Manage Your Expectations – At All Times, In All Things

For more than a dozen years now I have seen and been reminded of the importance of managing expectations.  In fact, it has become so prevalent in my life that not only do I give it out as one of my top pieces of advice to people, but I even did a search on this very website to see if I’d already written a blog about the topic.

While I will lead from my daily perspective as a publicist to recording artist and author clients (as well as others that Now Hear This serves that are neither in the music nor the literary world), I even have experiences to share that anyone might encounter, regardless of the profession you are in.

First, though, I simply want you to commit to embracing the philosophy itself.  Nine of out ten scenarios you walk into will be better experienced if you go in thinking, “Let me manage my expectations.”  I’m not saying to commit full-time to being pessimistic, but when things fall short, you won’t be entirely caught off guard.

A lot of times on my weekly “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast I will interview a guest who has had one or more opportunities to open up for a major headliner.  This isn’t the blog to get into specifics like where you’ll fall in the lineup.  Instead, focus on managing your expectations when it comes to the return on investment.  You put a lot into preparing for the show – rehearsal-wise and promotionally – but if you expect to get thousands of new social media followers, thousands of streams on your music, and make thousands of dollars in sales at your merch table, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.  You don’t want people to ask you, “So?  How was it opening for (major artist)?” only for you to reply with, “Eh, it was okay, I guess.”

Similarly, if you get what you feel is “major” media coverage, yup, you guessed it, manage your expectations.  Those same goals, targets, hopes that you had for the great opener slot?  There’s a tendency to think that your numbers will go up and up and up – quickly – all on account of that one media placement.  Is it possible?  Of course!  Is it a guarantee?  No, and that’s where it’s helpful to think about a realistic outcome.

One exception to the above might be appearing on “The Voice” or “American Idol” or “America’s Got Talent,” but that’s only going to be sustainable so long as you’re on the show.  After that, you really have to work hard to keep those new followers engaged.  On the episode of my podcast released last week, Nashville-based number 1 hit songwriter Mark Irwin said, “Once a career takes off, boy, they are busy… you have your whole life to write your first album, and then you have about six months to write your second album.”

I have heard this one enough that I need to make sure that I include it in a post such as today’s.  That is, if you’re a big fish in a little pond, manage your expectations when it comes to moving to a major music market such as Los Angeles or Nashville.  You are not doing them a favor by bringing your talents to town so don’t expect everyone to drop everything, roll out the red carpet, and give you all the top bookings.  Similarly, if you’re a songwriter, showing up in Music City and walking up to a hit songwriter and dropping the “We should write sometime” card will not get you the desired result – unless, of course, you were hoping to get a furrowed brow and the corner of the other person’s mouth turning down.

By the way, for the podcasters who do interviews that are reading this, manage your expectations when it comes to releasing an episode and thinking that the guest with the huge following is going to suddenly launch your show into the mainstream.  I remember speaking at Podcast Movement Evolutions in Los Angeles and telling the attendees that if you get an A-list celebrity as a guest, the likelihood is that they will not post on social media about having been on your podcast.  At all.  (And I immediately saw disappointed reactions from people in the audience who clearly thought that that was the golden ticket to sudden popularity for their show.)

For everyday life, though, let’s look at travel.  If you follow me (i.e., on Instagram), you know that I am on the road quite a bit.  Manage your expectations there too as it relates to flight delays, for starters.  If you cut things too close and there’s a “mechanical problem” (wow, how the airlines love to use that blanket term) you likely will miss a connecting flight or your meeting or your gig or whatever the purpose of your trip was.  Invest in peace of mind with things like a nonstop flight or even, when connecting, a seat closer to the front so you’re not waiting forever to de-plane, knowing that you don’t have a lot of time to get to your connecting gate.

And while you’re out there, don’t expect the penthouse suite when you book an off-brand hotel.  If you arrive there and it looks like a flea bag motel, that’s on you for (a) probably not having read (enough) reviews, and (b) having convinced yourself, “It’ll be good.”

While this next tip might be seen as only being specific to L.A., right here in Tampa alone I’ve seen it really become an issue as the area grows and grows and grows.  I’m talking about drive time.  My practice is to look a day or two (or both) before an appointment – at the time I think I’ll leave on that actual day – to see what traffic looks like at the same time I’ll have to be on the road.  If you check at 11:30pm the night before and think, “Oh, okay, cool.  It’s only going to be 25 minutes,” then you’ll be in for a big surprise the next day when it’s time to leave and it’s actually 45 minutes.  Don’t expect it to be accurate if you’re looking at it at a far different time than when you’ll be heading out.

And lastly, whether in business or everyday life, don’t expect that people will get back to you as fast as you would get back to them.  You’ll be disappointed and start talking yourself into, “I guess it’s a No” (or their silence is their answer) when they simply aren’t the fastest person at getting back to people.

A Member of the Recording Academy, I have been helping indie music artists, authors, actors, entrepreneurs, podcasters, filmmakers, small business owners, and more for over twenty years.  What challenges are you having in your creator career that I can lend some insight to?  Connect with me so you can take advantage of all my experience, and I can help and keep you moving forward.