Episode 15

Greetings friends and thanks again for swinging by this podcast!

This week I’m switching things up. As you can see I’m podcasting from my car because I wanted to reinforce the topic for this episode.

How to stay productive even when you work full time or have a million other things in your life besides music.

Work, family, friends, life. They all add up to a busy life and it can easily feel like your passion for music is slipping or you may feel like you’re not doing enough towards it.

I’m here to tell you that it is possible.

If you are focused and want it bad enough, you will be surprised as to what you can achieve.

In This Podcast You Will Learn

1). Why I thought it was important to podcast while driving and how that relates to this podcast’s theme of staying productive towards your goals during a busy life.

2). Why keeping a schedule is so important and how it can help you stay on track or adjust when needed.

3). How finding a weekly workflow will help you manage your time and still have time to fit other things into your life like family, friends and loved ones.

4). What tools you should always carry with you so that you’re able to save your ideas to either analog or digital storage and go back and work on later. Never lose an idea or forget a task!

5). What is the most important aspect to success that will separate yourself from others when you’re trying to gain traction, build fans, create music and promote yourself.

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Thanks again for checking out this podcast. I hope you found some valuable insight in it and enjoyed watching me try to drive and talk at the same time lol!

I’m a firm believer in finding a way to be productive towards the thing you love if you want it bad enough. Life throws a lot of curve balls at you and schedules can get loaded.

The important thing is to not lose sight on what it is you want and keep fighting for it no matter what.

Til next time.

Peace N Love,

Mike

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Questions, comments or concerns? I’d love to hear them!

Swing by and drop me a line at:

www.facebook.com/songwritersplanner

www.instagram.com/songwriters_planner

Episode 14

Greeting friends and thank you as always for swinging by this podcast!

Today I’m taking a look at one of the big concerns we have as artists and that is how much we should actually spend on promoting our music?

If you’re like me and just about everyone else then you are on a budget. Trying to figure out how much to spend on advertising and WHERE to spend it can be challenging.

Using platforms like Facebook and Instagram can be overwhelming and if you’re not quite sure how to get your music distributed through channels like these then it can be too easy to give up.

We all want our music to be heard and waiting around for our latest video or song to go viral isn’t practical. So what do you do?

In This Podcast You Will Learn:

1). Why learning how to promote yourself online using paid traffic is crucial to getting your music out to new fans.

2). How setting up a weekly or monthly budget ahead of time for promotion will help you be more efficient when you are ready to spend on advertising.

3). How to pick the best social media platform to promote your music to new fans.

4). What kind of content you should promote and what will give you the best bang for your buck.

5). The difference between posting content on your personal Facebook page and your Artist page and the pros and cons.

6). The minimum amount of money you should spend to advertise your best content.

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I hope that after listening to this podcast you’ll have a better understanding of where your hard earned money should be going when it comes to promoting your music.

We live in a world today where getting your music into the ears of your fans is easier then ever, but it’s also easy to waste a lot of money if you’re not sure on how to spend it.

Hopefully, this episode can get you started on your own promotional path and choose the right tactic that works best for your music.

Til Next Time,

Peace N Love

Mike

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Questions, comments or concerns? I’d love to hear them!

Swing by and drop me a line at:

www.facebook.com/songwritersplanner

www.instagram.com/songwriters_planner

Episode 13

Thanks for swinging by this episode! This week I’m taking a look at a few things you can do to make your shows more enjoyable and memorable for your fans so that they tell their friends and have better chances of showing up at your next gig.

We all want our shows to be memorable but if you don’t take the time to think out how you want the experience to be for your fans then you could be missing out on some key elements.

Making sure the people who come to see you have a good time is key in word of mouth advertising because if they have a great time then they are likely to tell others about it. Over time this builds for you and you’ll be adding more and more people to your shows.

So today we’re putting the fans first and looking at it from their perspective. Where do they want to go? Who do they want to see play with you? How much can they spend? We’re taking a look at all these things.

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In This Podcast You Will Learn:

1). Why it’s important to plan shows from the perspective of your fans and how that can directly affect attendance at your next gig.

2). Why choosing the right venue matters and what things you should take into consideration when looking for a venue and that keep your fans in mind.

3). The importance of setting up a great lineup of other acts that support your music so that your fans have a great time through the course of the whole show and not just your set.

4). How choosing the best time slot to play is key in making sure your audience has a great experience. Not all time slots (late or early) work for everyone!

