Organizing Goals/ Picture & Calendar

Let's move on to your picture. You’ve heard the cliché “a picture is worth a thousand words”. That’s right. As one who adores the art of picture taking, I will say this as gentle as possible. Candid pictures of you taken by your family or friends are beautiful and have there place, yet your promo picture should be done by a professional. You need someone who understands the art of bending light to perfectly capture your personality in a snap.


Candid pictures are great for social networks. They allow your audience to see the impromptu side of you. Still stay mindful that the pictures you choose are well lit and in focus. Try not to post a million pictures of other people unless you are either introducing them or you are in the picture with them. Your audience wants to see you not Pookie.


I know that today’s technology doesn’t require much use of paper, but I find it very resourceful to have a hard copy of anything you do with the tech gadget of your choice. I’m a tech junkie. I love looking at, touching, dreaming about, and owning the latest gadgets. Because of this I have learned from the school hard knocks, that it’s always best to keep a hard copy somewhere. Gadgets fizz out at the most inopportune times, and unless you like starting from scratch over and over again, hard copies are best to have. You also need to be able to quickly reference information.

Use this calendar to write down the following:

Dates of joining social networks
You want to write down joining dates so that you can gage how quickly you are building a strong presence in that network

Reoccurring fees
You have endless things to keep up with. The last thing you need is to have a vital service interrupted because you forgot to have adequate funds available.
Sending of promo materials
Sometimes replies to your promo package don’t come as quickly as you like. Keeping track of what, when, and to whom you sent it, will give you a point of reference.

Performance and personal obligations
Forgetting performance dates or family functions and/ or double booking will without a doubt will take the wind out of your sail. I know when I schedule artists and they don’t come; I don’t give them a second chance. Your audience is depending on you to keep your word.
First impressions are the lasting ones. Bad impressions are eternal.

What you have accomplished
When you set goals it’s good to know when you have accomplished them. It helps to give you a base for repeat projects. You know how long it will take and you can possibly work on ways to shorten the time. It is also a way to celebrate every victory. After all… you are your own pep squad.

Meeting important colleagues
Keeping track of who you meet, when, and where you met them and a short note about that person helps you later on. I had this producer that was referred to me two years before I ever worked with her. I was able to find her when I needed her because of my calendar.

Three Ring Binder
Next to your Bible, and this book; your binder will be your most important book you’ll ever have. This binder is the hub of your entire operation. In this binder you will house all pertinent information of your promotional campaigns.

Website login passwords
Forgetting a password every now and then will happen. You can avoid the hassle of retrieving it or creating a new one by keeping in here.

Song Submissions
The greater the presence, and the harder you promote your product you will soon see that it’s more difficult it is to keep up with every avenue of promotion. This section will keep things simple. I’ve placed a sample in the forms sections. Modify it for your benefit.

Yearly Promotion Budget
Keep track of what you are spending, so you don’t over spend and you will know how much future spending you require, this will help you better plan how to bring your vision to pass.

Marketing Strategies
Use this section to write down ideas, what works for you, and what has worked for others. Ask your colleagues what they are doing to promote themselves. Study their myspace pages and websites and incorporate what you can into your campaign. Proper research will save you money and time.

Myspace Quick Posts
Take time to go through and posts comments like, “Just stop by to say hi” and write down which of your friends allow your comments to post immediately with HTML codes and without. Jot down their name and which page of your friends list you will find them on to make your search quicker.
Now the purpose for this is, sometimes people will not approve your comments if you are advertising. Or you may need to announce something very quickly. Not everyone visits myspace daily, and your comment could be waiting in limbo for days, weeks, or worse. This will give you targeted advertising. You will know who allows HTML for things like banners, or snocap storefronts and who you need to inform in text only.
Internet Radio Submission and Air Play
I named this section after the radio station I have submitted to. It is so detailed I had to devote a section solely for each station. This is especially important if you are paying a fee to have your songs in rotation. You can keep track of what songs are being played and how many times they are playing.

Let's stop there for today. Overload is never good. Apply what youv'e learned and we'll pick up from here next time.

For a complete e-guide on how to effectively to promote you visit: www.MyMelodiesNowMg.com/ebook.htm

As always, Be Blessed!

RonSher
Author of "5 Minutes 2 Show Time!"
www.MyMelodiesNowMg.com
www.tinyurl.com/5minutes2showtime