persona—the image you show the world—should be an extreme character...It's more interesting for the audience if you're the opposite of normal."

Finding Success

• "You have to make your own success first, before you ask the industry (record labels, publishers, etc.) for help. Show that you're going to be successful without their help. Show that you have momentum. If they want to accelerate or amplify your success, they will have to pay to ride your train. If you approach them before you can show some success, then you'll have no negotiating leverage, and will get the worst deal possible."
• "Before I interact with people, I ask myself this question: 'What do they really want?'...If I'm about to perform a show, I ask, 'What are they really hoping to get from a night out at a concert?' Thinking of everything from the other person's point of view is one of the best things you can do in life."
• "You can do anything, but you can't do everything. You have to decide."
• "For a career to be sustainable, it has to be profitable. Don't impress people with how much you spend. Impress people with how little you spend...So especially early in your career, be as resourceful as possible. It shows you can survive."
• "You can't act on a vague desire...A life coach told me that most of his job is just helping people get specific. Once they turn a vague goal into a list of specific steps, it's easy to take action."
• "Most of us don't know what to do next. We know where we want to be, but we don't know how to get there. The solution is incredibly simple and effective: Work backwards. Just contact someone who's there, and ask how to get there."
• "You're going to hear a lot of advice. Listen to it all, but pay close attention to what it does to your energy and focus. If it makes you jump into action, it's good advice. If it makes you feel drained, sad, or lost, then it's not for you."

Counterintuitive Advice

• "As you climb the ladder of success, giving a gift may go a long way and be remembered for years. Get presents for the people you've met that are probably under-appreciated. Don't waste gifts on the high-power people. They already receive too many."
• "Have you heard of rejection therapy? It's a challenge—kind of a game—where you make it your mission to get rejected by someone every day. You have to do crazy things, like asking a stranger if you can try a bite of their sandwich. If they say no, you win for the day. The real point of the challenge is to overcome the fear of rejection by constantly exposing yourself to it."
• "Proudly exclude most people...We're drawn to the confidence of someone who is not trying to please anyone. We admire a strong, defiant stand. You can use this to attract your future fans. You can say, 'If you like Katy Perry, you'll hate us.' Then people who hate Katy Perry will love that you said that and want to check you out....Loudly reject 99%. It signals who you are."