<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425</id><updated>2010-03-13T08:20:50.328-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Bob Baker's Indie Music Promotion Blog</title><subtitle type='html'>News, notes and ideas on music marketing, self-promotion, artist empowerment and more</subtitle><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><link rel='next' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default?start-index=26&amp;max-results=25'/><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/atom.xml'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>493</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425.post-5683338083981586209</id><published>2010-02-26T11:49:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2010-02-26T11:49:24.068-06:00</updated><title type='text'>The Time Factor: Are You Giving Yourself Enough?</title><content type='html'>Are you giving yourself time to develop -- and the space to experiment, screw up, and grow?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img align="left" border="0" hspace="14" src="http://www.mbd2.com/forum/balloon_Animal_Blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/steve.jpg" vspace="2" width="180" /&gt;I just finished reading Steve Martin's book, &lt;i&gt;Born Standing Up&lt;/i&gt;, and it really opened my mind to this important factor. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I was at the perfect age to appreciate Martin when he burst onto the national scene as that "wild and crazy guy" in the late '70s. I ate up his absurd appearances on &lt;i&gt;Saturday Night Live&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;The Tonight Show&lt;/i&gt;, recited his bits with my friends, and saw him perform live at an arena in St. Louis.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But, as is the case with all overnight success stories, &lt;b&gt;it took him decades to get there&lt;/b&gt;. In the book, Martin details his early years doing magic at Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm, and struggling with his unusual act in front of empty rooms and apathetic patrons at folk music venues in California.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By his late 20s, he was on the road a lot and treating his performances like a science project -- recording his act, measuring audience responses, experimenting with timing, honing his physical gestures, while gaining (and losing) confidence along the way.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;These sure but steady improvements earned him more opportunities, and when he finally made it into the greater public awareness, &lt;b&gt;he was well oiled and ready to deliver&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Compare that to the early rounds of &lt;i&gt;American Idol&lt;/i&gt;, where kids who have barely spent any time on a stage are expected to stand up and deliver star power quality to millions on live TV.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That's insane. No doubt, some have a better handle on delivering the sound, the look, and the swagger ... but to expect much more out of them without years of work is nonsense.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In his book &lt;i&gt;Outliers&lt;/i&gt;, Malcolm Gladwell says that on average it takes 10,000 hours to master any craft. And getting in that many hours of practice can take 10 or more years.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Which leads back to some variations on my opening question ...&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;Are you giving yourself time to develop?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Are you putting in the time? For songwriting? For performing live? For recording? For self-promotion?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Are you giving yourself the space and room to experiment, to screw up, to learn, and to grow?&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Bob&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Related links&lt;/b&gt;:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1416553657?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=thecreativeout02&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=390957&amp;amp;creativeASIN=1416553657" target="_new"&gt;Born Standing Up by Steve Martin&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316017922?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=thecreativeout02&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=390957&amp;amp;creativeASIN=0316017922" target="_new"&gt;Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/8831" target="_new"&gt;Charlie Rose video interview with Steve Martin &lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16629674" target="_new"&gt;NPR interview with Steve Martin&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.artsjournal.com/artfulmanager/main/wanna-get-to-carnegie-hall-got.php" target="_new"&gt;Arts Journal blog post on Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hours&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9785425-5683338083981586209?l=www.bob-baker.com%2Fmusicpromotionblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/5683338083981586209/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9785425&amp;postID=5683338083981586209' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/5683338083981586209'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/5683338083981586209'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2010/02/time-factor-are-you-giving-yourself.html' title='The Time Factor: Are You Giving Yourself Enough?'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='08572255470182414485'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425.post-4105181280687328622</id><published>2010-02-22T15:02:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2010-02-22T15:02:54.524-06:00</updated><title type='text'>The Kama Sutra of Music Marketing</title><content type='html'>When was the last time you thought about music promotion and romance at the same time? Been a while? Well, by the time you finish reading this post, you may do it more often. (Thinking about the combination, that is. How often you "do it" is up to you :-)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;img border="0" hspace="4" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3330/3207862068_515b73e6f3.jpg" vspace="18" width="390" /&gt;&lt;/center&gt;This whole idea started when I ran across an article by Desiree Gullan called "The Kama Sutra of Marketing." (In case you don't know, the Kuma Sutra is an ancient Indian text widely considered to be the first manual on love and human sexuality.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It reminded me of an analogy I've often used: &lt;b&gt;Marketing is a lot like dating&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But most self-promoting musicians don't think of it that way. And because of that, they struggle to get noticed, connect with fans, and make more money.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, here are some valuable lessons from the world of romance you can apply to your music promotion efforts:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;1) Don't settle for just anyone -- search for your music fan soul mates&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You've heard the jokes. "He's not Mr. Right, but he's Mr. Right Now." When dating, especially if people feel desperate, they settle. Instead of finding the right match, they pursue relationships that have little long-term potential. "Well, it's better than being alone," they say.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Do you do the same with your music promotion? Are you out to catch the interest of anyone who will listen? Or are you more discerning? The best way to proceed with a music career is to first decide who your ideal fan is. Who is your music-related soul mate?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;How old are they? Do they tend to be male or female? Where do they hang out online and off? Where do they shop? What magazines, blogs and web sites do they read?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Get a handle on who you want to attract. Then focus on reaching only those types of people.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;2) Get to know your fans first&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What do you do on a first date with someone you really think has potential? Do you talk endlessly about yourself and how great you are? Or do you listen a lot and have a two-way dialogue?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sadly, most people feel the need to impress others with how cool they are. So they launch into a laundry list of everything they've ever accomplished in their lives. Unfortunately, this approach leaves the other person feeling more neglected than impressed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's the same with music promotion. It's not all about you and your needs. Get to know your audience and what their interests and concerns are. Listen more than you talk. Share some of yourself and your story as you get to know them better. Give your fans a chance to know, like and trust you.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;3) Don't forget foreplay&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Okay. You're excited. You met someone new who really likes you. You anticipate the potential pleasure you will both experience together so much, you can taste it. It's time to move in for the grand finale, right?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img align="right" border="0" hspace="14" src="http://shocktillyoudrop.com/nextraimages/twilight%20kiss.jpg" vspace="2" width="200" /&gt;Wait! Hold your horses, Casanova Carl (or Valerie Vixen). Ease into the blessed event. Warm each other up first.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;From a marketing standpoint, that means you don't have to be so quick to ask for the sale. Wine and dine your fans (figuratively) before you flash your "Buy Now" button. Tease them a little with samples and insights into your songs. Leave them wanting more!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Consumers generally need to be exposed to something they enjoy 7 to 10 times before they get out their wallet or credit card to make a purchase. So expect and allow for this delayed gratification as you promote yourself.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;4) Be a great music lover&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When the time comes to consummate the relationship, make sure you deliver the best goods you can. Make it a joyful and stimulating experience for all concerned -- one your fans will remember (and maybe even tell many others about) for years to come.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That means you must create an unforgettable experience (be it a CD, music download or live show) filled with benefits that make each fan feel good. Make yours the best music in your genre. Thrill your fan partners so much, they'll want to recreate the experience again and again.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That's your goal as a self-promoting musician: Create moments your fans will want to duplicate over and over -- all the while telling their friends about you and the great time they had.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;5) Contact them and ask for another date&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Finally, don't leave your fans hanging after your first meaningful encounter. Get back in touch soon to thank them and let them know how much you enjoyed the experience.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This means you must follow up after the sale or the live show. Why? Because, if it was good for both of you, you want the relationship to continue. You want to interact more and enjoy more positive experiences (including music and merchandise sales) together.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Therefore, you must put a huge emphasis on building and using a fan mailing list. Capture the name and email address of everyone who has a positive experience with your music. Then input those details into a database and send messages to your fan list on a regular basis.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;See, &lt;b&gt;there is a connection between the Kama Sutra and music marketing&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, from now on, when you're engaged in music promotion activities, I encourage you to think about dating and making love.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But vice versa ... you might think twice about that one :-)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Bob&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/free-indie-music-tips.html"&gt;&lt;img align="left" border="0" hspace="14" src="http://www.bob-baker.com/images/SecretsSm2.jpg" vspace="2" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Get your FREE copy of my &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/free-indie-music-tips.html"&gt;Music Marketing Secrets&lt;/a&gt; special report. It shows you how to get more exposure, attract more fans, and sell more music! &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/free-indie-music-tips.html"&gt;Go here to grab your copy now ...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9785425-4105181280687328622?l=www.bob-baker.com%2Fmusicpromotionblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/4105181280687328622/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9785425&amp;postID=4105181280687328622' title='7 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/4105181280687328622'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/4105181280687328622'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2010/02/kama-sutra-of-music-marketing.html' title='The Kama Sutra of Music Marketing'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='08572255470182414485'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>7</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425.post-7502238192696865644</id><published>2010-02-16T11:16:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2010-02-16T11:16:27.069-06:00</updated><title type='text'>9 Places to Find Affordable Graphic Design</title><content type='html'>Need to have some good-looking artwork done for your next T-shirt, poster, or album cover?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;No sweat. These days there are dozens of web sites where designers and other creative freelancers can be found.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;img border="0" hspace="4" src="http://www.believeinone.com/wp-content/images/tshirt_battle/tshirt_header1.jpg" vspace="18" width="390" /&gt;&lt;/center&gt;Here are 9 of the best ones I found that cater to graphic designers:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://crowdspring.com/" target="_new"&gt;Crowdspring.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Set your price &amp;amp; deadline. Choose from actual custom design work submitted by freelancers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img align="right" border="0" hspace="14" src="http://www.talk2myshirt.com/blog/image-upload/T-Shirts/Music_Sons_T_Shirt.jpg" vspace="2" width="150" /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://99designs.com/" target="_new"&gt;99designs.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Works a lot like Crowdspring above.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://geniusrocket.com/" target="_new"&gt;GeniusRocket.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ditto for this one too.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://threadless.com/" target="_new"&gt;Threadless.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A site where hundreds of designers submit t-shirt art.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://deviantart.com/" target="_new"&gt;DeviantArt.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A place where visual artists showcase and sell their work. A good place to discover a fresh indie designer for your project.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;These next two sites are focused more on logo design:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://logotournament.com/" target="_new"&gt;LogoTournament.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://designcontest.net/" target="_new"&gt;DesignContest.net&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Of course, you can also find good, affordable designers at the bigger freelance marketplace sites, such as:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://elance.com/" target="_new"&gt;Elance.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://guru.com/" target="_new"&gt;Guru.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Happy design hunting!