6 Lessons Indie Rock Taught Me About Business

My career in advertising and marketing was largely accidental. It wasn't something I wanted to do when I was growing up, or even when I was in school. Instead, after college, my ambition was to play music. So, for five years, that’s what I did as a guitarist with Brooklyn-based indie rock band, Stereobate.

In some respects, I failed. I was never able to quit my day job and never got signed to a major record label. But I wouldn't trade the experience I had for anything. It taught me more about leadership in creative business than any school ever could. I learned, for instance, that creativity is transferable.


The processes, the triumphs, the failures -- so many of the things I experienced as a musician, I now apply to my work in marketing. Here are those valuable lessons I took away from being in a rock band.

All the Tips You Need for Successfully Running Your Online Service Business

When pursuing a career as an online freelance service provider, it’s of the utmost importance to brand yourself, particularly in the online market. Think of it as your online persona. This persona needs to be professional, attract employers, find work, and be exceptional at what it does. You’re in the business of selling yourself and must be remembered to build clients and gain a favorable reputation. It is most difficult in the beginning because you have no feedback. One place you can start is on freelance job sites.

But it’s not enough just to sign up for a bunch of freelance sites -- you’ve got to stand out and make a name for yourself. Here are a few tips to get you noticed in the crowded freelance world:

10 Things I Wish I'd Known When I Started

When I started my company eight years ago, back when I was a student, I had no idea of the learning curve I would face before I might actually make it. Today, as I continue to run my firm as well as speak to and advise other startups, I continually go back to some of the lessons I learned through direct experience (many times, the hard way) and through helping other companies avoid the same mistakes.


From all the years I've been an entrepreneur, a few of those lessons stand out as defining moments in my career. They also represent moments in the trenches when I had to make a significant change, to either my business infrastructure or my personal mindset, in order to advance to the next stage in my company's growth. Here are 10 of those lessons from my personal experience: