Do it For Your Future Fans

Hey Rockstars, Reggie Daughson here, host of the Being On Stage podcast. Welcome, welcome. Today we are looking into the future. What does that mean? What does it mean we're looking into the future? Because you can't time travel, you can't see the future, you can't even predict the future, really. But what we're talking about today is the people that will see you and experience your performance in the future.

Rewind just a little bit, this podcast is all about performing. It's called Being On Stage for a reason. It's all about being on stage, connecting with your audience, turning your talent into that awesome performance that you envision in your head, and then taking that performance and making it an experience, a once-in-a-lifetime experience for your audience, so that in turn they follow you, they come to your gigs, they buy your merchandise, they boost you up to the stardom and to the success that you dream of, and just absolutely help you. They help you crush it.

That's what your audience does. They help you crush your barriers and attain your dreams. So why wouldn't you give them an experience, right? Right. So talking about the future, why, oh why, would I worry, or you, why would we worry about the future? Well, the way technology works, let's think about this. The way technology works, there's videos and audios, podcasts, posts, memes. Pictures, all sorts of different, pick something, there's all sorts of stuff from years ago that people are just now seeing for the first time.

Don't believe me? Go do a quick YouTube search for whatever is randomly on your mind, how to make a hat, how to DJ, how to find the cheapest diapers. You know, Google, just go on YouTube and search it, and I guarantee you will find videos from 3 to 5 to 10 years, assuming you, I think YouTube's been around for 10 years. Anyways, you will find videos from up to 10 years ago, talking about what it is you're searching for.

And you will see that video for the very first time, and it can blow your mind. It happens to me all the time, I go on YouTube, I look for performances and everything like that. I'm seeing performers from, you know, 10 years ago, even beyond, because you can upload any video to YouTube, really. Even beyond, seeing performances I've seen for the first time, ever. So, bringing it back.

What does that have to do with us, today, on this podcast? Well, today is August 14th, 2019. So my question to you is, are you listening to this podcast on August 14th, 2019? No. Mainly because it's 11pm and it's not going to be up until, you know, quarter to midnight. But even still, are you listening to it on August 15th, 16th, 17th? A handful of you, yeah. A few of you are, absolutely.

I know I have some subscribers, some loyal listeners that, you know, listen to every podcast. And maybe more than a handful. But I'm just, you know, let's go with me here. But this podcast is going to be uploaded for years. Available for anybody to download at any point after today. And the same thing is true. For what you put out there. Now, one, let's. Hopefully you record your performances and your rehearsals and everything.

So any video that you put out there of your performance, of your talent, of your rehearsal, of what you're working on. Anything you put out there is going to be there for years. I mean, yeah, granted, you can take it down. But why would you? Why would you? Your future is so big and so bright. And the people that follow you. And come see you today, it's going to be an entirely different group of people in a few years.

I hear this all the time on another podcast that I listen to. I've quoted him before. He's actually one of my favorites, Sam Crowley. He does the "Every Day is Saturday" podcast. And he says repeatedly that your best days have not even happened yet. And I have to repeat it on this podcast because, truthfully, as a performer, you have to believe that. You have to believe that wherever you are right now, you haven't even begun to tap into the potential that you have as an artist and as a performer.

You have not even begun to ascend to the summit. You're still at the base camp compared to where you could be with a focused effort for a few years. And yes, I said years. If you were hoping for an overnight success as a performer, come back and listen to this podcast. This is a podcast that I've been doing for a couple of years, I guess, because there's no such thing as an overnight success in any way, shape, or form.

Even the people that seem like they're overnight success, they didn't wake up on Monday and decide to be a singer, and on Tuesday, they're recording their first album. That's not how it happened. It's taken years and years of determination and rehearsal and practice and learning and prepping before they even get to start to think about it. And I think that's what's so important about recording an album.

And probably the first five years are. And I mean, granted, the album recording is specific to singers and bands and things like that. But even take dancing, for example. You could be dancing for years before you ever get on stage and get paid. You could be juggling for years and years and years before you ever get discovered and get your own show in Vegas. You could never get paid. You couldn't be.

I know a guy, actually, who's been working at Contortion and Aerial Artistry literally since I've met him about seven, eight years ago. And he started as a fitness buff, then he moved into dance. He also did dance. He did contemporary dance, ballet, hip-hop, a little bit of everything. Mostly self-taught. He's taken some classes here and there, but mostly self-taught. And we're talking like I've known him for eight years he's been working on it.

