guidance | Liz Cirelli

Daydream Believers Podcast hosted by Liz Cirelli

Networking part 1

From what I have learned, and in my opinion, networking falls into two categories:

The networking you do in order to increase your audience
The networking you do in order to link with industry professionals

To me, they are inextricably linked – they are both important – and both need to be approached with the same level of care and attention.

We all know networking is important – the big question a lot of us face is: HOW do we network? I like to treat networking as I do making new friends: I invite people into a conversation by asking them a question. I take an interest in them first. Networking is all about building relationships.

How you do this is very much up to you, but one thing holds true no matter what approach you adopt: people will not give you something unless you first show an interest in them. Asking for support simply does not crack it – unless you have already established strong bonds with those people. Learning how to network from a place of really wanting to connect with people, rather than from a place of neediness will totally transform your results.

Successful networking – or networking etiquette is quite simply about being a nice person and not spamming. Treat people the way that you would like to be treated yourself. Do you enjoy receiving long messages from strangers, demanding that you ‘check out their amazing work’? Neither do I.

Keeping in regular contact with your audience by way of newsletters is the perfect way to nourish your relationships once you have made the connection. Personally, I send out newsletters twice a month. To me this feels enough to stay pleasantly present, without having a spammy presence.

Send newsletters out by way of a mailing list service provider such as Mailer Lite or Mail Chimp. Never send out newsletters without a mailing list service provider – Google will flag your email address as a spammer.

Right now, I live in the middle of nowhere, so getting to any sort of networking event is pretty much impossible, but that’s ok because with the internet, the world is literally my oyster.

I love using Twitter to grow my audience and form new connections with people who I think would be interested in my output. I treat it as I would a real-life conversation. I start by introducing yourself: “Hello! Thank you so much for following me, I’m Liz, an electronic music artist, creative coach and lover of connections. I’ve formed a lot of beautiful friendships through music. May I initiate a potential friendship with you by asking what’s your favourite music to listen to?”

A conversation then often follows during which a connection is made and interest is piqued. Once I feel it is appropriate, I then tell the person that I’d love to send them a link to download some tracks for free. And I ask if they’d be interested. If they say yes, I thank them and ask which email address I can send it to. Thank people – always, always thank people – whether it’s for their time or their email addresses.

You might be asking how you get people to follow you in the first place. Good question! The answer is simple: find popular and active people out there, with a similar output to you – and follow their followers. I follow the followers of music artists who have a similar sound to me and who are popular and active on Twitter. When people follow you back, send them a message and initiate a conversation!

When someone follows you back, pop to their profile and if you see something that resonates with you, retweet it. You’re showing an interest in them and what they have to say – and that does good things for building the foundations of the relationship you are wishing to establish with this person.

Subscribe to newsletters and updates that are in line with your message and interest – and use these as material to curate interesting content for your Twitter and other social media feeds. Schedule it into a social media auto-poster like Recurpost so that when people visit your profile, they see interesting content. Combine these with posts about your own creative output. Again, it goes back to you showing an interest in other people first. It sends out a very important message.

This will also help in your quest to network with people within your industry. If they visit your social media platforms, they will see that you have interesting things to say, that you care enough to share other people’s content and that you’re not focussed solely on your own self-promotion.

Most importantly, engage with your audience – if people are commenting, comment back and thank them for checking out what you have to say. If people retweet or like your posts, retweet and like their posts. What goes around comes around.

If I’m contacting an industry pier, it’s slightly different, but the principles always remain the same. I comment on their work, compliment them on it, and if it’s relevant, explain how it related to me or helped me. People like being acknowledged for their work.

Do your research! If you are aiming to connect with professionals with a view to get your work promoted / licensed / seeking representation etc etc – make sure you are contacting those relevant to your style.

When including examples of your work, send links. For music, links to private Soundcloud playlists are preferable. Dropbox also works, or a link to a private web page. Don’t send links that expire and never ever attach large files. When sending music, 3-4 tracks maximum unless they have specifically asked you to send more.

In your initial email, introduce yourself, but keep it brief, demonstrate you’ve done your research by commenting on the company / individual in some way, then let them know the reason you are contacting them. Thank them for their time! This is so important and is often overlooked. A few short paragraphs is all you need.

