Friday, March 28, 2008 

Motivation for Musicians - today's text message

"There are 86,400 seconds in every day. Make them count!"

I feel stongly that we all need some motivation from time to time. That is why I started Motivation for Musicians a year ago. It's a way for me to bring you something to help jump start or boost you to succeed. We can all succeed at whatever it is we set out to do.

On a side note, you can now follow me on Twitter. Cool, huh?

Rock on,
Madalyn Sklar
IndieMusicCoach.com
~providing one-on-one indie music consulting & coaching~
http://www.indiemusiccoach.com/

Madalyn Recommends:

Indie Music Success - Getting Motivated!
Filmed at Hyperfest May '07

Thursday, March 27, 2008 

Get motivated with Madalyn Sklar's DVD

Indie Music Success DVD - Getting Motivated!

What if you could earn more money than you ever imagined as an indie artist. Do you have what it takes to succeed? Stop holding yourself back from the success you desire and deserve!


Recorded live at the Hyperfest Music Conference, May 2007. Madalyn Sklar talks about the valuable keys to your success. It's a roadmap to what your future has in store for you.

What's covered in this video:

  • Goal setting
  • Educating yourself
  • Treating your music as a business
  • The power of Myspace
  • Mastermind groups
  • Is success measured by selling 3,000 or 300,000 CDs?

    get more info here...
  • Wednesday, March 26, 2008 

    Twitter Twitter How I Love You So...

    Okay I admit it. I'm hooked on Twitter. People seem to be either addicted to it or have no clue what it is.



    If you don't know what it is, check out my blog post a few days ago, Cool site to check out: Twitter. And be sure to check out my GoGirls Twitter.

    So now I'm on a quest to learn more about Twitter and what people think of it. There are numerous blogs and forums on this. Twitter's own blog is at blog.twitter.com. I suggest subscribing to this in order to keep up with all things Twitter.

    I wonder who came up with the name Twitter. It's cute and catchy!

    So in my quest to find more interesting tibits on Twitter I found an intersting article here: At SXSWi, the new Twitter is...Twitter. Now don't confuse SXSWi (interactive) with the wildly popular and well known music conference simply known as SXSW. The interactive part takes place just days before the music conference in Austin, TX. What I found most interesting about the article was how Twitter was used to communicate with others about things to do like parties and unofficial events. That rocks!! So rather than text messaging your friends you simply post in your Twitter where the party's at. Brilliant! Yes, this is giving me ideas for next year's Folk Alliance, SXSW and other events we put on at GoGirls.

    I found a cool blog called Twittown that is the "Unoffical Twitter Community". I'm most intrigued by this post: Can Twitter Help You Lose Weight? A woman uses Twitter to let others follow her inspiring journey to lose weight. Wow, this is cool! She has a great blog at Back in skinny jeans that is worth checking out. The blog is not just about losing weight, it's about eating healthy and there is ton of motivation in there. You know I'm all over that!

    So give me your feedback on this. I would love to hear from you!

    Copyright © 2008 Madalyn Sklar, IndieMusicCoach

    Madalyn Sklar is a music business coach, consultant and author. She founded IndieMusicCoach and has spent over 12 years working with a wide range of independent musicians all over the world - U.S., Canada and Japan thus far. Her goal is to help indie artists achieve greater success in the music business by working smarter not harder. She is also the founder of GoGirlsMusic.com, the oldest and largest online community of indie women musicians, with a vision of bringing together and empowering musicians from around the world.

    Madalyn is available for one-on-one consulting and coaching at affordable prices. Check out http://www.indiemusiccoach.com/ for more info.

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    Tuesday, March 25, 2008 

    Marketing brilliance from an indie band at SXSW

    I'm always interested in how bands market themselves, especially when they do so in a unique way. I mean let's face it, the world is full of indie musicians so you have to step outside the box and be different. You need to find creative ways to generate a buzz about you and your music. Well that is what The Locals have done. This Chicago band has come up with a cute little gimmicky doll named Danger Boy. Wherever the band goes, Danger Boy is right there beside them. So it was no surprise that Danger Boy tagged along when they made the trek to Austin, TX for the recent "Invasion of the GoGirls" event during SXSW weekend.

