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My Music Success – Week 12

September 20, 2010 in Music Success in 9 weeks with 0 Comments

Music Success in 9 Weeks MSi9W – The Morning After

This week again I really need to focus on my continuum programs, mainly the members & students only lesson site. However, it’s been really difficult as I have 3 very important dates to rehearse for, one is the West Coast Guitar Night this coming Saturday were I’ll be playing 3 Vicente Amigo tunes, Sunday were I’m playing a bunch of solo guitar jazz tunes (that needs to be rehearsed) and I’m still preparing for the Oct Tour.

Week 12 – Day 1… Mining through emails to catch up on new fans. I need to create a Reverbnation store asap. I want to create more merchandise such as T-shirts, mugs, etc…

Also, been updating details to musicians regarding upcoming corporate performances. It’s been crazy busy again. I need my mini me asap and a 48 hour day! (24 hours isn’t enough anymore, help!)

I’m looking forward to working with Daniel Turner in Victoria mid October as well. Shhhhh! It’s a secret project that I’ll share details with you one day soon.

Week 12 – Day 2… A few cool things have happened today #1 I discovered that it’s ok to post cover tune video’s performed by myself to youtube without permission of the original artist or a license from the music owner and publisher. This is great as recording and posting video cover tunes is a great way to be found on YouTube. This is something to add to my “to do” list asap. Also, yesterday I had a chance to talk with Ben Woods from LA. Ben is a great guitarist and we may be working on the previously mentioned, secret project together. We also may both get over to Japan to do some more touring. We’ll see what happens and we’ll keep our fingers crossed.

Today’s another busy day rehearsing and I have a gig later in the afternoon. Other than keeping up with my blog posts and tweets I hope I can find a bit more social networking time and do a little guitar school work for one of my continuum programs. I also have to check in with Ariel Hyatt’s CyberPrMastermind site. Looks like we may have something happening for the MSi9W grad class.

Here’s my latest post to the CyberPrMastermind group…

Tips for gaining followers on Twitter and Fans on Reverbnation…

Ok I’m still in and here’s a few tips I have learned from others in the group that I’d like to share….

To increase my twitter presence I went to a couple of big name artists I sound like and began following aprox. 900 of their friends. (twitter will only allow you to follow so many at a time) Those friends are the people who I though would be most interested in what I’m up too. So the result is that I’ve increased my followers by 300% and it’s slowly growing every day.

Also Mary Lemanski suggested I become a fan of everyone in my music genre at reverbnation to increase my fan base and ranking there. And that’s working!

I took this one step further… I’m performing in a few new towns and I need to get more people out to these shows. So… you can go to reverbnation and Browse the Charts for all artists in the new location you will be performing in. Then you become their fan.

I also posted on my reverbnation calendar the shows I was playing in their town.

So what happened was reverbnation artists in these areas discovered me and that I was playing in their town. So it looks like some will be coming out to my performances and hopefully they’ll bring some friends.

There’s so much more I’m learning from everyone and wish I had a 48hour day to do what I’m trying to fit into each 24hours!

Please, let’s not hold back and share our ideas! There is room for all of us to become successful artists.

Oh, one more thing I learned from another reverbnation artist… Anyone that signs up to be my fan, I personally thank them and ask them to click “like me” on face book. and I do the same for them. It somehow increases our presence there. I don’t know how that all works, I just do it for everyone now.

Week 12 – Day 3… So much to do today and not enough time! Rehearse, schedule, blog, emails, teach and a list of tasks I can’t even begin to chip away at. So frustrating!

Week 12 – Day 4… Shipping a couple of Dvd orders today and repackaging some product, I finally managed to get started on my new Guitar School site! It’s going to be great. I’m trying a plugin called s2Member for wordpress to handle my student subscribers. I’ll let you know how it works out. It could be great, we’ll see. I’m off to the post office then it’s back to rehearsals and teaching this afternoon and eve. I hope to get back to working on the new site and Jam tracks tonight. (the jam track will be part of an improvising class as well as material available to the Guitar School subscribers.

My Music success posts have come to an end…

I’m sad to say that due to the ever increasing amount of tasks I have to chip away at I’ll have to discontinue my Music Success posts. There is much to do and so little time.

Thank you Ariel Hyatt and your inspiration as I continue to forge ahead!

My Music Success – Week 11

September 13, 2010 in Music Success in 9 weeks with 0 Comments

Music Success in 9 Weeks MSi9W – The Morning After

This week I really need to focus on my continuum programs, mainly the members & students only lesson site. I also have to rehearse for my October tour.

