I'm a black hole where gigs go to die.

Years ago a friend of mine's computer business really took off, filling up his weekdays. He wanted to lighten his weekend schedule. He's a very good guitarist who had a couple church gigs that he wanted me to take over for him. One was playing guitar at an Adventist church for their contemporary service. This was on Saturday mornings, a rare time for a gig conflict. Perfect. The other was for another church on Sunday night. It paid quite well.

Flash forward five years, we run into each other at a soda jerk shop in Pasadena and he asks me, "what ever happened to those gigs I recommended you for?"

"I'm still doing them both."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I guess I'm the black hole where gigs go to die."

The Sunday night gig I did for a couple more years after that. Occasionally leading worship. At the Adventist Church, I had in the first 6 months become the worship leader and would go on for a dozen years in that role, serving faithfully until I was just too busy to continue.

If you are trying to build your business it's real important to build your business. Keep your clients and add to them. For years on the weekends I had a Saturday morning, a Saturday night, a Sunday morning and Sunday night gig at three or four churches. Every weekend. It paid a lot of bills. And was ministry too!

Some tips to keeping that gig...

1. Be faithful/consistent.
2. Be on time. I always make a point to be at every gig a half hour before I'm suppose to show up.
3. Go the extra mile. Invest when you need to.
4. Be prepared.
5. Stay current. Don't get lazy and just check in every week.

These are just a few ways to keep those gigs and add to them.