Friendship

As I prepare for my move back to Alberta from here on Vancouver Island, I am thinking of all the friends I have made here on the island.  In the past seven years, I have made many friends - mostly through music.  I will never forget the first open mic I attended shortly after I moved here to the island.  It was at the Dancing Bean.  I sang my first song and I was welcomed with open arms.  That night, after the Dancing Bean, we went to Phil's house and we played song after song after song in his little kitchen.  It was so awesome!  It is a night I will never forget!  From then on, once a month we gathered at the Open Mic night in Chemainus at the Dancing Bean to share our love of music.  It was from this gathering that friendships formed and grew.  And no matter what level of musicianship we were at we cheered one another on and provided support if one of us was having hard times.  And the music and the friendships didn't stop there.  Many of us gathered once and awhile at one of our homes to have a potluck supper and then we would jam afterwards - playing anything from the Old Crow Medicine Show to Bob Dylan to some Patsy Cline.  Then once a year there is Blenderfest weekend.  From Friday evening to Sunday afternoon, a weekend of fellowship and song (and a lot of booze!) is enjoyed by all.  The best part of the weekend is the "Hat Band" where everyone who wants to participate puts their name in a hat and then names are pulled and placed into the groups.  You then have a few hours to either practice a cover song or write a song.  After a wonderful potluck supper, each group then performs their song by campfire and lantern lights for the crowd and a panel of judges.  After a winner is announced, the music continues by the campfire in a circle of song until the early morning hours. It has been musical gatherings such as these that friendships have been formed and rekindled throughout the year at each musical event.  Through all of these musical ventures, to all my friends:  Robert  & Sylvie McCourty, Phil & Victoria Holmes, Brian Fraser, Mike Nichols, Shelley Brown and Darrell Keeler, Roderick and Marny Beaton, Judy and Jake, Mona & Larry, Danielle,  Mercedes, Randy, Chris, Lisa, Caleb & Jordan Burness, Mike and Will O'Shaughnessy, Steve Nash, Mark Noonan, Jan Donaldson, and the list goes on and on and on,  I thank you for your wonderful friendship and it doesn’t stop just because I’m moving!  We will continue to be in touch through the wonderful world of social media and I expect a visit at least once a year.

I will also always remember the friendships formed through Minstrels Music - it was there that it was country night where I met Tom Horsfal, Tony Dias, Oscar Demeers, Thomas Kinzel, Breanna Lewis (who is now Thomas' wife), Anthony Duke, Laurie and Phil Newns.  I went there a few times and then I was invited to join the group.  We played the good 'ol classics and enjoyed playing every Friday night. I also formed a friendship with a fan, Gus Zilkie who is a very sweet man that I will always hold a special place in my heart.  And I can't forget Lucy Lewis!  She is such a sweetie! 

And then there is the Regional Writers Group in Victoria (through the Songwriters Association of Canada) where I met another wonderful group of people who are not only songwriters and performers, but great people as well.  Tracy Mills, Paul Mowbray, Jim Moffatt, Tim Black, John Cowell, Steve Sturgess, Renata Young, Beverley McKeen, Maureen Washington, Margaret and Bob Nelson, Peter Brunette, Kate Steele, Zachary Doeding, and I know there are a few that I am missing and my apologies.  Thank you for your support and for being just wonderful people.

Through open mics and jam sessions, I have also met and formed friendships with people like Ron Ingram and his partner Della Dee James.  Ron and I did some gigs together and we even bought a singing program together!  I also met Brian Hazelbower and Pam Edgar who host the Songwriters Circle program every Sunday morning on CHLY.ca radio out of Nanaimo.  Brian and I have even done some co-writes.  And of course there are many, many others that I have met and have gotten to know on a casual friendship level. 

Then there's my band.  Maurice Gaudreault and Mark Wing.  I couldn't have asked for two nicer and talented guys to play music with.  I'm only leaving these two behind temporarily.  Once I get settled and booking small tours, I want these gentlemen to be able to join me.  Not only have we played music together, but we’ve also been able to enjoy some great times together, on and off the road.

My association with the BC Childhood Cancer Association - working and becoming friends with Susan Kerr and Dan Mornar helping families financially while their child goes through cancer treatments. Susan, Dan and I have unfortunately shared the same experience of having a child go through cancer treatments and Dan and I have experienced the loss.

My girlfriends, near or far, they have always been there for me. Wendy Wood, Jennifer Goble, Cara Corcoran and Shelley O'Neill. Our friendships have continued through numerous phone calls, emails and visits once and awhile either here on the island or back in Alberta. But soon, we will be together again and we can actually have dinner or go out together as often as we can!  Yay!

And of course, all my friends from my home town of Peace River, Alberta and friends here on the island (not through music) which there are way too many to mention.  Each and every friendship has special meaning. 