5). Making sure your show is affordable for your fans and taking into consideration ticket cost, merchandise, drinks or food etc. Why making it affordable for them matters.

6). Lastly, the importance of having a great live show and a few things you can do to stand out and make it memorable for the audience.

Much thanks again for checking out this week’s episode. I hope you find the things I talk about here useful for you when it’s time to start planning your next big show.

Keeping perspective on what will make your fans happy makes the difference when it comes to growing your fan base or staying stagnant.

Til the next episode.

Peace n love,

Mike

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Questions, comments or concerns? I’d love to hear them!

Swing by and drop me a line at:

www.facebook.com/songwritersplanner

www.instagram.com/songwriters_planner

Greetings and welcome to this episode of The Songwriter's Podcast!

In this episode I'm turning the script inward and taking a look at The Songwriter's Planner itself.

Since launching earlier this year I've been very fortunate to have amazing feedback about my product. Both from social media and from customers.

Since the planner has been out for a few months I wanted to share some of my thoughts about what I've learned from you out there and address your comments, questions and opinions.

It's a been a full landscape of reactions to releasing a "Songwriter's Planner" and I felt it was overdue to talk about it and shine some light on the idea that started this whole thing for me in the first place and also address some of the negative comments I've been receiving.

In This Podcast You Will Learn:

1). My original genesis for creating The Songwriter's Planner and my motivation behind it.

2). How valuable your feedback (both good and bad) has been to me during this first few months of launching.

3). My response to some of the negative comments I've received regarding offering a planner for musicians.

4). Some of the important tasks that musicians can also work on which will help build an audience besides just writing and performing music.

5). Why it's so important to utilize as many ways possible to connect and engage with your fans to create loyalty and engagement.

6). The difference between using a written planner to track your scheduling and goals compared to using a phone and why I think the handwritten method is more effective.

Thanks again for tuning into this episode. I had a blast recording this one and it felt good to discuss the things I've been hearing and seeing these past few months.

It was great getting to talk more in depth about why I decided to bring this product to market this year. I I hope this helps with anyone who may be curious about The Songwriter's Planner and how it can be helpful to you.

Til the next episode.

Peace N Love,

Mike

Episode 11

Hello! and welcome to this podcast episode. We’re talking about websites today and why they’re essential for every artists to have if you’re serious about growing a fan base online.

With the dominance of social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp and ReverbNation, it would seem like having your own website isn’t important for artists.

However, there are superb benefits in having your own branded site that you just can’t get using privately owned social media sites.

In today’s podcast I’ll be breaking down the biggest reasons why you should consider getting a site built if you don’t already have one. Or if you do already have one, here are some suggestions on how to make better use of it’s features to grow your fan base and keep them coming back every time.

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In This Podcast You Will Learn:

1). How having your own hosted website gives you complete creative control over your branding compared to sites like Bandcamp or ReverbNation which give you “cookie cutter” style account pages.

2). Why it’s risky to only host your artist pages on privately owned companies like Facebook and Instagram who have the option to change user policies overnight and there is nothing you can do about it.

3). How using your own website to collect email addresses for a newsletter or subscriber list is essential to build up a fan base and stay connected to them.

4). Why installing Google Analytics to monitor daily traffic is essential on your own website so that you are aware of how many visitors you receive daily and what they are most interested in when they get there.

5). How installing a Facebook “Pixel” on your website can open up powerful and flexible targeted marketing to anyone who visits your site. You will be able to run ads to the people who are most interested in you and your music.

6). The most important elements that should be included on your website so that your visitors have the best user experience and will be likely to return.

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Thanks again for checking out this podcast friends. I hope listening to this episode gives you some ideas on what you can do with your website to help you as an artist.

Having your own branded site is still very essential for today’s musician and gives you the ultimate freedom when creating your artistic vision for your music and at the same time providing the most useful tool for you and your fans.

Til next episode,

Peace N Love

Mike

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Questions, comments or concerns? I’d love to hear them!

Swing by and drop me a line at:

www.facebook.com/songwritersplanner

www.instagram.com/songwriters_planner

How’s it going everyone and thanks for swinging by this podcast.

In this episode I get the chance to interview one of my favorite Phoenix area singer-songwriters Mr. Lee Perreira.

Lee is definitely one of the hardest working artists in a city of 5 million people! As a full time musician, he manages to stay busy year round not only as a performer for hire but also as an original artist on his own.