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Bob&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/marketing/virtual-music-coach.html"&gt;&lt;img align="right" border="0" hspace="14" src="http://www.ct4me.net/images/Multimedia.gif" vspace="2" width="175" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: 700;"&gt;Welcome to a New Kind of Multimedia Learning Experience for 2010&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 140%;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/marketing/virtual-music-coach.html"&gt;The Virtual Music Coach&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9785425-7502238192696865644?l=www.bob-baker.com%2Fmusicpromotionblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/7502238192696865644/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9785425&amp;postID=7502238192696865644' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/7502238192696865644'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/7502238192696865644'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2010/02/9-places-to-find-affordable-graphic.html' title='9 Places to Find Affordable Graphic Design'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='08572255470182414485'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425.post-3153216880467819128</id><published>2010-02-11T12:03:00.007-06:00</published><updated>2010-02-11T12:22:19.608-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Can You Handle What They'll Say About You?</title><content type='html'>One of the highlights of the movie &lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001P63ER4?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=thecreativeout02&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=390957&amp;amp;creativeASIN=B001P63ER4" target="_new"&gt;Spiritual Liberation&lt;/a&gt; for me was when Michael Beckwith asked, "&lt;b&gt;Will you be able to handle what people say about you when you start to let your light shine?&lt;/b&gt;"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That question hit home with me just the other day. And I bet there are times when it has (or will) hit home for you too.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'll explain. &lt;b&gt;But first a little background ...&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This year my goal is to step things up and expand. To try new things and formats, to impact more people, to crank out more useful resources, etc.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img align="right" border="1" hspace="14" src="http://www.uta.edu/publications/utamagazine/winter_2007/images/brainstorming.jpg" vspace="8" width="240" /&gt;One of the factors that led to this new level of inspiration is my involvement with a mastermind group of local friends in St. Louis. We meet about every three weeks and listen, encourage and inspire each other.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Among other things, my mastermind pals have encouraged me to play an even bigger game, realize my true worth, and step into a greater expression of who I am -- things we should all be encouraged to do.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That led to the launch of my new &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/marketing/virtual-music-coach.html" target="_new"&gt;Virtual Music Coach&lt;/a&gt; site last month. And just the other day, I sent an email to my whole list about another new way I can serve: a four-week &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/mastermind.html" target="_new"&gt;Guerrilla Music Marketing Mastermind &amp;amp; Brainstorming Group&lt;/a&gt; project, limited to 10 people.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I wanted to extend that mastermind group vibe I've enjoyed so much to a conference call environment. I was excited about it and a bit apprehensive, wondering what kind of response I'd get.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Here are examples of the types of email reactions I've received so far&lt;/b&gt;:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;"Great idea, Bob! I'm VERY interested in this. I hope I'm one of the lucky 10!"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;"Sure. I'm game."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;"I'm very interested, but I can't afford it right now. Maybe in a couple months."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;"A little pricey, don't you think?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;"I'm very interested, but I don't want to pay. With my experience level, I'd be a great asset to the group. You should comp me in."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;"This is a terrible idea! I can't believe you would charge people for such a mundane service. I'm tired of everyone trying to make a buck by any means necessary. Take me off your email list!"&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;img align="right" border="0" hspace="14" src="http://www.clipartheaven.com/clipart/education_&amp;amp;_schools/cartoons/question_mark.gif" vspace="8" width="180" /&gt;Hmmm ...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, &lt;b&gt;which of these reactions should I pay attention to?&lt;/b&gt; Which ones are valid?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The truth is, they are ALL valid. They are very real for each person who took the time to respond. Each one represents that person's reality.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, as the creative person stepping out to try something new, &lt;b&gt;how do I handle this variety of opinions?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Actually, I honor them all. But I have no choice but to focus my efforts on the people who see the value and resonate with my message.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I read, respect and consider the other responses. But I don't allow them to take hold and create fear and limitations in my thinking. I won't water down my ambitions or lower my prices on this particular offering (since I have tons of no-cost and low-cost resources that make up for it).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;The real question is ...&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;How will YOU handle what people say about you when you start to let YOUR light shine?&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By being scared and apprehensive? By playing small so you don't offend anyone?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Or ... &lt;b&gt;by being the empowered artist that you are!&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Bob&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;P.S.&lt;/b&gt; Luckily, it appears I have about 35 people who are genuinely excited and interested in getting one of the 10 spots. Wish me luck as I explore this &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/mastermind.html"&gt;new way to serve&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Question mark clipart above from &lt;a href="http://www.clipartheaven.com/" target="_new"&gt;Clipartheaven.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9785425-3153216880467819128?l=www.bob-baker.com%2Fmusicpromotionblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/3153216880467819128/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9785425&amp;postID=3153216880467819128' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/3153216880467819128'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/3153216880467819128'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2010/02/can-you-handle-what-theyll-say-about.html' title='Can You Handle What They&apos;ll Say About You?'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='08572255470182414485'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425.post-9040518670679721855</id><published>2010-02-03T12:32:00.002-06:00</published><updated>2010-02-03T12:37:14.725-06:00</updated><title type='text'>What Should I Ask Music Biz Innovator Terry McBride Today?</title><content type='html'>&lt;img align="right" border="1" hspace="14" src="http://www.unsignedbandreview.com/assets/images/TerryMcBride.jpg" vspace="8" width="220" /&gt;Later today I'll speak with Terry McBride during a live online radio show. In 1984, Terry co-founded &lt;b&gt;Nettwerk Music Group&lt;/b&gt; from his apartment in Vancouver.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the 26 years since then, the company has &lt;b&gt;released over 500 albums and sold more than 150 million copies&lt;/b&gt; worldwide. Nettwerk manages the careers of &lt;b&gt;Sarah McLachlan&lt;/b&gt;, &lt;b&gt;Jamiroquai&lt;/b&gt;, &lt;b&gt;Stereophonics&lt;/b&gt;, &lt;b&gt;Jars of Clay&lt;/b&gt;, and many others. He also co-founded the &lt;b&gt;Lilith Fair&lt;/b&gt;, which will return in 2010.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In recent years, Terry has been outspoken about advances in digital technology and the future of music. He's been covered in the &lt;a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/technology/internet/22music.html?_r=1" target="_new"&gt;New York Times&lt;/a&gt;, the &lt;a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/02/23/record-exec-says-musics-future-is-in-the-clouds/" target="_new"&gt;Wall Street Journal&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.09/nettwerk.html" target="_new"&gt;Wired magazine&lt;/a&gt;. He also gave a presentation at TEDxVancouver recently (watch the video &lt;a href="http://nettwerk.com/blog/terry-speaks-tedxvancouver" target="_new"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Terry will be the guest today on &lt;b&gt;David Mathison&lt;/b&gt;'s show on Blog Talk Radio. David, who is a media expert and author of "&lt;a href="http://tinyurl.com/dcrzhn" target="_new"&gt;Be the Media&lt;/a&gt;," has asked me to co-host the show with him. I'm thrilled. I've been following Terry McBride's new ideas about music consumption and distribution for years, but have never met him. This will be a treat.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;The show streams live online from 5 to 6 PM EST today&lt;/b&gt; (Feb 3) from &lt;a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/be-the-media/2010/02/03/terry-mcbride-ceo-nettwerk-music-group" target="_new"&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt;. Or use this player:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/BTRPlayer.swf" flashvars="file=http://www.blogtalkradio.com%2fbe-the-media%2fplay_list.xml&amp;autostart=false&amp;shuffle=false&amp;callback=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/FlashPlayerCallback.aspx&amp;width=210&amp;height=105&amp;volume=80&amp;corner=rounded" width="210" height="105" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" quality="high" wmode="transparent" menu="false" allowScriptAccess="always"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium;"&gt;So, what should I ask him?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img align="right" border="0" hspace="14" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/Blue_question_mark.svg/450px-Blue_question_mark.svg.png" vspace="8" width="140" /&gt;David and I already have a good list of questions ready. But in case we're overlooking something, &lt;b&gt;what would you ask Terry McBride if you had the chance?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Leave a comment below and let me know. &lt;i&gt;But do it quick!&lt;/i&gt; The show starts in a few hours.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you miss the live stream, you can always listen to it later on &lt;a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/be-the-media/2010/02/03/terry-mcbride-ceo-nettwerk-music-group" target="_new"&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Bob&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9785425-9040518670679721855?l=www.bob-baker.com%2Fmusicpromotionblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/9040518670679721855/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9785425&amp;postID=9040518670679721855' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/9040518670679721855'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/9040518670679721855'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2010/02/what-should-i-ask-music-biz-innovator.html' title='What Should I Ask Music Biz Innovator Terry McBride Today?'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='08572255470182414485'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425.post-1290344484482690946</id><published>2010-01-29T09:23:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2010-01-29T09:23:14.768-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Posterous: How to Post Super Easy Multimedia Updates Online</title><content type='html'>Would you like a quick and easy way to post photos, audio and even video clips online? And be able to automatically post links to them on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and more? Without spending a dime?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://peterefland.com/storage/post-images/posterous.jpg" vspace="8" width="280" align="right" border="1" hspace="14"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Then you should take a look at &lt;a href="http://posterous.com/" target="_new"&gt;Posterous.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;Here's why, along with a quick history lesson ...&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Blogs, MP3 audio files, and streaming video have been around for several years. Over the last couple of years &lt;b&gt;the short Twitter text update&lt;/b&gt; (which has been adopted by Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and more) became a more prominent way that people communicate online.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Makes sense. Few technical skills are required and it hardly takes any time to post something.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But instead of posting just simple text announcments all the time, people started linking to longer and more in-depth sources within their tweets and updates. &lt;b&gt;This led to the popularity of URL shortener sites&lt;/b&gt; like Tinyurl.com and Bit.ly, which make it easy to fit live links within 140 characters.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Great. But the content you linked to had to be hosted somewhere. If you created a new video, you had to upload it to YouTube first. Then you had to convert the YouTube page address to a shorter URL. Then you posted an announcement with a link to the video.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Same thing with audio content&lt;/b&gt;. Create the MP3 (usually of your music), post it on your blog or MySpace page, shorten the URL, then post a link to it on Twitter.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.myokyawhtun.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/twitpic.jpg" vspace="8" width="210" align="left" border="1" hspace="14"&gt;&lt;i&gt;That's a lot of steps just to send people to hear and see your newest stuff&lt;/i&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now, &lt;b&gt;TwitPic.com has been around for a while&lt;/b&gt;. This site allows you to email or upload photos, and the service automatically posts a short link to them with your quick description.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That's cool. &lt;b&gt;But what if you could also do that with audio and video files?&lt;/b&gt; That's why Posterous is such a great no-cost service.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;All you do is email a file to post@posterous.com. It will host the file and create a simple blog page for it. It will turn your audio and video files into streaming players. It even hosts Doc, PDF, and PowerPoint files.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Set up a Posterous account and you can even set it up to &lt;b&gt;autopost to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social sites&lt;/b&gt;. It even creates the shortened URL for you. Super simple.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://networksboise.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/posterous.jpg" vspace="8" width="150" align="right" border="1" hspace="14"&gt;See how I used it to post multimedia updates during my recent trip to Los Angeles and San Diego. &lt;b&gt;Just visit&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href="http://bob-baker.posterous.com/" target="_new"&gt;bob-baker.posterous.com&lt;/a&gt; and scroll through the first three pages to see photos and video of &lt;b&gt;Jason Mraz&lt;/b&gt; performing, &lt;b&gt;Chaka Kahn&lt;/b&gt; rehearsing, &lt;b&gt;Bootsy Collins&lt;/b&gt;, &lt;b&gt;Chad Smith&lt;/b&gt; of Red Hot Chili Peppers, singer &lt;b&gt;Andrae Crouch&lt;/b&gt;, and more -- as well as audio updates during my travels.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The main drawback is that you can't embed the files you send to Posterous on other web sites. But it's still a pretty cool service.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;I bet you're already thinking about how you can use it to communicate more quickly and easily with your fans&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Bob&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-size: 15pt; font-weight: 700;"&gt;Featured Resource&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/packages.html#net"&gt;&lt;img alt="Internet Music Marketing Crash Course" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4071/4309195838_dd73dc0b50_m.jpg" align="left" border="1" hspace="10"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/packages.html#net"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Internet Music Marketing Crash Course&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Are you confused about Internet promotion? Not sure where to start? You'll have a clear vision and a solid game plan once you digest this amazing collection of resources.