Street Teams Are Bullshit

Dear Fan,
I've recently started a solo music project after being in a band for 10+ years. Previously, there were four people sharing band duties such as booking, promoting, etc. Being just one person, I find there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done. How can I create a new "team" to help keep the gears in motion as I work to build a name for myself? I know all about street teams, contests and other means for getting people to help spread the word, but I need a core team that I can rely on. I don't know how to make this happen since I'm an indie artist and not able to offer pay or other big benefits. Any insight is appreciated!

Thanks,
Jordan

Jordan,
Even if you do find success, it is likely that your core team is just going to be you for a very long time. That is the reality and knowing and being capable of doing everything yourself is, at a minimum, valuable in that it will help you appreciate what other people do for you if'n you get a "core team" at a later date.

Accepting that, you need to look towards manageability. Duty to your career cannot overtake duty to your art; that is when people burn out and freak out. The big thing to realize is that there is no perfect way to do this, no "if only I'd ____, then this would have happened, and that would be me up there instead of 2 Chainz!" Being covetous only works when it helps motivate you to work hard, not for curating elaborate fantasies that have you ruing fate. Shit happens how it happens. There is no sure path to fame. Your idiot friends and their Candelbox of a band will get deals, drugs, and pliant tail they do not deserve. C'est la guerre.

Understandably, maintenance of your online presence--tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, maybe YouTube, as well as Bandcamp, Soundcloud, or, for old times sake, MySpace, is a lot of internetting to be dealing with on top of being an artist. You can choose to do all or none of these, but a functional minimum is Facebook, Twitter, and a Bandcamp page. A tumblr-anchored site/basic website is also fairly crucial if you are "serious".

To keep all of this manageable you need to implement a routine, which is crucial for putting some space between your creative time and the time where you play manager. (For added realness, change into a special "work" outfit when you are in business mode, i.e. overalls, a speedo.) Being judicious with your time means some careful forethought and being organized and will leave you with still plenty of brain space for writing songs and time for practicing your craft.