How to Write a Plan

Whether you have decided that your passion for music is something you want as a hobby, or something you want to pursue as a career - neither choice is wrong. Nor is it wrong to have your passion for music be both.

If you have decided that you want to make music your career; then you need to recognize that it is a business. Just like any start-up businesss; it is going to take time, money and a lot of effort to create a successful career. If you read the last post with the 20 Brilliant Questions, then you have a good idea of where your career is now, and where you can improve.

I'd suggest that a good next step is to develop a written plan for your career. There is a great series of blog posts on the subject right here ... along with a template for how to write your plan!

http://www.musicthinktank.com/mtt-open/2009/7/8/how-to-write-a-music-business-plan.html

As he says, writing a good plan takes time, and it should be re-visited often. If you are simply going to write a plan for the purpose of getting money from a grant program - go ahead. But remember that a plan should be more than a way to get money; it should be something you execute. So read Kevin's blog posts on the subject (his main blog is http://eleetmusic.com/), and take a stab at creating your plan for your career.

As it says in the plan:

"The real value of creating a business plan is not in having the finished product in hand; rather, the value lies in the process of researching and thinking about your business in a systematic way. The act of planning helps you to think things through thoroughly, study and research if you are not sure of the facts, and look at your ideas critically. It takes time now, but avoids costly, perhaps disastrous, mistakes later."