Week 11 – Day 1… Phplist once again is driving me nuts. Nothing to do with the software and everything to do with Netfirms. (I think) Anyways, I’m not going to give up yet however paying $20 a month to Reverbnation is becoming very tempting. Also joined www.formspring.me It’s a simple form that allows anyone to ask me anything. (We’ll see where that goes…) Been a busy day, rehearsing, teaching, networking on twitter and blogging.

It’s now 2:21am and I really wish I could function on no sleep because I have sooooo much to do however, Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Week 11 – Day 2… What a crazy busy day with students and scheduling. Also phplist is driving me nuts! It’s been 3 day’s trying to send out my current newsletter and netfirms still can’t resolve my issue running it from there hosting service. Is it just me or what???

Been checking out lots of bands at Reverbnation today and subscribing to their newsletters. So much talent and so music! How wonderful.

Just checked my web stats… 600 visitors to my website today!!! Thank you Ariel Hyatt and your 9 week music success boot camp challenge. From 150 to 600 visitors, wow. For years I could never break 200! and this is only the beginning. So much to do and so little time each day. I have to keep chipping away at the big stuff.

Week 11 – Day 3… First thing this morning I went to Reverbnation and became fans with more artists I liked then I got a tip from Nick Tann on how to link my web pages to my iTunes cd purchase pages. So I’ve created new links to iTunes from my blog and web site. If anyone wishes to do the same. You have to join cdbaby to have your music on iTunes. From there you can go to http://itunes.apple.com/linkmaker to create buttons and links to your itunes cd page for music purchases.

Now I have to spend some time rehearsing as WCGN is fast approaching.

Actually found time to do a little song writing today. Feels good as it’s been awhile!

Wow, my first survey is generating some very interesting insight for my online lesson material and tracks. I highly recommend SurveyMonkey.com for this. It’s awesome and can be very powerful for your market research!

Week 11 – Day 4… This morning I’ve been listening to more Reverbnation artists and becoming a fan to the artists I like. It’s helping to build awareness to my own music. Then I have a busy rehearsal day today. I’m rehearsing solo jazz pieces for a new corporate gig at the end of the month, rehearsing for WCGN and for the Oct tour. I have to book rehearsals with the group and get set list to them today.

Week 11 – Day 5… So much to do now each day! I have to be careful how I allocate my time. Did a quick tweet and my daily reverbnation fan building exercise. My improv classes has become very popular and are filling up fast. I still have a lot of preparation to do for my upcoming performances. Still on the fence re: phplist. I’ll try it for one more newsletter mailing and if I’m not 100% satisfied I’ll switch to ??? (I’ll have to do a little research here still)

Week 11 – Day 6 & 7… Not having much time these two days for social networking. Created a new blog post and some work on twitter however it’s been a busy 2 days. Yikes! again I need a mini me!

My Music Success Journal – Week 10

September 6, 2010 in Music Success in 9 weeks with 1 Comment

Music Success in 9 Weeks MSi9W – The Morning After

I’ve completed my blogging challenge with Ariel Hyatt and I’m very grateful for all the new music promotion tools I now have. So this is the beginning of my new music success journal to keep me accountable for my musical career and dream. As I complete my daily tasks, I’ll mark them done in bold and later summarize the day / week.

Week 10 – Day 1…

My main tasks for the day are:

- rehearse for my Sept. 25th WCGN performance (Westcoast Guitar Night) - Done
- mine through my emails (update my newsletter mailing list) - Done
- schedule rehearsals with my band for the Oct tour and create the set lists. - 3/4 Done
- call private students to finalize my fall schedule - Done
(Today I’m also creating a new group improv class and a reading ensemble and have been pitching it to students)
- create a new newsletter to mail out at the end of this week

The most important on going task is to put my continuum programs in place. Also ongoing is my daily tweets and blog commenting. I also set up Google Alerts to alert me on anything regarding Rumba Flamenco Guitar. I also still not to happy with the look of my blog. I’ll tweak it as soon as I can. I’m still really new to editing php and style sheets.

Last week my website broke 300 visitors in a single day. That’s a new gilliat record thank you for stopping by!

