Something from Flute Land… :-)

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150666859780382

Saxophone Survival….what?

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Rome, Italy                                                                           15 March, 2010

Hi, welcome back!

Spring is in the air here in Rome…slightly brisk but sunny…finally!

Today seems like a good day to bring your attention to my book ,
“The Saxophone Survival Kit, A Guide for Aspiring Professional Saxophonists…or just anyone!” It’s the answer to a lot of questions I had when I was just starting to think about music as a possible fulltime profession…

It’s purpose  is to help you better understand how to prepare yourself to become a professional sax player.

You’ll discover that many types of playing situations are discussed in detail (“Live” playing, Studio work, TV work, touring of all types, musical preparation, etc) and with the insight gained from 35 years of professional saxophone playing in exactly these kinds of situations.

Hopefully, after reading this little book you’ll have a much more clear idea of how to proceed day by day toward your goal…

It’s full of tried and true concepts that will definitely help you improve your chances for… that’s right…Saxophone Survival!

“The Saxophone Survival Kit” will answer many of your questions about the world of Professional Saxophone Playing…so it’s up to you…

Will you act now, (free download available) or will you miss this great opportunity to discover what you need to know to better prepare yourself for a satisfying pro career?

*Note that the “Saxophone Survival Kit…” is also available in a free e-book download  format (pdf)…if you should choose this option, I’d appreciate your feedback as I’m preparing a revision at the moment.

Feel free to distribute the e-book to your sax playing friends…(or just anyone). Thanks!

That’s it for today…have a look at the book and by all means, leave comments/feedback here…I’m doing a revision so I’m all ears!

Have fun ’til next time!

E.

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Eric Daniel plays sax and flute and is the ringleader of Eric Daniel & Friends. Their CD “Old Sax Nu Soul” is on the Quatro Miglio Quality Music label and can be purchased online from iTunes Store and CDBaby.com

His new book “The Saxophone Survival Kit, A Guide for Aspiring Professional Saxophonists…or just anyone!” can be ordered or downloaded here: www.lulu.com

Please follow me on Twitter!

Something for the future…now!

Rome, Italy (The Eternal City)

Hello hello! Welcome back …. Thanks for droppin’ by!

This post deals with a concept that ties in well with the “1000 True Fans” concept I touched on a couple of posts ago. We’ll have a look at setting up ways to create continuos income from your core fan/customer base over the years to come as your following grows.

I don’t know about you, but this idea sounds very good to me and well worth the effort to acheive!

So what’s the deal?

Well, the deal is this: Build a rock-solid fan base of at least 1000 strong (but by all means, don’t stop there!), get them opted-into your newsletter group and gradually build your credibility and trust with them.
Make them feel at home with you, show them beautiful things, the latest happenings,  great sounds, cool merchandise, exclusive fan events and make many items available…for free: bonus track downloads (when you get the email address), for cheap: (single mp3’s), a bit more expensive but not too: (complete album downloads), etc…all the way up to private “live” gigs for your true fans with more dough!

Ariel is a master of this concept so listen well to this advice. It is the future…now!

Ariel?

Oh yes, I’m talking about Ariel Hyatt.

Her book, “Music Success in Nine Weeks”, deals extensively with this topic in chapter nine (Week Nine). She mentions the pre-requisites for getting into a “Continuum Program” relationship with your fans.

1)      A functioning  monthly or bi-monthly newsletter

2)      A steadily growing mailing list (the bigger the better!)

3)      Time alotted each week for developing the list and newsletter

4)      Info from your fans about what they want. (Survey results)

Now, in my case…I’m still getting the newsletter into gear and would also like to have my list up to at least 1000 members before moving on this idea…but that’s the direction I’m going in for sure!

To get the ball rolling, Ariel mentions some possible ways of setting up your eventual “Continuum Program” …but I don’t want to ruin the surprise…so go over to Ariel’s site, download the book and read it, then read it again…then get moving!

That’s all I’m going to say for now…it’s been a pleasure!

See you soon, and always remember… “Straight ahead and strive for tone!”

Til soon,

E.

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Eric Daniel plays sax and flute and is the ringleader of Eric Daniel & Friends. Their CD “Old Sax Nu Soul” is on the Quatro Miglio Quality Music label and can be purchased online from iTunes Store and CDBaby.com

His new book “The Saxophone Survival Kit, A Guide for Aspiring Professional Saxophonists…or just anyone!” can be ordered or downloaded here: www.lulu.com

Please follow me on Twitter!

