The first time I mentioned coming up with ways to fund Peoria Music Live, I was warned against it...
“You have spent months building the trust of the bands and venue owners.
If you start talking about money now, nobody is going trust you. If anything, you should become a non-profit.”
I have some non-profit experience and knew that PML couldn't operate under those guidelines. Discouraged, I avoided all talk of money because I was a little paranoid that person might be right... and I didn't want anything to keep me from moving forward with my vision.
Trying to come up with other ideas that would indirectly fund what we do proved difficult. The more I focused on income-building activities, the more the content suffered. In fact, everything I tried ended up taking time from what I wanted for PML and/or ended up costing me more money.
To be successful, anything I do needs to be connected to my purpose.
I am a writer and an encourager. I love stirring up excitement for positive things. It's what I love to do on every level. The fact that I get to do that through Peoria Music Live is one of the reasons I decided to move forward with making this a business in the first place.
I put together a great plan for funding PML via collaboration of small businesses who want to be known as live local music supporters several months ago, but have been slow to roll it out for several reasons. Mostly they all boil down to one thing... I hate talking about money. Hate it. (Weird quality in an entrepreneur? I supposed it is.)
A little afraid of what might happen when I tried to roll out the plan, I kept trying to perfect it.
I kept hoping if I found the right person to do the selling and found all the right ways to present the ideas, it would work. I have continued to interview more people and have more things designed to show the plan in just the right way.
I love seeing kids exposed to music! These girls were dancing to Highway J at the Mackinaw Winery on Memorial Day Weekend.
Months later, we're still 0% funded and my content creation has slowed as well. All of the ideas I've had for making Peoria Music Live better and more effective are being put on a shelf while I work on the day-to-day of the business... and not only is that not sustainable, it isn't what PML was designed to do.
So, today I'm going to start telling you about this plan myself...
I want to get back to doing what I love! The list of ideas I have is always growing and it's really exciting! The way we get to them is by making sure PML is fully funded.
Before we share HOW you can help, let me show you what a fully funded Peoria Music Live looks like. It starts with great…
Employees – It's hard to get consistent quality and enthusiasm from someone you can only pay for a few hours a week, and that's where we've been since I first hired anyone to help.
Qualified, dedicated, part-time employees will help bring some order to the chaos so that we can not only cover more shows, post more info, and seek out those who aren't using PML to their fullest extent yet... but also free me up to to create...
Content – We are about so much more than Facebook posts and live videos. We have goals that include making everyone in the area aware of just how great Peoria's music scene is and how much better we can make it together.
A funded PML not only means daily updates to Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, it means more blog posts about what goes on in and around our scene, celebrating and strengthening both the diversity and the community I see on a regular basis. It also means regularly updated artist's pages on our website, and more photos and videos to share... And that content will be better than ever because I will be able to update my...
This is one of our most popular YouTube videos,
have you seen it yet?
Equipment – Do you know how many times I've stood too close to a speaker and blown out the microphone on my cell phone? I've been through five phones in 14 months (They were still under warranty, thankfully.) My Pixel had several issues. My V30 is better in a lot of ways, but I would like to improve my live videos. To do that, I'd like to invest in some better equipment. The ONLY reason I haven't yet is...
Debt – I love what I do. I don't think it's a surprise to find out I want it to succeed. I've spent a lot of money over the last 14 months to help make that happen.
A fully funded PML means I can start to pay some of the debts I've incurred in the process and get my family in a better financial position again. As PML becomes fully funded, this will be taken care of as quickly as possible so we can use funds in a more exciting and profound way...
Projects - The sky is the limit with the possibilities. If Peoria Music Live was fully funded here are a few of the projects that we would be working towards:
A music program like the one I wrote about HERE at another local day program
Subsidized merch for local musicians & bands
A free family-friendly concert series
Sponsorship of local events (Like the Big Picture Festival and others)
Subsidized music lessons for the next generation of our music scene