We were lucky to catch up with Joshua Stephens recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Joshua, thanks for joining us today. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.
I had been selling beats on beatstars for maybe a year or two something like that, at this point most of my clients were friends of mine mostly. I got a dm on Instagram and this guy wanted to buy a lease for one of my beats. I remember giving him a discount on it for some reason, I think he didn’t have the full amount and I didn’t care that deeply about getting the full amount. I was just really excited I got someone who wanted to buy a beat from me. It was confirmation that I could accomplish my goals, even at this small scale. He bought the lease and made a song to it, I think that was his only purchase but still pretty cool
Joshua, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I started making music around 14 or 15, but I always had an interest in music since I was even younger. The first instrument I learned was either saxophone or the drums, I didn’t go super far with those but I vividly remember having both of those for a little bit. The first instrument I played for years was the violin and after that I got into producing and writing. I sell high quality beats to musicians who are looking for them for a good price, either through an online beat store or in studio sessions. If you are buying from my beat store you can get pre-made beats or you can get a custom made one where you describe the specific type of beat you want. When I work with artists in the studio on creating a sound I like to make the experience the most comfortable for the artist to really express themselves. I think of making music as a sort of therapy for people to get out thoughts and emotions that they wouldn’t express in their normal day to day. I think when artists work with me they always leave with a piece of music that genuinely speaks to their soul and they leave with new ideas or inspiration to keep going. I genuinely enjoy seeing the joy on peoples face when they leave with some fire. I get to feel it every time I make a new song so it’s fun to share the experience
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
I get some of my best clients either through word of mouth or just meeting them in person. I will get people to come in here and there from social media but usually it’s a one time transaction and that’s it. The people I consistently work with are the ones who end up hearing about me through their friend, or we just ended up talking while I was out and over the course of working with each other the relationship grew.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
I feel like staying consistent in your output is great for growing clientele. If you are putting out a product and you believe in its worth, if you are always promoting it, or in my case always working with new people then you are bound to draw in more clients. The right people will start to keep seeing you or your product and get interested sooner or later.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ayekeem.com/home
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aye.keem444/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ayekeem444
Image Credits
All images were taken by myself or shot by Stacy James- https://www.instagram.com/stacyjamesofficial/?igsh=aHc4cnFucGcxdDZs