Will Hardison

There is no such thing as an Overnight Celebrity

Do you remember when Lil Jon came out with his first, what I would consider main stream, hit “Get Low” It swept the club scene during the spring/summer of 2003, but most people had never heard of Lil Jon. I know I hadn’t. Which leads you to think, “Who is this guy? He comes out with one popular song and now he is well on his way to selling a million albums! Man, he is lucky. Why can’t I do that?” Actually, if you dig deeper you’ll learn that Lil Jon was a part of the original crew of Element Skateboards back in the 80’s, which is now one of the largest and well-respected companies in the skateboarding industry. He was also the DJ in a small group in Atlanta, “Mass Prophets”. Turns out, Lil John had been rapping on street corners, small clubs, and underground scenes for 20 years before he finally made it big. Same goes for the band Maroon 5. Most people think Maroon 5 was a band put together by a record label, backed by marketing dollars, and set out to sell a million albums. Wrong. Maroon 5 started as a high school garage band “Kara’s Flowers” and stuck together for close to 15 years before making it big and selling over 10 million records.

What’s my point? My point is that in business, or anything in life for that matter, you have to stick with it. Rome wasn’t built in a day, Lil Jon didn’t sell a million plus records recording his very first song, and Maroon 5 didn’t top the billboard charts with their first album. You are not going to become a millionaire, or even turn a substantial profit overnight. It takes years of dedication. I use this analogy all the time, but the Indian rain dance works because they kept dancing until it rained. Never give up. Work smart and stay on track. In the end, if you do the rights things, the right way, you will get the right results. It may not happen tomorrow, but it will pay off at some point.

Every day I struggle with staying focused and dedicated to MEDIAPLUG, it is tough to stick with something long term. I believe this is why there are only a handful of people who are actually really successful. I do it though, I’ve done my best to stay dedicated and on task because I know that in the long run it will pay off.

Tags: Business, dedication, element skateboard, lil jon, maroon 5, mediaplug