    After their electrifying set, front woman Yvonne Doll walked over to me and asked if she could take my picture with Danger Boy. How could I resist? He's so cute! Afterwards she handed me this card...


    http://www.localsrock.com/

    This is brilliant! Brilliant because you want to see you photo with Danger Boy and to get there you HAVE to visit the band's web site. And it's not just a web site, it's an awesome and extremely creative web site. For years I have been directing people to their site because they do something most don't... they have a "press room" section with a band photo for both web (72 dpi) and print (300 dpi), plus bio and fact sheet. It's so important to have this information readily available in the event someone needs it quickly. And believe me, it happens!

    So back to my new best friend, Danger Boy. He has his own Blog and Myspace page that you must check out. No surprise there, right.

    Oh and check me out with Danger Boy.



    Rock on,
    Madalyn Sklar
    IndieMusicCoach.com
    ~providing one-on-one indie music consulting & coaching~
    http://www.indiemusiccoach.com/

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    Monday, March 24, 2008 

    Cool site to check out: Twitter

    I admit it, I'm a computer techie geek. I love how we can all stay connected through text messaging, IMs, blogs, Myspace, Facebook and now Twitter. Twitter is cool because it's a quick, easy way to let your friends, family, co-workers, etc know what you are up to. It's like a mini-blog and totally cool. What I love about it is that you can either log into it online or use it via text messaging. You only have 140 characters but that's cool because you keep it short and to the point. I love that!



    So what do I use it for?
    Click here, http://twitter.com/gogirlsmusic, and find out!

    I direct people to links to check out, observations, resources, bands to check out, etc. I also set up a personal one for my friends.



    Check it out and see what you can do with this. Then send me a comment and let me know.

    Rock on,
    Madalyn Sklar
    IndieMusicCoach.com
    ~providing one-on-one indie music consulting & coaching~
    http://www.indiemusiccoach.com/

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    Thursday, March 20, 2008 

    SXSW '08 Observations...

    I love being part of the GoGirls community during a music conference, especially Folk Alliance and SXSW. They are both large and well attended by members of our community. It's a great time to connect and get to know each other.

    So at SXSW last weekend, after our daytime event at El Mercado a bunch of us hung out. Making connections is what this is about. Knowing that there are others out there doing EXACTLY what you are doing. Finding gig swap opportunities. Forging new friendships. Being part of something special.


    Madalyn, Ina, Bettina, Onya, Maura, Debbie


    TX GoGirls: gfire, Madalyn and Tish

    As you can imagine at a music conference everyone wants to hand me their CD and/or press kit. I'm a nice person and will always take one. Do I really want it then? Um, not really. It sucks to get weighted down with CDs that I have to pack for my trip back home. I really wish someone would ask if they could mail me one AFTER the conference. See, I coach bands to do that. It's much more professional to ask someone that than to to shove it in their face and say, "here."

    Be different and you'll stand out. In this business if you don't stand out you might as well go home!

    And how many of you take the wrapper off before you hand it to an industry person? I already know the answer... very few of you. Do yourself a huge favor, take off the wrapper. You have a better chance of getting it listened to. And you will look way more professional than most others doing exactly what you are doing... trying to get ahead as an indie artist.

    So here is a little story...
    Last Thursday I went to visit one of my manager friends at a SXSW day party. I had two of my clients with me and they wanted to give him a CD more than anything. Especially because he manages someone quite big. I told them both NOT to hand him a CD but rather strike up a conversation then ask him if they could mail him a press kit. After all, this is a relationship business. It's better to get to know someone a bit. Get your picture taken with them so they'll remember you when you follow up and attach the photo. Ah, good one... I know! And when you offer to mail a press kit, tell them you would love their feedback on it. Who better than a veteran manager? I was going to introduce them to each other but ended up on a call from a frantic band who was on the road making their way to Austin and needed my assistance. My clients ended up on their own and did great without MY help. I was so proud. He eagerly gave them each a business card. It worked well. Now the ball is in their court to send the press kit then to follow up.