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/packages.html#net"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Learn More ...&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9785425-1290344484482690946?l=www.bob-baker.com%2Fmusicpromotionblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/1290344484482690946/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9785425&amp;postID=1290344484482690946' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/1290344484482690946'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/1290344484482690946'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2010/01/posterous-how-to-post-super-easy.html' title='Posterous: How to Post Super Easy Multimedia Updates Online'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='08572255470182414485'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425.post-7983243495286277153</id><published>2010-01-20T14:52:00.001-06:00</published><updated>2010-01-20T15:12:08.687-06:00</updated><title type='text'>'Pants on the Ground' &amp; the American Idol Meme</title><content type='html'>&lt;center&gt;&lt;img border="0" hspace="4" src="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/01/19/alg_platt.jpg" vspace="18" width="390" /&gt;&lt;/center&gt;Just got back home from an amazing week in Southern California where I attended the NAMM Show, spoke to an enthusiastic &lt;a href="http://www.meetup.com/sdsongwriters/calendar/12295936/" target="_new"&gt;songwriters group&lt;/a&gt; in San Diego, and sat in with the &lt;a href="http://www.agapelive.com/index.php?page=8" target="_new"&gt;Agape Choir&lt;/a&gt; to back up Chaka Khan and other wonderful singers during a benefit for Haiti.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While I was there the latest season of &lt;i&gt;American Idol&lt;/i&gt; started. Even if you don't watch it and don't care, you may have heard the latest viral buzz about 62-year-old &lt;b&gt;"General" Larry Platt&lt;/b&gt;. He auditioned for the show with a hilarious original hip-hop song called "&lt;b&gt;Pants on the Ground&lt;/b&gt;."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you missed it, &lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMwhl4IrPNc" target="_new"&gt;watch it here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;The thing about pop culture memes like this&lt;/b&gt; (see &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme" target="_new"&gt;this Wikipedia page&lt;/a&gt; for a definition) is that they provide great opportunities for smart artists to jump on them and get a temporary exposure boost.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jimmy Fallon saw the light and did a spoof of Neil Young singing "Pants on the Ground." Funny stuff. &lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2WfUzNYPwo" target="_new"&gt;See it here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;But what about indie acts?&lt;/b&gt; The best example I've found so far was created by DeStorm, who does a great video and audio remix version of "Pants on the Ground" on &lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0Z2CqJ1sRM" target="_new"&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He even offers a free download of the track. I'm sure there are others doing this too, but it illustrates the point ...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Keep your eyes and ears open to new trends and hot topics&lt;/b&gt;. If there's a way to create something that's funny or amusing or that reinforces your musical identity to new fans ... jump on it while it's hot and buzz-worthy!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Bob&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;P.S.&lt;/b&gt; Don't forget to wear a belt and ... keep your pants off the ground!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/marketing/virtual-music-coach.html"&gt;&lt;img align="right" border="0" hspace="14" src="http://www.ct4me.net/images/Multimedia.gif" vspace="2" width="175" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: 700;"&gt;Welcome to a New Kind of Multimedia Learning Experience for 2010&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 140%;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/marketing/virtual-music-coach.html"&gt;The Virtual Music Coach&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9785425-7983243495286277153?l=www.bob-baker.com%2Fmusicpromotionblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/7983243495286277153/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9785425&amp;postID=7983243495286277153' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/7983243495286277153'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/7983243495286277153'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2010/01/pants-on-ground-american-idol-meme.html' title='&apos;Pants on the Ground&apos; &amp; the American Idol Meme'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='08572255470182414485'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425.post-980875611644066393</id><published>2010-01-11T13:58:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2010-01-11T13:58:18.120-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Avatar 3D and Your Multimedia Future</title><content type='html'>&lt;img align="right" border="0" hspace="14" src="http://www.wildaboutmovies.com/images_7/AvatarPoster_000.jpg" vspace="2" width="200" /&gt;Pooki and I saw the much talked about "Avatar" movie in 3D last night. Usually, when something is that hyped and described by friends in such glowing terms, your expectations are so high, the thing doesn't live up to it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;But the Avatar movie certainly did!&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm sure the regular movie would have been great too, but seeing it in 3D really opening my eyes (so to speak) to &lt;b&gt;what the future of entertainment holds&lt;/b&gt; in store. It was visually stunning and the most realistic computer generated images I've ever seen.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And the plot was filled with something for everyone: action, adventure, romance, anti-war and anti-greed sentiments, an environmental message, and even spiritual themes. &lt;b&gt;Oh yeah, and lots of scary creatures and stuff that blows up!&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's interesting that I saw Avatar on the last day of the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES), where this year lots of new gadgets were introduced -- including new 3D televisions for the home.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img align="left" border="0" hspace="14" src="http://nowwireless.com/media/2_Industrial%20Tablets%20and%20Mesh%20Cards.gif" vspace="2" /&gt;As &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2010/01/are-you-ready-for-next-little-thing.html" target="_new"&gt;I mentioned last week&lt;/a&gt;, there are also new portable hand-held devices hitting the market that will act as mini multimedia centers. Much like the iPhone and Blackberry, you'll be able to surf the Internet, watch movies and TV shows, read ebooks, listen to audio, record and edit videos, and much more.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sure, these things exist now, but the technology is becoming even more impressive, powerful and accessible to millions of people.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Are you feeding your fans through these new channels?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That's exactly why I just launched my new &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/marketing/virtual-music-coach.html"&gt;Virtual Music Coach&lt;/a&gt; web site, where I'm starting to offer online programs that deliver my message in multiple ways: text, audio, and video.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sure, I'm a writer, and I could stay in my comfort zone and continue to just publish paper books and ebooks. But if I did, I'd miss an opportunity to &lt;b&gt;inspire a LOT more people&lt;/b&gt; who prefer getting information by other means.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I encourage you not to get stuck in an outdated mode either. Embrace the new technologies. Use them yourself. See how other artists are using them. And start working them into the way you communicate with your fans.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;FYI, here's a list of &lt;a href="http://techcocktail.com/home/2010/01/11/best-of-ces-2010/" target="_new"&gt;new gadget highlights&lt;/a&gt; from this year's CES.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;To your multimedia success!&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Bob&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9785425-980875611644066393?l=www.bob-baker.com%2Fmusicpromotionblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/980875611644066393/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9785425&amp;postID=980875611644066393' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/980875611644066393'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/980875611644066393'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2010/01/avatar-3d-and-your-multimedia-future.html' title='Avatar 3D and Your Multimedia Future'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='08572255470182414485'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425.post-2633536810903417935</id><published>2010-01-07T11:44:00.001-06:00</published><updated>2010-01-07T11:58:03.855-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Are You Ready for the Next Little Thing?</title><content type='html'>&lt;center&gt;&lt;img src="http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/100105-ces-archos.hlarge.jpg" border="0" hspace="4" vspace="18" width="390" /&gt;&lt;/center&gt;The Consumer Electronics Show is taking place over the next few days in Las Vegas. According to &lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34634567/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/" target="_new" &gt;an article&lt;/a&gt; on MSNBC ...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;"After years of being about the Next Big Thing, the annual International Consumer Electronics Show this week is all about the next little thing - small-in-one devices that are blurring the distinctions among tiny netbook computers, dedicated media players, e-book readers and cell phones."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But it was these sentences that really caught my eye:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;"... content is the new king. As different people use electronics in different ways, publishers [and anyone who creates "content," like musicians] are under the gun to &lt;b&gt;deliver whatever content people want on whatever devices they have&lt;/b&gt;."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, are you meeting your fans where YOU want them to, based on YOUR idea of what the right platform is?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Or ... &lt;b&gt;are you meeting your fans where they ARE?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Think about &lt;i&gt;the next little thing&lt;/i&gt; as you plan your music promotion in 2010.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Bob&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;P.S. Put your music marketing on steroids! Visit my new project: The &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/marketing/virtual-music-coach.html"&gt;Virtual Music Coach&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9785425-2633536810903417935?l=www.bob-baker.com%2Fmusicpromotionblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/2633536810903417935/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9785425&amp;postID=2633536810903417935' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/2633536810903417935'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/2633536810903417935'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2010/01/are-you-ready-for-next-little-thing.html' title='Are You Ready for the Next Little Thing?'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='08572255470182414485'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425.post-5276522909984678286</id><published>2010-01-04T12:48:00.001-06:00</published><updated>2010-01-04T12:59:03.203-06:00</updated><title type='text'>3 Keys to Easy Goal Setting in 2010</title><content type='html'>It's not only a new year, it's also the beginning of a new decade! What a great time to renew your commitment to letting your musical light shine and living to your fullest potential.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There's a good chance you've already set some goals for 2010 and are using a planning system of some type to make sure you stay on track. If so, congrats to you!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If not, that OK too. Getting clear about who you are and how you want to grow is something you can do at any time of the year -- whenever the time is right for you.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;img border="0" hspace="4" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2113/2041192065_beef1398fd.jpg" vspace="18" width="390" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: x-small;"&gt;Photo by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cliff_robin/" target="_new"&gt;Cliff Muller&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But I'd like to share a simple way to look at your life and music career in a way that will make it easier to set meaningful goals. This is something I learned from &lt;a href="http://www.jimbunch.com/" target="_new"&gt;Jim Bunch&lt;/a&gt; when I attended one of his &lt;a href="http://www.theultimategameoflife.com/" target="_new"&gt;Ultimate Game of Life&lt;/a&gt; workshops.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Here's the essence of it ...&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;All the goals you will ever want to achieve can basically be broken down into three key areas of life:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Goals that make you happy&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Goals that make you healthy&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Goals that make you wealthy&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;b&gt;Jim calls it the Happy, Healthy, Wealthy Game&lt;/b&gt;. Looking at my life and livelihood in this manner really resonates with me. Perhaps it will with you too.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Too often our goals are focused on only one or two of the three areas. Some really ambitious people just play the Wealthy, Wealthy, Wealthy Game ... and ignore their happiness and health.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Some people who might be described as "slackers" will mainly play the Happy, Happy, Happy Game ... and downplay their health and ability to make money.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Still others focus on health and their appearance at the expense of the other categories.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;The trick is finding a balance between all three&lt;/b&gt;. Although Jim says that "Happy" is listed first for a reason. It's the area of life most people overlook in the pursuit of achieving their material goals.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I love that idea. Because you're sense of joy and well-being gives you the juice to pursue the other areas of your life -- and music career.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;Here are some examples from my own Happy, Healthy and Wealthy goals for the new year&lt;/i&gt;:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Happy&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;- Meditate every morning and enjoy the benefits of a clear mind&lt;br /&gt;- Spend meaningful time with Pooki, my daughter, and good friends every week&lt;br /&gt;- Write, record and/or perform one new song every month&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Healthy&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;- Hit the treadmill and make a health shake every morning&lt;br /&gt;- Do some strength training for 20 to 30 minutes three times a week&lt;br /&gt;- Get up from the computer once every hour to stretch and move&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Wealthy&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;- Write, publish and promote two new books this year &lt;br /&gt;- Go through my audio and video archives and create at least five new info-products this year&lt;br /&gt;- Pay off the Visa card bill and home equity loan&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now get out a notebook or journal, or open a new document on your computer. Type in the three category headings: Happy, Healthy and Wealthy. Then start adding meaningful goals in each of the three areas. And make certain there's an equal balance between them all.