Have you heard Norah Jones‘ new Little Broken Hearts record yet? Personally, I’m digging it. But whatever you think of the music, you need to show Ms. Jones some serious respect. She may be the bravest artist around with that level of success (did I mention that Come Away With Me has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide?). Oddly, when most people have that kind of crazy success, they become prisoners of it. They obsess over topping themselves. Or, even worse, they waste their time and attention on not losing their place in the world.

But not Norah. The new record is produced by Danger Mouse. Yep. You read it right. And before that she put out her second record with The Little Willies, an old-school country band. Even the art direction on this new project is unexpected and bold. Yet, just like all the music she’s done up to now, it’s still very much “her.” That’s really saying something. To pull that off, you have to know exactly who you are. And have the balls to stand up and and tell the world.

I just stumbled across my own Facebook post from January 9th about this Walk Off The Earth video. At the time, I noted that it had an amazing 4.5 million views on YouTube. Now here we are, a little over three months later and the video has an astounding 93 MILLION views. And oddly enough, that’s not even the biggest part of the story. Click thru to see the rest of the story…

This Canadian band’s novel take on a cover video of a song no one in the United States had ever heard by an Australian artist no one knew has launched that song and artist into the U.S. spotlight. I’m not sure what direct impact it’s had on Walk Off The Earth’s business (Wikipedia says they appeared on Ellen and sold 187,000 downloads of their version). But the original artist, Gotye, was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live last week (he did a fine job, I might add.). And his song is currently sitting at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. And the Alternative Chart. And the Rock Chart. The video for his version of Somebody That I Used To Know has 169 million views.

I can’t think of another story even similar to this one. And if you threw this idea out in a marketing brainstorm session, you’d probably be asked to leave. Why? Because it’s crazy. And it shouldn’t have worked. And it won’t work when someone tries to replicate it (which is already happening, don’t you worry!). You can’t plan something like this. And, to be honest, I’m not sure there’s some huge lesson to be learned here. But there are a few things worth pointing out:  1) There is no formula for going viral. The methods and the results are different almost every time.  2) If it hadn’t been a great song, then neither the cover or the original would have had any lasting impact.  3) Gotye should buy those Walk Off The Earth folks a beer or something.

NOTE: My apologies if anyone takes offense to the “unknown” references to both Walk Off The Earth and Gotye. As of January, neither I nor any of my friends here in the U.S. were aware of either.

There is no magical point where suddenly you have more money or a moment of total certainty when you say “NOW is the perfect moment to get help” — unless, of course, you screw something up beyond your own ability to even guess how to fix it. Yes, it’s an investment. And not a small one. But investing is about timing. Do it now. Because the most common way that people waste that investment is by paying someone to spend their time and your money undoing what you’ve been doing for the last nine months. And in many cases, it really can’t be fixed. And even if it can, I’m over it. I want to work with people who get it. People who want a partner, not a repairman.

It’s for musicians, photographers, painters and other folks who need help with their marketing but aren’t sure where to start and have a limited budget to consider. The key is priorities. With that in mind, I’ll review your materials, sites and content and give you specific feedback on What Is Working, What Isn’t Working and What’s Next. This is NOT a full-on “dive in deep” brand audit. It’s a short list of specific priotities that you can do to get things moving and headed in the right direction. The process is really simple:

1. Email me at exam(at)bighowdy(dot)com and say “Examine Me, B!”
2. Fork over $199 via PayPal, credit or debit card. Plus tip (I kid. I kid.).
3. Fill out a short questionnaire and send links to all your work (music, portfolio, etc.), sites, pages, videos, merch and other stuff.
4. I review everything and develop a series of insights and specific recommendations for what you should keep, what you should lose and what you should do next.
5. We meet—either over coffee in Nashville or via Skype or phone—for up to two hours and talk through your materials and I walk you through my insights and recommendations.
6. I tweak stuff based on our conversation and email you your very own BigHowdy Mini Brand Report in one of those fancy schmancy PDF documents a couple of days later.
7. You go and do all your stuff and become an international sensation, guaranteed*. (*Not a guarantee in the literal sense, of course. More in the “No doubt, Bud!” or “For realz!” kinda way. You feel me on this, right?)

So what does a BigHowdy Mini Brand Report look like? Well, for starters, yours is developed 100% for you. It’s broken down into three sections: What Is Working, What Isn’t Working and What’s Next. The first two sections include things like “You’re a great writer and your blog seems to really connect.” Or “Your photos and design don’t fit with your music.” Or “You are very focused on Twitter, but your audience is more engaged on Facebook.” Or “Your website is full of typos and it reflects poorly on your attention to detail as a photographer.” Or “You don’t have up-to-date music on your pages.”

What Next includes things like “Schedule one blog post per week and promote each post in these 3 ways…” Or “Make the photos on your website larger for more emotional impact.” Or “Add a RootMusic BandPage to your Facebook.” Or “Invest in a good photo shoot.” Or “Check out BigCartel or Goodsie to set up an easy online store.” It’s specific, it’s realistic and it’s a realtively gentle kick in the pants.

So, if you’re stuck and sick of feeling like you’re spinning your wheels… If you need direction. Priorities. Honesty and objectivity… the BigHowdy Mini Brand Exam is a good fit and a great place to start. Email me at exam(at)bighowdy(dot)com and we’ll get things set up. If you have questions, post them on the BigHowdy Facebook page or email me. Thanks for reading!

It’s a different world out there. It doesn’t matter what it should be or if it’s better or worse. It just is. What worked ten years ago doesn’t necessarily work now. And what works today may not work tomorrow. The world is changing. If you don’t change with it, you starve. It really isn’t much more complicated than that.

So if your biggest complaint about your publicist or manager or agent is that they don’t care as much as you or work as hard as you or do it the way you would do it, get over it. It’s a bad standard to hold people to. It means that you are either A) chronically dissatisfied with the people around you or B) trying to do it all yourself and, eventually, failing. Either way, you’re unhappy and your career can’t grow. And that isn’t just bad for your career, it’s a crappy way to live your life.

“What nobody tells people who are beginners — and I really wish someone had told this to me . . . is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, and it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not.

 But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story.

It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

Click through to see the extended video from Glass that the quote was taken from.

Content—whether it is writing, video, photos or anything else—is the conversation that keeps your relationship alive with your audience. Stop posting and they will eventually stop waiting. And stop caring.

So, take a photo, shoot a video on your webcam, do something today. Something quick and simple. It doesn’t have to change the world, it just has to break the momentum (or lack thereof). Go. Now. And thanks for still checking out the blog. I’ll try to do better.