And my closest friend, my husband Jean.  We’ve had to endure a long distance relationship since last September since he started a new job back in Alberta, but we have made it through and soon we will be together again on a daily basis.  Twenty two years of marriage this year and we can still say we are best friends. 

I cherish each and every friendship in its own way and I am very grateful that I have so many wonderful friends. I have many good friends and I have some best friends and I would like to share with you a song I wrote called "Harmony" which is about friendships. http://soundcloud.com/shelly-dubois/harmony.  Enjoy my friends!

Yay! I made it to the end!

Nine weeks ago, I signed up for a social media challenge through the Songwriters Association of Canada in conjunction with Ariel Hyatt’s book Music Success in 9 weeks.  Nine weeks ago, I wanted to learn more of how to effectively use my social media to get my music heard and to make some money!  Nine weeks ago, sixty-one participants from across Canada participated in this challenge.  Unfortunately, some had to drop out but I do believe many of us were able to stick it out to the end.  By communicating on our Facebook page – we were able to support one another by providing comments and/or suggestions (especially for ‘what’s your pitch’ chapter), subscribe to other participant’s youtube channels, ‘like’ Facebook pages, follow on Twitter and sign up for fan email lists.  I do believe that some friendships started and even some co-writes!  (By the way Lucy, we still have to finish our song). 

One of the biggest things for me out of this challenge was how to be more effective with my newsletters.  I have been sending out my newsletters on a monthly basis to approximately 650 fans on my email list (which were collected through my Reverbnation profile, people signing up at shows and people signing up through my website).  After I send out my newsletter I wait about a week to check my reports through my newsletter program to see how many were opened, bounced, clicked through and hopefully no unsubscribes.  I was finding that only about 21%, on average of my newsletters were being opened.  And I wondered why?  Well, from this challenge, I found out why.  When I sent out my newsletters, it was all about me (not that there's anything wrong with that) – when my next show was, where you could buy my music, links to my website, Facebook, how to join me on Twitter, etc, etc.  I thought that’s what a newsletter was all about.  Enh, wrong!  What I found out was is that I needed to be offering something to my fans – something of interest to them.  Maybe an interesting article about a musician that was of interest to my demographic (which is 40 – 55 by the way) or how a healthy and tasty green drink can be of benefit to your health.  After that……then!......I can tell them about my next show and all that other stuff.  I have to put out a newsletter this month so I am definitely going to try this new approach and I will see what the results are!  I know I’m not going to see instant results but I’m going to keep working at it – tweeking as I go along and paying attention to what gets the most response.

As we wrap up and I’m reflecting on the past nine weeks, I feel I’m in pretty good shape.  All my social media, my website, my blog, are all cohesive – containing the same photography, same colours, same font for my name (which is all part of my branding). My electronic press kit on my website is easily accessible and contains pictures that can be easily downloaded, a one sheet that provides pull quotes, a bio of what kind of music I play, part of my pitch, where I have played and information about my current CD.  I also provide posters that can be downloaded.  And I have a video press kit.  These will all be updated next month as I prepare to release a new single to radio at the end of April. The producer is still adding the final touches, I’ll have my professional photography done in a few weeks and my consultant will be preparing advertising and promotional material plus promoting and tracking my song to country radio.  And because of some great ideas passed along through this challenge, the wheels are turning as to how I can effectively promote my single called “This Town”.

Thank you to the Songwriters Association of Canada, thank you to Ariel Hyatt for writing Music Success in 9 Weeks and for caring about the independent musician, and thank you to my fellow participants for reading my blogs, becoming a friend on facebook, following me on twitter, signing up for my fan email list and subscribing to my youtube channel.

This has been a great nine weeks and I’m happy to say that I’m looking forward to continuing on down my road to success!  

Its not impossible

Its

     I’m Possible

I am a commodity and you are my Customer

Yes, you read that right.  I know, I know - I am an artist and you are my fans!  BUT, no matter if you are a private yoga instructor, a bookkeeper, a gift shop owner or an independent musician (like me) - I have to see myself as a small business person trying to generate revenue. 

As I stride into the home stretch of the Social Media Challenge – Music Success in 9 Weeks, I find myself learning a few tricks of the trade.  When I joined the challenge, I already had:

.           My website                 http://www.shelly-dubois.com

.           Facebook page            http://www.facebook.com/ShellyDubois.CountryArtist

.           Twitter                         http://www.twitter.com/ShellyDMusic

.           Reverbnation               http://www.revernation.com/shellydubois

.           icontact                       a program for my monthly newsletter

So why did I join?  I wanted to learn more.  Just because I had all these in place didn’t make me an expert by any means and I firmly believe that we can all learn something new all the time.  And, I wanted to generate revenue!  I was making small sales but I definitely need to make a lot more.  I want to make a living in this career!  This was an opportunity to learn how to better utilize social media to help me do that.