Real life…at last!

Rome, Italy

Hi, welcome back!

Wow…we are zipping right along! Already time to consider the area of  Networking in Real-life “Live” situations.

This is a great topic to me , I mean, this is where you, The Artist can come through in an Up Close and Personal kind of way…chatting, hanging out, just being yourself and getting to know people day in and day out. Real life…at last!

I touched on this area in my previous post about collecting email addresses and building a mailing list but it bears repeating. Real life situations are a great time to cop email addresses…much warmer and hopefully memorable moments.

For me, hangin’ out after gigs, talking to the people who came out to see the show is probably my favorite time to strengthen my contacts with fans, shake some hands, chill and if the vibe is right ask people for their info so I can add them to my mailing list. At the very least, find out if they are on Facebook, add them as friends later and eventually go for the email with a message on Facebook, (depending on the vibe, add a link to something cool like your latest video or music player widget when you do this.)

Ariel Hyatt, one of my fave music marketing experts, has some very good tips about real-life networking in her book “Music Success in Nine Weeks” which I highly recommend.

She emphasizes that the key to good networking is to be “memorable”…but how can we be more memorable? She states something that we all know but often forget: Listen more, talk less. Let it be about THEM …be receptive, not aggressive or “pushy”.

Always have your business cards at hand but keep them to yourself until asked for them, in the meantime, absolutely ask THEM for THEIR card, they are dying to give it to you….and follow up in a friendly way by phone or email the next day. Try to keep follow ups friendly not “sale-sy”, building rapport should be your goal at this time.

Ariel suggests that before going into  potential real-life networking situations such as; parties, weddings, conferences, etc…get your agenda together. Who do you want to get to know? What is your mission, emails collection, gig promotion, information gathering? Take five minutes to get relaxed, focus on the goal, then walk into the room and have fun!

I’d love to hear about your networking ideas as well, so please feel free to comment to this post!

See you soon…and remember, “Straight ahead, and strive for tone!”

Til next time,

E.

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Eric Daniel plays sax and flute and is the ringleader of Eric Daniel & Friends. Their CD “Old Sax Nu Soul” is on the Quatro Miglio Quality Music label and can be purchased online from iTunes Store and CDBaby.com

His new book “The Saxophone Survival Kit, A Guide for Aspiring Professional Saxophonists…or just anyone!” can be ordered or downloaded here: www.lulu.com

Please follow me on Twitter!

So tell me…how big IS it?

Rome

“The size of your Mailing List = The size of your Income” (Ariel Hyatt)

What?

This quote from “Week Seven” of Ariel Hyatt’s book,“Music Success in Nine Weeks”,  goes straight to the heart of the matter, in fact she emphatically states that, “I believe your email newsletter list is your most valuable asset.”

I totally agree with her on this point and in fact, when I read her book the first time, I immediately added this area to my “Goals” list, and began working on my target of collecting at least 1000 opt-in emails by May 24th (my birthday, and yes I do love gifts…even email addresses!)…so far so good, I’m halfway there already!

Actually, I have always collected emails and have several thousand tucked away in my computer, but have only recently begun getting them into decent order . By getting them in order I mean inserting them, one by one, into the opt-in e-mail list management system I’ve begun using over at ReverbNation (they have lot’s of lovely goodies for collecting emails, organizing newsletters, updating concert dates, etc…all set up for you to use without your having to be a computer wizard!)

I personally recommend to all my musician/independent artist friends to set up an account on ReverbNation, have a good look around, and start taking advantage of the many “widget” devices they offer.

Go have a look!

So, back to the Mailing List…

You have to become an “E-mail Collecting Machine”…here are some things I do to grow my list. (Ariel mentions many more ways in her book.)

Whenever I meet people, talk with them and get the vibe that they appreciate my music, ask me about my concert dates,etc… I ask them if they’d like to give me their email address so I can keep them in the loop about where I’ll be playing, new videos, etc…they always say yes!
I have them write their info down in a little black back-pocket size Moleskin memo book…it’s a nice item…people like to write their names and addresses into it. Later, when I have time, I insert the info into the Fanreach Mailing List app over on ReverbNation. They are now officially on the list to receive communications from me periodically, once they opt-in.

