The Winner Is . . . (and a Farewell to Music Success in Nine Weeks)

WEEK 9!!!!!!

Business is a daily subject of conversation in our home. My husband and I are both business owners and the boys are quite the entrepreneurs themselves. Last week the boys set up a grocery store in the living room several times and over the weekend my youngest was intent on earning enough money to buy a "pillow pet." Saturday's cookie sale boasted a total earnings of $8! (Thanks to all of our neighbors.)

This last week of Music Success in Nine Weeks has caused me to reflect on the business strategies I've been learning about. How will I tie all of these together? Certainly a plan of continuum for the things I've implemented is in order. I'll be piecing that plan together during the next few days. I'm envisioning some cool events to keep things alive around here. How about a private concert for my main blog readers where you can hear my new songs before the upcoming album is released? A podcast could be cool. Ooh, I've always wanted to do a tour where I throw a benefit concert for someone in your town . . .

Here's an idea:

Post a creative idea of your own on how to keep my fans involved and I will mail a free CD of my album "Feather in the Wind" to a randomly selected commenter.

(McCann Purcell: was the client of the day . . . until he threw a rock at Thatcher.)

One Heart Bulgaria Benefit Concert!

Remember when I went to Bulgaria with Sam Payne? We toured a number of orphanages during our stay and fell in love with the children and the country. This Friday, along with our friend and fellow artist, Peter Breinholt, we will be sharing videos and photos of that trip during a benefit concert for those orphanages. All proceeds will go to the non-profit organization One Heart Bulgaria who puts the money into programs, medical supplies, facility improvements and much more for orphanages throughout the country.

Where: The Wilkinson Center Ballroom, BYU, Provo, UT

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Tickets: Single Student: $8, Date Night Special: $15, Group Rate (6 tickets) $35, General Admission: $10, Family Pass: $40
Tickets sold online at www.oneheart-bg.org
Questions? Call (435) 764-3093

The Deseret News featured an article today on One Heart Bulgaria and the benefit concert. Read it here!

This will be the perfect way to celebrate the end of my chapter by chapter chronicles of Music Success in Nine Weeks. See you there!

P.S. Can I just tell you what a pleasure it was to read through all your comments on that last post? I was so pleased to learn more about you. I hope you feel comfortable enough to leave a comment here anytime. I have the BEST readers.

Week 8: People Skills

This reminds me of a social situation when I met a celebrity. He was a gentleman and asked me all about myself and I was too dumbstruck to speak. Then, a mean French lady told me to leave, so I basically got escorted away. Yeah, it was awesome. But the Russian chick seems to be doing a great job.

Wow. According to my calculations, next week is the last week of my literary quest to conquer Music Success in Nine Weeks. Week 8 has been all about real live networking, which really comes down to one thing:
PEOPLE SKILLS, PEOPLE.

The biggest goal when it comes to networking is to be memorable. How does one accomplish this? It's pretty simple: the more you allow THEM to talk, the more memorable YOU will be. My dad has always taken a sincere interest in the people he interacts with. If we've ever been in a social situation together and he can't remember a name, he will whisper in my ear and ask me if I can remember. He always likes to greet people by their first name and tries to mention something he remembers about them. (I'm super sweet on my dad in case I've never mentioned that before.) I actually really enjoy getting to know people from all walks of life. Remember the New Orleans cab driver I once told you about? I wanted to talk to that man for hours. It's not like I don't have my narcissistic moments, but I do adore meeting interesting people.

There have been times when I've read comments here on my blog that go something like:

"I feel like I'm intruding . . ."
OR
"I've been a blurker here for a while . . ." (that word cracks me up, by the way.)
OR
"I've never commented before . . ."

Allow me to let you in on a little something: I made this blog so that I could interact with people from here to Kalamazoo. I don't know most of you, but I love that I at least know your blogger identities (that's right Liahonajourney, Amber, La Yen, Stephers, Gerb, Team Harris, Becky, Dana, and all of you other awesome people who leave comments). I want to know you better. If you are reading this right now whether we know each other or not, will you please leave a comment introducing yourself and telling me something interesting about you? I would like to comment back to each of you who does. Ready, set, GO.