Week 10 – Day 2…

My main tasks for the day are:

- schedule rehearsals with my band for the Oct tour and finishing the set lists. - 3/4 Done
- create a new newsletter to mail out at the end of this week – must begin today!! – began
- Tweeting – Done & On going
- Ok, also working on my bathroom reno today – On Going
- Rehearsing WCGN tunes – Done
- Updating newsletter mailing list & private lesson schedule – Done

Tonight I’ll be visiting with friends from Japan that I haven’t see for awhile, can’t wait. Had to transfer my complete music library as zip files at 320k to Music Dealers. Had fun playing at the Latin Quarter tonight

Week 10 – Day 3…

- Began by reading a few tweets and tweeting (on going)
- Google Alerts is great! I began using it a few days ago alerting me to keywords I submit to provide me with blogs discussing topic in interested in commenting on. blog commenting – Done
- October tour set lists Completed – Done
- Must continue to finish news letter today - In process (just emailed a friend to include in my featured artist column) will include my article on private teacher scams and facing your fears
will also include my first ever fan survey!
- Prepare private lessons and teach today – Done

Week 10 – Day 4… Today I’m continuing to work on my newsletter. I’ve changed the format a bit and the look, I think it will be great. I’m also continueing to rehearse for WCGN and I’m working on new looping tech for the Oct shows. I’ve also confirmed a new date for the October tour. I’ll be performing solo Thurs. Oct. 21st at the Cabana Grille in Kelowna 7pm to 10:30pm. I’ll get that on my calendar right away!

Week 10 – Day 5… Did my rehearsing, and continued to tweak my newsletter to send out. I haven’t heard back from my featured artist so I’ll send this newsletter without him. I hope to hear from him soon for the next newsletter or I’ll move on to my next artist to feature. Did some tweeting however today was very busy with non musical events. Also set up rehearsals for WCGN and the Oct Tour.

Week 10 – Day 6… I have to get my newsletter out today! I’m rehearsing for WCGN then I’ll complete my newsletter. Also looking forward to working with members of Ariels CyberPrMastermind group to create a forum to help each other move forward with MSi9W. (the morning after)

Finally completed my newsletter! It looks great and took hours to complete however, this one will act as the master template. I’ll send it out tomorrow. I’m also happy to report I’ve included my first survey. You can check it out here.

Bandcamp.com has now decided to charge me for people that download my music for free. What the?… Everyone is trying to make a buck these days. After the initial shock I think it’s ok as there is a lot of value in what services Bandcamp.com provides. So I’ll hang in there with them and see how it all pans out.

Week 10 – Day 7… Today’s the day to send out my new html newsletter with phplist. It’s been a ton of work and frustration trying to set this up to make it work so here we go… (fingers crossed) Also rehearsing while phplist does it’s thing!

Music Success in 9 Weeks – The Final Week!

August 30, 2010 in Music Success in 9 weeks with 0 Comments

After a very successful week 8 it’s time to begin the Final Week!…

This is wonderful as I’m on the last week to completing Ariel’s Music Success in 9 Weeks blogging challenge. Win or loose, I’ve come away with a much greater understanding of “social networking”and have now implemented all the right tools to really take my music career to another level! I truly mean that, this is a very, very good, up to date book and program.

I’ve bought and read a lot of books online that for me was a total waist of time and money however, Ariel Hyatt’s book and program is a must have and more importantly a must do program for all indie artists!

Social Networking to me 9 weeks ago was a total mystery. I’m a solo artist with no current street team however, now at week 9 I’m gaining an average of 4 to 10 followers every day on Twitter & Facebook alone.

I now have a blog with over 130 posts that is now drawing a lot of relevant traffic and comments. Last week I had a day with over 800 hits!

My website traffic 9 weeks ago averaged 100 to 150 each day now I’m averaging 250 to 300.

My online sales remain the same however with my new and now regular news letter format as well as creating my continuum programs I know it’s only a matter of time before my online sales increase.

Not only has my online presence increased, I have learned how to better network in the real world, learned to create a better brand for myself, how to set goals and put a task system in place to chip into each goal daily until it’s done. I wake up each day now full of enthusiasm, just itching to begin chipping into my task list! I can now realistically see and predict were I’m going and it’s really very exciting! I don’t say to myself “if only I had a good agent, manager, a record deal…”

The cool thing is once I’m finished my 9 weeks I’ll now have everything in place to begin my soon to become very successful music career.

To date I have accomplished a lot but just watch me now…

So let’s begin the final week.

Week 9 – Day 1… Week 9 is about creating a continuum program. It involves getting my customers to purchase my merchandise as well as how to create other revenue streams such as fan site subscription, etc. This is the week I’ve been waiting for! So time to hit the book and see was Ariel has in mind for me this week…

Today I’m going to begin by creating 2 funnels. Funnel 1 is for the “music listener” and funnel 2 will be for the “guitar playing” fan. This is good as you will now see some of the potential revenue streams that has been getting me so amped up.

I’ve taken Ariel’s funnel and applied it to my Funnel No.1 – the music listener/fan/customer and for Funnel No.2…  It’s going to target my guitar player fans that would like to learn from me. I still have a few blanks to fill in with both funnels however, I’m almost there.

I believe I could create a 3rd funnel to sell my services as an online session player. The ideas seem to be coming quickly. I’ve also heard of an artist from the cdbaby DIY podcast that has been extremely successful selling video songs. I’m also good at working with video and video editing so that may also be a potential download income stream.

