We were lucky to catch up with Marquis Watson recently and have shared our conversation below.
Marquis , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
There’s one word that often brings on the feeling of fear when you venture out on your own and that word is “RISK.” We often don’t take that word seriously enough, but we subconsciously deal with it every day. We are driving, fly on planes, financial situations and on and one. Never a thought until it truly effects our lives in a way that changes it and perhaps forever.
Taking a leap of faith often involves this dirty little 4 letter word. At this point fear sets in and you have to learn quickly on how to make fear your friend. The fear that is associated with rolling the dice of risk. If you are not willing to deal with either “risk” or “fear” then you have no business, taking that leap of faith. People who often want to start a business and go on their own never think about it and often fall way short of their goals, constantly riding a merry go round of failure. And yes, I have failed. The big question is what did I learn from this failure by taking a risk.
Education is the key to understanding both of this evil word. I knew when I started on this journey from past experiences risk was always going to be associated with it. So how do you handle it? I can only tell you how I handled it from my perspective and hopefully it can help you? There is a difference between taking a risk and taking a calculated risk. Taking what people like to refer to as a “Regular or Soft risk” is basically just throwing it out there on a whim and hope it comes back with great results. You have to understand risk management and how wit works.
Sometimes people mistake risk for chance. Take risks, but don’t leave things to chance. There is a huge difference between risk-taking and leaving things to chance. Chances are things that happen without design, they just happen, and what a boring way to live – waiting around for a chance that something may or may not happen. They see successful entrepreneurs and attribute at least a portion of their success to luck. But a calculated risk is about just that — calculations. It’s careful analysis of what you stand to gain against what you could lose. I understand that you have to throw it out there in order to watch it come back. But at what risk? See there goes that word again. So, before you are off in running make sure you dot all your “I’s” and cross you “T’s” and sincerely be honest with yourself and weigh things out, the good and the bad before you begin your journey and take that risk.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Marquis Watson and I’m a Radio / Television host of Jazzmix95.com. I started back in 1994 where I host a television program back in Connecticut/New York called “2-ZER0-3” Music Clique where I won 3 Billboard Awards for the best Regional Music video/Talk show in America. I would conduct interviews in studio, on location and do marketing with recording artist. I have worked with recording artist such as Jill Scott, Angie Stone, Dave Koz, Destiny’s Child and more! The program aired for 10 years and went from a public access level to a statewide broadcast level. I’ve always wanted to do radio and television but how do I get started? That was the trick of the game. I didn’t know any in radio or television broadcast business so I knew it was going to be an uphill climb and I would have to get my hands dirty! And get my hand dirty is what I did!
I didn’t have that homeboy hook-up or acquaintance that I knew in the industry. In cases such as mine not knowing anyone would mean I would have to grind, and grinding is what I did. Sure, I did the proverbial went out and spent countless hours on auditions, making 100’s of audition tapes that equated to getting nowhere. So, I had to go it alone. I knew I had the passion, ambition and drive but I had to focus all that energy in the right direction. So I started from scratch from the ground up. I stayed up many a late night educating myself on broadcasting and marketing way before the internet became a factor. I come from the days of passing out flyers, 4×6 post cards, constant mailing out promotions, traveling to interviews and a website …and that was it.! I know primitive by today’s standards.
With no luck headed my way I found out about Public Access Television and took the course and started putting together my own television show. What would it be about, how would I approach this, how much money would I need with having no money to start with? I dove in headfirst and created my own TV show. After 1 year the TV show started to gain the attention of the public. Three years in I was approached by RCA records who wanted me to interview their recording artist by the name of Tyrese which was a live in studio with a live studio audience. That pretty much was the moment that gained the attention of other record companies and soon I was getting calls left and right for me to come to New York and interview their up and coming and established recording artist.
Everything was right on track and things were moving fast! I was making some very sound decisions, and the results were coming to fruition. Soon I was getting interviews with local newspapers, TV stations and people in the public were starting to recognize me, I was nominated for a Billboard Award in 2000 though I did not win it didn’t discourage me but rather fueled my fire to try harder and gave more confidence in myself. Just by getting nominated I was being recognized and that was a positive sign. People were taking note of my work. I retooled a few things and then two years later ( year) I won my first Billboard Award and then the following two year after that I won back-to-back Billboard Awards. I started to see some revenue due to the fruits of my labor. Real money was finally coming in for ad buys and commercials to be ran on my television show. I had to take advantage of the momentum that I built up because when that type of momentum comes along you must use it to your advantage.