Another way is saving all e-mail correspondence into a folder in my email program. From time to time I go through these messages, copy the adresses and, once again, insert them into the ReverbNation “FanReach” management application. Sometimes I’ll send a quick note them asking if they’d like to be on the list and if so, to click on a link which takes them to a sign up widget on my site at  http://www.saxman.it.

Many people list their e-mail addresses on Facebook as well. Send them a message with a link to opt-in to the list.

Here are some more ideas from Ariel about this critical area:

Set short, medium and long-term goals and deadlines for yourself in this area and stick to them.

Try ideas for collecting email addresses from onstage at your gigs…one example of her’s is to take a moment DURING your show to raffle off a copy of your CD, people put the cards or scraps of paper with their name and email address into a box/hat/bag/whatever to participate. Later, send all these people your opt-in note…this is also a good time to thank them once again for coming out to see your show! This is also a great way to plug your CD from onstage…do photos with the winner!

Remember…Facebook, MySpace,Twitter and all the other social networks you use are great but, in the end, it’s your Mailing List that will have to get the job done…

So tell me…How big IS it?

That’s it for now…check you soon!

All the best,

E.

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Eric Daniel plays sax and flute and is the ringleader of Eric Daniel & Friends. Their CD “Old Sax Nu Soul” is on the Quatro Miglio Quality Music label and can be purchased online from iTunes Store and CDBaby.com

His new book “The Saxophone Survival Kit, A Guide for Aspiring Professional Saxophonists…or just anyone!” can be ordered or downloaded here: www.lulu.com

Please follow me on Twitter!

Backstage bloggin’…again!

From a secret location near Rome…

Hello hello, welcome back!

Today I’m writing from the backstage area of a theater production that’s being put together in a secret location (an industrial area outside Rome)… but that’s another story. There’s a pause to give the lighting crew a chance to rig a few things up before the rehearsal starts up, so I’m throwing some thoughts together quickly while there’s time.

I’d like to share some more thought’s with you about Ariel Hyatt’s book, “Music Success in Nine Weeks” . In Chapter 6 (Week Six) Ariel brings our attention to how we can improve our rapport with our fans/followers/customers by reaching out through our mailing list (mailing list building and development is discussed in depth in Week Seven).

Before going too much further here I’d like to underline a point that Ariel emphasizes which is about making a making a shift in our way of thinking about our fans. She suggests that we begin to think of them as “customers” and also brings up the idea of  “1000 True Fans” concept.

Basically, the “1000 True fans “ idea means, rather than focussing on trying to get huge numbers(millions…:-) ) of sales of your CD, trying to develop sales of multiple items to a core group of fans/customers. This is an idea that has been getting traction around the Web which got it’s name from an article by Kevin Kelly.

(Here’s a link to it:  http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/03/1000_true_fans.php )

This is a cool way to think as you are working on  building a tighter (and more profitable) relationship with the folks who dig your music.

Find more about this school of thought by checking out the writings of Seth Godin, Bob Baker, and Derek Sivers as well.

Another important point in “Week Six” is that it’ important to really understand who your fans/customers are by…why not?… asking them directly through surveys which you can set up from within your newsletters. Ariel mentions ways to do this easily and inexpensively. Nice…

So, sorry if this is a little quick today but I have an afternoon rehearsal and a sneak preview  show  tonight to get ready for. See you next time when we’ll have a look at  Ariel’s  tips for actually building and developing our mailing lists in ,“Week Seven” from “Music Success in Nine Weeks”.

Til then, as always…straight ahead and strive for tone!

See you soon,

E.

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Eric Daniel plays sax and flute and is the ringleader of Eric Daniel & Friends. Their CD “Old Sax Nu Soul” is on the Quatro Miglio Quality Music label and can be purchased online from iTunes Store and CDBaby.com

His new book “The Saxophone Survival Kit, A Guide for Aspiring Professional Saxophonists…or just anyone!” can be ordered or downloaded here: www.lulu.com

Please follow me on Twitter!

To blog, or not to blog…

Backstage...thinking about blogging

Finally! Finally back on the blog trail once again…it’s been an amazing ten days since my last post!

The five day mini-tour in southern Italy was really a great experience…a special guest gig with Umberto Napolitano’s Jazz Trio (Sasà Calabrese (acoustic and electric basses), Vincenzo Gallo (drums) and of course Umberto Napolitano on piano). It was great getting to know each other on and off the bandstand. Just when we were starting to really groove together, the gig was over!