He also recently released (as of 2018) his album “What’s That Got To Do With My Dreams” that has been tracking well on radio stations across the country.

No easy feat for any musician.

He has managed to build up a superb reputation for himself through constant gigging, networking, collaborating and just plain hard work. His work ethic is the perfect blueprint for anyone else looking to play music full time and make a living out of it.

Also, this past year (2018) Lee took part in an annual full marathon race in Tempe, AZ and then, played a full set with his band immediately after crossing the finish line to entertain all of the other participants and crowd! WOW!!!!

As you can see, Lee is no ordinary musician and I’m psyched that he was able to find time to sit down and chat with me. Thanks Lee!

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In This Podcast You Will Learn:

1). What he learned from going to school for music and how he applies that knowledge to further his music career today.

2). How he transitioned from barely making ends meet in the beginning, to becoming one of the most sought-after working musicians in the greater Phoenix area.

3). How he manages to balance both working as a “For Hire” musician and performing as an original singer-songwriter to promote his own music.

4). His philosophy on playing shows and being professional with any working relationships when you’re trying to build a career in music.

5). How he persuaded the booking agent for the annual Rock N Roll Marathon held in Phoenix to be a performer on their show and get the chance to play in front of thousands.

6). — How he not only PLAYED the Rock N Roll Marathon show, but also ran the full marathon right before! WOW!

7). His advice on the importance of always being persistent, positive, and never giving up on the thing you want, even if your first answer is “No”.

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Thanks again for listening to this episode. Lee has much to offer in terms of experience, talent and persistence. He truly is a quintessential singer-songwriter making waves on his own while growing his fan base steadily.

Make sure you check out his social sites and music when you get the chance.

Til the next episode!

Peace N Love

Mike

Find out more about Lee here: www.LeePerreira.com

Hello! and thanks again for checking out this podcast.

In todays episode I'm going to be talking about the 3 essential things you can implement in your daily schedule that will help you be more productive as an artist.

With a busy schedule, it can be a challenge to organize time to work on and promote you music. We all have things we wish we could get done but never seem to have the time to get them done.

Writing, creating and promoting your music takes effort and making sure you have the tools in place to maximize your potential as an artist to get the best out of you is important.

This episode is all about addressing this need to accomplish tasks throughout your day/week that eventually lead up to achieving the goals you set for yourself.

In This Podcast You Will Learn:

1). The first thing you should do everyday that will get you on track to having a productive day.

2). How having a list of realistic and achievable tasks will help you avoid feeling overwhelmed.

3). What you need to do in order to schedule time to work on your list everyday.

4). How much time you really need to separate in your day to focus on your tasks. It is less than you think!

5). The importance of balancing an achievable list with a realistic amount of time in order to better your chance of being more productive.

6). What consistency brings to the table and how it sets you up for long term success.

7). How making mistakes helps you get closer to your goals and the faster you can make those mistakes, the better off you will be.

8). Tasks you can work on to supplement your music that will contribute to growing your fans base.

Thanks again for listening to this podcast. I hope you found it valuable for you and your ambitions as an artist.

We all have the challenge of being able to get more done in our day to feel more accomplished and productive. I battled this same issue myself and found that using the tricks I talk about in this episode has helped me greatly and I hope they'll help you too.

Til the next episode!

Peace N Love,

Mik

How's it going and welcome to this episode of The Songwriter's Podcast.

I'm a huge fan of Instagram videos and I think they're a great way to channel your talents across to a lot of people in a short amount of time. It also makes it easy for you to find new talent as well.

However there is a downside to this. Because it's so easy to post videos on their platform, anyone can do it, as it should be. But not all music videos are created equally.

If you want YOUR video to get noticed in a sea of videos then there are some things you might want to take into consideration when you're ready to film your next video.

In This Podcast You Will Learn:

1). The 4 main components you should always include in your videos to make sure they have the best chances of being watched.

2). What you can do to engage people who are watching your video so you get more comments and likes.

3). A few things you can add to your video to make it standout in the hashtag search page so it has a better chance of being clicked on.

4). What you should do with one of your videos if it happens to be getting great views and likes so that it gets noticed by even more people!

5). I dive into the hashtag for #singersongwriter on Instagram to look at some examples of videos and rate whether or not I would consider following the artist or just scroll by.

As with everything else these are suggestions but ultimately you will want to test things that work for you. I'm a firm believe in constantly testing different things to see what gets the best results.