Stimulating the Inner Artist

I write on my walls.
I close my eyes and allow my hands to spell out words at random. I do not think about their meaning or their order. I simply allow them to escape me.

I first read about a similar idea in Julia Cameron's book, The Artist's Way. Julia calls this exercise the "Morning Pages." Every morning, she advises that you write three pages of longhand, pointless, stream of conscious material. For example:

"I've noticed lately that my dog's hair is starting to form these vicious little matted clumps. How I will brush those out, I never know. Looks like it's time to have the groomer shave him again. I hate the groomer. She looks upon me with the most pitiful eyes, as if I have no compassion for animals. Does she know I never wanted this dog in the first place? Does she know he was brought home without my consent? She wouldn't care even she she did . . ."

There is no right way to write these. No one is allowed to see them and she even suggests that you put them in an envelope so you can't leaf back through yourself. You might notice that this exercise yields all sorts of self-pitying, negative, repetitive or even bland thoughts. Perfect! The purpose here is to simply drain your brain of all the nonsense that stands between you and your creativity.

Another essential exercise in creativity that I have loved from this book is called the "Artist Date." This is a block of time (perhaps two hours a week or so) dedicated to nurturing your inner artist. Most of the time, this is an excursion of sorts where you open yourself up to insight and inpsiration from the environment of your choice. Your artist date might be a stroll through a local art gallery, a treasure hunt through a junk store, taking yourself to the matinée, or a quiet walk on the beach. No one is allowed to accompany you on your artist date. This is meant to be done alone. You may notice the urge to resist this, finding it too self indulgent or using the excuse that you don't have the time. You must defend your artist date from all others who might encroach upon it. Regarding the "Morning Pages" and the "Artist Date," Julia states:

"Think of this combination of tools in terms of a radio receiver and transmitter. It is a two-step, two-directional process: out and then in. Doing the morning pages, you are sending--notifying yourself and the universe of your dreams, dissatisfactions, hopes. Doing your artist date, you are receiving--opening yourself to insight, inspiration and guidance."

Something I have personally found very helpful in my creative process is shifting my body position when I feel blocked. I may be sitting on the couch for an hour and when I start to feel stuck, I lay on the floor and stare at the ceiling or I go sit in a corner and view the room from a different angle. This somehow stimulates my brain to think of new ways to write lyrics from a different angle as well. One of my mentors, Tony Litster, suggested once to try standing on my head.

I try it.

I fumble.

I start laughing.

Hard.

My husband starts laughing while snapping shots of my fanny.

Presto!

Next time, I think I will try it alone.

What do YOU do to stimulate creativity?

P.S. Quinn Curtis is featuring me today on her awesome blog, "Created by Chicks." Check it out!

Week 7: Reporting for Duty

Do you see my subliminal message? Click here to decode.

I am reporting for duty on Week 7 of Music Success in Nine Weeks: How to Build Your Mailing List. The irony here is that the first page is all about the importance of communicating regularly and consistently with your fans and I have been rather absent this week here on my blog.

Where have I been? I've been on the couch snuggling with a sick boy. I've been to the grocery store. Thursday was dedicated to tending my sister's 10 month old baby while she worked. Friday night was date night with my Mister and last night I saw the amazing Paul Jacobsen and the Madison Arm in concert. But largely, I have been trying to disengage from the internet. You know that sick to your stomach feeling you get when you've eaten way too much sugar? That's how I was feeling this week about all of the electronics I've been plugged into. Besides, do you really care about my email list? I think not.

But here is something you may care about. I am a text person and find that I respond to texts way faster than I do to email. If you're the same way, then you can scroll up to that nifty widget and sign up for my texting group. That means, you'll get a text from me to notify you about shows in your area or an occasional really exciting tidbit of news that I want to share with you. Pretty cool huh?

Thanks to all those who signed up for and responded to my newsletter last week. How about that bathroom humor? Has anyone tried out my Thumbprint Cookie Recipe? You guys rock the casbah.