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Do this -- really do this! -- and you'll have a happier, healthier and wealthier year in 2010&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Bob&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;P.S.&lt;/b&gt; Would you like a virtual music coach to inspire you with new marketing ideas? If so, check out my &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/marketing/virtual-music-coach.html"&gt;new venture here ...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9785425-5276522909984678286?l=www.bob-baker.com%2Fmusicpromotionblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/5276522909984678286/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9785425&amp;postID=5276522909984678286' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/5276522909984678286'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/5276522909984678286'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2010/01/3-keys-to-easy-goal-setting-in-2010.html' title='3 Keys to Easy Goal Setting in 2010'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='08572255470182414485'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425.post-5137777048909266588</id><published>2009-12-21T15:06:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2009-12-21T15:06:52.067-06:00</updated><title type='text'>New Holiday Music Videos From Me to You</title><content type='html'>As we head through this week leading up to Christmas, I want to share with you two new holiday music videos from a recent live performance.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In this first one, I sing my favorite rendition of "&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Naf7f1ilIUw" target="_new"&gt;White Christmas&lt;/a&gt;" (from the Elvis Presley Christmas album) as Pooki gracefully does a hula dance. It's beautiful and funny all at the same time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;object width="340" height="285"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Naf7f1ilIUw&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0x5d1719&amp;color2=0xcd311b&amp;border=1"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Naf7f1ilIUw&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0x5d1719&amp;color2=0xcd311b&amp;border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="340" height="285"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We keep the Hawaiian theme going with our version of "&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqKQ1PLcEKM" target="_new"&gt;The 12 Days of Christmas&lt;/a&gt;" -- with musical help from my daughter Kelli and her friend Brianna.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;object width="340" height="285"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KqKQ1PLcEKM&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0x5d1719&amp;color2=0xcd311b&amp;border=1"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KqKQ1PLcEKM&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0x5d1719&amp;color2=0xcd311b&amp;border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="340" height="285"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;br /&gt;These two new videos are different from our popular family holiday videos of the past. We still haven't been able to top &lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/v/243660829417" target="_new"&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt; from 2007:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;object width="340" height="255" &gt;&lt;param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/243660829417" /&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/243660829417" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="340" height="255"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Have a great holiday season, and whatever you do, have fun with your friends, fans and family. It's what makes life worth living!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Bob&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9785425-5137777048909266588?l=www.bob-baker.com%2Fmusicpromotionblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/5137777048909266588/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9785425&amp;postID=5137777048909266588' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/5137777048909266588'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/5137777048909266588'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/12/new-holiday-music-videos-from-me-to-you.html' title='New Holiday Music Videos From Me to You'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='08572255470182414485'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425.post-6984851174000420681</id><published>2009-12-12T16:21:00.003-06:00</published><updated>2009-12-15T07:41:01.416-06:00</updated><title type='text'>10 Music Links Worth Tweeting About</title><content type='html'>&lt;b&gt;Do you ever run out of things to tweet about?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;img border="0" hspace="4" src="http://www.seanpercival.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/twitter_bird21.png" vspace="18" /&gt;&lt;/center&gt;Beyond telling people what you're eating for lunch and plugging tonight's gig, &lt;b&gt;one effective way to use Twitter is to share useful and inspiring links with your followers&lt;/b&gt;. If you &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/MrBuzzFactor" target="_new"&gt;follow me on Twitter&lt;/a&gt;, you know that's exactly what I do several times a day -- every day.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For your tweeting convenience, here are ten quick blurbs and links to recent blog posts and podcasts of mine (that easily fit into the 140-character maximum). &lt;b&gt;Just copy and paste as many as you want&lt;/b&gt;, whenever you want, into your Twitter account.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Of course, you can also post them on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, FriendFeed, and more too :-)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace; font-size: 12pt;"&gt;7 Ways to Destroy Your Music Career http://bit.ly/80PZX via @MrBuzzFactor&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace; font-size: 12pt;"&gt;Great Podcast: "How to Create a Buying Frenzy" http://bit.ly/uqny3 RT @MrBuzzFactor&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace; font-size: 12pt;"&gt;12 Keys to Building a Thriving Music Career http://bit.ly/4ys2PZ via @MrBuzzFactor&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace; font-size: 12pt;"&gt;Made-To-Stick Music Marketing http://bit.ly/3TcL9L via @MrBuzzFactor&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace; font-size: 12pt;"&gt;7 Simple But Effective Steps to Reaching Your Music Career Goals http://bit.ly/46qkDK RT @MrBuzzFactor&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace; font-size: 12pt;"&gt;Podcast: "How to Get Motivated When You're in a Slump" http://bit.ly/8ZuQEl via @MrBuzzFactor&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace; font-size: 12pt;"&gt;Great Question for Musicians: What Are You Pretending to NOT Know? http://bit.ly/68D4Hm via @MrBuzzFactor&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace; font-size: 12pt;"&gt;FREE Sample of "55 Ways to Promote &amp;amp; Sell Your Book on the Internet" at http://bit.ly/2jLpAy RT @MrBuzzFactor&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace; font-size: 12pt;"&gt;Is Your Music 'Findable' Online? http://bit.ly/9RbUW via @MrBuzzFactor&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace; font-size: 12pt;"&gt;5 Music Career Success Questions You Need to Answer http://bit.ly/3b4BDM via @MrBuzzFactor&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;Happy tweeting!&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Bob&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: 15pt; font-weight: 700;"&gt;Featured Resource&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/music_marketing.htm"&gt;&lt;img align="left" alt="Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook" border="0" hspace="10" src="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/img/GuerrillaCover.jpg" width="120" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/music_marketing.htm"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;201 Self-Promotion Ideas for Songwriters, Musicians and Bands on a Budget&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/music_marketing.htm"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Learn More&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/music_marketing.htm#order"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Order Now&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9785425-6984851174000420681?l=www.bob-baker.com%2Fmusicpromotionblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/6984851174000420681/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9785425&amp;postID=6984851174000420681' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/6984851174000420681'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/6984851174000420681'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/12/10-music-links-worth-tweeting-about.html' title='10 Music Links Worth Tweeting About'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='08572255470182414485'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425.post-3289636766752181646</id><published>2009-12-07T14:35:00.004-06:00</published><updated>2010-01-11T14:04:10.394-06:00</updated><title type='text'>What Are You Pretending to NOT Know?</title><content type='html'>&lt;img align="right" border="0" hspace="14" src="http://kansansforlife.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/blindfolded-woman.jpg" vspace="2" width="200" /&gt;Seriously. &lt;b&gt;How are you deluding yourself ... and what is it costing you?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the 1990s, back when I published a local music magazine in St. Louis, I remember feeling so frustrated at times. Especially when certain businesses wouldn't advertise in my publication or sponsor music events I put on.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"What's their problem?" I would whine. Didn't they see all the work I'd put in to create a great resource? Can't a guy with a good idea get a break in this town?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Of course, I really knew the answers.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In some situations, the business and the event simply weren't a good match. I may have wanted their participation, but from their perspective, they needed to allocate their limited marketing dollars to other things. There was a part of my brain that realized that, but I paid no attention to it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In other situations, I simply hadn't put in the time to develop the relationships that other media people had. Therefore, I didn't get those ad dollars. I even told myself many times how I needed to get out and meet with more potential advertisers and sponsors. But I rarely acted on it. And as a result, I lost out on some business.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I knew what the problems (and the solutions) were. But I chose to ignore them, get frustrated, and chalk it up to other factors that were out of my control.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In other words, &lt;b&gt;I was pretending to not know something ... when I actually knew it all along&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, &lt;i&gt;what are YOU pretending to not know?&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For instance, &lt;b&gt;you know&lt;/b&gt; ... people are easily distracted and that it can take a number of follow-up attempts before you get a response from somebody.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Yet&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; ... you give up after one attempt to reach someone and complain about the lack of response.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img align="left" border="0" hspace="14" src="http://www.andybudd.com/presentations/dcontruct05/images/what.jpg" vspace="2" width="225" /&gt;&lt;b&gt;You know&lt;/b&gt; ... what inspires you and your friends to support a new artist and buy their music.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Yet&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; ... you act as if you have no idea how to promote your own music and connect with fans.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;You know&lt;/b&gt; ... the importance of spending time practicing and writing new material.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;b&gt;Yet&lt;/b&gt; &lt;/i&gt;... you settle for mediocre performances and songs that "will do" when you put out new music.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;You know&lt;/b&gt; ... how you like to be treated and communicated with when someone has something of value for you.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;b&gt;Yet&lt;/b&gt; &lt;/i&gt;... you pretend to have no clue about how to leave a voice mail message or send an email to someone who can help you.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I guarantee, &lt;i&gt;you know way more than you give yourself credit for&lt;/i&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, I ask you again:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;What are you pretending to NOT know?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Bob&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/marketing/virtual-music-coach.html"&gt;&lt;img align="right" border="0" hspace="14" src="http://www.ct4me.net/images/Multimedia.gif" vspace="2" width="175" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: 700;"&gt;Get a Sneak Peek at My New Project for 2010&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 140%;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/marketing/virtual-music-coach.html"&gt;The Virtual Music Coach&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9785425-3289636766752181646?l=www.bob-baker.com%2Fmusicpromotionblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/3289636766752181646/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9785425&amp;postID=3289636766752181646' title='6 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/3289636766752181646'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/3289636766752181646'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/12/what-are-you-pretending-to-not-know.html' title='What Are You Pretending to NOT Know?'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='08572255470182414485'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>6</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425.post-2267453814134094004</id><published>2009-11-25T08:35:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2009-11-25T08:35:57.123-06:00</updated><title type='text'>12 Keys to Building a Thriving Music Career</title><content type='html'>&lt;center&gt;&lt;img border="0" hspace="4" src="http://www.sarlasmusic.com/images/photos/large_opal.jpg" vspace="18" width="390" /&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;b&gt;1)&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/04/gatekeepers-music-promotion-overload.html"&gt;Embrace the New Gatekeepers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;2)&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/04/key-to-creative-success-fullfilment.html"&gt;Understand the Real Key to Creative Success and Fulfillment&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;3)&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/05/groundhog-day-music-success-method.html"&gt;Treat Every Day Like You're Bill Murray in 'Groundhog Day'&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;4)&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/05/niche-music-markets-7-great-examples.html"&gt;Carve Out Your Slice of the Pie&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;5)&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/01/how-to-set-and-reach-your-music-goals.html"&gt;Have Specific and Measurable Goals&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;6)&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/02/social-networking-tgif-word-play.html"&gt;Engage Your Fans and Get Personal&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;7)&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/02/my-best-music-career-advice.html"&gt;Question Everything You're Ever Been Told About the Music Business&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;8)&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/03/criticism-bad-reviews-how-to-deal-with.html"&gt;Learn How to Deal With Criticism, Bad Reviews and Rejection&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;9)&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/05/new-video-define-your-musical-identity.html"&gt;Define Your Musical Identity&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;10)&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/06/fringe-fans-theyre-really-not-that-into.html"&gt;Put Fringe Fans in Their Proper Place&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;11)&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/06/future-of-digital-music-for-indie.html"&gt;Let Go of Your Need for Certainty&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;12)&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/01/what-your-purpose-with-music-and-life.html"&gt;Have a Meaningful Purpose That Drives You&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Bob&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;P.S.