I was reaching higher and wanted more. My goal now was now to get the program on the local television stations. I scheduled appointments with local television stations and pitched the program. Oh yeah a lot of rejection and then it was accepted by a local Fox affiliate. After the first airing the ratings were for the program were high for my time slot and at one time I had higher ratings tat Seinfeld and Mad About that ran in syndication. Soon afterwards I started getting commercials from record companies and local companies wanted to advertise on my tv show due to the ratings. It took a total of 8 years for me to get that point. Yeah, there were times that I wanted to give up, thrown the towel, walk away and call it a day. But if you are really invested in your dream, you just can’t walk away. You must see it through. The television show came to an end two years later after 911 happened. Record companies and sponsors started to pull back due to not knowing where their futures were headed.
The television show aired for a total of 10 years.
Today I own and host my own online radio station on Jazzmix95.com. Yes, I had to start from scratch again, but the past experiences, trails and tribulations of the televisions show has really helped me with understating the risk, creating the radio station and knowing the pitfalls. Today it’s starting to see some great progress and success. It’s a different ball game now due to the internet. Promoting the station is much easier, getting the word out and now interviews can be conducted online instead of countless hours of traveling which gives me more time to promote online, and yes, I still the same passion, ambition and drive still with me today. Remember success doesn’t come overnight and you have to put in some hard work, pay your dues to see some progress that is sustainable. Most importantly on your journey you must block out the negativity and most importantly be patient! I cannot stress this point any further. Don’t waste your time making it a competition with other people who have the same goal in mind. It’s a distraction and a waste if time. Instead run your own race and if you’re looking for competition or a competitive edge then compete against yourself. Trust me you will really find out what you are made of when it’s you vs. you.
How did you build your audience on social media?
As you read beforehand I come from the days of pre internet promotion, Getting up grab. coffee a quick bowl of cereal and then hit the pavement, Today it’s totally different. The internet is the window to your world. I still do the same thing in the morning coffee, cereal but now instead of hitting the pavement I walk over to my laptop. No more planes, trains or automobiles. Even promoting has changed but the old school rules of thumb still applies. And that is be persistent and keep reaching higher.
Today things move much faster. The internet has really expanded promoting for entrepreneurs, start ups and people with dreams. For me building an audience is priority job one, I’m on the radio I need and audience. You have to take advantage of your resources especially on social media. Here is the reality of it all. You cannot rely on just friends and family, You have to reach out to the world.
Let’s first establish this. You have to have an advertising budget if you plan on promoting online out to the world. It’s true when they say, “It takes money to make money.” Oh yeah you can be cheap and try to rely on word of mouth but when people stop talking about your product well there goes your “free” promotion. My first paid promotion was on Facebook which was really affordable and garnered really great results. I then started promoting on Instagram afterwards and using my social media pages as well. You have to stay persistent at it and understand your audience to promote successfully. Do not get caught up in numbers, likes and views!” Don’t just throw good money out there and promote to a general audience. Find your interest group and focus on that. Example: my interest groups range from smooth jazz, entertainment, R&B and more. You have to find your niche when it comes to advertising and do not pigeon hole yourself. Stay opened minded, focused, communicate and do your research. Building an audience takes time and patience. If you stay on course you will see some great results.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
I do not have any books, videos or essays that I can recommend but I will say this. Listen to other peoples stories of their success and downfalls on how they conducted their business. Whether they were successful or failed. You can always learn from it and and chalk it up to experience. There is always someone on social media trying to educate the masses about business. How to start up, get ahead and be successful. Take it in and listen, I always walk away with something after I watch these videos whether it’s good or bad. Take is all in and never look a gift house in mouth.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jazzmix95.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jazzmix95
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jazzmix95/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/jazzmix95com
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@jazzmix95management52
Image Credits
Photography by: Jaime Russell, Anthem Photography