Keep it simple. People are busy. When following-up, leave it 3-4 weeks at least. Sometimes you can even stretch it to 6 weeks. You want to be pleasantly present, not a persistently buzzing gnat in someone’s ear. And when following-up, be polite!

Don’t burn your bridges by making assumptions about people without actually getting to know them first.

This can also be a good way of determining whether or not you can trust who you’re networking with. More often than not, if the person you’re engaging with is real and genuine, they will be willing and able to maintain a proper conversation with you, as if you were chatting face-to-face.

Avoid following people with no profile picture. Don’t follow people who haven’t been active for long periods of time – and unfollow people if they haven’t followed you back within a week. Sometimes people have bots set up on their profiles that will send out automatic messages or comments to you – if this happens, just unfollow them and if you want to, block them. You can spot a bot because usually the message is totally out of context.

How long you choose to spend networking is, again, up to you. I spend about 2-3 hours a day on it in total – whether that’s connecting with people on Twitter, posting in Daydream Believers or answering / sending emails. I’d recommend a daily habit to keep up momentum, but always prioritise your creative output. I tend to reserve my studio time for the mornings (which for the most part are kept internet-free), then I’ll switch on the internet after lunch and turn my attention networking and doing admin.

When networking, bear this in mind: when we want something so badly, sometimes our grasp on that thing suffocates its chances of ever happening. Yes, we want to network and reach out, but if we overdo it, we will come across as pushy and unpleasant and the door will be slammed in our faces.

Like cultivating a beautiful garden, successful networking requires patience, dedication and commitment. At the beginning, whilst you are still building momentum, it requires a lot of effort and you might be disappointed with the results. Do lot let this discourage you. Do not let this turn you into a pushy networker either. Over time, as momentum builds, you will find that the networking will start to take care of itself, but until then…patience. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Your audience won’t grow in a day either.

Good luck with your networking!

These posts exist to provide you with the knowledge, inspiration and motivation needed to pursue your dreams. If you’d like to have your say on what topics get covered AND have your questions answered by me and/or our expert guests, simply join our community on Patreon. We really look forward to welcoming you to the family!

#daydreamerslive

Change your behaviour

26/01/2018 by LizCirelli

Blog, Podcast

achieve your dreams, achievement, change your behaviour, change your thoughts, coach, creative, daydream believers, guidance, Liz Cirelli, mentor, mentoring, podcast, spirituality

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Since a new year is upon us and it’s generally a time when people make a fresh start, I thought it would be interesting to bring up a concept introduced to me a few months back by my music production mentor, Gary Gray – and it is this: if you want to change your thoughts, first change your behaviour.

If any of you are like me, you’ve probably invested a lot of your time and energy into affirmations. To a certain point, they help: I see them as a sort of primer…they prepare the ground so that when you plant your seeds, your are sowing them on soil that is more fertile. But I do not believe that affirmations can do much more than that. Why?

Because to me, the concept of affirmations is a half-baked one. It misses one vital factor – and that is: it’s down to you to do the work – to plant your proverbial seeds. You’re not going to manifest the life of your dreams by brainwashing yourself into believing you already have it. You also have to change your behaviour.

A change of thought must be accompanied by a change of behaviour. If you want to change the way you think, then change your behaviour. Your thoughts will soon change – as will your life.

It’s no use walking around affirming to yourself a thousand times a day that you are a successful and fulfilled creative when in reality you are spending little to no time on your creative passions. If, however, you change your behaviour to accompany your affirmation, your thoughts will soon start to tow the line, and you soon will be a successful and fulfilled creative. If you want to think generous thoughts, start behaving in a generous manner. You’ll be amazed at how your mindset (and your life) changes.

Think about it this way: thoughts are inanimate, they do not exist in the material realm until you turn them into actions. What leads to actions? The nature of your behaviour. Experts estimate we have between 50,000 to 80,000 thoughts per day. My head is spinning just at the thought of that! The ephemeral, yet relentless flow of thoughts means that without an anchor, a thought pattern is incredibly hard to change. One very effective anchor is your behaviour.

I’ll use a personal example: one of my most relentless and consistent thought patterns was the fear of financial lack. In the past, it was also what held me back from pursuing my dreams. I’ve tried all sorts of methods to help free me from the stifling grasp of this recurring thought pattern, but none really worked in the long term.