&lt;/b&gt; Get music marketing and career tips like these 3 or 4 times a months when you subscribe to my &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/music-ezine.html"&gt;Buzz Factor Ezine&lt;/a&gt;. I've been publishing it since 1995. Thousands of indie artists and promoters from around the world get my latest ideas and resources nearly every week. Get yours too!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Go to &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/music-ezine.html"&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt; and sign up now&lt;/b&gt;. &lt;i&gt;Lots of useful, no-cost perks when you do&lt;/i&gt;. Details &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/music-ezine.html"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9785425-2267453814134094004?l=www.bob-baker.com%2Fmusicpromotionblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/2267453814134094004/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9785425&amp;postID=2267453814134094004' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/2267453814134094004'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/2267453814134094004'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/11/12-keys-to-building-thriving-music.html' title='12 Keys to Building a Thriving Music Career'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='08572255470182414485'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425.post-8374270017773475914</id><published>2009-11-18T10:31:00.001-06:00</published><updated>2009-11-18T10:32:47.020-06:00</updated><title type='text'>7 Simple But Effective Steps to Reaching Your Music Career Goals</title><content type='html'>Last week I posted this question on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;What's the #1 Thing That Keeps You From Reaching Your Music Goals?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;img border="0" hspace="4" src="http://www.headachecare.com/images/goals.jpg" vspace="18" width="390" /&gt;&lt;/center&gt;I received a flood of great responses, most of which I posted &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/11/what-keeps-you-from-reaching-your-goals.html"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. I encourage you to look over the list and see how many of them you can relate to. But don't use the list to get comfortable and think, "I'm in good company when I don't reach my goals, so I should just relax."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Instead, use the list to realize that you are not alone when it comes to distractions, resistance, and excuses. People who succeed at greater levels don't have some secret code and aren't immune to the everyday obstacles we all encounter.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;What they do have is a different mindset and a different approach compared to the masses that get lulled into accepting stagnation as a way of life&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img align="right" border="0" hspace="14" src="http://www.gelighting.com/na/business_lighting/lighting_applications/images/circle_arrow.jpg" vspace="2" width="150" /&gt;Since this is such a widespread issue (and one I wrestle with myself), I wanted to share my version of the &lt;b&gt;Cycle of Success&lt;/b&gt; -- a concept I first heard from Jack Canfield. It's a bare-bones outline of the simple steps you must take to accomplish worthy goals. It may appear simplistic at first glance. But I ask you ...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Honestly, how well do you embrace each of these steps ... and on which ones do you typically get hung up?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;1) Decide&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The first step to reaching any goal is to know where you're headed. The clearer the target, the more purposeful your actions will be. That's why the first step to accomplishment is to set a specific, measurable goal (or set of goals). "Be a successful musician" is a nice idea, but it's a fuzzy goal. A more concrete goal would be "Perform four live shows a month that generate $3,000 in total revenue" or "Sell $1,500 a month in live show CD/merchandise sales and $1,000 a month in digital downloads." Decide what you want and be crystal clear about what it is.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;2) Plan&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Once you know exactly what you want, the next step is to craft an action plan that will move you toward it. Take some time to brainstorm on paper. Make lists of the different types of activities you will need to engage in to reach the goal. Who will you need to contact, what do you need to learn, and what tools will help you get there? Work backwards from the goal and determine the specific steps you'll need to take.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;3) Start&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now it's time to dive into the step that holds back most human beings: taking action! Look over your grand plan and ask yourself, "What's the very first thing I need to do in each category?" Focus only on those initial things and ... do them! Don't worry about the entire project or the immensity of your goal. Just do the very thing that needs to be done today: make a phone call, send an email, design a web page, repair your equipment, or sit down to write a new song (or finish one you started).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;4) Continue&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;img align="right" border="0" hspace="14" src="http://b7.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/01581/74/79/1581769747_l.jpg" vspace="2" width="180" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Taking those initial actions in the Start phase may actually come easy if you're exciting about the goal. Your enthusiasm is running high and you're eager to get busy. But what happens after a week or two, when other life demands grab center stage or when you don't make as much progress toward the goal as you had hoped? This step is another biggie that trips up many musicians. But people who succeed muscle through the distractions and "continue" taking action, even when they're short on time and energy. If your goal is truly important, you will find time to chip away at it and make progress -- on a consistent basis.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;5) Evaluate&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you get this far, congratulations! You've accomplished more than the majority of creative people (as sad as that is to say). You have decided what you want, created an action plan, started taking action, and have continued to work toward it, despite many temptations to do otherwise. Now you must take a little time to measure the results of your efforts. Don't just stay busy for the sake of movement without knowing how effective your actions are. Are you moving closer to the goal, or further away? What has brought the best results? Now is the time to evaluate your progress.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;6) Adjust&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Once you look at the actions you've taken thus far and measure the results (as in number of live shows booked, number of new fans on your mailing list, amount of music and merch sold, etc.), you'll have a clearer picture of where you stand. Then look over your plan and tweak it. How you do that is super simple: Do more of what's working and less of what isn't working. Also, this is a good time to introduce a new goal or strategy that makes sense based on what you've learned from your actions so far.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;7) Continue&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Once again, consistent action and progress is key. So with your adjusted plan in hand, continue to move forward. Another trait that will help you in this phase is the ability to simultaneously see two contrasting perspectives: &lt;b&gt;1)&lt;/b&gt; Keep the big picture vision alive of where you are headed -- the specific and measurable goal you have set, and &lt;b&gt;2)&lt;/b&gt; Focus on the micro task at hand and realize where you actually are on the path. There will almost always be a wide gap between where you are and where you want to be. But don't let that disparity frustrate you. Instead, let it pull you toward the goal even more fervently.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Bonus Step&lt;/b&gt;: &lt;i&gt;Repeat Steps 5 through 7&lt;/i&gt;. From here on out, your progress will be a series of evaluating your efforts, adjusting your goals and action plans, and getting busy pursuing them again.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There you have it: &lt;b&gt;7 Simple But Effective Steps to Reaching Your Music Career Goals&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Are you truly incorporating all of the steps? Where do you get hung up the most? Did I miss anything? Let me know in the Comments section below.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Bob&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: 15pt; font-weight: 700;"&gt;Featured Resource&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/music_marketing.htm"&gt;&lt;img align="left" alt="Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook" border="0" hspace="10" src="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/img/GuerrillaCover.jpg" width="120" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/music_marketing.htm"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;201 Self-Promotion Ideas for Songwriters, Musicians and Bands on a Budget&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/music_marketing.htm"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Learn More&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/music_marketing.htm#order"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Order Now&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9785425-8374270017773475914?l=www.bob-baker.com%2Fmusicpromotionblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/8374270017773475914/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9785425&amp;postID=8374270017773475914' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/8374270017773475914'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/8374270017773475914'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/11/7-simple-but-effective-steps-to.html' title='7 Simple But Effective Steps to Reaching Your Music Career Goals'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='08572255470182414485'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425.post-8451467308571668476</id><published>2009-11-12T16:25:00.002-06:00</published><updated>2009-11-12T16:29:16.764-06:00</updated><title type='text'>What Keeps You From Reaching Your Goals?</title><content type='html'>&lt;img align="left" border="0" hspace="14" src="http://www.gooddogsitter.net/dog%20pulling%20on%20leash.png" vspace="2" width="175" /&gt;I posted this question on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites this week and got a flood of great responses.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Below you'll find a summary of the top reasons people cite for falling short of their goals and not making as much progress as they'd like.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;Recognize any of them?&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Lack of time&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Lack of money&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Lack of confidence&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Self-sabotage&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Not setting goals to begin with&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Not planning well enough&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Procrastination&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Having too many goals&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Not prioritizing my goals&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Spreading myself too thin&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Lame but convenient excuses&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Popular trends not going my way&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Not knowing where to start&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;My day job&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Not putting what I know into action&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The government and its stupid rules&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Setting really BIG goals&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Perfectionism&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Fear of failure&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Not knowing how to raise things to the next level&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Clutter&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Me, Myself, My own mind&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Facebook&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If I missed something, please add your own obstacle in the Comments section below. Also leave some extra thoughts on what holds you back, along with any tips you have to overcome these hurdles.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'll post my own ways of conquering these personal demons in future blog posts, and may even turn this into an ebook some day.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Bob&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;div style="color: #cc0000; font-size: 16pt;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Featured Resource&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/presskits.html"&gt;&lt;img align="left" alt="Killer Music Press Kits" border="0" hspace="10" src="http://www.bob-baker.com/images/KPK.jpg" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/presskits.html"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; line-height: 140%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Killer Music Press Kits - Deluxe Edition&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The 29 Most Important Elements in Creating Sizzling Music Publicity Materials&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/presskits.html"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Learn More&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href="http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/netcart.asp?MerchantID=79866&amp;amp;ProductID=2754291"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Order Now&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9785425-8451467308571668476?l=www.bob-baker.com%2Fmusicpromotionblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/8451467308571668476/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9785425&amp;postID=8451467308571668476' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/8451467308571668476'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/8451467308571668476'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/11/what-keeps-you-from-reaching-your-goals.html' title='What Keeps You From Reaching Your Goals?'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='08572255470182414485'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425.post-2442810100984223650</id><published>2009-11-03T08:52:00.001-06:00</published><updated>2009-11-03T08:58:16.367-06:00</updated><title type='text'>7 Ways to Destroy Your Music Career</title><content type='html'>&lt;img align="left" border="0" hspace="14" src="http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2007/11/guitar_smash.jpg" vspace="2" width="200" /&gt;Everybody wants to know the easy, proven steps to music success. Therefore, every expert offers tips and strategies to help you reach your goals -- including me.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well, it's time to shake things up and serve a new audience -- which explains why this post takes a look at the dark side: How to ruin your music career in seven easy steps ...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;1) Give Away Your Personal Power&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The first step to destroying your music career is to realize that your destiny is in the hands of other people and circumstances beyond your control. Fully embrace the fact that you need to be in the right place at the right time to get your "lucky break" and be "discovered."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Industry people and music critics must deem you worthy of success for you to have value as a musician. Also, cling to the belief that all the answers are "out there" somewhere and you will be incredibly successful at failure.