That does not count how long he'd been working at it before then. And listen, people made fun of him. People laughed at him. At some point, I thought he was crazy. Why would you take your amazing dance talent and give it up for Aerial Artistry, something brand new? He's been working at getting up on the silks, as they're called, for I want to say at least three years. And so you combine his ten plus years of dance, add in some other stuff he's done.

He's done hula hoop. He's done hand balancing. He teaches Zumba. He teaches some bachata and salsa and merengue and things like that. He teaches dance. So take into consideration, let's call it 15 years dance experience. Add in the last three years he's been working at Aerial Artistry. He just recently got a job getting paid to be an aerial artist. And that's not even his main job. His main job is a Zumba instructor and a guest relations at this amazing resort we have in our backyard.

Not my backyard, but the next town over. Just recently, 15 years to get even the first step to his dream job, his goal in life. Listen, you don't have to wait 15 years. You can start performing next week. You can. You're probably not going to be paid. You probably aren't going to be amazing or awesomazing, as we're coining a new phrase here. You're probably not going to be that amazing.

But what is amazing is the fact that you're taking that step. The title of this podcast is called Do It For Your Future Fans. Everything that you do, every performance that you craft, yes, your audience matters. Yes, the people that support you today and tomorrow matter. But when you're making decisions and you're taking actions and you're creating performances and you're putting things out on social media, you got to think about the people that are going to see you in a year.

In five years, in 10 years. You have to make decisions and actions based on where you want to be and the audience that you want to have and the audience that you create. And listen, that vision can change. Absolutely. They can change over time. It'll mold. It'll twist and turn into what it's supposed to be. And it could be entirely different from what you see today. But what are you waiting for?

The people that are waiting for you five years from now. They'll never see you unless you take the steps today to get there. That's why I do a podcast every day. That's why I push you to do something every single day for your talent, for your art. That's why I challenge you repeatedly to take what you learn from this podcast, apply it to your performance, apply it to your rehearsal, apply it to your life even.

And keep moving forward. The people that are going to see. Listen, the people that listen to this podcast today and this year, thank you. Thank you so incredibly much. But I know deep down that in three to five years, there is going to be a change. someone tuning into this episode here for the very first time hearing me get up on this soapbox and talk about performing and motivating you and inspiring you and boosting your confidence to get out there and do what you love to do in front of an audience that is just waiting to be blown away by your talent.

That's why I do this because in three to five years they're going to hear this podcast and they're going to take action and they're going to move forward and in 10 years someone's going to hear this podcast for the first time and they're going to take action and they're going to move forward and in through and then so let's flip it to you in two years someone's going to see your performance for the first time and their life is going to change they're going to feel inspired they're going to feel connected and in five years another person is going to see you for the first time and they're going to feel connected and they're going to go on a google spree googling everything about you trying to learn where you're from who your family is not like a stalker kind of thing. But in like a super fan kind of way in 10 years five people are going to discover you that just you absolutely blow their mind with what you do and the fact that you've been doing it for 10 years and working at it for this long is incredible and inspiring to them and motivates them to take steps for themselves to get themselves to where they want to be because they look up to you. Those are the people that you have to do it for those are the people that you have to keep your I guess we can call it keep your head down and stay focused on where you're going not necessarily not all for the people that are going to see you this Friday night not all for the people that are in your life right now beating you down and telling you you can't do it those are not the people that you're living your life for those are not the people that you're going after your dreams for you are going after your dreams and you are sharing your talent for the people that haven't even thought about you yet how powerful is that I'm breaking a sweat on this podcast man I'm telling you I'm like wiping sweat off my brow oh my gosh I'm glistening I'm so passionate about you and your talent and what you are capable of I want you to explode as a matter of fact I want to help you oh my god I want to help you so bad I want to be a part of your explosion if you will if you'd like me to be a part of it if you if you're open to some some guidance some coaching some tips some tools some tips some tips some resources I'm more than happy to provide anything I can hop on my calendar reggie at being on stage dot com is my email address you can also hop directly on the calendar being on stage dot com slash calendar I've been getting those two flipped a lot lately either one is perfectly fine it's been an absolute pleasure screaming into this microphone at you hopefully you're motivated inspired and you have the confidence to move forward and go after your dreams of getting on that stage in front of those people and sharing your talent and your talent and your talent and your talent and your talent with the world we're all waiting for you keep on shining