"Everything and everyone is about doing business or advertising and promotion online."
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We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Alexander Ruhnau: Thanks for having me. SOULFLVR is a music brand and an artist name for music productions and DJ.
SOULFLVR music releases and can be found on all stores like iTunes, Amazon Music old Beatport, but also on all music streaming services like Spotify, Deezer etc. SOULFLVR releases new music every month in the „House“ genre.
2020 and 2021 threw a lot of curve balls into business on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past couple years, how can businesses thrive in 2022? What lessons have you learned?
Alexander Ruhnau: Indeed, the pandemic had a big impact on the music business: Nowadays, artists’ income is based on live venues – there are no more CD sales and almost no mp3 music sales. It’s all about streaming, and the royalty paychecks are low.
But music streaming is a great way to advertise artists’ music to new audiences, and when they become fans, they will eventually show up on your live gigs. The lesson I learned as an artist and music producer is that more than ever, artists need to play live to have a notable income.
The pandemic seems to keep on disrupting the economy, what should businesses focus on in 2022? What advice would you share?
Alexander Ruhnau: I think one should get less dependent on others. Also, in the music business, we do a lot of outsourcing – so do I. But I only outsource tasks I could easily replace by other companies. I used to ask myself one question when giving tasks to other companies: What if the company goes bankrupt or significantly raises prices? Would it be critical to my business? If the answer is „yes“ I do it on my own.
How has the pandemic changed your industry and how have you adapted?
Alexander Ruhnau: The music industry of DJs and music producers is dependent on live venues, and you know they’ve all been shut down. So I lived on my savings, improved my music studio in the basement of my house to perfection, and let creativity flow for fresh sounds
What advice do you wish you received when the pandemic started and what do you intend on improving in 2022?
Alexander Ruhnau: The pandemic hit really hard and no one knew what was coming next. I don’t think there would have been a piece of good advice for me to make things better. As an entrepreneur, I’m in charge to find my own path and make things work.
Online business surged higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for 2022?
Alexander Ruhnau: Online businesses got vital in all kinds of ways and advertising and promoting online gets more and more mandatory.
How many hours a day do you spend in front of a screen?
Alexander Ruhnau: About eight to ten hours a day. And yes, I already need reading glasses nowadays.
The majority of executives use stories to persuade and communicate in the workplace. Can you share with our readers examples of how you implement that in your business to communicate effectively with your team?
Alexander Ruhnau: In music we paint pictures with our words and melodies, and so we do when speaking to team members and collaborators. Regarding this, a sentence often starts with „Imagine“.
It could be something like, „Imagine you walk down a lonesome road through a desert valley, and you hear the crackling noise of tumbleweed crossing the street from the gusting winds. I want such crackling noise as background noise for my new sound“.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as the real challenge right now?
Alexander Ruhnau: Everything and everyone is about doing business or advertising and promotion online. The challenge is to stand out and reach our specific audience.
In 2022, what are you most interested in learning about? Crypto, NFTs, online marketing, or any other skill sets? Please share your motivations.
Alexander Ruhnau: Definitively online marketing. If your main job is not creating assets online, it’s tough to do this on top, but it’s necessary.
A record 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September in 2021, accelerating a trend that has become known as the Great Resignation. 47% of people plan to leave their job during 2022. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued and misunderstood in the workplace. Do you think leaders see the data and think “that’s not me – I’m not that boss they don’t want to work for? What changes do you think need to happen?
Alexander Ruhnau: I totally agree. I was an employee for 20 years and all the records applied to me. That was one reason I resigned – the other reason was that I wanted to do what I love, so the job doesn’t feel like work. In my opinion, leaders that do not carefully listen or care for their teams will be replaced in the future, or their companies or businesses will fail.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Alexander Ruhnau: My wish for a superpower would be to know the best way to find and approach the customer that suits your product best.
What does “success” in 2022 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Alexander Ruhnau: For me, success is when lots of people fall in love with my product, which is music in my case. Everything else follows.
Jerome Knyszewski, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Alexander Ruhnau for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Alexander Ruhnau or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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