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;2) Turn Marketing, Promotion and Sales Into a Huge Burden&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Do you really wanna fall flat fast? Then start referring to marketing as a "necessary evil" quick. Realize that you don't have what it takes to "sell yourself" and reach more fans. In fact, there's probably a biological reason you hate promotion: you were born without the critical marketing gene that all those "gift of gab" people have. Therefore, you are destined to live a lifetime of hardship as you struggle with having to engage in the ugly chore of self-promotion.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;3) Be Fearful of Being Perceived as a Greedy, Capitalist Pig&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img align="right" border="0" hspace="14" src="http://www.inspiredstartup.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/car-sales.jpg" vspace="2" width="180" /&gt;Paranoia will go a long way to helping you fall short of a thriving music career -- especially when it comes to earning money. Just know that every one of your fans is watching you and waiting to jump ship the second they smell any scent of capitalism. Therefore, if you make any sales pitches at all, they better be so low key as to be barely perceptible.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In fact, it would be best not to even make people aware that you have things for sale. Just wait till they come to you. If they're interested, they'll ask. And if you want to score extra points, when they do ask, tell them you left all your CDs and T-shirts at home.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;4) Use a Lack of Time, Money and Connections as Your Biggest Excuse&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here's a surefire way to go down in flames. Have convenient scapegoats based on scarcity. Tell anyone who asks (as well as a lot of people who don't ask or care) how lousy your career is because of all the lack in your life. Frequently use phrases such as "There aren't enough hours in the day," "If I had that kind of money, I'd be a rock star too," and "It's not what you know, it's who you know." To spice things up, every now and then throw in an angry reference to "The man."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;5) Market Yourself to the Faceless Masses Using Traditional Big Media&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img align="left" border="0" hspace="14" src="http://m2.wnymedia.net/files/2009/09/big-media.JPG" vspace="2" width="160" /&gt;Why spend all that time dealing one on one with fans, when someday someone could just throw a bunch of money (you know, the funds you don't have enough of now) into a massive marketing campaign? Realize that it takes big bucks spent on radio promotion, retail placement, billboards, and paid display ads in national magazines to succeed. This mass media mindset is your ticket to success ... at hitting the fast track to failure.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;b&gt;Bonus tip&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/i&gt;: Never answer your email from fans, and rarely -- if ever -- log into your Facebook, MySpace or Twitter accounts. Better yet, don't even start these accounts.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;6) Promote Yourself Sporadically and Only When It's Urgent&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you have a mailing list (and with sucky email delivery and open rates these days, why bother?), be sure the fans on your list don't hear from you very often. One of the best "road to ruin" marketing tactics is blasting your fans with urgent "come to my show" or "buy my new album now" messages when they haven't heard from you in months. Your ultimate goal is have fans read your promotions and go, "Who is this band again?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;7) Know That Everyone Owes You Something Simply Because You Exist&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've saved the best way to destroy your music career for last. Simply know that everyone will care as much about you and your music as you do. Understand that complete strangers will indeed listen to every note of your 70-minute concept album and read every word of your 10-page bio. Be sure to send long, in-depth emails and leave lengthy, rambling voice mail messages for the imbeciles who don't recognize your greatness. Also, be sure to insult anyone who doesn't get back to you within 10 minutes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;There you have it -- the top seven ways to ruin your music career.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So ... what are you waiting for? &lt;b&gt;Now get out there and demote yourself!!!&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Bob&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15pt; color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-weight: 700;"&gt;Featured Resource&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/music_marketing.htm"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/img/GuerrillaCover.jpg" alt="Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook" width="100" align="left" border="0" hspace="10"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/music_marketing.htm"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;201 Self-Promotion Ideas for Songwriters, &lt;br /&gt;Musicians and Bands on a Budget&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/music_marketing.htm"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Learn More&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/music_marketing.htm#order"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Order Now&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9785425-2442810100984223650?l=www.bob-baker.com%2Fmusicpromotionblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/2442810100984223650/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9785425&amp;postID=2442810100984223650' title='21 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/2442810100984223650'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/2442810100984223650'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/11/7-ways-to-destroy-your-music-career.html' title='7 Ways to Destroy Your Music Career'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='08572255470182414485'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>21</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425.post-6040824287479357947</id><published>2009-10-27T19:03:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2009-10-27T19:03:25.887-05:00</updated><title type='text'>John Mayer, Augmented Reality, Music &amp; You</title><content type='html'>Ready for the next generation of computer interactivity? Say hello to Augmented Reality! And start thinking about how you might some day use it to promote your music.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;img border="0" hspace="4" src="http://labs.blitzagency.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/blog_johnmayer_heroimage11.jpg" vspace="18" width="390" /&gt;&lt;/center&gt;Not sure what it is? Don't worry. It's only recently become a hot buzz word (or phrase), even though the term has been around since about 1992.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Here's the most basic way to describe it&lt;/b&gt;: Augmented Reality (AR) involves the combination of real-world, real-time activity with computer-generated elements. It's the merging of the real and virtual worlds.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you watch pro football on TV, you are probably familiar with the yellow first down line that appears across the playing field on your screen. The field and the players are real. The yellow line is artificially created to "augment" your perception of what is happening during the game.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;John Mayer made news last week when he released the first AR music video&lt;/b&gt;. If you think this is like those JibJab or dancing elves videos where you insert your face into a motion picture, think again. With those, you take a still picture of yourself that was taken in the past and insert it into a video that can be shared with others.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That can be a lot of fun, but Augmented Reality takes it a step further by inserting people into videos in real time using only a webcam and a simple physical "marker."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here are the instructions from &lt;a href="http://www.johnmayer.com/" target="_new"&gt;Mayer's web site&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ol&gt;&lt;li&gt;To view this augmented reality, you must have the special Battle Studies icon. You can print this PDF (or open it on your mobile device).&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Turn on your computer's sound and webcam and turn off any pop-up blockers.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Wait for the flash player to load (if prompted, authorize access to your webcam).&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Make sure the icon on your screen and the image you are holding are completely lined up (and don't move the icon until you see John).&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Enjoy the experience of augmented reality!&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;img border="0" hspace="4" src="http://www.wunschfeld.net/blog/uploaded_images/augmentedReality_1-780767.jpg" vspace="18" width="390" /&gt;&lt;/center&gt;I haven't tried it myself yet, but apparently the live video captured through your webcam becomes part of Mayer's music video -- in real time. (Here's &lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRBtAv2NYME" target="_new"&gt;a video&lt;/a&gt; that shows a similar process.) Talk about interactive!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Honestly, I'm not sure yet how you go about creating an AR video on an indie budget, or even who offers this service yet. But I wanted to at least bring this technology to your attention.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Here are a few other articles on the topic&lt;/b&gt;:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/10/john-mayer-augmented-reality-video/" target="_new"&gt;John Mayer’s Augmented Reality Video Puts Fans in Picture&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sosticky.co.uk/sosticky/2009/10/21/lost-valentinos-augmented-reality-music-video-just-beat-john.html" target="_new"&gt;Lost Valentinos Augmented Reality Music Video&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.howstuffworks.com/augmented-reality.htm" target="_new"&gt;How Augmented Reality Works&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality" target="_new"&gt;Wikipedia's Augmented reality page&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,62058896,00.htm" target="_new"&gt;Augmented reality's time is coming thanks to smarter smartphones&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Bob&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9785425-6040824287479357947?l=www.bob-baker.com%2Fmusicpromotionblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/6040824287479357947/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9785425&amp;postID=6040824287479357947' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/6040824287479357947'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/6040824287479357947'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/10/john-mayer-augmented-reality-music-you.html' title='John Mayer, Augmented Reality, Music &amp; You'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='08572255470182414485'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425.post-5251169552876296351</id><published>2009-10-19T18:39:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2009-10-19T18:39:43.712-05:00</updated><title type='text'>The Mike Doughty Guide to Interactive Live Shows</title><content type='html'>I was all set to enjoy a mellow Sunday night at home, when Pooki got a call last night. It was her son, Matt, letting her know that &lt;a href="http://www.mikedoughty.com/" target="_new"&gt;Mike Doughty&lt;/a&gt; was about to play at the Duck Room.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img align="right" border="0" hspace="14" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hrMBhXj0L2A/R8v-JVOQ4WI/AAAAAAAAAIE/8P6uOzoes0g/s320/MikeDoughtyWeb.jpg" vspace="2" width="200" /&gt;Doughty was the creative force behind the band &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_Coughing" target="_new"&gt;Soul Coughing&lt;/a&gt; (signed to Warner Bros) in the 1990s. In 2004, he became a touring solo act and soon started releasing albums on Dave Matthews' ATO label.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We've become big fans of his gravelly, low-pitched, half-sung, half-spoken vocal style -- therefore, the mellow Sunday night plans quickly went out the window. And I'm glad they did.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was an intimate show with perhaps a couple hundred people comfortably squeezed into the Duck Room basement bar. Doughty and his long-time touring partner Andrew Livingston put on a good, stripped-down show.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;But here's the thing I really thought was cool -- something I've never seen a performing musician do before ...&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mike Doughty is a smart guy with quick wit who knows how to banter with a crowd. But instead of simply winging it or relying on well-worn stories, he asks for questions from the audience.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But most of these questions aren't shouted out. &lt;b&gt;He asks people to write them down on slips of paper he provides and to throw them into a jar on the stage&lt;/b&gt;. Every two or three songs, Doughty and Livingston take turns reading a short stack of questions and answering them rapid fire.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Q&amp;amp;A segments were very insighful and entertaining -- and made for a lot of funny moments. What a great way to personalize each live show (and he has a lot of them on this current tour with nearly one every night in a different city).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dozens of questions were read and answered last night. &lt;b&gt;How to you think the fans who submitted them felt about playing a small part in the show?&lt;/b&gt; You can bet they told their friends about it and are now more likely to spread Doughty's music to even more people.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Another smart thing he does is record each live show and make it available that night on CDs for anyone who wants to go home with it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;That's how you involve your fans and make music personal -- as it should be!&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Bob&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="color: #cc0000; font-size: 16pt; font-weight: 700;"&gt;Featured Resource&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/college-booking.html"&gt;&lt;img align="left" alt="NACA and the College Music Market" border="0" hspace="10" src="http://www.scottcelani.com/images/Scott.JPG" width="116" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/college-booking.html"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; line-height: 140%;"&gt;How to Tap Into NACA and the Lucrative College Music Market&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A veteran booking agent reveals ... Why settle for low-paying club gigs, when you could be making $5,000 ... $10,000 ... even $50,000 or more playing the college music circuit?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/college-booking.html"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Learn More&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href="http://www.1shoppingcart.com/SecureCart/SecureCart.aspx?mid=61DDBFB9-4B0D-4F7F-9E5B-45780CF73D86&amp;amp;pid=28f8f94bff4aa878d2e3cbcd20a3d9c4"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Order Now&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9785425-5251169552876296351?l=www.bob-baker.com%2Fmusicpromotionblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/5251169552876296351/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9785425&amp;postID=5251169552876296351' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/5251169552876296351'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/5251169552876296351'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/10/mike-doughty-guide-to-interactive-live.html' title='The Mike Doughty Guide to Interactive Live Shows'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='08572255470182414485'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hrMBhXj0L2A/R8v-JVOQ4WI/AAAAAAAAAIE/8P6uOzoes0g/s72-c/MikeDoughtyWeb.