Five Lessons a Musician Could Learn From a Penguin
Learn how to be independent
Many young penguins die of starvation if they’re left without a parent for long enough, so learning to be independent is a vital skill that every penguin needs to eventually learn. This is also the case for musicians, the more self reliant and independent you are able to be, the more bargaining power you will have.
Learn How to Present Yourself
Many penguins and humans were born with a natural charm, but for some being a good people person is quite a challenge (and this shouldn’t be underestimated as a skill for music marketing). Spend time developing self confidence, your ‘approachable-ness’ and conversation skills to make positive networking an easier and more enjoyable task.
Learn to be Productive
If you’re anything like this badass penguin, don’t expect to be world touring and standing side by side with the stars any time soon. Promoting music in its self is an intensely time consuming task, so invest your time wisely – if you are fitting your music around a full time job and a family, set your alarm to go off an hour earlier or go to bed an hour later every day – trust me, it all adds up and no, it won’t kill you.
Learn How to Build Contacts
Penguins know that in order to survive they must work together to keep each other warm in the blisteringly cold winters. Luckily, most musicians have coats.. but it is still fundamentally important that we build contacts and constantly network with like minded people who you can count on for help when you need it.
Learn How to Use Twitter
Ok it’s a tenuous link, the penguins are following each other! What did you expect? A bunch of penguins sitting around on iPhones?! If you’ve still not gotten the hang of Twitter, get it. Twitter is an incredibly powerful tool that can work wonders for musicians, read my posts on ‘five tips for musicians that don’t get Twitter’ for more information.
Finally, Don’t Carry a Knife