Week 9 – Day 2… (I think) It’s now 12:38am and I’m finally using phplist to manage my newsletter and mailing list! It wasn’t as hard to setup as I thought it would be. So much to do however, I need sleep! Zzzzzzz….
I’m back and awake. Today I’ve finish configuring most of phplist. What a great program for handling and managing my email lists! I’ve also finished uploading all my cd’s and music to bandcamp and now fans can street, share and purchase music much easier from my website and blog. My music is now available as 128k mp3, 320k mp3, flac, or just about any other format you could possibly desire. Now it’s time to get back to my week 9 tasks…

Week 9 – Day 3… I think I’ve decided to continue my music success in 9 weeks blog as my now public on going music career journal. It feels so good to be doing this and I don’t want to abandon it just because the challenge has ended.

These post are keeping me accountable to myself and on task. I also think other artist may find the posts helpful. Maybe it’s a good way to pay it forward. Other artists can see were I began, all the ups and downs and see that it does make a difference. Every little goal and task, every little day. Some days are great and some not. They can bounce around from week to week and see were this is taking me.

Next week will be the beginning of Week 10 and beyond. (there is a lot of book left) and there is so much more to do, on going, from the previous chapters.

Also, because of my new social network of artists, fans and friends, I’m now connecting with other artists that are creating great work and are really doing well. I’m surrounding myself with like minded people that I respect, admire and look up to. Artist’s such as Matt Stevens and Tomas Michaud. (to name only two however, there are many. I’ll introduce you to more through my newsletters)

These are people you may not know because you don’t read about their Allien girl friends in the National Enquirer. But these guys are brilliant and have 10′s of thousands of fans. Myself as one!

Let’s all continue to get to know each other, continue to create great musical works and live our artist career and lives!

Ok, back to work… Today I spent most of the day re-configuring phplist. Always, back up your files! I know better however, I was messing around with a config file without a backup of the original and it cost me half a day’s work. All is back up and running with phplist and for those of you that maintain their own websites and files I highly recommend Filezilla. It’s a free program for transferring files from your computer to your web host site. I get a little frustrated when I’m not on task and having to take a little detour. Today is one of those days.

Week 9 – Day 4… Today I’m continuing to tweak my Funnels. I’ve added a $5 per/month fan club to implement. There are a number of continuum programs for me to implement so I’m setting goals, dates and tasks for these to get them going. My first task is to learn to create a password protected site for my Fan Club, Guitar Lesson Club, Song of the week Club for paid subscribers to log into. Anyone have any ideas. My friend Tomas paid $250 for software for this to work with his blog. Is there an inexpensive solution for this?

Decided to try something new… I still need to increase the number of people I follow on twitter. An interesting thing I think I’ve learnt about twitter followers is that most of the people I follow tend to follow me back. So I thought I would begin following the people who follow an artist I feel my music is very similar too as these followers may like my own music. It’s also another good way to research my own demographic. I think? Ok, so it’s just a thought but who knows? Stay tuned and we’ll see were it goes.

Week 9 – Day5… So here’s something else I didn’t know about Twitter. You can only follow 2000 people max. (1000 per day) However you can be followed by an unlimited amount. Also, twitter may not allow you to follow 1000 if only a handfull are following you. As you gain more followers twitter will allow you to follow more. (up to a 2000 limit). I hope that all made sense.

Thanks to Carla at Ariel’s CyberPrMasterming group! This is the answer to my Day 4 question regarding a membership site. There is a  (relatively) inexpensive software program that can do this. If your blog uses WordPress, there is a plugin available called WishList Member. And it’s only $97.00 for 1 domain or $29u.00 for unlimited domains. The program come highly recommended! I’ll purchase it once I’m ready to implement my members site. If anyone else is interested here’s the software link: http://member.wishlistproducts.com/

Week 9 – Day6… Today I began by tweaking phpist. The program is all ready to go for my next newsletter. I added a couple of great plugins to give me all the stats and data I need to effectively track and manage my email lists. I also spent time on completing a blog post and time on twitter. My tactic above seems to be working as I’ve more than doubled my followers in the last 2 days. Followers that are interested in my music. I’m also spending time planning my 2 members sites for fans and lessons.

Lots to do each day, to bad I have to sleep once in a while. Zzzzzzzzz…

Week 9 – Day 7… Today I’m going to have a day off and spend it relaxing with my wife. Later tonight I have my students to call to update my fall lesson schedule. Then tomorrow it’s time to begin week 10!

Thank you Ariel Hyatt and the CyberPrMastermind group for all your guidance!

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