As most of you know, last September I had the opportunity to take a trip to California to meet my music production mentor in person and study with him directly. In theory, I could not afford to take the trip. My thoughts started spinning and I found myself in that all-too-familiar and limiting loop: “I can’t afford it, I can’t afford it”.

But something bigger than that thought pushed me to take the trip – label it as you wish: spirit, my higher self, intuition. Whatever it was, it convinced me. I took the trip. Sitting here recalling it, I have tears in my eyes – because it was one of the most blessed trips I’ve ever taken.

Me taking that trip did a lot of things, but most importantly, it ingrained into my soul one vital message: that I always have what I need – and so much more. Me changing my behaviour and choosing to take that trip has finally resulted in me being free from one of my most limiting thoughts. In short, my behaviour changed my thoughts.

The truth is, I’ve always had what I needed (more than what I needed), but my behaviour seldom reflected this. As a result, the limiting thought that I didn’t have enough money maintained it’s suffocating grip on me.

This lead me to feel frustrated – and angry at myself, but round and round in this seemingly inescapable cycle I went: having big dreams, but feeling frustrated that I didn’t have the resources in order to be able to pursue them.

Once I started changing my behaviour, it seemed to send a signal to my brain, which then enabled me to begin changing my thoughts. Once my thoughts began to change, my life began to change drastically.

Behaving in ways that support the changes you wish to make in your thought patterns will help you achieve the results you seek.

Give it a go: start noticing the thoughts you wish to change and instead of circling around in perpetual cycles of frustration, begin to make small changes in your behaviour to support the changes you wish to see.

If you wish to replace grumpy and resentful thoughts with grateful and joyous ones, start behaving in a more grateful manner. Begin each day by giving thanks. End each day doing the same. You will soon begin to feel genuine happiness percolating throughout your life.

As with everything, consistency is key – as is patience. Day by day, little by little as you change your behaviour, you will start noticing huge shifts in the way you think.

Take a leap of faith

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I find myself reflecting and contemplating a lot – especially when I’m travelling. For the last two months I’ve been in California – I came out here to attend a music production and licensing retreat hosted by my music production mentor, Gary Gray. When I booked my ticket, I booked it with the intention of going on a ‘music mission’.

I hadn’t really given much thought to the details of how that mission would unfold, but one thing was clear – I wanted the trip to be all about the music – and I wanted to stay out in California long enough to build long-lasting connections and relationships.

Let me backtrack to just before I committed to come out here. I had a little money come my way which meant that for the first time in 10 years, I was able to put something into a savings account. When Gary told me about his retreat, I wanted to go, but the fear of financial lack arose within me like a hungry snarling dog.

I use the analogy of a snarling dog, as that’s what it felt like. The ferocity of this fear was so strong that it almost totally blotted out my desire to go, to follow my heart. I say almost because an instant after I felt the ferocity of this fear, another sensation swooped over me – and this sensation spoke to me louder than the fear. It said: “you have to make this journey, Liz.” I knew this was the voice I had to listen to, not the voice of fear. The snarling dog had to be put in its place.

Despite knowing deep down that I had to say yes to the retreat and to coming to California, I still felt the fear inside me. I had more money than usual, yes – but in practice, not enough to sustain a longterm trip to the States. I didn’t know how this would work, but I knew I had to take the leap of faith.

So I did. I booked myself a one-way ticket to LA, trusting that Lady Luck would support me. Remember what I said earlier about my intention to make the trip a music mission? For it to be all about the music but that I hadn’t really given much thought to the details of how that mission would unfold?

Well, being out here and letting go of my need to be in constant control has been like me diving head first into a cornucopia. Me deliberately taking a step back and not having everything planned down to the finest detail meant that I allowed vital space for Providence to sweep in. On a practical level, I met people – who were initially complete strangers – who welcomed me into their homes and not only offered me a place to stay, but also really looked after me. These people have subsequently become very dear and special friends. Bob – I cannot thank you enough for everything!

On an artistic level, I have met some incredible people who have inspired me and helped me re-focus and redefine my goals as a music artist. New collaborations have been formed and new and very long-lasting connections have been made. I feel like my creative juices have been given a shot of turbo-powered superfood. I’m so excited for what the future holds.

I consider having goals extremely important in any endeavour, but especially when it comes to having a successful career as a creative. At the same time, I consider it important to be flexible with how those goals are achieved, and to also constantly learn and grow along the journey, redefining your goals as you go.

