Week 8 of Ariel Contest- Creating A Continuum Program

OK,so here we are at Week 8,..I'm a little behind on this contest, as I'm in the middle of moving and have had to focus on that for the past few weeks...regardless...I'm back to complete this contest...I must say this Chapter is interesting.Getting your fans to buy from me over & over again is the concept here...Ariel gives some good ideas to do that...Like creating a Monthly Fan Club,putting on private concerts & such for members of my fan club,etc,etc.

I don't understand why the funnel has an x in a box..again..I'm in uncharted waters here...I'm an artist that has to be a manager,a marketing expert,a booking agent as well as all the other things it would require for me to further my career,I suppose I might sound jaded here but I'm not,...I just know who I am and what I do.I know my strengths & my weaknesses. I'm also pretty good at coming up with some cool ideas,...like fiZTV...I see the difference between people that are more business minded and people like me that are more artistic minded...I had someone write a business layout for me that mentioned a possible future membership fee for fiZTV...well that would be more of a possibility then a monthly song...not that I'm not prolific enough to produce a new song a month for my fans because I most definitely am,...but I am not capable of recording my own music on the level of my last CD,which was produced by a brilliant Producer/Engineer named Bob Stander...It has left me in a very interesting situation for sure...I mean...how would it be if Rob Thomas or Bob Jovi we're releasing their home recordings?...it doesn't represent their overall image or sound....with that said...there are other ideas that are presented here as well..I will focus on seeing what I can come up with...so,until next week(which will be the last blog for this contest)...I wish you all

peace.luv.music.
fiZ

Ariel's Contest : Week 7 - Networking Tips

Ahhh...A nice and easy Chapter...Not that I don't like the intense ones ,but I've got so much going on right now that it was a relief to see a quick Chapter.
There is some great advice on networking here...Interesting,it's stuff that deep down inside ,we all know...for instance,Ariel mentions to not hand out business cards unless they ask for one ,otherwise it comes across as your selling something....I get that...I also like how she mentions to make sure the conversation is more about them...On a deeper Buddhist level...The masters are always here to serve us....so I like what I'm reading here...it makes allot of sense...clearly you don't need to be a rocket scientist to do so.

So it's on to the next chapter...until next time,I wish you all...

peace.luv.music.
fiZ

Week 6 of Ariel's Contest - How To build your mailing list

OK...here I am at Week 6 of the Ariel Contest - I received some great tips on how to expand my mailing list in this chapter...Ariel mentions in one part of the chapter gaining fans by asking them to text you their info while your on stage...I really want to get a better grasp on the whole texting thing...I joined Broadtexter as she suggests....I just need to learn how to file things on there ,because they mention having it where I could be doing a show in Jersey and texting people specifically in that area...so I don't have to text everyone...I like that idea. I just have no idea how to do that, I suppose I will figure that out. So it's back to the book for me on this whole Social Media thang...until next blog, I wish you all...

peace.luv.music.
fiZ

Ariel Contest Week 5 :Newsletter list Vs Email List

OK...it's Martin Luther King Jr. day(thank you Martin!) and most people are off for this holiday...
I could choose not to do anything today, what good would that do me...

So here I am at Week 5 and this 'aint no jive,' tryin' to stay alive...I got's ta get it right.
Well I've had a mailing list for about ten years now...maybe a little less...I dunno,...all I know is I should have well over a thousand people on it by now, but I don't,so I'm completely open to suggestions...and some of Ariel's I have been using already...I've had contests and all sorts of interation with my fiZ fanZ, BUT...who are they?...how old are they? etc.etc....well,here's another tricky area for me,...I have fanZ of all ages....Sixteen year old girls & boys,Moms and their kids...I would say women tend to big my biggest fans..I would say allot of my fans know that I have a passion to help others through my organization "Notes For Life",by doing fundraisers and performing for children in need,so that is a big part of my focus...my newest episode of fiZTV has me interviewing a mother and her son Anthony who is blind and sings(and now learning the piano)...so,that's the direction I'm going in with fiZTV.

There are areas I really want to improve on in this area...For one,I think my writing skills are of weak (strange for a songwriter ,eh?). I have a layout I use with my banner on top ,but I need a more professional looking email templete...ok...I'm reading Week 6 right now....there's no doubt that I'm going to need to back trace my steps and go over these weeks,but I feel it's best to keep moving on instead of getting overwelmed....so I'm off to see the Wizard!....Until next time...I wish you...

