Lately, I've spoken with quite a bunch of people about fear and procrastination. I know many independent artists (and other people) that are afraid of doing the things they want to do. 

But why?

We humans often choose a difficult way to appear more sophisticated and experienced. And that's total nonsense. 

Who's gonna judge us? 

Some guy somewhere in the world who comments on your Youtube video?

Or a "friend" on Facebook that you barely know?

Or a family member that isn't on par with your state of personal growth?

Or even a voice in your head that's constantly telling you to duck?

In the end, there's only one person that can make a decision. And that is you.

Nobody else can make you overcome your fear. People like coaches, mentors, etc. can help you. But you have to make the step and move forward. 

And to move forward, it's often better to go straight to your goal than zig-zagging. 

For example, if you want to offer a subscription-based fan package, do it right now. Open an account and set it up. Then tell your fans about it. After a few weeks or months, if you think that you could improve it, do it. (Hopefully with some gathered feedback from your followers.) 

Last week, an independent artist reached out to me and asked me for some feedback on her website. The website looked pretty and was well-structured. But I was missing one simple thing: The intention.

So I asked her what's the purpose of her website.

She told me that she wanted to turn visitors into mailing list subscribers so she can build a better relationship with her greatest fans. That's a great goal, isn't it? 🙂

Unfortunately, she didn't express this on her page. Instead, she was talking about her music and how people could listen to it on different streaming providers. And then, at the bottom of the page, she had a small box for her mailing list. So basically, she invited visitors to leave her site right at the moment they arrived. They didn't even reach the mailing list section. All she wanted to say right from the beginning though was: "join my mailing list to get the most from me." It's so freaking simple. 

(We humans love simple.)

After some changes, she now invites her visitors to join her mailing list—and guess what, since she got quite some traffic, she already grew her mailing within a few days.

Most of the time, simple is the solution. Do not overcomplicate situations that aren't confusing by nature.

I'm struggling with this, too. When I'm confused about what to do next, I often ask myself two simple questions:

1. What's the naked truth about my situation?
2. What is the right action to take?

This helps me to find a simple solution. The hardest part is to execute it though. You have to do it. Nobody else can do this for you.