    So I have a stack of 20 CDs on my desk right now. Each one was handed to me by an artist at SXSW, each wanting me to take a listen. It's cool really. I'm not trying to be critical. I'm trying to make a point. ASK first. Luckily I drove to/from Austin so no biggie taking these on the road. If I was flying I'd have to fit this in my already packed suitcase. Yes, packed because as a promoter I have a lot of other shit with me. Hmm, bet you didn't think about that. So I just threw the CDs in the backseat of my car for my trek home. Except I did want some music to listen to on the 3 hour drive to Sugar Land. Guess which ones got the listen... you're right, the ones with the wrapper off.

    Copyright © 2008 Madalyn Sklar, IndieMusicCoach

    Madalyn Sklar is a music business coach, consultant and author. She founded IndieMusicCoach and has spent over 12 years working with a wide range of independent musicians all over the world - U.S., Canada and Japan thus far. Her goal is to help indie artists achieve greater success in the music business by working smarter not harder. She is also the founder of GoGirlsMusic.com, the oldest and largest online community of indie women musicians, with a vision of bringing together and empowering musicians from around the world.

    Madalyn is available for one-on-one consulting and coaching at affordable prices. Check out http://www.indiemusiccoach.com/ for more info.

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    Wednesday, March 19, 2008 

    Why I love SXSW...

    I've been going to SXSW every year since 1998. Ten years now and I love it. Why wouldn't I go? I mean c'mon I only live 3 hours away. When I'm coaching musicians we talk about why music conferences and the networking that goes on is so important. And why wouldn't you want to go to the largest music conference in the US?

    A long time ago I tried getting onto the SXSW bandwagon with an official GoGirls showcase. No luck.

    Then something interesting happened...

    In 2001 I hosted our first "unofficial" event at Gaby & Mo's. It was an amazing night. The energy was infectious. The talent was incredible. And interestingly you didn't hear about anything other than "official" SXSW shows. I felt like we were onto a new trend here. Times were going to change. Why not provide opportunity to talented musicians who didn't make the SXSW cut.



    Echoset (formerly known as Shade)

    Elizabeth White






    Doria Roberts

    Ginger & Sarah Band



    For years people would say to me, "why would I go if I don't get an official showcase?" I say why not! I know, SXSW is terribly expensive and so corporate. So what! Now there are just as many "unofficial" showcases as there are official. It's about finding (and sometimes creating) opportunities.

    In 2002 I was ready to step this up and host 3 GoGirls showcases. And I got the crazy idea to host a "2 song" night which has now become an annual event for us during SXSW. Basically everyone plays 2 songs with backline provided. You get 10 minutes on stage with 5 minutes between acts. It has proven to be one our most fun and successful nights! We typically get more fans and music industry people out for this.

    Over the years we've had some amazing talent grace our stages!

    2004:





    2005:






    2006:


    2007:


    2008:
    The A-List: Invasion of the GoGirls at Trophy's, 03.14.08

    Rock on,
    Madalyn Sklar
    IndieMusicCoach.com
    ~providing one-on-one indie music consulting & coaching~
    http://www.indiemusiccoach.com

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    WHO IS MADALYN SKLAR?


      Madalyn Sklar is a music business coach & consultant, blogger, social networks expert and author. She has spent over 15 years helping independent musicians and music business professionals achieve greater success. Her motto is: working smarter not harder. She also founded GoGirlsMusic.com, the oldest + largest online community of indie women musicians.

      Madalyn's Sites:
      * GoGirlsMusic.com
      * Social Networks for Musicians
      contact: madalynsklar(at)gmail.com

           

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