Thanks again for checking out this podcast. If you're looking to grow your Instagram following and get more eyes on your music videos then I hope some of these tips help you out.

Til the next episode!

Peace N Love,

Mike

www.songwritersplanner.com

Thanks for swinging by to check out this podcast!

This week I’m proud to announce a great interview with one of my good pals Joshua Rozenboom. Josh is one of the owner/operators and chief recording engineers at SER Soundworks Recording Studio and Rehearsal Space in Chandler, AZ.

A family owned business that’s open 7 days a week, they serve a huge portion of the Arizona music scene covering all needs from full service recording to hourly rehearsal space rentals.

Josh is at the center of this operation along with members of his family managing recording sessions, rehearsal sessions and everything else that comes with running a business.

With all of that business going on, Josh and his family have positioned themselves to be one of the most knowledgeable music based business owners in Arizona.

On top of all that, he’s a killer guitar player and devoted family man.

If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to run your own recording studio or thought about becoming a sound engineer yourself then you don’t want to miss this episode!

In This Podcast You Will Learn:

1). How Josh got started playing guitar while still serving in the military.

2). The steps that Josh and his Dad took towards building their own full service recording studio and rehearsal space to rent out from scratch.

3). What bands should know BEFORE they enter the studio which will save time and make their recording process more efficient.

4). His advice for anyone that is looking to begin a recording career or learn the skills to record.

5). Find out what the most important aspect is when learning recording techniques online from other industry professionals.

6). His advice on what to consider when setting up your own home studio.

7). Josh’s suggestions on the bare minimum requirements to consider when recording your own music and what will give you the best results no matter what gear you have.

8). His thoughts on when to upgrade your recording tools (software, hardware etc).

9). His final thoughts on where the recording industry is headed and why you should start creating content online to build your audience.

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Thanks again for visiting this podcast. I hope you pull some value from this great interview and have some of your questions answered about what it’s like to run your own recording studio and manage your own music based business.

Josh and his family have managed to put together an impressive operation here in AZ and I appreciate him taking time to chat with me. Much thanks Josh!

Peace N Love

Mike

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Questions, comments or concerns? I’d love to hear them!

Swing by and drop me a line at:

www.facebook.com/songwritersplanner

www.instagram.com/songwriters_planner

Hello! Thanks for checking out this podcast!

I'm excited to introduce my guest on this week's episode. Published author, FOX TV Host, freelance writer, radio show host and musician Eric Dahl of Nashville, TN.

I first met Eric online when he reached out and contacted me after seeing an ad for my planner. Since then I've been an avid follower of his numerous activities including hosting the weekly TV show on Nashville's FOX channel "Rock & Review", publishing his own books including "B.B. King's Lucille and the Loves Before Her", (https://www.amazon.com/B-B-Kings-Lucille-Loves-Before/dp/1936120410) writing gear review articles for the UK's Maverick County Magazine (http://www.maverick-country.com/), Collectible Guitar Magazine, Worship Musician, Reverb.com and many more!

Eric also holds a music minor in Jazz/Classic guitar and avidly performs in his local church and other projects in and around Nashville. On top of all of this he is a devoted family man.

With all of these things on his plate I'm humbled that he was able to find time to sit down and chat with me for a bit!

In This Podcast You Will Learn:

How he's been able to build up his FOX's "Rock & Review" show over the past 6 years (as of 2018) to include coveted guests like Dolly Parton, Joe Bonamassa and Keifer Sutherland.

What you need to know if you're thinking about moving to Nashville to make a living as a musician.

What to consider if you want to become a songwriter or co-songwriter in Nashville and how much you can expect to make.

How important it is for musicians to consider also creating content (video, blogging etc) in addition to music to help build a stronger fan base which can up new possibilities for you.

How he found and returned one of B.B. King's most prized possessions, "Lucille" a Gibson ES-345 guitar after finding it in a pawn shop WOW! (https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/BBKingsStolenLucilleFoundand_Returned)

What advice he has on being able to work on multiple projects without getting overwhelmed, staying productive towards achieving your goals and feeding your passion to create.

Thanks again for listening to this podcast. I hope you got as much value and insight out of it as I had chatting with Eric. It's always a privilege to connect with other musicians who truly do give back to the community in many ways.

Eric is definitely one of those people and proves that no matter how busy we get, there is always time to do more than what you think you can to make a difference.

Thanks Eric!

Peace N love

Mike