But it was a lot of fun so we’re definitely planning on doing it again, hopefully this summer in some outdoor venues. Umberto was so cool …he gave me his apartment for a week, great guy! Unbelievable hospitality….

Anyway, things were so busy that I got completely off my blogging groove…big mistake, but things were moving kind of fast…then as soon as I got back to town (I was home for exactly 20 minutes), rehearsals began for a theater production which I’m involved in as we speak. It has really messed up my video blogging to say the least…we are doing long rehearsal hours but I must say it’s very interesting being around professional theater people…they really work hard on getting the timing/groove/interplay working and are so expressive…it’s fascinating to me to watch them work.

I’m doing some sax improvising within the context of the show which is stimulating for me…adding my melodic point of view to various moments in the story…I have a lot of freedom but also a big responsibility to help create an atmosphere the cast can feel and work into their individual interpretations of their personalities on stage..it’s a stage play, by the way, not a musical….but that’s another story!

Today’s blog is also an attempt to get back on track with my reflections on Ariel Hyatt’s book Music Success in Nine Weeks, and in particular the chapter  about “Week Five: Blogging”.

Ariel feels, and backs it up with some interesting statistical data, that blogging can be a major plus factor in breaking new music projects onto the market as well as being an excellent means of giving your fans a look at another side of you. There’s also a chance for dialogue via the comments section of your blog. You do HAVE a blog, right?

She provides some excellent advice about how to develop good relationships with others in the blogging community such as, reading and commenting on THEIR blogs and getting to know them ..especially the one’s you’d like to be mentioned or reviewed by. As always, it begins by being interested in THEM first and not about pushing yourself and your pitch on them immediately.

This chapter is a biggy so I suggest taking Ariel’s advice and start reading blog’s that interest you and that you’d like to be involved with and add them to your “blog roll” (check mine to the right, the links…that’s what known as the “blog roll”). If, for some reason, blogging doesn’t feel comfortable to you, she suggests to at least READ and COMMENT on blogs to create a presence and spread your name (and links) around.

There’s so much more but that’s probably enough to get you going …at least until you cop Ariel’s book and get the full rundown from her about this important area.

I’m in for another very busy few days of rehearsing, gigging and some quick runs out of town so no videos possible for now but I will get back into that again ASAP as I’ve discovered it’s fun and get’s great traffic too!

Anyway as always have fun … straight ahead and strive for tone!

See you soon,

E.

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Eric Daniel plays sax and flute and is the ringleader of Eric Daniel & Friends. Their CD “Old Sax Nu Soul” is on the Quatro Miglio Quality Music label and can be purchased online from iTunes Store and CDBaby.com

His new book “The Saxophone Survival Kit, A Guide for Aspiring Professional Saxophonists…or just anyone!” can be ordered or downloaded here: www.lulu.com

Please follow me on Twitter!

Social Media for Musicians

From “the Road”, 25 Feb. 2010

Hello hello! It’s that time again…that’s right, time to take a look at Ariel Hyatt’s book, “Music Success in Nine Weeks” and in particular Week Four: Social Media for Musicians.

Today’s post is a little different as I’m writing it  as I travel by train from Rome to Scalea,a small city on the Mediteranean, in the southern region called Calabria. I’ll be doing a guest soloist gig with the Umberto Napolitano Jazz Trio for 4 concerts in that area starting tomorrow. Should be fun!

In the meantime, this is a five hour train ride  so let’s see what we can do with it!  In my blogging arsenal for today are the following items: my little Acer Netbook, a small notebook, a pencil, one small digital camera….so far so good.

If you have been following this blog, you’ll have seen the video-clips dealing with Weeks One, Two and Three from Ariel’s book, if not, check them out. They deal with the areas of  Goal Setting, development and use of your Perfect Pitch, and Website Optimization, respectively.

So, you see I’m very tempted to attempt another video, this time “on the road”,  using the video setting of the little digital camera and a video editing program that just barely works on my little Acer netbook.

So right now, a part of me is going over the pro’s and con’s of this video “on the fly” idea, while another part of me says “keep typing and try to start making some sense quick before everybody just get’s up and leaves”…so here you go.

