Music Success in Nine Weeks Blog Challenge Wk. 4: Social Media for Musicians

Music Success in Nine Weeks

This week was the real challenge because I was traveling and getting used to a new phone. I guess I'm not an early adapter, but I finally got a phone that can do internet and all this social networking that is outlined in Chapter 4 of Ariel Hyatt's, "Music Success in Nine Weeks". I have to confess my 8-year old nephew helped me figure out how to turn the phone on and off....

So forging ahead, I started working on linking my social networking sites (did you know you can go to tinyurl.com/selectivetweet.com and choose which tweets go to your facebook?). A lot of the chapters talk about the importance of social networking and getting on flickr/twitter, etc. and I am convinced of that now. going full-steam ahead and starting to enjoy the online aspect.

Twitter is my favorite because it's quick and to the point.
and it works! Here's an example.  Last year I was in a coffee shop in my neighborhood called Naidre's. I had signed up for twitter at the time, so I had an account but didn't really know what it was or what to do with it. So I'm buying my salad to-go when I hear someone ask "Does anyone know what song that is playing on the radio?". I turned to see Derek Sivers (music business expert and original founder of CDbaby - now involved in sivers.org) who I had met once before at a music conference. I didn't know the song but I introduced myself and he asked about my website (fiddleandguitar.com).  Then I left. When I got home just ten minutes later, I had an e-mail from a great  guitarist who teaches at my school (Pat Bianculli_. who apparently follows Derek on twitter. Pat wrote and said, "I read about your website on twitter".  I live in New York City, and at this moment I felt like I lived in a small town. THAT  is the power of twitter.

So now that I'm convinced, this has been a week to link everything and you'll be seeing more of it on all my sites (follow at twitter.com/celticfiddle).

I also had to chance to share the Music Success book with my father, who will be starting his first blog (about the upcoming  revised edition of his Chemical Engineering book). We skipped ahead a little to chapter 5 which is all about blogging - and really there is tons of info that applies to anyone, not just musicians. We both got in the brainstorming mode, and now I'll be writing some tunes to accompany the blog - all with Chemical Engineering themes and titles.  You see what happens when you get the mind thinking in both the creative and business sides !

FIVE SUCCESSES
Lastly, I continued with my 5 successes every day. I'm being interviewed on the Backstage Gourmet (August 9th) and will be sharing Vegetarian recipes, so my sister and I measured everything out for a really tasty recipe that uses Quinoa. That's the photo at the top!

I got my Dad on the writing-down-five-daily- successes too, but was a little concerned when it was only 10 am and I found him scribbling his 5 successes already. I seemed to have missed the efficiency gene there.

In conclusion, Chapter 4 of the book confirmed that I was on the right track (doing all the media sites) but helped me to link them and USE them in new ways.