Since the challenge began I have made some changes/updates:

.           My website:

.           That I needed to offer my customers (my fans) something for joining my fan email list.  Now when you join my fan email list on my website, you receive a free song download.

.           Added a link to my blog

.           Facebook page:

            .           Added my pitch – which explains who I am and what type of music I play

.           Twitter:

            .           Added my pitch and changed my profile

.           Reverbnation

            .           Added my pitch

.           icontact:

.           Switched from icontact to Fanbridge.  Fanbridge has many more useful features and you can even download an app on your iphone or android phone so you can have fans join your fan email list directly on your phone (which I used for the first time a few days ago at a gig.  It works like a hot damn!)

Now that this is all set up I have to utilize these ‘social powers’ for my music (my commodity) to engage my fans (my customers) on a continual basis.  This is the plan: 

.           I currently send out newsletters on a monthly basis.  I will be looking at doing this twice a month.  In my newsletters, I will:

.           talk about various subjects of interest.  For example: how I baked banana chocolate chip muffins and posted a picture on facebook that got 20 comments!  Maybe I’ll even give you my recipe!

.           give you an opportunity to book me for a private gig

.           set up a monthly fan club that will give you access to a once a month video of a new song

.           talk about new merchandise

.           inform you of a new song release

.           talk about my charity

.           let you know of upcoming shows/tours

.           look at creating a fan club that hosts a special event once or twice a year

 

And of course, I will post a link to my newsletters on my Facebook and Twitter pages.  Plus, give daily status updates and tweets on the happenings in my music career.

Its definitely all going to take time and hard work – as it has been for the past two years.  And it does get frustrating at times because it seems like my focus is at the computer rather than writing songs and practicing music.  I’m learning to find a healthy balance and once I have an effective system in place it will be smooth sailing from there.  For the next month or so though, its going to be chaos as I move from Vancouver Island back to Alberta and prepare to release my single “This Town” to country radio at the end of April.  Thank goodness for laptops, android phones, wireless internet and mobile networks.

Whatever your dream, if you follow your heart,

 it will lead you to places well worth the adventure.

It's A Balancing Act

Phew!  The last two weeks have been a whirlwind! 


.  Prepared my house before putting it up for sale.  Required getting rid of things I don't need and just a good cleaning.  Spring cleaning came early.  And then keeping it clean for showings.  What a pain!  But it needed to be done.  Sigh
.  Preparations for my new single "This Town" - making arrangements for photography, artwork, radio tracker, mechanical license ('cause I'm not the writer).  Patiently waiting for the final product!
.  Preparations and practicing for my "Farewell" tour here on Vancouver Island.
.  Co-writes which included a Skype session with Lucy LeBlanc who I connected with through the Social Media Challenge.
.  Participating in the Social Media Challenge - which I have lagged a little behind but all is good.  Only three more weeks to go!  This week is about blogging.  Well I've got the 'doing my own blog' thing down pat but reading and commenting and socializing with other bloggers - not happening just yet. Last week was about setting up a youtube channel - already had that done so I was ahead of the game on that one.  And I just checked what's up for next week and its about Newsletters.  Already done thanks to my wonderful husband, Jean.  Fanbridge is awesome!  Check out my sign up form:  http://shelly-dubois.com/mailing_list.htm.  I was using a different provider but Fanbridge is the bomb!  I can even download an app to my smartphone and have people sign up for my fan email list right on my phone!
.  SOLD my house and I had to deal with all the wonderful paperwork that comes with that.  Still more to go.
.  Making preparations to move to Alberta.  My husband has been working there since September.
.  Booking hotel rooms for my move, my trip to L.A. for my photography (check out markmaryanovich.com, and I'm playing Calgary Stampede - need a room there, attending Canadian Country Music Week.  Stampede and CCMA's need to be booked well in advance or you don't get a room!
.  Going to boot camp and walks with my dog.  Exercise is a must!
.  And its good 'ol tax time.  Gotta get the books together for that!  Thank goodness for bookkeepers 'cause me and math don't get along at that level.  I found a sweetie of a bookkeeper.  She's even going to check into getting my memorial fund as a registered charity.  Something I've been wanting to do for the past year.  http://shelly-dubois.com/charity.htm

.  Working my social media on a daily basis.  



So all through these past two weeks did I want to pull all my hair out?  Yeah, 'cause some days were pretty crazy. But it really helps to set goals and make a to-do list or several for that matter.  Sticky notes come in handy too.  You should see my computer screens and daytimer!


So how do I balance it all out?  Tonight, I went for a burger and a beer with a friend.  Awww......there.......balanced.