peace.luv.music.
fiZ
www.fiZband.com

Week 4 : Blogging & Podcasting

Ok,so here I am at week 4 and I feel more overwhelmed then ever before.
I started this contest with the hope that I had a chance at possibly winning this contest...I no longer feel that way at all...if anything, I would say this confirms my feelings about having a team to help me. I'm sooo lost with this blogging thing...I haven't even been able to find a blog ...except Brooklyn Vegan...but even that is not the right vibe for me....I write very Pop/Rock mainstream sounding tunes...the kind of music that would be totally shunned on by the artsy fartsy community where many have the mentality that if you write songs with commercial appeal ,your a sellout...or perhaps not a true artist...I've been around...I know what I know...I know that couldn't be further from the truth in my case,which is why I'm not crazy about this whole spend 5 hours a day to promote myself thing..because the truth is ,I'd rather be doing what I do...and that's working on MY craft...It's easy to say,you have to do this blogging thing to promote yourself ,otherwise no one will know who you are...I get that...the thing is...it takes many hours in a day to be effective at your craft...I feel COMPLETELY out of MY element...I entered the river in week one...week 2 I started moving around...week 3 the current started getting stronger...and week 4 is forcing me to swim upstream...seems to go against things I've learned in life on how to be successful...If it's work you don't like to do and your not good at doing it...then how can you be successful at doing it?....The answer is simple....you can't...but I will continue with the contest because ,...well for one thing,....I'm not a quitter ...so on to week 5...which is tricky because I'm still overwhelmed with week 4....OK anyway...see ya next week....until then ,I wish you...and myself...

peace.luv.music.
fiZ

Week 3 Optimizing the Website

OK,here I am at Week 3 with Ariel's contest,and now I hit the first real roadblock. Optimizing my website requires me relying on someone to update my site. I don't know HTML programming on the level that I can redo my own site...so..I have to wait until my designer can make the changes Ariel suggested.Ironically,I was talking to him just a few weeks ago about making the site more interactive. So with that said,I wanted to stick to my ritual of writing the next blog for this contest every Monday for each week...so regardless of the fact that my web-designer hasn't made the changes I requested yet,I'm still blogging' ya. I will obviously intertwine the results of my progress with week 3 next week as well....so until then,I wish you...

peace.luv.music.
fiZ

Ariel's Contest WEEK 2 "The Pitch"

So in Ariel's book she mentions how important it is for an artist to have a pitch so people have an idea of what the artist sounds like or at the very least what style their music is. I find it a little challenging to use this approach because my style is fairly diverse.Writing music on the guitar & piano has giving me the ability to be flexible in my songwriting approach,and like my # 1 heroes 'The Beatles',there's allot more going on then just basic Pop/Rock...but be it as it may...Here I am,writing this blog,and the next phase of this contest is to come up with a 'Pitch'...well being I've had people say I sound a little like Rod Stewart(one of my favorite singers),Goo Goo Dolls,Beatles,ect....my 1st pitch was

'If the Goo Goo Dolls were writing with Rod Stewart while he was hanging out with Elton John it might sound like fiZ'.

But I wasn't sold on my own pitch...and truth be told ,for those that really know me,know my songwriting is more similar to Lennon & McCartney's then anyone else's...The difference between me and other Artists/Bands,is some bands blatantly rip The Beatles off to the point of down right plagiarism ,where I have integrated their song writing techniques with my own,for a style that is perhaps a little more modern sounding.

So what's an artist to do?...Well , I came up with the idea of 'The fiZ Pitch Contest'. I emailed all my fiZ fanZ and told them the one that came up with the best pitch would win my new CD. I got some wonderful responses...here's a few...


'Imagine the 5th Beatle,Creating & Rockin' in today's contemporary style'.-

“fiZ is a singer songwriter who gets right to your heart and lifts your spirits.”-

"Today's Rod Stewart" A new feel on an old style.


I think I was hesitant to use The Beatles in my pitch because so many bands probably do...and rightfully so, being their one of the most influential bands of all time.

They are a huge part of my life...it's no mistake that Sir Paul McCartney's former drummer from 'Wings',"Steve Holley" is playing on my CD...Not only that, but Paul gave Steve allot of the percussive instruments they used on The Beatles albums as a gift because he's not only a great drummer but a brilliant percussionist...so when you hear the 'the triangle' used in 'Sending a Line' or the tambourine in 'No Words,...those are the same instruments that were used on The Beatles albums...to me that's HUGE...Have you ever seen a Priest walk around shaking that stick filled with Holy Water?....Well that's what it was like for me when Steve Holley was using The Beatles old percussive instruments on my songs.

Anyway,let's get back to the topic here...'The Pitch'...OK...so I decided on getting the fiZ fanZ involved and seeing what they came up with.You read a few...I think the first one wins...so..I'm going with

'Imagine the 5th Beatle,Creating & Rockin' in today's contemporary style'.-

ok...it's on to week three for me...Happy HolidayZ...until next blog...I wish you...

peace.luv.music.
fiZ
www.fiZband.com