The Last 100 Days of the Year: A Game Plan for Your Music Career

Once late September comes around, you have 100 days left in the year.

I know what you're thinking. "The year's basically over. I'll just wait for January and start fresh."

That's exactly what I used to think too. And it's why I spent years going nowhere.

Here's the thing: 100 days is a lot of time. In 100 days you could:

• Release 1 or 2 singles, if you have songs ready.
• Post 100 pieces of content, just one per day.
• Write 5 to 10 new songs.
• Connect with 100 fans, one per day.
• Save $500 for next year's projects, which is about $5 a day.

When I started taking music marketing seriously in 2019, I didn't wait for the perfect time. I just started. And those last few months of the year are when I built the foundation for everything that came next.

What you can still get done this year

1. Release music, if it's ready.

Got a song that's 80% done? Finish it. December releases can perform well, because there's less competition and people look for new music over the holidays. But don't rush a bad song out just to release something.

2. Fix your social media strategy.

Pick one platform and commit to it for these 100 days. For me, it was Instagram. I posted 3 to 4 times a week, no excuses. By January, I knew what worked.

3. Start your email list.

Even if you only get 50 subscribers by the end of the year, that's 50 people who want to hear from you. I started mine with 10 people. Today more than 4,500 people read my newsletter. If you want the steps, I wrote an email list playbook for musicians.

4. Build one income stream.

Use part of these 100 days to set up one way to make money from music. It could be teaching, syncs or whatever fits you. Just pick one and start.

5. Build next year's content bank.

Film yourself in different locations. Save 30 to 50 content ideas. Write hooks and captions. Do it now while you're motivated, and not when you're stressed about a release.

Small actions add up

100 days is 14 weeks. Small daily improvements add up fast, and by New Year's you won't be the same artist you are today.

If you connect with one new fan per day, you'll have 100 true supporters. If you save $5 per day, you'll have $500 for your next project.

Your 100-day action plan (pick 2 or 3):

• Weeks 1 to 2: choose one platform and post 3 times a week.
• Weeks 3 to 4: start your email list, even with 5 people.
• Weeks 5 to 8: finish and release a song, if it's ready.
• Weeks 9 to 12: set up one income stream.
• Weeks 13 to 14: plan your content for January.

Don't try to do everything. Pick what matters most to you right now. 100 days of focused action beats 365 days of "I'll start tomorrow."

Get a head start while others wait

It's so tempting to wait until January 1st and start your "new year, new me" music career then.

But think about what happens in January. A lot of musicians release music at the same time, so it's harder to stand out. The feeds fill up again. People are broke from the holidays. And half the resolutions are gone by February.

If you start now, you hit January already moving.

Build systems, not resolutions

A resolution sounds like this: "I'll post every day next year!" A system sounds like this: "I batch-create content every Sunday from 2 to 4 PM."

"I'll release more music!" is a resolution. "I write for 30 minutes every morning and demo on Wednesdays" is a system.

"I'll grow my fanbase!" is a resolution. "I message 5 new followers every day after lunch" is a system.

See the difference? I stopped making music resolutions in 2020 and built systems instead. That's when everything changed.

Your prep checklist for next year

Pick what works for you.

Content planning

• Make a folder of 30+ content ideas now.
• Film yourself in 5 to 10 different locations and outfits.
• Write 10 caption templates you can reuse.
• Study what worked this year in your insights.

If you want a head start on the ideas, the Content Vault has 308 of them, each with an example.

Release calendar

• Map out 2 to 4 release dates for next year.
• Start writing and finishing songs now.
• Plan basic promotion ideas for each release.
• Set a budget for each release.

Income streams

• Set up one new source of income before January.
• Price your services, like teaching, production or features.
• Make basic templates, like invoices and rate sheets.
• Reach out to 5 potential clients.

The December that changed everything for me

In December 2021, instead of waiting for January, I:

• Posted 50 pieces of content to learn what worked.
• Connected with 200 musicians in my genre.
• Set up my teaching side hustle, which became my main business.
• Planned my whole 2022 release schedule.

The result? I made more progress in the first three months of 2022 than in all of 2021.

The 70/30 rule for the end of the year

Spend 70% of your time creating and practicing, and 30% planning next year.

It's easy to flip this and spend all of December planning and no time doing. Then January comes and you're rusty. Stay sharp and keep creating.

Your December action plan (choose 3, not all):

• Schedule your first release of next year.
• Create 20 pieces of content for January.
• Grow your email list by 50 people.
• Set up one income stream.
• Connect with 30 musicians in your genre.
• Save $500 for next year, at $5 a day.
• Write down what worked and what didn't this year.

Final thought

Next year won't be your year because of what you do in January. It'll be your year because of what you do right now.

The calendar says the year is almost over, but these 100 days can be the start of the best year of your music career.

I learned this the hard way. After my first song went nowhere in 2019, I could have sulked until January. Instead, I spent the last months of the year learning, testing, failing and improving. By January 2020, I wasn't starting from zero. I was already moving.

If you want some structure for your first days, The 100K Challenge is free and takes 10 days, with one short chapter and one action a day.

What are you going to do with your 100 days? Start today, and thank yourself later.