Working Indie Musician Tom Rockwell

Show notes: Welcome back. Happy new year! - Where have I been? - After episode 4 (interview with Randy Chertkow) in September I got busy with a freelance job - Finished up in mid December, then the holidays Feedback - read email from Doug Hanna about giving away music - will do that next time Things That Helped Me - not sponsored, just like them and use them - PaperMart.com - great if you sell a lot of CDs - sell CD mailers (roughly $.20 to $.30 each) - Must buy in lots of 100 - 2 kinds: single CD and 1-4 CD - for 5 or more CDs I use Priority boxes from the post office - (show stuffing CDs into each) - Endicia.com - previously: - print out address, return address, stuff, stick - take to post office and hold up the line for 45 minutes - now: print one label that includes address, return, and postage - just drop them off at the post office - $15/mo, so only good for high volume - allows you to print postage right from your computer - buy postage which is credited to your account, then deducted when you print - you will need a scale, requires active internet connection - can customize templates and print on various labels - I use Internet Mailing Labels from Staples (2 to a sheet) - (print out test print) - don't need to tape single CD mailers closed with those

Show notes: Randy Chertkow is a musician with the band Beatnik Turtle and co-author of The Indie Band Survival Guide. Randy and I ran into each other at DragonCon this month and he was kind enough to grant me an interview. Send feedback to workingindiemusician@gmail.com.

Episode 3 show notes: - welcome to episode 3! (feels weird to be at 3) Feedback - from Jonathan Romley of Artist Force - moderator of the panel I talked about "I enjoyed your video. I also hoped for some more insightful vision of the future than I was able to extract. You've made a good point – often, our guess is as good as the next well informed social media fanatic. I wish you the best with your vlog." - from Doug Hanna, filmmaker "Love the show- Keep it up! I don't have a music Facebook page, but what I find from a Facebook Fan Page for my films and movies is that it does get you a few new fans. Facebook makes a big deal about anything anyone does so if someone becomes a fan of "Bob The Singer" it will come up on all of their friends home pages that says So-and-So became friends with "Bob The Singer". You might get fans that way." - goes on to talk about some of the general benefits of having a fan page. - This happened to me with The Leviathan Chronicles. So I Set One Up - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Devo-Spice/116693183739 - the set up sucked - browser crashed 6 times while trying to upload photos - discography application kept erroring back to photo album application - after completing the photo album the discography application still didn't work - uploading music requires that you prove you're who you say you are by faxing them a copy of your drivers license, then takes a few days to approve - I was approved, but still don't know where users can play the songs I uploaded Was It Worth it? - maybe - 121 fans, as of now, roughly 1/3 of friends on personal page - however, many fans are not friends, possibly half, so I am reaching new people Don't Invite Friends? - couldn't figure out how to invite friends, so I asked a friend - she said don't, she hates when bands invite you to become fans - then volunteered to do it for me - I posted on Twitter, cross posted to my status Set Up on TheSixtyOne.com - easy process - must have separate account as listener, can't be both artist and listener - makes a game out of listening to music and discovering new music - several friends jumped onto it after I did and have become hooked Question - What web sites do you use to promote your music, and how well has it worked out for you? - send feedback to workingindiemusician@gmail.com

Show notes: Feedback - like it, but don't record in front of a waterfall ASCAP New York Sessions - I'm not happy with ASCAP, but that's a whole other show - I attended New York Sessions back in March, wasn't worth it, but I'm glad I went - I attended the Marketing from the Driver's Seat panel - basically do it yourself marketing - panelists: Moderator - Jonathan Romley - Founder, CEO - ArtistForce Reed Calhoun - Director, Artist Relations - ArtistForce, Artist - Rock Kills Kid; Songwriter - Plain White T's Jonathan Eshak - Artist Manager, Brett Dennen, The Walkmen - Mick Management Irving Fain - Director, Digital Marketing & Content - Clear Channel Online Music & Radio Lawrence Peryer - President - 23 Omnimedia Thomas Silverman - Founder, CEO - Tommy Boy Entertainment Lucy Weber - Publicist - Swift PR - the panel went over the usual stuff: MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, etc. - 2 people then asked "what's next?" - THEY COULDN'T ANSWER - That's when I realized they don't know any more than I do - So what do they have that I don't? 1. money 2. connections - this realization was encouraging and discouraging at the same time Question for you - Has setting up a Facebook fan page for you helped? - Are you getting any new fans from it, or is it just another place for your existing fans? Feedback to workingindiemusician@gmail.com

Show notes: Welcome! - my name is Tom Rockwell, aka Devo Spice - I do comedy rap, but don't let that throw you. This blog is for anyone working as an independent musician, full time or not. Why? - Lots of podcasts promise to help, but all seem to be from outside looking in. - Strength in numbers. If enough people get involved we can all help each other out. Hopefully we can learn from each other. My weak spot is promotion and marketing. Experiment - If it works, I'll continue. If not, I'll stop. - No set schedule for now. - Why video? So I don't spend more time than necessary on it. - If it was audio I'd feel compelled to polish it. I already spend roughly 10 hours a week on Manic Mondays. Can't afford another 10 hours a week. Today's topic: Time Management - This is something I'm good at. - 3 kids, wife, dog, house, full time job, weekly podcast, run The FuMP, freelance. Where do I find time for music? Wherever I can. - All those things I listed come before my music. The trick is simply to prioritize and do a little at a time whenever you get a chance. - Tell jar story from college. - Big rocks - family - Marbles - job, house, freelance - Sand - music - If something is important to you you will find the time to do it - May have to give up or cut down something else, like TV, video games - Used to do it in my head, but things were slipping through the cracks, and then I'd be up late as deadlines approached. Now I have a to do list- simple google doc divided into 4 sections: 1. Do now - the current priority 2. Ongoing - weekly or monthly stuff: podcast, accounting, etc. 3. Active jobs - things I'm actively working on 4. On hold - things I can't work on because I'm waiting for something Tips 1. Delegate when possible 2. Invest more time now to save more later 3. Do a little at a time whenever possible (lunch break, etc.) 4. Prioritize - quick/easy things first to get them out of the way, then look at deadlines 5. Learn to say no - Even to yourself. Really evaluate the value of a project before you undertake it. Will it be worth your time? If not, don't do it. Feedback - time management tips, tools, or any questions, future topics, whatever - send feedback to workingindiemusician@gmail.com