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425.post-1521084033625035610</id><published>2009-10-08T11:45:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2009-10-09T09:56:22.573-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Made-To-Stick Music Marketing</title><content type='html'>Everybody these days wants to create buzz. They want to grab people's attention on a large scale. And they want to do it sooner rather than later.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Therefore, everyone wants to know &lt;b&gt;the secret steps they can take to ensure their marketing idea sticks&lt;/b&gt; -- that it gains traction and reaches the people who need to hear it the most.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A good lesson on this topic comes from musician Paul Hipp. Check out his YouTube music video called "&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVgOl3cETb4" target="_new"&gt;We're Number 37&lt;/a&gt;" -- which, as of this writing, has nearly a half million views.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;object height="285" width="340"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yVgOl3cETb4&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;color1=0x5d1719&amp;color2=0xcd311b&amp;border=1"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yVgOl3cETb4&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;color1=0x5d1719&amp;color2=0xcd311b&amp;border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="340" height="285"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's a rockin' original song that tackles the current health care reform debate in the US with a decidedly liberal slant. And it's been seen by a LOT of people.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;You may think you know where I'm going with this, but I guarantee there's an unexpected twist coming. So stay with me here ...&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If I were to ask you why this song has been watched by so many people, you'd probably say because it's a decent tune about a timely issue. Plus, it features some clever editing and funny moments throughout -- which makes it more likely to be enjoyed and passed on by those who watch it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Correct! You can't go wrong with songs about current events, especially when they are done in a creative way that elicits a reaction from people who are exposed to it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;But here's the thing ...&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is not the only music video Paul Hipp has posted. He has several others, most of which also deal with current events from a liberal perspective. And those have respectable numbers -- from 1,000 to 18,000 views each. But they pale in comparison to the half million views that "We're Number 37" has earned.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Here are three lessons we can learn from this&lt;/b&gt;:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;b&gt;1) You have to throw a LOT of stuff out there to find something that sticks&lt;/b&gt;. Sure, some people hit on something big right out of the starting gate, but that's rare. The usual pattern with artists who create popular viral videos (or songs, blog posts, ideas, etc) is a history of trial and error.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The more active you are in creating a volume of content to share with your audience, the greater your odds of producing something that will spread on a larger scale. &lt;i&gt;So stay busy creating new stuff!&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;2) Regular output hones your craft&lt;/b&gt;. "We're Number 37" is Paul Hipp's 18th and newest video. Look through his previous clips and you can see an evolution. His most popular video is his best one, because he learned by creating all the ones that came before it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;Learn as you promote yourself.&lt;/i&gt; Consider it a living, breathing classroom.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;3) Being bold and specific helps&lt;/b&gt;. "We're Number 37" is not a generic rockabilly song. It's about health care reform -- a polarizing topic being hotly debated these days -- and Paul makes it clear where he stands on the issue.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;Don't be afraid to take a stand or directly appeal to a specific slice of the population with your art.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Another quick example comes from Maria Andros, who has posted 47 YouTube videos on social media marketing and other topics. Most of her videos have between 50 and 25,000 views each. Not bad.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;But one stands out at 151,000-plus views&lt;/b&gt;. The title? "&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv8Ki9_Jk-w" target="_new"&gt;How to Get Rid of a MIGRAINE Headache&lt;/a&gt;."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Who knew? I'm sure she didn't.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So ... Throw a lot of stuff out there, hone your craft as you go, and don't be afraid to be bold and specific!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Bob&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: red; font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Featured Resource&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/music-video-promotion.html"&gt;&lt;img alt="Use Video to Promote Your Music Online" src="http://www.kcci.com/2006/1009/10037163_240X180.jpg" width="140" hspace="10" align="right" border="0"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/music-video-promotion.html"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; font-weight: 700;"&gt;How to Use Video to Promote Your Music Online&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Join the YouTube revolution. Video is huge on the Internet. Use this report to create, promote and profit from your own online music videos.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/music-video-promotion.html"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Learn More&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href="http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/netcart.asp?MerchantID=79866&amp;amp;ProductID=3259435"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Order Now&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9785425-1521084033625035610?l=www.bob-baker.com%2Fmusicpromotionblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/1521084033625035610/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9785425&amp;postID=1521084033625035610' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/1521084033625035610'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/1521084033625035610'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/10/made-to-stick-music-marketing.html' title='Made-To-Stick Music Marketing'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='08572255470182414485'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425.post-7733403083382204057</id><published>2009-09-25T12:32:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2009-09-25T12:32:42.318-05:00</updated><title type='text'>12 Most Popular Musicians on Twitter &amp; What You Can Learn From Them</title><content type='html'>Yep. It seems everyone is using and promoting Twitter these days. And for good reason. It's the easiest social networking tool to set up and use on a regular basis.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;img border="0" hspace="4" src="http://www.oklahomarock.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/twitter_okie1.jpg" vspace="18" width="390" /&gt;&lt;/center&gt;In addition to actors, authors, and politicians ... &lt;b&gt;a LOT of musicians are using Twitter to stay in touch with their fans&lt;/b&gt;. Here's a list of the 12 most popular music people on Twitter, based on the current rankings at &lt;a href="http://twitterholic.com/" target="_new"&gt;Twitterholic&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I can hear you now ... "You call some of these people 'musicians'?" I'm simply reporting the &lt;b&gt;rankings of Twitter people known for their music-related activities&lt;/b&gt; here. I make no judgements as to the value of what they offer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As you can see from the list, old school pop stars are in abundance. They still have the biggest platforms.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You may not get to a million followers on Twitter, but ... &lt;b&gt;you CAN take a look at how these celebrities are using the service and learn from them&lt;/b&gt; -- both what to do and what NOT to do.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So take a peek at the various Twitter streams below and see what ideas you can borrow and use to connect with your fans -- regardless of how many of them there are right now.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img align="right" border="0" hspace="14" src="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/john-mayer-twitter.jpg" vspace="2" width="200" /&gt;&lt;b&gt;1)&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/britneyspears" target="_new"&gt;Britney Spears&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;3,330,629 followers&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;2)&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/johncmayer" target="_new"&gt;John Mayer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2,299,576 followers&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;3)&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/iamdiddy" target="_new"&gt;Diddy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2,018,633 followers&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;4)&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/mileycyrus" target="_new"&gt;Miley Cyrus&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2,006,200 followers&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;5)&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/coldplay" target="_new"&gt;Coldplay&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1,923,552 followers&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;6)&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/ashleytisdale" target="_new"&gt;Ashley Tisdale&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1,892,961 followers&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img align="right" border="0" hspace="14" src="http://www.dibsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/50cent27.jpg" vspace="2" width="175" /&gt;&lt;b&gt;7)&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/50cent" target="_new"&gt;50 Cent&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1,675,703 followers&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;8)&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/MariahCarey" target="_new"&gt;Mariah Carey&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1,658,698 followers&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;9)&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/ashsimpsonwentz" target="_new"&gt;Ashlee Simpson Wentz&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1,588,340 followers&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;10)&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/souljaboytellem" target="_new"&gt;Dre'&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1,568,410 followers&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;11)&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/petewentz" target="_new"&gt;Pete Wentz&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1,505,220 followers&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;12)&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/lilyroseallen" target="_new"&gt;Lily Allen&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1,481,838 followers&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Note&lt;/b&gt;: Some acts that fell just short of making this list include &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/MCHammer" target="_new"&gt;MC Hammer&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/SaraBareilles" target="_new"&gt;Sara Bareilles&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/TheMandyMoore" target="_new"&gt;Mandy Moore&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/taylorswift13" target="_new"&gt;Taylor Swift&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Also check out this ridiculously comprehensive list of &lt;a href="http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=phtgMLGe8aahYaH0pRs7VHg" target="_new"&gt;Artists Using Twitter&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Bob&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Featured Resource&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;a href="http://bob-baker.com/buzz/online-music-promotion.html"&gt;&lt;img align="right" alt="Promote &amp;amp; Sell Your Music on the Internet" border="0" hspace="10" src="http://www.bob-baker.com/images/70Ways.jpg" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://bob-baker.com/buzz/online-music-promotion.html"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;70 Ways to Promote &amp;amp; Sell&lt;br /&gt;Your Music on the Internet&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ideas, links, tips, tricks and resources you should be using to gain wider exposure for your music online&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://bob-baker.com/buzz/online-music-promotion.html"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Learn More&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href="http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/netcart.asp?MerchantID=79866&amp;amp;offerID=19184"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Order Now&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9785425-7733403083382204057?l=www.bob-baker.com%2Fmusicpromotionblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/7733403083382204057/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9785425&amp;postID=7733403083382204057' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/7733403083382204057'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/7733403083382204057'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/09/12-most-popular-musicians-on-twitter.html' title='12 Most Popular Musicians on Twitter &amp; What You Can Learn From Them'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='08572255470182414485'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425.post-6451092812138857200</id><published>2009-09-21T09:03:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2009-09-21T10:36:54.349-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Is Your Music 'Findable' Online?</title><content type='html'>Last week I read through Mark Penn's book, &lt;a href="http://amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0446580961/thecreativeout02" target="_new"&gt;Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes&lt;/a&gt;. It's a fascinating read based on some in-depth research, but one microtrend in particular caught my eye ...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;img border="0" hspace="4" src="http://www.knowledgefusion.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/online-shopping.jpg" vspace="16" width="390" /&gt;&lt;/center&gt;It's a category of consumer that Penn refers to as "New Info Shoppers." &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;From the book:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;"A whopping 92% of respondents said they had more confidence in information they seek out online than anything coming from a salesclerk or other source. They believe the information they find, not the information that is spoon-fed to them ..."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Consider that again: Smart consumers these days trust what they find -- or discover -- on their own first and foremost!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Another passage from Microtrends:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;"An astonishing 70% of Americans now say they consult product reviews or consumer ratings before they make their buying decisions."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Admit it, you often do this yourself before spending money on a product or service. Which begs the question ...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;How 'Findable' Are You Online?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When someone searches for your band name, your song or album titles, or your genre ... what do they discover?