Ariel Hyatt is an expert in Cyber PR,  and really has jammed this chapter full of great info you need to get you up to speed on using Social Media to promote yourself and your music. It’s a big area but she touches all the bases to get you off in the right direction.

Her list  of “must have’s” includes Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Podcasting, among others. She provides all you need to know to get started on these platforms and, if you are already using them, how to use them more effectively. Thanks to her advice, I recently set up an account on Music Alley (for Podsafe music) and have already begun getting some play from the podcasters who come there looking for new music!

Another place that I use and particularly like is ReverbNation. There you’ll find lot’s of widgets, band management tools and excellent apps that interface nicely with Facebook’s “My Band” area, as well as the possibility to insert your feeds from Twitter. ReverbNation is what I’m using to reorganize my mailing list.

I love using Twitter! It’s a real killer tool once you get started using it and have built up a following. It kind of ties everything together and allows you to drive traffic to wherever you want by combining short messages which can also contain links; things you feel may be of interest to your fans like your music, photos, videos, blog articles, anything at all you feel like sharing with them, or you can join other conversations, make new contacts, whatever….it’s great because you can do it all from your cellphone!

Ariel explains very clearly how to set it all up and start using it.

I could go on and on but I think you’ve gotten the picture…  Ariel’s book rocks and is a great value as it also includes a lifetime membership on her exclusive Mastermind Forum site! That’s where we all kind of hang out   and share info about what we’re doing, what’s working, what’s not working, new angles on marketing our music, interacting better with fans and lot’s more.

Check my blog roll in the column to the right for a link to Ariel’s Cyber PR blog for more info about “Music Success in Nine Weeks”.

I’ll probably do a video about this as well but for now…that’s all folks!

See you soon…have fun,

E.

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Eric Daniel plays sax and flute and is the ringleader of Eric Daniel & Friends. Their CD “Old Sax Nu Soul” is on the Quatro Miglio Quality Music label and can be purchased online from iTunes Store and CDBaby.com

His new book “The Saxophone Survival Kit, A Guide for Aspiring Professional Saxophonists…or just anyone!” can be ordered or downloaded here: www.lulu.com

Please follow me on Twitter!

A look at Week #3 from “Music Success in Nine Weeks” by Ariel Hyatt

Rome, Italy 19 Feb 2010

Hello hello!

Time for a chat about life in the “Music Success in Nine Weeks” lane.

Today’s videoclip is dedicated to “Week 3” of Ariel Hyatt’s nine week program for setting your self up for success in your music career.

The title is, “Optimizing Your Website” ….so, let’s get the show on the road…click the video when ready!

See you soon…have fun!

E.

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Eric Daniel plays sax and flute and is the ringleader of Eric Daniel & Friends. Their CD “Old Sax Nu Soul” is on the Quatro Miglio Quality Music label and can be purchased online from iTunes Store and CDBaby.com

His new book “The Saxophone Survival Kit, A Guide for Aspiring Professional Saxophonists…or just anyone!” can be ordered or downloaded here: www.lulu.com

Please follow me on Twitter!

Week 2 from my unusually snowy home in Rome…

Rome, Italy 12 Feb 2010

Hello hello!

Welcome to Week #2 of Ariel Hyatt’s “Music Success in Nine Weeks” program.

Here’s where you get to spend a week focusing your attention on the creation of your “Perfect Pitch”. A quick description to use when someone asks, “Well, what kind of music do you play?”

This area had me thinking quite a bit because I had already formulated a “pitch” which I was using on CD Baby and generally all across the Web. After much reflection, I decided I was happy with it.

You may or may not have thought much about the importance of developing and using a “pitch” but I think after you’ve checked Ariel’s take on this, and visited some of the “power pitch” development sites she so generously links to in her book, you’ll be getting very busy working on honing your pitch until it becomes a natural part of your PR repertoire.

So without any further ado, let’s have a look at “Week 2:The Perfect Pitch”.

See you soon,

E.

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Eric Daniel plays sax and flute and is the ringleader of Eric Daniel & Friends. Their CD “Old Sax Nu Soul” is on the Quatro Miglio Quality Music label and can be purchased online from iTunes Store and CDBaby.com

His new book “The Saxophone Survival Kit, A Guide for Aspiring Professional Saxophonists…or just anyone!” can be ordered or downloaded here: www.lulu.com

Please follow me on Twitter!