By Vinny Ribas Indieconnect.com

You might have unbelievable talent. You may be investing a lot of money into recording, gear etc. You can be spending countless hours talking yourself up on social networks. But if you don’t seem to be making any progress in your career. there is still something amiss. Here is a brief checklist ofsome reasons you may be hitting a roadblock.

You’re in it for the wrong reason. It is vital that you love the music first. Any other priority will get in the way of you’re relationships with your fans.
You don’t have a plan. You must know where you’re headed and then map out a step-by-step plan on how you are going to get there. Without it you’re just throwing things at the wall to see what sticks.
You’re unwilling to do the things that successful artists do. This ranges from spending hours every day or week marketing yourself to making calls for gigs. It includes taking lessons and hiring coaches. Until ou have a team, you have to be willing to do it all.
You believe that your talent is enough. Nothing could be further from the truth. There are millions of extremely talented singers, songwriters and musicians out there. The ones who make it are the ones who put the effort in to make themselves impossible to ignore.
You’re not willing to pay your dues. This includes everything from marketing yourself to playing small, mostly empty venues for experience. Successful musicians become that way because they know that it is a process and that they need to earn the respect of the industry before they will be taken seriously.
You’re doing it all alone. You’re the band leader, the producer, the engineer, the songwriter, the manager, the booking agent and even your own unofficial lawyer. Music is a team sport. It takes a wide variety of skills, a vast amount of knowledge and a long list of connections to cover all of the bases properly.
You are afraid to take the necessary risks. This includes everything from investing in yourself to quitting your day job and going ‘all in’ if necessary. It includes being vulnerable enough to put your real self and your music on stage for all of the world to see and possibly critique. It includes going for the gigs that require you to stretch and improve rather than staying in your comfort zone. Successful artists take risks every day because they know that if there is no risk, there is little or no reward.