The people I have met, collaborated with and connected with here have reminded me of what inspires me and what my natural gifts are. This has helped me redefine my goals in accordance with what I believe to be my life’s purpose – the call of my higher self rather than the call of my ego.

Of course this means working with music, continuing my own career as a music artist, but doing it from a place of deep connection with my community (if you’re reading this email, it means you’re a part of that!) and working in a way that ultimately inspires other people to follow their dreams. I love seeing people happy, so I want to work in a way that will enable me to help more and more people along the way. I would love to eventually contribute to institutions (or set up my own!) that help children from troubled families follow their dreams of working in the music industry.

I would not have learned the lessons I’ve learned, become clearer on my goals, nor made the beautiful connections I’ve made had I not taken that leap of faith and listened to the voice of my heart over the voice of fear. Your heart will often tell you to do things that may seem crazy to you. You must listen to it. This the voice of wisdom talking to you – the voice that guides you to realise your life’s purpose.

Have the courage to take leaps of faith – it is only when we leap that we discover we’ve had wings all along.

Am I good enough?

30/07/2017 by LizCirelli

Blog, Podcast

art, blog, creation, creativity, daydream believers, determination, focus, guidance, insecurity, Liz Cirelli, mentorship, podcast, realisation, success, truth

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Big dreams, big visions. Most, if not all of us, have them. But why do seemingly so few of us see these dreams come true?

There are of course myriad reasons as to why, but for this post, I’m going to focus on the concept of being ‘good enough’.

A lot of us get stuck on our projects because we either want what we deliver to be as good as it can be, or we don’t consider ourselves to be good enough to put ourselves out there.

Of course, we all need to deliver material that is going to be pleasurable for our audience to receive, but we must not let ourselves get tripped up by this concept of everything having to be perfect.

Perfectionism is in itself a form of egoism – but I’ll be talking more about that in a few weeks!

So many times I’ve not taken action on something because I haven’t found the perfect way of delivering it, or I’ve felt that I wasn’t good enough to do it just yet. For example, I stopped singing for 10 years because I thought my voice sounded horrible and that I couldn’t sing properly. It’s taken me that long to gain the confidence to start singing again.

In thinking along these lines, I decided to really tap into the main reasons that we feel, or act like we are not good enough to pursue, or become involved in some activity that vitally interests us.

Lets look at some of what I believe to be, the most relevant reasons that we do not feel good enough to pursue our passions.

We have been through most of our lives being told by others that we must follow a certain ritual, or believe in certain ways before we will be socially acceptable to others.
We have listened to others who are critical of us in ways that are not conducive to our growth or progression. This type of criticism is usually delivered to us to deliberately stop us in our tracks. If we listen to this pessimistic view, we allow it to have authority over us – and inevitably it holds us back in pursuing our goals and passions. Don’t get me wrong – good constructive criticism – the type that helps you become better at what you do – is vital, but non-constructive criticism that is meant for no other reason than to put you down, should be discarded immediately!
We have not bought into ourselves fully and completely. We have been told that we were good by others, but deep down inside, we just do not believe that it could be true about us.
Throughout our entire lives we have handed over our personal responsibilities to some type of authority who has dominion over us. This causes major conflict within ourselves, as we think we know what is best for us, but the authorities inside our being are always telling us this is not the case.
We are not listening to our inner voice. Our inner voice, the essence of who we are in the physical world, is , or should be, our perfect guide and counsellor. Too often, we do not listen, nor respond to what that inner voice is telling us. Therefore, the conflict begins.

These are a few reasons to think about in the coming days, weeks and months. We can, and should always be, the captain of our souls, and the masters of our own fate.

How did I get over my feelings of not being good enough? By continuously and tirelessly working as hard as I can at my art – and by reaching out for support.

I now work with an incredible music production mentor, Gary Gray – who not only identifies and destroys the lies that are holding me back, but also offers me incredible tuition to help me grow and develop my skills as a music maker. I do my singing practice every single day, and I spend countless hours in the studio – learning, experimenting – and doing so with patience, perseverance and with pure, pure passion.

The more familiar we become with our art, the longer we spend honing and nurturing our craft, the more our confidence grows. And as our confidence grows, so the feelings of not being good enough dwindle.

It is time for us to realise our full potentials, and begin to listen to ourselves for a change, and never to the outside forces that choose to hinder our progress!