It's hard to be objective about your own songs. Sometimes you'll think you have a surefire hit and publishers will give you a look that says, “Did someone leave a dead possum in here?” Other times, you may have a future hit right in front of you and not know it. You must believe to succeed. Support and feedback can play crucial roles in learning to believe in your songs.

Moral Support

It's easier to have faith in something if you're not alone in your belief. Build a support group of people who like your songs. Start with friends and family, and then develop a circle of other writers and musicians who believe in you. Finally, look for publishers who see your potential as a writer (and can see it without asking you for money). As the number of people who believe in you grows, it will be easier for you to believe in your abilities and in your songs.

Financial Support

Sooner or later, somebody has to spend money on your songwriting career. Probably, it will be you. Ask yourself what you can do to put some cash into your business. Is there something less important than songwriting that's eating up your demo money? Can you do without four hundred TV channels? Could you live with cutting your bowling back to once a week? How much studio time would that Hawaiian vacation have bought?

Start an account for your songwriting business and put money in it every week. Make a minimum weekly cash commitment to your career. If you have a good week and can put back a little extra, that's great, just make sure you put in at least the minimum amount every week and don't spend it on anything but songwriting. You'll be surprised how fast your stash will grow. Keep track of how you spend your songwriting money. Save all your receipts: Hopefully, you'll need them someday for tax writeoffs.

Support from your spouse or family can make all the difference. Many successful songwriters received financial help from their families or spouses before making it big. Many also lost their spouses and/or estranged their families over money issues before they made it, so it's important to discuss boundaries beforehand and know what kind of support you can expect and for how long.

Finding an Investor

If there's a way to get “outside” money for your career, it can help take you over the final hurdle. The most important thing to ask yourself before looking for an investor is, “Am I really ready to do this?” If you're still three years away from being a hit writer, you'll just be blowing money that you could use later and losing a valuable contact in the process. When you're ready, make a list of the wealthiest people you know. Make sure they all get the opportunity to hear your songs, either live or recorded. The next time one of them says, “Gee, your songs are so good, I don't understand why you're not on the radio,” talk to them about the business side of music. Explain about the costs of making good demos, postage, gas money, hotel bills, and any other expense you regularly incur as a songwriter.

Of course, these people will probably want something for their investments. Selling part of the publishing on your songs in return for professional quality demos is one option. Just remember, a publisher usually wants a minimum of half of the publishing rights on a song, so try to keep as much as you can to bargain with later. Sometimes investors will put money into a recording project more easily than a demo project. If you're a great performer, talk with investors about making a record. This gives them a product they can hear, see, and touch. Offer the investor the title of Executive Producer and a percentage of sales. That way, you keep your publishing open to use elsewhere. And always have a lawyer examine and explain any contracts you are asked to sign.

Constructive Criticism

The flipside of support is criticism. It's just as important in helping you to believe in yourself and reach your goals. Starting with your support group, build a circle of people whom you trust to give you honest opinions about your songs. Have other songwriters and musicians who are as good or better than you point out trouble spots and suggest changes. Ask publishers what they like and don't like about your songs. Songwriting forums on the Internet usually have critique boards where you can give and receive feedback. Some songwriter's organizations, like NSAI, offer a professional critique service for members. Some songwriters even pay a critique service to go over their songs with a fine-toothed comb.

Don't worry about whom you agree with. The important thing is to get as much feedback from as many sources as possible and then analyze it to see what it means. This is a great way for you to get a more objective picture of your songs and of yourself as a writer.

Look for patterns in feedback to help spot your strengths and weaknesses. Do most people love your melodies and say very little about your lyrics? Do people say that your uptempos all sound like something from twenty years ago? Do your other writer pals all drool over your hooks? Listen to the positive and the negative. Ignoring the good things you hear about your writing can keep you from being able to build on your successes. Discounting all the bad things means you'll make the same mistakes again and again.

Of course, you can't take everyone's advice. Your grandma may love your old-time pop ballads, but she's not a publisher and she's not buying a million records this year. The kid next door might hate hearing you put a hip-hop beat in a modern country song, but that doesn't mean it won't work. Learn to sort the information you receive and look for the patterns. Do certain subgroups react in a particular way to something about your song? If you find that a number of people react strongly to something in your song, either positively or negatively, then examine it and see what makes it work, or not work, as the case may be. Listen to everybody, then figure out what it all means and what you want to do about it.