3 Tips by Shalev Alon

Becoming a successful artist may seem an impossible endeavor to most of us. People believe that to work in the entertainment industry, you do not only need plenty of dedication and talent, but also tons of luck. Making a living out of your biggest passion may seem like an unachievable dream, but Shalev Alon couldn’t disagree more. “I believe most passions can have a way to be profitable. You can either work in your passion, you can advise others how to work in this passion, or you can teach others with similar interests about your passion,” said Shalev.  

Shalev Alon is the founder of S.A. Mixing, a company offering full audio service for mixing and mastering music for films, tv, and artists. This entrepreneur has created the music for several movies including The Lego Ninjago Movie and Furioza and has worked on important events, such as the Disneyland shows for Marvel Land. Shalev believes that everybody can have a career in the entertainment industry as long as they’re passionate about their job. But how can you turn your startup biz into a successful business? Here are Shalev’s tips!

Value Your Clients

Most people never end up making a living in the entertainment industry because they lack the necessary patience. Becoming successful in this field requires lots of time and effort as you probably won’t see results in the first few months. The key to success is to value all your clients and create long-lasting connections with each one of them. 

“Remember that there is no such thing as a big client or small client, all clients are ‘big’ clients,” said Shalev. According to him, building strong personal connections will set you apart from your competitors and will help you expand your network. “I have built my business slowly through the years, gathering clients who trust me with their music and have the confidence in me to recommend me to other people,” said Shalev.

Find Your Biggest Passion 

Unless you’re truly passionate about your job, you probably won’t be able to keep your consistency throughout your career. “When a person does not work in his passion the chances that there will be a lack of motivation are bigger,” said Shalev. The key to making it as an artist is to have fun with your job, showing up every day at work knowing that this is exactly what you want to do in life rather than patiently waiting for the day you will finally be able to retire. Once you manage to make money out of your biggest passion you won’t have to work a single day in your life! “The main thing that I remind myself of is the moment where I fell in love with music and how to bring it into my everyday projects and always to work from this interest,” said Shalev.

According to him, figuring out your passion will give you a huge head start. “Most people don’t even know what their passion is, so just the fact that you know your passion is already an advantage. (…) If there are people who work and make a living from a similar passion as you, there is no reason why you can’t do it as well,” said Shalev.    

People often think that to become successful in the entertainment business you necessarily have to make tons of money, but Shalev believes that for as long as you can make money from what you love, you already made it. “You don’t need to wait until you ‘make it’ if you are getting paid for the creativity you have already made,” said Shalev.  

Keep Yourself Inside the Room 

After you manage to find your true passion and build a strong network by valuing each one of your clients and creating strong personal connections with them, opportunities will start to arise. According to Shalev, with time, someone will eventually introduce you to new exciting projects, but it is your job to ‘keep yourself inside the room’. “When somebody helps you and opens a door for you, remember that you are the only one who can keep yourself inside the room,” said Shalev. According to him, there are a few practical ways to do so. 

Balance your free time with working hours, be persistent, and take care of both your physical and mental health. “My service in the IDF made me understand what it is to work hard and not give up. Everything is in our mind, it’s a combination of body and soul, whether we want to achieve something in a physical challenge or a mental challenge like pursuing our dream job,” said Shalev. 

Make sure to always be professional, never arrive late, and be a pleasant person to work with. Your goal is to have more and more people recommending your work to others, and by following these simple rules, the word will surely spread quickly.