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here are just some of the ways savvy customers find the info they're looking for today:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.google.com/" target="_new"&gt;Google&lt;/a&gt; (or &lt;a href="http://www.yahoo.com/" target="_new"&gt;Yahoo&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href="http://www.bing.com/" target="_new"&gt;Bing&lt;/a&gt;) search results&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;How other music lovers rate it on &lt;a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bobbaker" target="_new"&gt;CD Baby&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.thesixtyone.com/" target="_new"&gt;TheSixtyOne&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bob-Baker/e/B001K7PWBO/" target="_new"&gt;Amazon&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;What they find via &lt;a href="http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&amp;amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;amp;q=%22bob+baker%22+%2Bmusic+%2Bpromotion&amp;amp;btnG=Search+Blogs" target="_new"&gt;Google Blog Search&lt;/a&gt; or on &lt;a href="http://technorati.com/blogs/www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog" target="_new"&gt;Technorati&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;What other shoppers are saying on photo- and video-sharing sites like &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bob-baker/" target="_new"&gt;Flickr&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/mrbuzzfactor" target="_new"&gt;YouTube&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;What their immediate circle of friends think about it on &lt;a href="http://facebook.com/BobBaker" target="_new"&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/MrBuzzFactor" target="_new"&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.myspace.com/thebuzzfactor" target="_new"&gt;MySpace&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/buzzfactor" target="_new"&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href="http://friendfeed.com/mrbuzzfactor" target="_new"&gt;more&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;What they uncover on &lt;a href="http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=gmail&amp;amp;rls=gm&amp;amp;q=music%20wiki" target="_new"&gt;music wikis&lt;/a&gt; and other &lt;a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&amp;amp;rls=gm&amp;amp;sourceid=gmail&amp;amp;q=music+discussion+groups&amp;amp;aq=3&amp;amp;oq=music+discuss&amp;amp;aqi=g5g-m5" target="_new"&gt;online forums&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;Finally, what steps can you take today to improve the odds that you'll be found and revealed in a positive light via the online avenues listed above?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Your mission: &lt;b&gt;Go forth and make yourself and your music findable!&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Bob&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;span style="color: red; font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Featured Resource&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Internet Music Marketing Crash Course CD&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img align="right" border="0" hspace="10" src="http://www.bob-baker.com/images/webmusic.jpg" width="120" /&gt;Are you confused about Internet promotion? Not sure where to start? You'll have a clear vision and a solid game plan once you digest this amazing collection of resources. &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/packages.html#net"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Find out more ...&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9785425-6451092812138857200?l=www.bob-baker.com%2Fmusicpromotionblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/6451092812138857200/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9785425&amp;postID=6451092812138857200' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/6451092812138857200'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/6451092812138857200'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/09/is-your-music-findable-online.html' title='Is Your Music &apos;Findable&apos; Online?'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='08572255470182414485'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425.post-3750966287065567905</id><published>2009-09-16T11:20:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2009-09-16T11:20:59.311-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Get an Earful of Ideas &amp; Inspiration</title><content type='html'>&lt;img src="http://www.din.de/sixcms_upload/media/2896/thumbnails/dossier_schall_kl.jpg.32276.jpg" align="left" width="180" border="0" hspace="14" vspace="2" /&gt;I don't know about you, but I love reading books, magazines and blogs. But I'm also a big fan of using audio for learning. If I'm driving, exercising or just wanting to get some inspiration before drifting off to sleep, listening to useful spoken word audio content rules in my book.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For a few years now I've been producing my free &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/podcast/index.html"&gt;Artist Empowerment Radio Podcast&lt;/a&gt;. And lately I've been creating shorter episodes and posting them more regularly. I encourage you to listen, download or -- best yet -- subscribe to the &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/podcast/podcast-subscribe.html" target="_new"&gt;podcast feed&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In fact, if you have iTunes open on your computer right now, click &lt;a href="http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=94983256" target="_new"&gt;this link&lt;/a&gt;. It will take you right to the Artist Empowerment Radio page, where you can hit the Subscribe button and get every future episode automatically downloaded.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Here are the most recent podcast episodes and topics&lt;/b&gt;:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/podcast/2009/09/42-1000-true-fans-to-make-living.html"&gt;1000 True Fans to Make a Living?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/podcast/2009/09/41-music-publicity-whats-your-news-hook.html"&gt;Music Publicity: What's Your News Hook?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/podcast/2009/08/40-millionaire-mind-for-artists.html"&gt;The Millionaire Mind for Artists&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/podcast/2009/07/39-electrify-your-soul-with-dan-kimpel.html"&gt;Electrify Your Soul With Dan Kimpel&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/podcast/2009/05/38-florence-larue-of-5th-dimension.html"&gt;Florence LaRue of the 5th Dimension&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/podcast/2009/04/37-multiple-streams-of-music-income.html"&gt;Multiple Streams of Music Income&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;Happy listening!&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Bob&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9785425-3750966287065567905?l=www.bob-baker.com%2Fmusicpromotionblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/3750966287065567905/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9785425&amp;postID=3750966287065567905' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/3750966287065567905'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/3750966287065567905'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/09/get-earful-of-ideas-inspiration.html' title='Get an Earful of Ideas &amp; Inspiration'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='08572255470182414485'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425.post-8469298718286359927</id><published>2009-09-14T10:56:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-09-28T16:07:19.008-05:00</updated><title type='text'>5 Ways Google Can Help Promote Your Music</title><content type='html'>If you think this is going to be about search engine optimization or a Google AdWords campaign ... think again. Here are five things Google offers that you should consider using to connect with fans and promote your music:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img align="right" border="0" hspace="10" src="http://tech.wapline.net/uploads/2007/04/11_5_06-goosync.jpg" width="200" /&gt;&lt;b&gt;1) Display your live show schedule with Google Calendar&lt;/b&gt;. Most people use this popular feature for personal appointments and scheduling. But you can also choose categories on your calendar to make public -- and even embed them on your web site ... AND make it easy for people to add your events to THEIR personal calendars. Visit &lt;a href="http://www.google.com/googlecalendar/event_publisher_guide.html" target="_new" &gt;this page&lt;/a&gt; for more details.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;2) Help fans find your gig venues with Google Maps&lt;/b&gt;. This popular application is the next best thing to having a GPS system in your car. You can use it to find places you drive to, of course. But a really smart idea is to include Google Maps links to each venue you perform at, not just the club address.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sure, fans can "map it" themselves. But why not save them a couple extra steps and provide a direct link? Learn more about Google Maps &lt;a href="http://maps.google.com/" target="_new" &gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Tip&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt;: Look up a venue address on Google Maps yourself first. Then click on "Link" just to the right of "Print" and "Send" to get the code.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img align="right" border="0" hspace="10" src="http://www.techshout.com/images/google-friend-connect-feb09.jpg" width="110" /&gt;&lt;b&gt;3) Turn your web site into a social networking playground with Google Friend Connect&lt;/b&gt;. Make it easy for people to join your community of fans using the cool features of this Google tool. Read more about it and watch the video &lt;a href="http://www.google.com/friendconnect/home/overview" target="_new" &gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;4) Add your albums and merchandise to Google Product Search&lt;/b&gt;. It's kinda like Google's version of Ebay -- but there are no listing fees. Learn more on &lt;a href="http://www.google.com/products" target="_new" &gt;this page&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;5) Power up your communications with Gmail&lt;/b&gt;. I've been using Gmail for more than four years and love it. Lots of features and gobs of storage space to archive years of email exchanges. You can filter and label messages, send canned responses, and so much more. &lt;a href="http://mail.google.com/" target="_new" &gt;Go here&lt;/a&gt; for more info.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Google has a lot more up its sleeve. In fact, a big one is coming later this month (more on that soon). In the meantime, investigate these five Google features and see how you can use them to promote your music better online.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Bob&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Featured Resource&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;a href="http://bob-baker.com/buzz/online-music-promotion.html"&gt;&lt;img align="right" alt="Promote &amp;amp; Sell Your Music on the Internet" border="0" hspace="10" src="http://www.bob-baker.com/images/70Ways.jpg" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://bob-baker.com/buzz/online-music-promotion.html"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;70 Ways to Promote &amp;amp; Sell&lt;br /&gt;Your Music on the Internet&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ideas, links, tips, tricks and resources you should be using to gain wider exposure for your music online&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://bob-baker.com/buzz/online-music-promotion.html"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Learn More&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href="http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/netcart.asp?MerchantID=79866&amp;amp;offerID=19184"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Order Now&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9785425-8469298718286359927?l=www.bob-baker.com%2Fmusicpromotionblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/8469298718286359927/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9785425&amp;postID=8469298718286359927' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/8469298718286359927'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/8469298718286359927'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/09/5-ways-google-can-help-promote-your.html' title='5 Ways Google Can Help Promote Your Music'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='08572255470182414485'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9785425.post-4168683972656864062</id><published>2009-09-03T12:27:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2009-09-03T12:33:10.344-05:00</updated><title type='text'>The Best Online Music Marketing Plan Ever</title><content type='html'>Last Friday I published a &lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/08/reader-q-does-artist-really-need-to-be.html"&gt;new blog post&lt;/a&gt; on an all-too-familiar topic: the sheer workload that indie musicians must embrace to make a true impact with online marketing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There's no shortage of ideas, web sites or tools you can use. That's not the problem. &lt;b&gt;The most common frustration I hear relates to confusion over how to manage a limited amount of time, money and energy&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img align="right" border="0" hspace="14" src="http://www.rightattitudes.com/blogincludes/images/20080619_tomorrow_to_do_list_today.jpg" vspace="2" width="200" /&gt;&lt;i&gt;Where should you start? What should your priorities be? What steps can you take to make the best use of your time?&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For years I've been cranking out truckloads of ideas, tips, suggestions, success stories, and more. But what's been missing is a road map. A blueprint. A step-by-step checklist that any musician can follow and implement right away.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That's why I've started outlining a new resource called "&lt;b&gt;Internet Music Marketing Blueprint - The 28-Day Plan: A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Web 2.0 and Social Media Promotion to Turbo-Charge Your Music Career&lt;/b&gt;."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yes, that's a mouthful. But it accurately describes what I want this resource to deliver -- a specific to-do list for online promotion.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I already know most of want I want to include in this detailed blueprint. But to make it the best marketing plan possible, I invite your suggestions.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So tell me ...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;What specific Daily, Weekly and Monthly tasks do you think need to be included in a plan like this?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;What routines and habits have you personally developed to be most effective with Web 2.0 and Social Media promotion?&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;What specific things would you like to see addressed in a comprehensive online marketing plan?&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;b&gt;Please leave your feedback in the Comments section below&lt;/b&gt;, send me an email, or join my &lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=105139416793" target="_new"&gt;Guerrilla Music Marketing group&lt;/a&gt; on Facebook and post your comments in the discussion thread there.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I appreciate your input and will keep you posted as I develop this exciting new resource.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Bob&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Featured Resource&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/music-web-site.html"&gt;&lt;img align="left" border="0" hspace="10" src="http://www.christiantemplatesonline.com/christian-templates/110-music/music-website-template.jpg" width="140" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Killer Music Web Sites&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; by Bob Baker&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Build and Design a Music Web Site That Attracts Fans, Sells Your Music, and Builds Your Music Career.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/music-web-site.html"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Learn More&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href="http://www.1shoppingcart.com/SecureCart/SecureCart.aspx?mid=61DDBFB9-4B0D-4F7F-9E5B-45780CF73D86&amp;amp;pid=1e628b48caa3b68a713f396546a38960"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Order Now&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9785425-4168683972656864062?l=www.bob-baker.com%2Fmusicpromotionblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/4168683972656864062/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9785425&amp;postID=4168683972656864062' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/4168683972656864062'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9785425/posts/default/4168683972656864062'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2009/09/best-online-music-marketing-plan-ever.html' title='The Best Online Music Marketing Plan Ever'/><author><name>Bob Baker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11563335433483737454</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='08572255470182414485'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>4</thr:total></entry></feed>